11/7/13

From Ben Fronczek.... Fasting That Pleases God







Fasting that Pleases God


Fasting That Pleases God

In Matthew 6:16-18 Jesus said,  

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,  so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

In our study of Matthew 6, so far we learned that Jesus wanted His disciples to understand how important it is to take our religion serious and not to act like the Pharisees and teachers of old who seem more interested in showing off. As He raises the righteousness bar, in this lesson we are going to look at something that most Christians have little experience with, and that is fasting.

In all my years of being a Christian I am not sure if I ever heard a lesson preached on fasting. Many of us do not understand or or appreciation its significance.  Fasting done properly can be very powerful and life changing! I hear frustrated Christians asking questions related to their faith and religion and walking the walk of a Christian. I believe that by fasting that practice could help them get some answers and solutions.

For example; some say, ‘I have been praying about this thing so long and I just can’t seem to get an answer. Or, I have been struggling with this sin so long – How many times am I going to have to go around and around and deal with the cycle of sin, having to confess, repent, sin again, confess, repent and not moving forward?  Or, I’ve been just so discouraged. I don’t know what’s happening to me. I should be the happiest person in the world but I’m not.’

I personally believe that fasting is a tool that God has given us to help us find some answers to such questions and so much more. And I believe it just may be the missing ingredient in your life. I believe it is a lost discipline that Christians should be re-examining and taking full advantage of today. A survey of 100 Christians (take by James MacDonald) was taken and these people were asked the following question:  What is it that personally frustrates you as a Christians in your own life, in you own walk as a Christian? Here are the top five answers which given which Christian personally frustrated over in their life :

#5 -  The Inconsistency of their quiet time.I know I should walk with God.    I know I should read the Bible. I want to do it. Sometimes I try to use a study guide. Sometimes I make myself do it. But the fact of the matter is, a week goes by and I don’t do it at all. It’s been like that more than weeks or months at time. In all honesty it’s been like that for years. I know the right, I want the right, but I don’t choose the right. And it’s frustrating me.’

#4 –  I don’t sense God’s presence with me. ‘I sense it at church. I sense it occasionally in other places, but mostly my life is relatively secular.  I don’t think about God all the time. I don’t sense God at work. I don’t sense God in my home very much. Sometimes I wonder if we are really any different than our neighbors. Why don’t I sense God’s presences more when I love Him as I do?’     This is frustrating to many people.

#3 – I feel like I don’t measure up. ‘I have nagging areas of secret sin and attitudes I can’t shake. I have anger inside. I have bitterness inside. I Lust, I struggle with fear and anxiety and depression. I have secret sins that trip me up. In a lot of ways God has helped me grow, but in some certain areas I wonder if I’ve progressed at all.’

#2 – Where’s the miracles? ‘Where’s the answered prayers? The Bible is filled with stories of them. How about just one God? You know I hear about other Christians that have had miraculous things happen; answered prayer, break troughs with specific things that they’ve prayed about. But I feel like I prayed for a lot of things a lot of times and I am just not seeing that much happening.’     And that frustrates many Christians.
So  far the things that frustrate Christians:   - Inconsistent quiet time  - Not sensing His presence like I want.  - Feeling like we don’t measure up. Having certain areas we struggle with. - Not seeing the answer to prayers and the breakthroughs we long for

- And the  #1 thing that frustrates Christians is quality of their own their prayer time  ‘I said that I want to pray more and what happens, I didn’t do it. I want to, I know that it is right to do but just don’t seem to do it as much as I should. And that frustrates me and I feel guilty about it.’
Some people would say, “Well you don’t change because you don’t want to.”  That is not correct.  The problem is not that we don’t want to; the problem is that even though you feel you like you want to, you want other things more.
So what can I do when the things that I want the most don’t become my reality. The problem is that I am not getting from knowing what’s best to doing what’s best and so I feel stuck and frustrated.

Now God has given us some tools to break these cycles of frustration, but even some of the tools He has given us require us wanting to use them. Study of God’s word can help break these patterns. Memorizing scripture reading God’s word can help. But what has God given me to break the pattern of not doing the thing I want to do most? Answer, FASTING.

If you don’t believe me I would challenge you to take a concordance and look up the word fasting and how much it is used in your Bible. You will be shocked how frequently the subject of fasting comes up in scripture. It’s in the OT and it’s in the NT. It’s in the Gospels and it’s in the epistles. Jesus fasted regularly. He even fasted for 40 day and nights before he launched out into His three year ministry.

So what is the definition of fasting for a Christian: It is

“Abstaining from foods (or something else) for measured periods of time in order to heighten one’s hunger for the things of God.”    

I declare that fasting can ignite your hunger for God. If we do it for the right reason, as you yearn and hunger for food or whatever you have give up, it can help you turn to the Lord. When you turn your hunger to Him and give it to Him as a sacrifice to be closer to Him, it helps clears your mind to receive His will.

Unfortunately, whether we realize it or not, one problem that most of us have is that we are addicted and enslaved to food. We think we can’t go without it even for a day.   But again that’s not true. We can be enslaved even to good things, things that are good for us, whether it be food, or sex, or exercise, rest or a bunch of other things. Anything that can empower you can be set aside for a time to break it’s potential enslavement.  When we fast that enslavement is broken and we are able to focus on our hunger for what we really want.

Listen to what Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 6:12-13,

“Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything. “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.”

Anything that I have to have can enslave me. Paul said I am not going to let anything, anything enslave me.  Fasting also can reveal the things that control us. It also humbles us and shows us our true selves. As Jesus was teaching the Sermon on the Mt. He show that our Fasting can be misplaced. We can do it for a bunch of reasons other than trying to draw to God.  

In Zechariah 7:5 God ask the Jews that very question. He Asked, 

“When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?  And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?”   

That’s what the Pharisees were doing in Jesus’ time. And we can do the same thing fasting for reasons other than to drawing closer to God.


As you read this you see how displeased the Lord was with their fasting, but then in the following verses 6-12 we not only see the importance of fasting properly, but also the actions and attitudes one should have that please the Lord.  

Read Isaiah 58:6- 12 (Click on verse to read)  


There are some indications as to why we should fast here:

#1) In verses 6 it indicates that proper fasting will help when we have a heavy burdens to deal with. If you have been carrying a heavy burden and you’ve been carrying it for a long time and you are not seeing the changes you need to see, it time to fast.  I challenge you to skip lunch for a whole week and rather than eating give that time to God praying about this. Let the gnawing in your stomach heighten your hunger for God Maybe you are burdened because someone, maybe in your family, is not walking with God and you’ve prayed and prayed for them. Have you fasted? Have you fasted and prayed that God may break the yoke that enslaves them?

#2 Vs 7 seems to indicate we may need to fast in order to get the right attitude about giving, sharing and helping others.

#3 In Vs 8 it seems to me that we may need to fast when we need direction and the Lord’s encouragement and support.

#4 And in Vs 9 we need to fast when I need an answer to prayer vs 9

#5 Vs 9b -10 Seems to indicate that it will help us get back on the right track.

#6 Vs 11 seems to indicate that if we fast the Lord will guide us and satisfy our needs. He said you will be like a well watered garden.


Does something has a hold on you? You want to do the right thing, but can’t seem to do it? You wish you could move from knowing to doing. When you are in a sinful pattern, when you have a heavy burden, when you need direction — any time you need more of what only God can provide — you need to develop the discipline of fasting. Let this practice ignite your hunger for God and increase your capacity to choose that which truly satisfies; and that is living in obedience to your Heavenly Father.

Based on a sermon by Dr. James MacDonald   
For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

From Jim McGuiggan.... Homosexuals and Homosexuals

Homosexuals and Homosexuals

Romans 1:18-32 has a central agenda: to proclaim the Gentile world under God’s just condemnation for its sin. But that central concern is part of a larger purpose. It underscores human unfaithfulness as a startling contrast to God’s faithfulness. He purposed to bring his creation to final glory and righteousness in a “last Adam” (Jesus Christ—a purpose he began to execute in Genesis 1) and he wouldn’t walk away from it despite the human family’s treachery.

Whether we like it or not part of God’s redeeming of the human family and bringing it to glory is his giving it over to wallowing in its sins and in the long (but not exhaustive) list of sins is homosexuality. People simply have to work too hard to get around Romans 1 when they insist that homosexuality is just as pleasing to God as honourable heterosexuality. When we reduce human sexuality to mere animal passion we’ve taken leave of the Bible—as we do when we reduce anything to the mere mechanical or physical.

Homosexuality is not only our sin it is the mark of God’s judgment on a more broadly sinful human family; it is only one of the ulcers that breaks out on the body of the human family and tells us that down below there is a systemic infection.

The redemptive judgment of God and human sin go hand in hand and is a very complex matter though it isn’t obscure. Where it appears obscure it’s complex and its great complexity is what overwhelms us. It’s hardly worth saying that we can’t get to the bottom of it because we’re simply not up to it—intellectually or morally—but patient and obedient and prayerful reflection will bring us a lot of truth and deliver us from much ignorance.

I don’t believe the judgment of God is arbitrary. I believe he has taught us about his character and the manner in which he relates to the human family and we must keep that in mind as a guideline as we draw conclusions.

As a general truth, I don’t believe that God wakes in the morning (so to speak) and decides to kill this or that person, maim this or that person, send this or that calamity though I accept that he may on occasion choose to do so (Sodom, Nadab and Abihu and others). Even on those occasions there is nothing arbitrary about the judgment. He has set in motion and maintains a stream of judgment against sin (Genesis 3) that engulfs the human family (the innocent as well as the guilty).

I know of children born with horrendous physical/mental disabilities and I have no reason to doubt that some children are born with their sexual wiring all shot to pieces.

I see no wrong at all in “gender reassignment” surgery where that is the case and where the patient means to live honourably in the role to which their inner structure points. [Click for a little more.] We’re happy that a child born with major organs on the outside of its body can have surgery to fix the situation and I think where the case is genuine we should be happy too for those who have surgery to fix the “gender situation”.

I’ve no reason to doubt that there are some born with the make-up that when it is developed hungers for sexual experience with persons of the same sex. I think this is the outworking of humanity’s rebellion under God’s redemptive judgment. I think the same is true of the terrible abnormalities we hear about every day. I don’t mean that this is God punishing those individuals or that God arbitrarily chooses to maim or warp these specific individuals. [The matter of human interdependence counts heavily here.]

But the reality of a given condition doesn’t determine that the condition should be accepted as “normal”. Much less does it mean that conduct stemming from such a condition (say, homosexual “wiring”) should be regarded as “normal” or “acceptable”. A baby with an entire intestinal tract on the outside of its body is not regarded as “normal” though it is very real. We work to heal that situation.

I don’t know enough about the inner workings of a human in relation to genetic predisposition and environment to speak with complete certainty—of course! Nor does anyone else I know about! But I do know that those who have a profound addiction to prey on children—however we are to explain their condition—are not to be regarded as normal and certainly their behaviour is not be thought of as acceptable. The drive may be real but it must be resisted. It must be resisted no matter how difficult that resistance is. God is able to take into account all varying degrees of power to resist and he will judge righteously. Heterosexual people (apparently) are born with varying degrees of sexual hunger that range all the way from none to profound addiction. [It seems certain that environment would strengthen or weaken the predisposition.] This would mean that some people are more severely tested in this area than others. Some people will never commit sexual adultery because they don’t have it in them. [Where that is the case the person might rightly be happy at the abstinence but there'd be little point in bragging on it.] There are others whose sexual appetite is very pronounced but they won’t commit adultery because they simply refuse to do it. [The elements involved in that great refusal are no doubt many. It’d be easy to come up with a long list of them that would be perfectly sensible. For example, does the spouse see to it that the other is fully satisfied, do they have other honourable hungers that balance the sexual need? And so forth.]

The point I want to make here is this: it isn’t only homosexual people who have drives that must be controlled—they are not the only people under stress and they mustn’t think of themselves in that way; mustn't see themselves as the only "victims" of a very powerful drive.

It’s true that heterosexual people have avenues of satisfaction that are not open to some (most?) homosexual people. That is, heterosexual people can honourably satisfy their sexual hunger. That’s true, but it isn’t true for all heterosexual people. Most Christians (I suspect) would say that full sexual experience is to be enjoyed only between husband and wife; at least that is the standard by which they seek to live and that is often a severe test for single people—but hosts of them live up to it. Then there are those who due to health reasons aren’t able to cherish and enjoy one another in the sexual way; they too are faced with living without sexual satisfaction.

All of this to say: the existence of the hunger doesn’t give us the liberty to satisfy it if the means of satisfaction is dishonourable in the sight of God. [Of course, for those who care nothing about God there is nothing to be discussed. Everything goes—bestiality included.]

What, then, of a person with very strong homosexual drives who wants to be a Christian? They certainly can be! But in my view, as I understand the Hebrew—Christian scriptures, they must wrestle against the urge to do the wrong and pursue with honour the life God is calling us all to. They must do that in the same way others who go hungry must do it. Those who are left without sexual satisfaction and who feel the deep hunger for it (hetero or homosexual) must learn to live without it.
“Yes, but that’s easy for heterosexuals to say!”
Is it? Hmmm.  You understand that most of the above infuriates many homosexual activists. They resent being told they’re “wired up” wrong. They vehemently insist that homosexuality is a choice with them. I don’t doubt for a moment that that’s true for that particular group and I think Romans 1 comes right home at this point. Then there would be many homosexuals who would say that they were born homosexual but that it's not a matter of "wrong wiring" and that humans don't come in just one "flavour". They think it is as normal as maleness and femaleness, as the variation in ethnic groups. I can't share that view and think however we explain its precise development that homosexuality is one of the markers (along with adultery and other moral wrongs) of humanity's alienation from the God who cares for all of us.
I’m more concerned at this point with those who are burdened with hungers they didn’t seek, hungers they don’t approve and who are struggling with little help or understanding from the rest of us. At the end of the movie Streets of Philadelphia we have Neil Young’s song in which the homosexual character makes this appeal. To Philadelphia he says:
City of brotherly love
Place I call home
Don’t turn your back on me
I don’t want to be alone.
I find that appeal profoundly moving and I can’t help thinking that there are those battling a great battle who long to acknowledge the City of God as their home and they ask us not to turn our backs on them but to join them in the great enterprise instead of holding them at arm’s length. Heterosexual sexual sinners—though not always and everywhere—get a lot of sympathy and compassion. Homosexuals get…?

I’m open to criticism on this—write me if you wish.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.


Note from Gary...

Jim's take on this subject is his own; I prefer to let Romans Chapter 1 just speak for its self.  After being exposed to this chapter, there is a choice to be made- Shall I continue in practising this sin???  I pray those involved in this sin will make the right choice and stop sinning because of God's love for them.

From Mark Copeland... The Conversion Of The Colossians (1:21-23)






                     "THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS"

               The Conversion Of The Colossians (1:21-23)

INTRODUCTION

1. We noticed in the previous lesson that Paul was describing "The
   Pre-Eminent Christ" - Col 1:13-20

2. The last point made by Paul was that Jesus was "The Reconciler Of All
   Things" - Col 1:20

3. As a case in point, Paul reminds the Colossians they too had been
   "reconciled" to God through Jesus Christ - Col 1:21-23

[In this study we will examine "The Conversion Of The Colossians" as 
described in this passage, with a view towards understanding and 
appreciating our own reconciliation with God...]

I. THE CONVERSION OF THE COLOSSIANS (21-23)

   A. BEFORE THEIR CONVERSION...
      1. Paul said they were "alienated and enemies"
         a. The word "alienated" comes from apallotrioo
            {ap-al-lot-ree-o'-o}, which means:
            1) to alienate, estrange
            2) to be shut out from one's fellowship and intimacy
         b. The word "enemies" is from echthros {ech-thros'}, and
            describes that which is:
            1) hated, odious, hateful
            2) hostile, hating, and opposing another;
            3) used of men as at enmity with God by their sin
      2. Why were they this way?
         a. Because in both THOUGHT and DEED they were sinners!
         b. As Paul writes:  "...enemies in your mind by wicked works"

   B. BUT NOW THEY ARE RECONCILED!
      1. How so?  Two things are mentioned in the context...
         a. Earlier, in verse 20, Paul mentions "the blood of His
            cross"
         b. Now, in verses 21-22, Paul says they were reconciled "in
            the body of His flesh through death"
         -- Both of these phrases emphasize that Jesus suffered IN THE
            FLESH, something some people in those days denied - cf. 
            2Jn 1:7; He 2:9,14
      2. Through the offering of Jesus' body and blood, they were now
         reconciled (brought back) to God; they are now presented to God
         as:
         a. "holy" - sanctified, set apart for God's use
         b. "blameless" - without being guilty of anything worthy of
            blame
         c. "irreproachable" - guilty of nothing that can be called into
            to account; unreproveable, unaccused, blameless
      3. Note that this wonderful condition is how GOD viewed them ("in
         His sight")!

   C. THEIR RECONCILIATION TO GOD AND EXALTED CONDITION CONTINUES
      "IF..."
      1. They "continue in the faith"
      2. They remain "grounded and steadfast"
      3. They "are not moved away from the hope of the gospel"

[In "The Conversion Of The Colossians," we have seen...

   1) That they had been grave sinners, enemies and alienated from God
   2) Yet, they had been reconciled to God
      a) Through Jesus' death on the cross
      b) Such so they were now "holy, blameless, and irreproachable in
         His sight"
   3) But their reconciliation appears conditional, dependent upon their
      continued faithfulness and steadfast hope!

Now let's make some...]

II. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

   A. THE COLOSSIANS' CONDITION PRIOR TO RECONCILIATION WAS NOT UNIQUE
      1. True, they had been wicked sinners, enemies, and alienated from
         God
      2. But so were we all! - cf. Ep 2:1-3; Tit 3:3
      3. Anyone who thinks otherwise is ignorant of:
         a. The terribleness of sin
         b. The awesome holiness and justice required of God's character
      4. To better understand how the opposition of sin and God's
         holiness...
         a. Consider what ONE sin will do:  make us as guilty as though
            we have broken the entire law! - cf. Jm 2:10
         b. Consider the price necessary to redeem us from sin - the 
            death of God's Beloved Son!
         c. Contemplate the "words of anguish" uttered by Jesus as He
            bore our sins upon the cross ("My God, My God, why have You
            forsaken Me?") - Mt 27:46

   B. OUR RECONCILIATION WITH GOD IS MADE POSSIBLE ONLY THROUGH JESUS'
      DEATH ON THE CROSS
      1. Good works cannot reconcile us back to God
         a. Such as "church-going", acts of mercy and kindness, etc.
         b. If so, then Cornelius would have been saved by them
            1) For he certainly was a "good man" - cf. Ac 10:1-2
            2) But as recounted by Peter, the angel told Cornelius that
               he still needed to have Peter tell him what to do to be
               saved - cf. Ac 11:13-14
      2. Though "good works" are essential as disciples of Jesus Christ
         (cf. Tit 2:14; 3:1,8,14), the bottom line is this:
         a. We are "justified" (declared "not guilty") by Christ's blood
            - Ro 5:9
         b. Only the "blood of His cross" can cleanse us from sin! - Ep 1:7; 1Jn 1:7
      3. The crucial question, then, is how can one benefit from the 
         blood of Jesus?
         a. At first, through a penitent faith when we are baptized into
            Christ - Ac 2:38
            1) For in baptism, we are united with Christ in His death - 
               Ro 6:3-8
            2) And in baptism, we are "clothed with" (or "put on")
               Christ - Ga 3:27
            -- So united with Christ and clothed with Him, we enjoy all
               the spiritual blessings to be found by being in Him,
               including "redemption through His blood"! - Ep 1:7
         b. Then, as needed, we have access to the blood of Jesus
            through repentance and prayer - 1Jn 1:9; e.g., Ac 8:22
      4. Only in this way can we be "holy, blameless, and
         irreproachable" in God's sight!

   C. OUR RECONCILIATION IS CONDITIONAL!
      1. Notice again that Paul says "IF INDEED YOU CONTINUE..." - Col 1:23
         a. Once saved (reconciled to God), we can still be lost!
         b. What about "the security of the believer?"
            1) Though the Bible does teach the security of the BELIEVER
            2) It also teaches the insecurity of the UNBELIEVER
            3) And it teaches that a BELIEVER, if not diligent, can
               become an UNBELIEVER! - cf. He 3:12-19; He 4:1-2,11
      2. And so, Paul emphasizes that we must "continue in the faith",
         which involves:
         a. Being "grounded and steadfast" (thus the need for follow-up)
         b. "not moved away from the hope of the gospel," which can
            occur through:
            1) Error or false doctrine - cf. 2Pe 3:17
            2) Temptations to sin - cf. 2Pe 2:20-22
            3) Trials and hardships in life - cf. Re 2:10

CONCLUSION

1. What have we learned from "The Conversion Of The Colossians"?
   a. First, a reminder to those who are Christians...
      1) Of where they once were
      2) Of the blessings they now enjoy in Christ
      3) Of the need to remain faithful to the end
   b. But also, a lesson to those not Christians...
      1) Pointing out where they are right now in their sins, as God
         views them
      2) Revealing where they can be, if they will respond so as to
         benefit from the blessings of Jesus' death on the cross
      3) That being a Christian will require continued steadfastness and
         growth on their part

2. We close with an observation concerning Paul's remark about the
   gospel, which even in his day "was preached to every creature under
   heaven" (Col 1:23)...
   a. In this lesson, I have shared the basics of the gospel to every
      person who receives this lesson
   b. Have you obeyed the gospel?  If not, why not now?  Remember it was
      Jesus who said:

      Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
      creature.  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
      but he that believeth not shall be damned. - Mk 16:15-16

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

From Gary... Beauty Revealed

































My dog Pal.  Saved from being put down, timid, untrained, cage kept and afraid of everything!!!!  Yes, when we bought him several months ago he was like this- but not now!!!  When he is awake, he spends almost every moment with me and feels compelled to sleep on my left foot.  When it is time for bed he always goes to his cage (forever unlocked) and lays down as the above pictures show.  This week he had a nice haircut from a friendly pet groomer in Dade City, who had such nice things to say about him (Suzette's, in case you are looking for some place to go) that I ALMOST BLUSHED!!!  Anyway, I think the cut was flattering, but more than that, he is one happy animal!!!  When I attempt to put the leash on him he prances and dances with joy.  You know, having dogs is like having young children again- truly a joy!!!  So, it is nice to have a beautiful contented dog (actually both of the dogs are, but the other one gets a cut next month), but his beauty is revealed in the love he shares- not in the nice haircut.  As I thought about this, I wondered: What is beauty anyway?  Immediately, I thought of the following passages from the Bible...

Isaiah, Chapter 52
1 Awake, awake, put on your strength, Zion; put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.  2 Shake yourself from the dust! Arise, sit up, Jerusalem! Release yourself from the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Zion!  3 For thus says Yahweh, “You were sold for nothing; and you shall be redeemed without money.” 
  4 For thus says the Lord Yahweh, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to live there: and the Assyrian has oppressed them without cause.

  5 “Now therefore, what do I do here,” says Yahweh, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them mock,” says Yahweh, “and my name continually all the day is blasphemed.

  6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore they shall know in that day that I am he who speaks; behold, it is I.” 
  7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
  8 The voice of your watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when Yahweh returns to Zion.  9 Break out into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.  10 Yahweh has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 


Romans, Chapter 10
1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved.  2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.  3 For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God.  4 For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.  5 For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, “The one who does them will live by them.”  6 But the righteousness which is of faith says this, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down);  7 or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)”  8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart”; that is, the word of faith, which we preach:  9 that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  10 For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.” 

  12  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him.  13 For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher?  15 And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”

If you are young and beautiful, enjoy it; it won't last. If you are older and look in the mirror and long for youth- forget it!!!  Genuine beauty is revealed by more than outward appearance- it is the revelation of the inner bliss that only love can achieve.  Since an absolute state of love resides only in God, it makes sense to  follow him (and for many other reasons as well) and be happy!!!!  The best thing you can do in this world is share that love and the very best example of it is what Jesus did for all those who obey him!!!  This is GOOD NEWS in a world that will stomp on you, hate you, and use in every obnoxious way possible.  So, if today, someone comes to you with that sweet story of Heaven, listen intently and realize that they are beautiful to you- even their smelly feet.