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“With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here” (Colossians 4:9) AV. Paul, the tireless and relentless gospel worker, now chained and imprisoned in a Roman dungeon, scratches out a letter with his aging hand and, as the parchment drinks in the ink of his pen, every carefully crafted stroke drives a nail into slavery’s coffin, each purposely hammered out phrase beats a path to freedom. The letter to Philemon is one of the New Testament’s shortest epistles, yet, despite its brevity, it remains one of its most effective and profound testimonies. In our broken world, there are many protesters and demonstrators, men and women, believers and non-believers, who feel they must react against the injustices and evils of society and, by their actions, attempt to effect social change. Often, unwittingly, they become engulfed in the emotional maelstrom, which is part of the human condition and, from which, ultimately, all injustices and evil thoughts and actions spring. But this veteran preacher and devoted correspondent, though bound and constrained to the narrow confines of a Roman gaol, is no prisoner of the Roman Emperor or of the Roman state. He is, as he writes, “Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ” (Philemon 1:1). It is from this standpoint that he is able to effect real ‘social change’, not be means of angry protest or pious resistance, but by means of a deeply personal, sensitive and loving appeal that carries no thoughts or words of condemnation but rests its case on love alone. When the once recalcitrant slave, Onesimus, cast aside his master’s yoke, to break forever the bonds of slavery, he quickly found, that the human heart is itself nothing but a cage, and the carnal mind of man, a prison. This much he saw, and more, through the preaching of one, Paul of Tarsus, from whose battered, shackled frame this liberating word reached forth to hold him firmly in loves grasp, as it held his former master also in the same embrace. At once, with endless joy and unspeakable gladness, he stoops to serve, both night and day, his Lord’s imprisoned slave, whom he loves as a father and to whom he becomes a beloved son, most precious. The absence of condemnation of the practice of slavery, in this short epistle, scandalises many in our modern society, where acceptance of such a practice seems intolerable. However, in the Roman world of Paul’s day, the gospel brought about no revolution in the conventional sense. As Paul writes, a slave is still a slave, a master is still a master. Yet, the pen of Paul inks out, in so few but such gracious lines, the principle of love which undermines the whole concept of slavery and, eventually, as the Christian gospel grows in influence, brings it to an end in an empire that once enslaved whole peoples and nations. Philemon may be a master and Onesimus may be a slave, but the overriding relationship, forged by the gospel of grace that unites them both in love, is one of brotherhood. Onesimus, Paul reminds the church that meets at the home of Philemon, “is one of you.” (Col 4:9). Richard Dempsey
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Gleaning truth from the word1/17/2023 Christ’s initial message beginning in the regions of Galilee following His triumph over temptation in the wilderness was “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15 CSB). Since that time however, the good news isn’t actually good news for some. Instead, it’s become a burden. For them, “repent and believe” is something to achieve with great effort and human will. Salvation for them somehow seems out of reach, especially when failing to live up to their own standard of perfection. They have separated faith and repentance. Others say faith has nothing to do with repentance or the ‘Lordship’ of Jesus (as if that were possible). They chafe at a message that puts undue emphasis on the “call to repentance” because after all, salvation is free. They too, separate faith and repentance. Which response best mirrors the truth of the gospel? Neither of them, because faith and repentance are two parts of one whole surrender to Jesus. The Bible presents repentance and faith as a gift God grants to those whose hearts, He’s prepared to receive Him, (cf. Acts 11:18 CSB, John 1:12 CSB.) God initiates the process and draws us to Himself with cords of love. Jesus promised “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” John 6:37 CSB. So, the question is have we come to Him? If so, Christ’s kingdom is within us and at work since He died on the cross and rose again on our behalf. Instead of a being a burden, Jesus is our hope and strength. He sustains us—His new creation— through His Spirit at work within us. “Dear Jesus, may we as believers prove what true faith and repentance are really all about — making You Lord.” Toni Babcock
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Homecoming1/16/2023 “Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” (Song of Solomon 8:5 NRSV) These words evoke a vivid image of the beloved Savior faithfully stepping into wild places to rescue His adoring children. We have all found ourselves in these places at times. I wonder what the wilderness might look like for us? Perhaps we have become overwhelmed by fear or anxiety, are distracted by the false attachments and enticements of the world or are struggling to stand firm in our faith under pressure or persecution. Perhaps we have lost our way in a wilderness full of competing choices or conflicting decisions, or we are overwhelmed by work commitments, ill health, or family troubles. Which way is out and who will come to our assistance? Jesus is the One who goes into the wild, reckless places of our lives to bring us back to safety with Him. He leads us into a secure place in His presence that we can call ‘Home’. Rather than be swamped in the wilderness, we can reach out for the Lord’s hand of help. Lean heavily upon your beloved. See yourself reaching out and surrendering to the One who will faithfully and relentlessly lead you home. Assuredly, Luke 19:10 says “For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” Stand in the story. Can you affirm that that is you coming up from the wilderness leaning upon your beloved? Let Christ lift your load and carry your burdens as you step from the suffocating darkness of the wilderness into the open, freeing spaces of home with Him. Jennifer Woodley
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A promise you can take with you1/15/2023 “And I say to you, anyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God,” (Luke 12:8 CSB). To be acknowledged. Isn’t that what we all quietly hope for? I’m not talking about a desire for praise or recognition, but the simple satisfaction of knowing we hold value in the eyes of others; that our voice matters — that indeed, we matter. The opposite would be to live and move among a people who make us feel invisible, unimportant, and basically worthless. Under the gospel of grace, it’s time to lay aside the weight of any and all past rejections. Allow the Lord Jesus to wipe the slate clean of any of these experiences from the past. Gain a fresh perspective on His wonderful promise in Luke 12:8. If you acknowledge Him, he is going to acknowledge you in His heavenly kingdom. You won’t be treated as an outsider, or invisible. Jesus will be quick to welcome you with open arms. You’ll be acknowledged as an equal among a myriad of other believers who have put their trust in Him. So while you wait to get to Heaven, don’t put so much stock in how people ‘make you feel’ on earth. Feelings might be true or they may be tainted with false perceptions—but here’s the thing—feelings are short lived and can make or break you. Friend, don’t let them break you. You only have a very short span of time here on earth, so spend it acknowledging Jesus (and making other people feel valued and acknowledged.) Acknowledge Jesus to family and friends. Acknowledge Jesus at home, at church, at work, or on the phone. Social media is a great way to let Jesus be known and praised. Just acknowledge Him, and one day you’ll understand that an acknowledgment from Jesus is all you ever really needed. Toni Babcock
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The banquet1/15/2023 “I tell you, not one of these men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.” (Luke 14:24 NIV) The man at the table with Jesus realized the beauty of His Kingdom and was pleased to acknowledge the blessing of being at the Lord’s feast. As he had a willingness to understand, Jesus took him to a greater depth of understanding. An invitation to join the Kingdom is open to all who will come. Just like the man with many invited guests, God has laid an open invitation to His great banquet. It’s the feast of the Spirit for the soul, as the soul recognizes the one who created it and rejoices in the Spirit’s presence. But sadly, all whom the man had invited didn’t show up, being occupied in their own business. For them, it wasn’t a matter of pleasure. The Spirit is ready to give, but sadly the flesh is too busy minding its own matters. The Lord invites us to his great banquet, in which He serves Life. Our Lord says, “Come for everything is now ready” (Luke 14:17 NIV) but the flesh has excuses to make (Luke 14:18-20 NIV). The flesh has no time to spare, or heart to receive, neither ears to hear nor eyes to see. Who is at a loss? The Spirit? By no means. But we seldom understand the spiritual depth of decisions we make. Great is the gift of free will but the carnal flesh fails to choose wisely. You are personally invited to be a part of the ‘banquet of life’ where on the menu they serve agape love, peace, joy, laughter, contentment, security with honour and respect. It doesn’t matter which group or culture you happen to belong to, it’s open for all. Choose to be a part of the lavish banquet that the Lord has in store for you. Respond to His gracious call with saving faith, and make a decision to be there. Here is your invitation: And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ Acts 2:21 NIV Deepika Emmanuel Sagar
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Love rejuvenates1/11/2023 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:35 NIV). Love is the passion of Christ. Love is what He is. If I am asked “what is love?” I would say it’s Christ. We all recognize care, concern, encouragement, and dedication; and we say we are loved by our family, friends, neighbors and others—but do we really know what love is? Many say “we are taken care of by our parents” but only a few understand it’s the dear Lord taking care of them through their parents. Very few acknowledge its God pouring out His love through the people around them. Perspective is all that matters. The natural mind is absorbed and enwrapped in itself. It fails to recognize the actual spiritual reasoning behind life and its events. Sadly, some people do not have close families or loved ones, yet God takes care of them through other loving people around them. In light of such earthly relations, we often fail to recognize God at work. Also, many have a wrong sense of stating and recognizing God’s love! It’s good they are recognizing God at work, but they state it in a prideful way, seeking glory for themselves. Such judgment rules a carnal mind, and this is what the darkness takes advantage of. We may state our abilities in a prideful way, but know that it’s all in vain. Pride is not from the Lord. When we receive our portion from God, we should not reflect God to others with a prideful mind. God doesn’t give abilities to His people in order to make others feel like less. Jesus never did that. He didn’t consider himself to be superior to others because of His abilities. Love rejuvenates. Love enlightens because it’s from the Light. Recognizing God’s love might be difficult for some, but such realization comes from the heart and not the mind. Stay connected with the Spirit in the right way, shrugging out self-righteousness. Get wrapped in His love and stay blessed. Deepika Emmanuel Sagar
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When the past returns to haunt you1/11/2023 “I—I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake and remember your sins no more. Remind me. Let’s argue the case together. Recount the facts, so that you may be vindicated,” (Isaiah 43:25-26 CSB). What do broken and despairing Christians tend to do when their sins come back to haunt them? They tend to focus on their failures and lose sight of the Lord Jesus Christ. His faithful promises once cherished and observed now somehow become blurry and obscure while past mistakes come into focus, playing over and over in their minds like a never-ending loop. In this state of mind, the voice of Satan the accuser always drowns out the voice of Jesus our Advocate. When we find ourselves in this position, it’s time to recount the facts and argue our case with God. He invites us to do so! We have a skilled attorney in Jesus who stands in our defense to advocate on our behalf. No, he doesn’t point to our goodness or our badness, He points to His sacrifice on Calvary and glorious resurrection. Let’s allow Him to plead our case. He always wins so we can quit believing the enemy's lies. Fellow believer, Jesus doesn’t want us living in the past, rehashing our old sins. He did a new thing — dying for our sins and rising again. God told his ancient people “Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert,” Isaiah 43:19 CSB… “The people I formed for myself will declare my praise.” Isaiah 43:21 CSB. That way in the wilderness is Jesus. Let’s lift up our heads and praise the Lord! Toni Babcock
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God's focus - Faith not faults1/10/2023 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Heb 11:6 BSB Do you tend to focus more on the faults of yourself and others? I have, at times. Have you ever tried doing the opposite? It makes a huge difference, helping relationships while combatting dis-ease with peace. When we focus on our faults, we express ingratitude for what God has done and make ourselves and others miserable. When we focus on the faults of the unsaved, we forget God's love and kindness is what saved us when we were in their position. When we focus on the faults of ourselves and other believers, instead of our faith, we do just the opposite of God. "I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8 NAS The hall of faith in Hebrews 11 is full of men and women of great faith and great sin. Their sins, doubts, worries, and fears listed plainly in the Old Testament, but God only lists and applauds their faith in Hebrews. God is always faithful to His Word, focusing on our faith, not our sin. "I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Isa 43:25 ESV … in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.2 Cor 5:19 ESV This New Year let's make our Father smile by focusing on our faith, what we get right, and our gratitude to Him for it all. When we meet others, let's love them as Christ loved us, focus on what they get right (no matter how small), encouraging their faith if they believe. For those we struggle with, let's start praying for their best right now, make a list of what they do right and focus on it until God's peace prevails. We will be thankful we did. So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Rom 14:19 BSB Michael Edwards
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“For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.” (2 Corinthians 1:8 NKJV) The apostle Paul wrote this passage being accustomed to facing severe hardships, trials, and extreme difficulties. We are not given the details of what had happened, but we may identify with what it feels like to be pushed beyond the limits of our human capacity to endure heavy tribulations. Even in our darkest hour when physically, emotionally, and spiritually depleted – when we feel at our wit’s end wanting to give up, our Lord has already provided heavenly how-to resources in living through life's worst adversities. As human beings we are amply supplied with every single thing required for the capacity of endurance; wisdom, strength, hope, and living one’s faith, for God’s divine power has given to us “…all things that pertain to life and godliness... by which have given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature...” (cf. 2 Peter 1:3-4 NKJV). When you, I, or we feel physically drained, with our thoughts sapped and emotionally fatigued, and the circumstances we find ourselves in unchanged, our hope lies in receiving, responding and participating from God’s holy nature, abiding in His forever promises. It is in the midst of these challenging ordeals, the sovereignty of God desires to work, transforming our inordinate human tendency to trust in people, sources, or things, to redirecting our minds, hearts and souls toward obtaining an assurance resulting in security and confidence within God’s unwavering, steadfast, loyal and faithful love. Lorraine Taylor
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Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (I Thessolonians 5:18 ESV). Many think God wants us to give thanks FOR all circumstances. The truth is that our verse says IN all circumstances. If we read it as FOR, then we believe our Good God, wants us to thank Him FOR cancer, poverty, our children’s illness, every awful thing and even God’s enemy death. However, if we read our verse as written, it states “give thanks IN all circumstances.” So, give thanks in all things, for what? The word tells us repeatedly that no matter where we find ourself, the best thing we can do is to remember God’s goodness and steadfast love towards us. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Psalm 118:1 ESV We give can give thanks even in the worst circumstances because our God is good and His steadfast love endures forever. No matter what we are experiencing, these are still true. He does not want us to doubt His great love or think we are alone in our situation. The truth of God’s goodness and steadfast love is found in a multitude of verses. These are truth filled, powerful, spiritual words of victory that were sung by Israel, leading to countless conquests in battle. They are weapons for our spiritual battles too, and will destroy enemy strongholds and bring us triumph too. “Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever.” 2 Chron 20:21b ESV God is always loving, kind, and for us, even when things are going wrong. He is a good Father all the time and His love for us always endures. A proper focus, shows us that God is greater than our problems and captivates our thoughts onto His steadfast love. This brings us His overcoming power, peace, rest and victory in our spiritual battles. Take your eyes off your troubles and look to Him. Let the battle be the Lords as you Focus on, memorize, meditate upon, sing out, and thank God for these two absolute truths. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136:1 ESV Michael Edwards
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1/17/2023
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