SEEKING HOLINESS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"You are to be My holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs." Exodus 22:31

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

For the last eight messages, we have been taking a rather micro-look at the 22nd chapter of Exodus as we find God issuing additional commands to the Israelite people. We finish that exposition today as we come to the final verse in this chapter, a verse which contains two key points, one supporting the other. Look again at the words of God here:

"You are to be My holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs." v.31

Here, within these, the key words are the first seven:

"You are to be My holy people.”

Here, God makes it crystal clear regarding the way He expected the Israelites to live. They were to be holy and set apart from the ways of the worlds, exchanging those for His ways that were perfectly right and righteous.

What’s totally cool about this demand from God is that it hasn’t changed today, more than 2,000 years later. God is still God, the Almighty Maker and Master of all creation and we are His created people, still expected to be holy.

So what does it take for us to attain what God is commanding? What does it take to become holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16)?

Well, simply put, Christian believers are to entirely devote ourselves to God and His purposes. For when we do this, fully dedicating ourselves to His will, then and only then will we begin to resemble and model the One who we are to serve, the One who is holy. In other words, we become holy like He is and what helps us get to that place is to be Christ-like, our primary goal as Christians.

So how can we give of ourselves more so to walk closer with God and Jesus?

Here are a few ways:

1. Read the Word of God.

In my view, if there is one thing lacking more than anything amongst believers today, it’s that they don’t really have a good working knowledge of God’s Word, the Holy Bible. Yes, almost all Christians have bibles at home but too often, they remain on the bookshelf or on the coffee table except for Sundays when they are picked up and carried to and from church. During the week, a multitude of believers allow the things of life and the world to take on a greater priority than reading and studying the scriptures. This not only negatively impacts them but the world they abide in, a world where the Gospel is expected to be shared.

Since its inception, there has been no other book like the Bible and it’s of little wonder why it has been and continues to be the best-selling book of all time. This is because it is a living Word, breathed into life by God Himself (2 Timothy 3:16). Because of this, it contains the essence of wisdom and the very Holy Spirit of God Himself. It’s a book that never fails to reveal new truths, no matter how many times you read it, and it serves as our divine instruction manual for life and holy living.

With this, why wouldn’t a Christian fail to read the scriptures each and every day?

Sadly, when this doesn’t happen, when a believer fails to read from the Word of God, they end up suffering from spiritual starvation. After all, Jesus did say this after Satan attacks Him with the first of three temptations:

“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4

What’s Jesus up to here?

He’s weaponizing the Word of God against the enemy, and in doing so, showing us how to use the sword of the Spirit found within the full armor of God ensemble:

“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” Ephesians 6:17

When people fail to read the scriptures, not only do they starve themselves spiritually but they walk onto the battlefield of life every day to fight against Satan without a weapon. And then we wonder why so many are lost and confused today, besieged by the enemy and awash in their sins.

Friends, we can’t afford to mess up this way to holiness. We need to make Bible reading an important and essential part of our daily routine. Remember that God gives you the gift of time. Make sure you give a healthy portion of that time back to Him.

2. Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

This is another way critical part of our life as Christians, one we need to dedicate time to daily. Here are some additional excerpts from the scriptures that command us to do so:

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray." James 5:13

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer" 1 Peter 3:12

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

"Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer." 1 Corinthians 7:5

How important is the matter of prayer to the Lord?

If you counted, there would be a whopping 155 verses dedicated to the subject of prayer with another 365 dealing with praying.

Indeed, God places a premium on prayer and this should serve as a major blessing and encouragement to us.

Think about it for a minute. The God of all creation, the Almighty and omnipotent Master of all, wants to have consistent communication and conversation with sinners like us. And this isn’t some superficial chit-chat that we’re talking about. Rather, He wants to have a personal, intimate relationship with each and every believer. Everyone is special in His sight.

This will never cease to completely blow me away but it’s a truth that reveals who God is and if we want to know Him more and more, understanding how to be holy as He is, then we need to talk with Him regularly and without ceasing. When we do this, He will reveal His Will and Way for us in return so we can best carry on the work of His Son Jesus, the One through which we gain our identity as Christians.

3. Put His Word and Will into action.

We can read the Bible and pray daily but we won’t completely fulfill what the Lord desires until we put what we learn and gain into practice.

Go back to our verse for today and look at the words after God’s call to be His holy people. He further commands this:

“...do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs."

To add some context to this, we need to know that this meat, meat that was “torn by wild beasts” was considered to be unclean, unsuitable for human consumption in the sight of God and so the Israelites were expected to comply so to remain holy. After all, there was plenty of other meat that was acceptable to eat.  

For us today, we have the entirety of the scriptures and we know that God and Jesus have given us plenty of commands to obey. Further, we gain conviction and guidance toward right and righteous living when we engage with them in prayer every day. Through both mediums, the Word and prayer, we’re expected to respond in obedience and our actions will reflect that as we carry out these words from James, the half-brother of our Savior Jesus:

"Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22

My brothers and sisters, living a life grounded in holiness isn’t as hard as it may sound but it does require our whole commitment and obedience. My prayer today is that you will examine your daily practices and if Bible study and prayer aren’t elements, then you will make space for them.

The main take away from today’s message is that our God expects us to be His holy people just as He expected Israel to be. My hope is that He speaks to you as he does to me through these daily messages, words He provides me to share with others, to help them come to know Him and His will and way. I further pray that you will put the Word into action while ensuring you don’t allow a day to go by when you don’t have a conversation with the Lord through prayer.

Love and blessings to you always in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE BEST FOR THE BEST

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats.”

"You must give Me the firstborn of your sons. Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to Me on the eighth day." Exodus 22:29-30

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we continue our study of Exodus, chapter 22, where we find a series of directives issues by God, we move from the matter of blasphemy to His expectations in regard to the quality of offerings brought before Him. Of interest, we see where there is a linkage between yesterday’s message and today’s, especially in regard to the principle of reverence.

Before we get to the main point of today’s passage, let’s go back to the time when the Israelites were suffering through their Egyptian captivity. You will remember that the Pharaoh, Egypt’s supreme leader, refused to allow God’s people to go free despite the Lord’s demands. And so God sent a series of ten plagues on Egypt, each increasingly worse in nature with the hope of Pharaoh changing his attitude and releasing the Israelite people. But Pharaoh refused to submit and, instead, watched his people suffer through calamities ranging from rivers and waters turning into blood to frogs, gnats, flies and locusts to fatal disease striking their cattle and livestock to boils, hail, darkness, and finally the worst of them all, the death of their firstborn.

In regard to this final curse, you’ll remember that the Lord “struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well" (Exodus 12:29). All were impacted except the firstborn of Israel who were spared after following the Lord’s instructions to "slaughter the Passover lamb” before taking “a bunch of hyssop”, dipping it into the blood and putting it “on the top and on both sides of the doorframe" (Exodus 12:21-22). This act saved the Israelites, leading the angel of death to pass over their homes when he came to Egypt to execute the curse. It was this event that is still celebrated today through the Jewish observance of Passover, an observance prescribed by God Himself.

After this, you may remember these words of God given to Moses, the man chosen to lead the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan:

"Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, whether man or animal." Exodus 13:2

This was followed by this message to be delivered to the Israelite people:

"After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as He promised on oath to you and your forefathers, you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.”

"In days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' say to him, 'With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.' And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with His mighty hand." Exodus 13:11-16

Here we find God demanding that His people show Him the reverence He deserved for what He had done in delivering Israel from the hands of Pharaoh. His commands ordered offerings that would symbolize the day He took away the firstborn of Egypt and preserved the firstborn of Israel. We read where the Israelites were expected to give God their first of everything; in other words, their best. They were to give their best grain, their best livestock and other animals, and their best children. In regard to the latter, we need to keep in mind that human sacrifice was strictly forbidden by God but the same protection didn’t apply to the firstborn animals who were offered up as an atonement for the sins of the people, an expiation from the blood which was shed from the sacrificing of the unblemished animals. In regard to the firstborn children, they were to be dedicated to God on the eighth day after birth, the day of their circumcision and formal naming.

All this leads to a couple of questions that serve to challenge us as believers today.

Do we give God our best in everything we do and all that we have?

Does He truly get our personal first fruits or do we only give Him our leftovers?

Really convicting, right?

For when it comes right down to it, why would we ever withhold our best from a God who is continuously give us His.

If you doubt this, look to the cross. For every single person in all mankind was destined for destruction and Hell because of their sins, sins that kept them as captive and oppressed as Israel was during their Egyptian captivity. And, just as shed blood from an unblemished lamb spread on the doorposts was required to ensure the Israelites were passed over and spared death, so too did the Father send His own unblemished Lamb Jesus, the precious Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He, Jesus, was God’s first fruit, His one and only Son, and yet He willingly gave Him up as an atoning sacrifice so we wouldn’t perish but rather gain eternal life (John 3:16). It was His shed blood at Calvary that would wash and cleanse any sinner who would place their belief in Him, making them whiter than snow, and His subsequent victory over death at His resurrection would become our ticket to liberation from the hopelessness of this present day. Indeed, through Jesus, and through Him alone, all Christian believers have the guarantee of an everlasting life in the glory of Heaven, all because God surrendered His best in order to save us.

Friends, if we’re honest, I think we all can stand guilty of not giving God our absolute best in life but that can change today through our understanding of the scriptures. We can repent of our past mistakes, asking for God’s forgiveness and mercy, before committing ourselves to never allow another day to pass without sacrificing for Him as He has sacrificed for us, giving Him the first fruits of all we have and all we are.

Let’s all vow to do just that...and then make good on our promise.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE MATTER OF BLASPHEMY

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people." Exodus 22:28

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In today’s highlight verse from our continued study of the twenty-second chapter of the Book of Exodus, we come upon the word "blaspheme". It’s not a word we use a whole lot today but it was common in biblical times. When we look up its meaning in the dictionary, here’s what we find:

"To speak of or address with irreverence."

Taking this a step further, looking at an extension of "blaspheme", the word “blasphemy", we learn these meanings:

"The act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God"

or

"The act of claiming the attributes of deity"

or

"Irreverence toward something considered sacred or inviolable".

With this, we need to seriously consider whether or not we have ever behaved in a way that showed irreverence before God?

To know for sure, we go back to the dictionary and find this definition for "irreverence":

"An act or utterance lacking proper respect or seriousness"

Taking all these word descriptions as a sum, we learn that a person commits blasphemy or blasphemes God, when they commit any act or speak any utterance that fails to show Him proper respect. Put another way, anytime someone insults God through a deed, word or thought.

If you’re like me, you’ve been convicted of this sin already.

This is why it’s important to go through these word exposition drills when we study the scriptures. For you see Christians have a bad habit of acting self righteous, easily calling out the sin of others when the truth is that they are actually no better when it comes right down to it. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23) and so instead of being judgmental, believers need to be repenting of their own transgressions, throwing themselves before the mercy seat of God each and every day.

When this happens, when Jesus followers are willing to humble themselves and realize their own fallen state before the presence of the Lord Almighty, then they would refrain from acting like they are at some higher spiritual plain than others and see themselves as they truly are, sinners without hope minus the cleansing, saving blood of Jesus Christ.

There’s no questioning that the Word of God is critical to our daily spiritual growth and Christian walk each and every day because it will always reveal and expose just how sinful we are, completely dependent and reliant on the only One who was able to save us through sacrificing His Son.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what reverence toward God looks like in its purest sense and it’s incumbent on us to put it into full practice.

Now, this isn’t the only place in the scriptures where the matter of blasphemy is addressed. Consider these passages:

"Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them. Then the Lord said to Moses: "Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. Say to the Israelites: 'If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; anyone who blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.”

Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses. Leviticus 24:10-23

"But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the Lord's Word and broken His commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him." Numbers 15:30-31

You can also read Isaiah, chapter 37, or Second Kings, chapter 19, to see what happened to the Assyrian forces when their king Sennacherib decided to heap insults on God. Additionally, Ezekiel, chapter 20 gives us a full appreciation for how much God despises disrespect and irreverence. He leaves little doubt about how it displeases Him.

Finally, you may remember that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law loved to falsely accuse Jesus of blasphemy because He claimed to be God. In fact, this was the trumped up charge that the Sanhedrin used to bring Him to Pontius Pilate while seeking His crucifixion. What has always amazed me is that these Jewish religious leaders, supposedly men of the Most High God, couldn’t even see past their arrogance to recognize that the man before them, Jesus, was their God in human form. It goes to show us how the self righteous can actually be spiritually blind.

Okay, so you get the point…or at least I hope you do.

We can’t decide to just be obedient to God on a part time status for any act that fails to bring Him honor and glory is irreverent, blasphemous, and sinful, placing the offender in a place of enmity with a God who despises any disrespect shown toward Him.

Friends, the Lord is speaking to us powerfully in this message and we all would be well advised to step back, reflect on His Word, and take account of the we’re living. We should do a stringent inventory of everything we do, say, and think, measuring each against the living standards God has firmly established, standards we find written in His Word and lived out to perfection by His Son and our Savior Jesus.

If we make a conscientious effort to do this each and every day, I am convinced that we will find ourselves moving ever closer to being like our Maker, the One who created us in His own image, and His Son Jesus, becoming like Him with our feet firmly walking the path of righteousness while carrying out our Great Commission mission to help the find their way to salvation.

In the end translation, there could be no greater act of reverence toward God, no better act of gratitude, praise and thanksgiving, and no more powerful act of love for others than doing this.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

FORGIVEN DEBTS AND DEBTORS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate." Exodus 22:25-27

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After addressing matters of unacceptable worship and their accompanying rituals, God gives Israel guidance on how to care for the disadvantaged in their society. It’s obvious that God and His Son Jesus had a special love and empathy for the needy. It’s also just as obvious that the Lord expects us to act likewise whether it is toward the alien, the widow, the orphan, or anyone else who is struggling and in want.

In today’s scripture, God addresses the matter of money lending, a practice that was prevalent in Old Testament times as it is now. We read where money or other items were often lent out from one Israelite to another, much like we might spot someone a few dollars or allow someone to borrow something to help them out today. In our passage, we find God providing direction so to build in protections for those in need. Look again at His words here:

"If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate." Exodus 22:25-27

We need to note here that this wasn’t just some suggestion from God in regard to whether or not interest should be collected on money lent. Rather, He commands that no interest was to be charged. Essentially, this constituted a biblical, God-sponsored, interest-free loan as He looked out for the less fortunate, a welcome relief for anyone who was struggling to make ends meet.

Just as we saw in yesterday’s message and God’s guidance on helping widows and orphans, there are multiple scripture passages on this matter of not burdening the poor. They include the following:

"If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you. Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may continue to live among you. You must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit." Leviticus 25:35-37

"Do not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a brother Israelite, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess." Deuteronomy 23:19-20

"He does not lend at usury or take excessive interest. He withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between man and man." Ezekiel 18:8

I think we all may have loaned something to someone at one time or another. Through His Word, the Lord leads us to consider whether or not we expected to be repaid or for the item we lent to be returned. Further, if we did expect payback, did we expect more to be returned than what was borrowed?

From a world view, the expectation would almost always be that what was lent must be returned, at base value at a minimum. But the Lord’s ways are not like the world’s and Jesus reminds us of this in a parable He tells in the Gospel of Matthew:

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.”

"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'”

“The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.”

"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.”

"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'”

"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.”

"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'”

“In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.”

"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." 18:23-35

Here, we see Jesus taking the matter of debt repayment to a different plain.

Live life long enough and you will probably find yourself down and out at some time or another. When we’re in that place, we are usually looking for someone to show us compassion and caring as we pray to the Lord to bring us relief from our neediness and restore us in accordance with His perfect will.

Often times, this happens in the way of a brother or sister who is able to pitch in and help us get out of the red and into the black in a financial time of need. These people who seek situations where they can help others understand where their provision comes from. They know that it is God and Him alone who provides the opportunity to assist others, providing what’s needed to do it. Indeed, all we have, whether in plenty or in want, is a result of God’s abundant blessing on our lives. Our money is really His money and He expects us to be good stewards of it. And so if you see a person in need, pray over the situation to discern whether or not God is calling you to help out in some way. If He is, it’s incumbent on us to respond in obedience, knowing He holds a special place in His heart for the needy.

These acts of goodwill toward others reflect the love and goodness of our Lord who is merciful and caring at His core. Just by merit of me writing this and you soon to read it, we know God has shown us awesome grace through His Son Jesus. We’re alive, actively breathing with beating hearts, signs that we’re richly blessed with the gift of life. Further, through our faith in Jesus as Savior, our eternal future is guaranteed as death has lost all power over us.  

So all Christian believers are secure in Christ and this liberates us to divert our attention from ourselves and toward others, extending the blessings we have received from our Lord to anyone who is lacking. We have the privilege to show them the abundant goodness and kindness of the Lord through allowing Him to aid others through us.

In other words, when we give freely to help those in need, not expecting anything in return, we allow the receiver to experience the same Jesus who God sent to cover our sin debt on the cross at Calvary. It was a debt that we could never repay and it came with no interest due. Instead, we ended up receiving even more than we deserved, the blessed salvation and certainty of Heaven.

Through belief in Christ, God forgives our debt and then gives us the opportunity to do the same to others, anyone who might be indebted to us. This is the point God was making in Old Testament times, echoes by Jesus in the New Testament, and a principle He wants us to live by today.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

CARE FOR THE VULNERABLE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to Me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless." Exodus 22:22-24

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever been alone?

Of course, we all have had a time when we were by ourselves for a brief period but that’s not what I am talking about here. The kind of loneliness I’m referring to is one of total isolation, a feeling of forsakenness where there’s no one to bring comfort, no one to talk to, no one to hold you, no one to love you.

It’s a terrible place to be, for sure, and unfortunately, there are countless people in our world today who find themselves there.

It’s important to discuss this problem because I thing we tend to lose sight of the lonely while enjoying the blessing of our own relationships. There’s a real tendency to assume that everyone enjoys the same social interactions that we do. The statistics tell us otherwise for one in every four households today has only one resident. Whether by way of choosing to remain single vice married, or by way of the death of or divorce from a partner, the numbers are troubling when we couple them with the potentially adverse psychological damage caused by loneliness.

Well, as we see in today’s verses from our continued study of Exodus, chapter 22, this problem was also a serious matter back in the days of the Old Testament, Specifically targeting widows and orphans, women and children left abandoned and often ignored by society, we read where the Lord commands that they be cared for and not taken advantage of. Any violation of His order would come with the following harsh consequences:

“If you do (take advantage of a widow or orphan) and they cry out to Me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless."

This isn’t the only place we find the Lord emphasizing His expectation to care for widows and orphans in society. Consider these other passages:

"Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives. Your widows too can trust in Me." Jeremiah 49:11

"At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands." Deuteronomy 14:28-29

"Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless." Isaiah 10:1-2

"Sing to God, sing praise to His name, extol Him who rides on the clouds—His name is the Lord—and rejoice before Him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling." Psalm 68:4-5

"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear Me," says the Lord Almighty." Malachi 3:5

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Given all this, and knowing that we still have widows and orphans in our world today, the scriptures cause us to reflect on how well we are responding to His call to care for those who are alone.

Do you know someone who is widowed? If so, have you taken any time to visit them, to check in to see how they are doing? To provide help if they need it?

My wife and I take an older man with us to church every Sunday. About five years ago, we got connected to him and his wife who joined our church and attended a class I taught. A few years later, she developed an aggressive cancer that took her life and left him widowed. He doesn’t drive and so we stepped in and made sure he could still come and enjoy fellowship and worship. It means the world to him and it’s just one way that we can step in and do something to make a difference in the life of someone who has been left alone.

In regard to orphans, I visited one when I was stationed in Djibouti, Africa during my service in the Navy. I still have a picture of a little baby I held and bottle fed, a baby without their birth parents. She was just one of around twenty children who had been left alone, now in the care of the orphanage staff. The good news was that all of the children were in the process of being adopted with a future ahead that would find them loved and properly cared for.

Here in the United States, there is a Christian organization founded by contemporary Christian singer/songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth. The ministry is called Show Hope and they help assist families who wish to adopt an orphan child. They are quickly approaching a milestone of helping connect 10,000 children with loving families.

If you have it in your heart to adopt, then the Lord has a child in mind for you to care for. If you aren’t in a place to adopt, you can provide monetary assistance to organizations like Show Hope to support their ministry mission. My wife and I have done this for years now, our response to the calling of God.

The bottom line here is that there are many opportunities available for us to "look after orphans and widows in distress." For just as Jesus did everything He could to love others, so too should we, extending and reflecting His tender care to those in need, especially the vulnerable. My prayer is that we all will commit ourselves to seek out the lonely, providing encouragement and support. For it costs nothing to bless someone with the gift of your time, fellowship, and love. And through your actions, anyone isolated will be able to see that through Jesus, they never need to ever be alone again.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

HOW SHOULD WE TREAT ALIENS?

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt." Exodus 22:21

“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt." Exodus 23:9

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever been alienated or oppressed at some time in your life?

If so, you’ll agree that it isn’t a very pleasant experience.

As we look at the scriptures, we see examples of how people were mistreated and ostracized simply because they were of a different nationality or religious persuasion. It’s been an issue since the onset of humanity.

Take the Israelites, for example. They had suffered through 430 years of enslavement at the hands of the Egyptians and were now on their way to Canaan when God addresses them at Mount Sinai, issuing them commands in regard to the way He expected them to live as His people.

As we see in today’s verse, God speaks out against any maltreatment and cruelty of aliens, an advance warning to His people as they were about to encounter cultures who were neither aligned with their nationality or religious practices. To underscore His point, we read where God reminds the Israelites of their own isolation and persecution at the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. It’s obvious that He wanted them to not forget how they had been treated when it came to dealing with others who were in similar circumstances.

Now, let’s fast forward to today where ongoing discussion about the matter of illegal immigration, a hot button topic that seems to be in the news every day.

In regard to public opinion, we can see where there’s a large segment of society that has decided to turn exclusionary and deem that others don’t have a right to live within their midst unless they gain citizenship. In other words, people have to prove that they are worthy to live in a nation before they gain approval to do so. If approval is not gained, then we deport people elsewhere, a way of getting rid of them without any regard to what would happen to them after leaving. If someone who is not legally a citizen breaks the law and commits a horrible crime in our country, the discussion can change but short of that, people within a nation have assumed the position of judge and that privilege is to be with God and Him alone.

Another part of the debate on this issue comes from an underlying fear that we will somehow get short changed if we let too many "others" into our country. The argument is that there’s only so much capacity when it comes to social programs and that capacity should go to legal citizens first. Overall, this is a pompous attitude of superiority and selfishness that has proven to only divide us instead of unite us as God’s people. After all, what right does anyone have to mistreat and oppress anyone when they’re just trying to do what we are trying to do, have a decent life day after day?

Sometimes I wonder how God must feel all this, about the way we choose to treat others, especially those labeled as “aliens” in the world today. For when we read the scriptures, we not only see a verse like the one today in the Book of Exodus but also these words from Jesus Himself, His response to being asked about the greatest of all the commandments.

"Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39

The command forces the following questions:

Do we really do this?

Do we truly love our neighbor as ourselves?

Or do we pick and choose who we think our neighbor is and then follow the command?

In regard to the latter question where one might wonder who qualifies to be considered a “neighbor”, Jesus provides an answer in the following passage from Luke’s Gospel:

"But he (an expert in the law) wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

In reply, Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.”

“A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.”

“So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.”

“But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'”

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."

Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Vv. 10:29-37

After reading this parable, who would you be most like in this parable?

The priest or the Levite, two men of God who the hearers of this parable would have most expected to stop and render assistance, chose not to. Instead, they left the man there for dead while passing him on the other side of the road.

And then the Gentile Samaritan came along, one despised, hated, and isolated by the Jews. He was the one that Jesus’ audience would have least expected to do something good, and yet, he was the one who showed mercy and compassion, literally saving the man’s life.

In His parable, Jesus not only said that we are a true neighbor if we imitate the actions of the Samaritan but He commanded us to do as he did. Note that Jesus provides no exemptions here. Every single believer is to show mercy and compassion to everyone who is down and out, not discriminating based on cultural background.

When it comes right down to it, we all have an innate desire and need to be accepted, loved, and treated fairly. Through the words of Jesus, we see where exchanging this acceptance and love is mandated as we love our neighbors as ourselves while treating them with dignity, mercy, caring, and compassion.

Go back and reflect on your feelings about “illegal aliens” before you read this message today.

Has your attitude shifted after considering the words of Jesus?

Are you ready to be obedient to what the scriptures call us to do, to treat all people with love and care, making a difference in the lives of others, no matter how much they might differ from ourselves?

Before I close, I would like to share one more passage with you, this one from chapter 1 of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. There, we find this:

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel." Vv.21-23

Friends, all of us were “aliens” at one point in our lives, literally alienated from the very God who created us. This alienation from our Maker and Master happened because we were oppressed and held captive by the sins that were set to destroy us and seal our eternity in Hell.

But then God did something incredible.

He didn’t pass by us on the other side of the road, ignoring us in our time of need. Instead, He, like the Samaritan in Jesus’ parable, took action, sending His only and only Son from Heaven to earth so to serve as a sin sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. And through His death, Jesus purchased our deliverance and pardon, setting us free from the penalty of Hell through an amazing display of mercy, compassion, grace, and love. Through our belief in Him as Savior, we are no longer alienated from God but rather now considered His children.

If God refused to allow us to perish as aliens, opting instead to rescue and save us, what right do we have to wish the worst for those labeled as such today?

It’s a question we all would do well to consider as we challenge our attitudes on the subject of illegal aliens in our society today.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ARE YOU IN THE WORLD AND OF IT?

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"Do not allow a sorceress to live."

"Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal must be put to death."

"Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the Lord must be destroyed."

Exodus 22:18-20

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

One of the main events in the Book of Exodus is evident in its title as the people of Israel are delivered by God from Egyptian captivity and set on a path to Canaan, the land He had promised their ancestors. This land was inhabited by a people group called the Canaanites and culturally, they were polar opposites of the Israelites and the standards of living that the Lord had called them to. Knowing all things – past, present, and future – we know that God was aware of what lied ahead and so many of His commandments were intentionally constructed to deter His people from adopting sinful pagan practices.

What were some of the main things about the Canaanites that the Israelites needed to watch out for?

Well, for starters, the Canaanites believed in polytheism, a prevalent religious doctrine practiced by many other countries in the world at the time such as Mesopotamia and Egypt. Their two main gods were El, the chief deity who was also known as the father of Asherah and all other gods with the exception of Baal, who was worshiped as the god of fertility. Worshiping and offering sacrifices to the idols of the Canaanite gods was prevalent in the Canaan society so we can obviously see where the one and only God of all creation came into direct conflict with and opposition to these religious practices. This is why He commanded the people of Israel to have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3).

So what else was there about Canaan that ran counter to God’s ways and expectations for living?

For one, they practiced sorcery, witchcraft and divination, and it’s clear in today’s scripture verses how God felt about these sinful spiritual behaviors. We see where the Lord reserved the strongest show of judgment, death, for those who decided to disrespect Him and call on the powers of darkness instead in order to cast spells, initiate curses, and forecast the future. Their reliance on the dark arts was in direct opposition to God’s dominion over all spiritual things and this required serious punishment. For as God made well known through His third of the Ten Commandments, He was a “jealous God" (20.5).

So we see that there were already two strikes against the Canaanite society and their religious practices but as we’re about to see, there was one more issue that was as bad, if not worse, than worshiping false gods and practicing witchcraft and sorcery.

This was because the Canaanites were a very sexually immoral people. Looking at the eighteenth chapter of the Book of Leviticus, we learn how incest, adultery and, bestiality were prevalent in the Canaan culture. The latter involved having sexual relations with an animal and we know the Lord makes little doubt about how He abhors sexual immorality and He didn’t His people to be influenced to sin against Him in this way.

So after all this, you’re probably wondering what this has to do with believers today.

Well, this direct clash between Israelite and Canaanite cultural norms parallels the Christian and world model we see in present time.

For Jesus believers are expected to follow the life of Jesus, a life defined by perfect righteousness, but they are immersed in a sinful world where there are no real limitations as to what someone can do, a world where anything goes.

Indeed, in this world, we can find rampant sexual immorality happening anywhere and everywhere and, yes, this includes sex with animals as well as incest and adultery. We can also find plenty of people who practice and believe in the power of witchcraft, sorcery, and divination. This can include Wicca religion, fortune tellers, as well as practioners and followers or astrology and horoscopes. Further, there are a multitude of people who willingly choose to worship false gods and idols (this truth was covered in previous messages on the second and third commandments).

So what happens when we become immersed in a worldly, sinful environment that often beckons us to join it?

Unfortunately, we too often accept the invitation, surrendering God’s principles and turning away from what we know He wants us to do as we pursue the world’s enticements instead.

This message from God calls all believers to self assess today to see where they stand.

Are we closer to Israel and God’s righteous expectations for life, or are we trending more toward Canaan and its sinful behavior?

Are we living daily for Jesus, shaping ourselves to be like Him, or have we abandoned His ways to chase after the ways of the world?

Only you can answer these questions for yourself but if you’re closer to Canaan and the world, I implore you to step back for a moment, realize you’re heading in the wrong direction, repent of your sins, and seek to get right with God.

Christian believers are in the world but they aren’t to be of it. The Lord sees our hearts and knows exactly where our loyalties are. Let’s make sure He sees that we are with Him and for Him, and Him alone.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

UPHOLDING GOD'S SEXUAL VALUES

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins."

Exodus 22:16-17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In today’s scripture verses, we find God transitioning from the matters of stealing, negligence, and restitution to a serious matter which also afflicts our society today, namely sexual relations outside of marriage. As we see, the Lord specifically addresses a scenario where a virgin might be seduced to sleep with a man who she is not pledged to be married to.

To understand the severity of this, we need to understand the culture of the time.

You see, in Israel, as it was in other parts of the Middle East, every person within a family carried great value. Virgin women were of particular importance because they would bring the family financial gain once a wedding contract had been put in place between a prospective groom and the bride’s family. The groom would agree to pay the "bride-price" (sometimes also referred to a dowry) to the bride’s family in exchange for the permission for her to marry him.

Now, if it sounds like a commerce exchange, you’re right because in essence that’s what it was. The groom was purchasing the bride for himself from the family with the “bride-price” serving as compensation for the family losing one of their members.

So what happened if a woman wasn’t a virgin?

In those times, her value would diminish greatly as grooms were only interested in marrying a woman who had not been in sexual relations with any other man. It’s important to note that any sexual relations before marriage were looked down on as sinful and this transgression would be amplified if either the betrothed man or woman had sexual relations with someone else while they were engaged. In essence, a marriage contract and the ensuing engagement were viewed as the couple already being married before the wedding actually took place.

With this as a backdrop, let’s now go back to our passage for today and you should have a better understanding why this topic was such a big deal. For the man who seduced the virgin into having sex was essentially stealing away her value and this wouldn’t happen without consequences.

What was the penalty?

We read where the man was required to not only "pay the bride-price" to the family but also marry the now ex-virgin ("she shall be his wife"). Further, note where the father of the ex-virgin reserved the right to flat out stop the marriage altogether if he objected to his daughter marrying the man who stole away her virginity. In that scenario, the man who lay with the virgin and had sex "must still pay the bride-price” for the virgin, showing us that the family was going to be compensated no matter what.

So why is this still a problem today?

Well, in Middle Eastern, African, and Asian countries, this ancient practice still happens as marriage contracts are still entered into with “bride-prices” paid. And unfortunately, there are still virgins who are being seduced by men into having sexual relations ahead of the woman entering into a binding marriage contract. Indeed, these scripture verses from over 2,000 years ago are still applicable today.

But what about in other countries where this is not practiced?

Is it still permissible for people to have sex before marriage?

I think the scriptures clearly show that God is not in favor of it.

Why?

Because it always brings devaluation and I will offer two ways this happens.

First, it devalues sex as God intended it to be.

Each of us is special in our own ways. Our Lord created us this way and there are no two people who are exactly like. Even identical twins, who share so many physical similarities, will have different personalities and mannerisms.

Indeed, God has made us unique but yet He has given us similar gifts to experience while enjoying life in service to Him and others. One of the more special gifts He provides is the privilege to have sexual relations within the construct of a marriage between a man and a woman.

When sex is reserved for marriage, it carries with it a special significance, a higher love saved and reserved for the partner one will spend the rest of their life with, until death do they part as the traditional marriage vows proclaim.

These sexual relations within a marriage also carry with them another special blessing, the chance to reproduce. Indeed, God intended for married couples to have the opportunity to be fruitful and multiply, having children that belong to Him with the steep responsibility to raise them up properly into adulthood. Essentially, the Lord entrusts His beloved little ones to the care of their parents.

With all this, we need to see that premarital sex cheapens the special nature of sex as God intended and removes its significance. Today, people don’t hesitate to "hook up" just to have sex without regard to the possible outcome (i.e. sexual disease, pregnancy, etc). Too often, they not only devalue sex but themselves in the process for many a man or woman or both have been mentally and/or physically scarred forever because of sexual relations out of wedlock. Maybe less people would sin against God in premarital sex if we promoted these bad news stories but of course, Satan wouldn’t want that. He has taken our world to a place where sex is an anything goes proposition, encouraging people to fully submit to their desires at any time and seemingly any place. I can’t help but think about how this must sadden God.

Secondly, having sex before marriage devalues the marriage itself.

Why do you think there are so many divorces today?

They happen because people have stopped taking the marital commitment seriously.

First of all, many people have just hooked up with people many times before they actually choose to marry and those preliminary, premarital sexual interludes didn’t involve any form of obligation. It was just sex with the man and woman pleasuring themselves with one another and then going their separate ways. There was even a movie made about this at one time called “Friends Without Benefits”.

Well, this sinful behavior in the presence of God carries with it a societal consequence because when marriage comes, a man and woman haven’t usually been in a relationship which required total devotion to another person. And so marriage turns into a union where people agree to try a forever life together with the caveat that they can just divorce if things don’t work out. In this model, marriage just becomes a more advanced version of "hooking up" and too often marriages end because either the husband or wife or both decide it’s okay to continue to hook up for sex with others after vowing to dedicate themselves only to one another.

Take a few moments to look at the statistics as they apply to infidelity in marriage. They are staggering and sobering, nothing short of disappointing, but they also prove my point.

Marriage has been devalued by pre-marital sexual activity.

Beyond all the analysis, the bottom line is that God does not support pre-marital sexual activity and refusing to be obedient to His expectation is flat out disobedient and disrespectful toward Him.

God expects sanctity and purity in marriage. One man and one woman who have withheld from having sexual relations so they could experience the special nature of sex with one another, and only one another, just the way the Lord wants it to be.

As you read this today, I ask for you to do yourself and God a favor.

Value yourself, value the special nature of sex, value the unique quality of marriage, and value God enough to listen to His commands. If you do, you will be upholding the sexual values that the Lord has established through His word, sexual values that make marriage the wonderful blessing it is.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.