Freep mail me to be on or off the Daily Bread ping list

Loving All

February 16, 2018

The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself. Leviticus 19:34

I worship in a church located in a large, open field—a rare commodity on the island of Singapore (we’re just twenty-five miles long and fifteen miles wide). Some time back, people from abroad who work in my country started gathering on the church property for a picnic every Sunday.

This evoked a range of responses from fellow churchgoers. Some fretted about the mess the visitors would leave behind. But others saw this as a divine opportunity to extend hospitality to a wonderful group of strangers—without even leaving the church grounds!

The Israelites must have faced similar issues in their time. After they settled in their new land, they had to grapple with how to relate to other peoples. But God expressly commanded them to treat foreigners like their own kind, and to love them as themselves (Leviticus 19:34). Many of His laws made special mention of foreigners: they were not to be mistreated or oppressed, and they were to be loved and helped (Exodus 23:9; Deuteronomy 10:19). Centuries later, Jesus would command us to do the same: to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31).

May we have God’s heart to love others as ourselves, remembering that we too are sojourners on this earth. Yet we have been loved as God’s people, treated as His own.

Father, You have made each and every one of us in Your likeness. May we love those from elsewhere and seek to reach out to them with Your love.

Embracing God’s love for us is the key to loving others.

INSIGHT

The story of Ruth (a Moabitess) offers a moving illustration of “loving the foreigner.” The pagan nation of Moab was situated just east of the Dead Sea. The Moabites were descended from Moab, the son of Lot (Genesis 19:37). During the exodus and throughout the reigns of Saul and David, the Moabites were frequently at war with Israel.

In the time of the judges, Naomi and Elimelek and their sons settled in Moab to escape a famine in Israel (Ruth 1). During their stay, Elimelek died, the sons married Moabite women (Ruth and Orpah), and then the sons also died. With no one to care for them, Naomi and Ruth left Moab and returned to Bethlehem, where Ruth was a foreigner (who may have been despised because of her heritage).

When they arrived, “the barley harvest was beginning” (v. 22). As a widow, Ruth was allowed to gather the leftover grain after the harvesters had gone through. “As it turned out,” she ended in the field of Boaz, a relative of Elimelek’s (2:3). But it was no coincidence. Boaz’s kindness resulted in Ruth and his place in the ancestry of King David (and Jesus) (Matthew 1:5–16).

What would it look like for you to extend kindness to a stranger?

Precious! These sweet kitties make my day! So glad you’re back! (((hugs)))

Chris DeBurgh~Lady In Red

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS!

*Good Afternoon To Amy's Place*

We Wear Red On Friday To Support
Our Troops

Wishing You
A Warm Wonderful Weekend

Pick Up the latest issue of Food Magazine, then have a Taste good time preparing something yummy. Your choice.

Happy Friday!

And yes, Of Course, I'm Wearing Red!

(((HUGS)))

ML/LTOS

Charlie is wearing his Red Collar with his Red Dog Tag.

Awwww.

And his entire furry body is all white.

I have had two doggies like that. A Samoyed and a Maltese.

Charley is an American Eskie

Aww...They are BEAUTIFUL!

Well Lookie Here!

I found a picture with one of each! I imagine one might need an industrial-strength Shop-Vac for such an arrangement!

:-)

ML/LTOS

Even though Charlie, AKA Santa Paws, is AB out the size of the little guy in the foreground of the image.

I think the foreground guy is the eskie, and the sammy is in the back.

I have observed that the males (of the sammys) are larger than the females, so the one pictured is probably a male (Though it’s hard to tell with all that fur!)

Thank you for the Poetry, Pings & Posts, Dear FRiends!
(((((Sweet Dreams to Everyone, and God Bless)))))

Freep mail me to be on or off the Daily Bread ping list

Fleeing to Strength

February 17, 2018

You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:20

“Parry four!”

When I began fencing in high school, my coach would shout the correct defensive position (“parry”) against the move he was making. When he extended his weapon and lunged, to repel the attack I had to listen and respond immediately.

That active listening brings to mind the prompt obedience Scripture calls for in the area of sexual temptation. In 1 Corinthians 6:18 Paul writes to believers tempted to solicit pagan temple prostitutes, telling them to “flee from sexual immorality.” Sometimes we are to “stand firm” in challenging circumstances (Galatians 5:1; Ephesians 6:11), but here the Bible practically shouts our best defense: “Run away!”

Immediate action guards against compromise. Small compromises can lead to devastating defeats. An unrestrained thought, a glance in the wrong place on the Internet, a flirting friendship when you’re already married—each are steps that take us where we shouldn’t go and put distance between us and God.

When we flee temptation, God also provides a place to run. Through Jesus’s death on the cross for our sins, He offers us hope, forgiveness, and a new beginning—no matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done. When we run to Jesus in our weakness, He sets us free to live in His strength.

Lord Jesus, out of love You gave Yourself on the cross for us. I give myself to You in obedience to Your will.

God alone can meet our deepest needs and give us soul-deep satisfaction.

INSIGHT

Do you ever think that religious views of sexuality are outdated or unloving? If so, it’s important to remember that when Paul writes about the sensitive subject of personal sexual behavior, he is no longer thinking like the legalist he had been. In his relationship to Christ he’s found a change of heart that longs for the kind of love he describes in his thirteenth chapter.

So when Paul urges his readers in 1 Corinthians 6 to move beyond self-centered sexual behavior, personal conflict, or taking one another to court—he’s not just trying to get them to play by the rules of faith. He’s urging them to experience for themselves a new way of living in the Spirit and love of Christ.

In the depth of winter I finally learned
that there was in me an invincible summer.

Albert Camus

Happy caturday and dogurday, all!

Happy Caturday!
Winter is back, with some snow on the way today.
Has been pretty nice lately.

Happy Caturday/Dogurday!