From: "Phil Rembleski" <PHIl@rescuechurchofchrist.org>

To: "1111RESCUEMEMBERS"

Cc:

Sent: Tue, Jun 20, 2023 at 5:48 AM

Subject: 6-20-23 THOUGHTS

6-20-23   THOUGHTS

There’s an old saying that  “we ought not to whittle on God’s end of the stick”!  The reading today is about a social situation.  The Church is social!  God seems to have the idea that people ought to love one another and get along peacefully.  We sometimes fail to cooperate with that plan!  “ACCEPTING” is not always easy for us.  Our need to be right frustrates acceptance. Judgment flows from selfish needs.  We are not given the assignment of determining who is right and who is wrong!  That’s God’s Job!  Verse 8 is a must for us to remember!  It provides us with our CONTROLLING REASON FOR LIFE!   WE ARE THE LORD’S!  

Rom 14:1-8     Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. 2  One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.  3  The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. 4  Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5  One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6  He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. 7  For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;  8  for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  
Titus 2:13-14    looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,  14  who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.


My Prayer:
O Father God, Your grace and mercy and love toward us demands our all.  We acknowledge that from very weak human bodies. We want better behavior and a closer walk with You.  We desire a greater zeal and passion as we present ourselves as Your children and servants.  May we see Your design for the Church as we learn more about loving each other as we bear fruit. Help us, O God, to shift the center of our world from self to You!  May our desire to be with You eternally be realized in the present tense, as we abide in You.   In the name of Jesus,     Amen.