From: "Phil Rembleski" <PHIl@rescuechurchofchrist.org>
To: "1111RESCUEMEMBERS"
Sent: Tue, Mar 21, 2023 at 5:49 AM
Subject: 3-21-23 THOUGHTS
3-21-23 THOUGHTS
I am a follower of Christ! I bear the name Christian proudly. I try to be a teacher and a guide and a light. Evidently, there were Jews who thought of themselves similarly relating to their religious belief who were not doing a good job! Verse 24 tells the story... "THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU." Being a disciple of Christ must be more than a name tag! At the end of our reading, there is a discussion of INWARD and OUTWARD! Christ must be “written on my heart” and practiced in my life.
In our Tuesday class this morning, we will consider the words in Col 3:4 “When Christ, who is our life,”. Paul said “I am crucified with Christ”, and Jesus instructed His followers to “take up their cross daily, and follow Him”. Gal 2:20 and Luke 9:23. I will succeed in this thinking to the degree that my desire to be a MAN OF GOD is real and powerful! We are addressing eternal things. There is a vast difference between my BEING and my PRETENDING to be!
Rom 2:17-29 But if you bear the name "Jew" and rely upon the Law and boast in God, 18 and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 21 you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? 24 For "THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU," just as it is written. 25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law? 28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.
My Prayer:
Father, help us to be the people we want to be. Convert our weakness to strength. May our hearts desire You, O God, sufficiently that our motivation is continually toward You. May Christ be our lives. Cease our self-servingness and draw us to our living Lord. May the light of Jesus be known by the communion of believers in our place, striving together in love. With Your strength and power, O God, we can. In the sweet name of our Savior, Amen.