Category Archives: Soul

Rescue

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A FEW WEEKS ago an interesting phenomenon occurred that had Israeli scientists baffled…
A Gray whale appeared off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Gray whales have not been seen in the Atlantic Ocean for hundreds of years. Apparently the big fella got a little lost as scientists suspect he swam in all the way from the Pacific Ocean. This event had me wondering in numerous ways… about whales.
It reminded me of a story written in the San Francisco Chronicle about a female Humpback that had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. Weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat, with hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, tail, and torso, and a line tugging in her mouth.
Thankfully, a fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was in such bad condition the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her, a very dangerous proposition. One slap of her enormous tail could kill a rescuer. Undaunted, these brave souls worked for hours cutting her free. Finally, they were able to free her. The moment she was freed, the divers say she began to swim in circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, gently — as if to say, “Thank you.”
THOUGHT: There are deeply wounded and entangled souls in our communities who are desperate and near to sinking, never to be seen again. Where are the brave souls ready to risk the danger and gather a team of rescuers to cut them loose and bring them to joyous freedom from sin? Isn’t this exactly what our Lord has done for us? worthydevotions.com
KneEmail: “But others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.” Jude 23
Bible reading for 11.23.10: James 5; Ezekiel 20, 21
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Glory

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masterpiece2.jpg IMAGINE HAVING THE world’s most valuable masterpiece, a work of art that would bring thirty or forty million dollars if you auctioned it…
Then imagine that instead of taking that masterpiece to the auction, you took it to a pawn shop, pawned it for twenty bucks, and blew the whole wad on crayons and paper so you could decorate your own walls.
Or imagine being offered a lifetime pass to the city’s best buffet spread, only to reject it in favor of one meal at a truck stop. Silly? Ludicrous? Absolutely insane? All of that and more. People with even an ounce of sense don’t squander glory on garbage. But that’s that idolatry is. That’s what the people of Judah were doing in Jeremiah’s day, and that’s what we do with alarming ease today.
Think about how much God is worth. He can create anything, so whatever we have, He has something better. He governs and sustains everything, so every circumstance we encounter must bow to Him. And He has promised lavish blessings for eternity, so all our cravings will be exgtravagantly exceeded by His good gifts. Logically, there’s nothing we would take in exchange for a relationship with this God. Practically, that’s exactly what we often do. Chris Tiegreen, “Garbage and Glory,” The One Year Worship The King Devotional, June 5
KneEmail: “Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit.” Jeremiah 2:11
Bible reading for 09.08.10: 2 Corinthians 1; Proverbs 3-5
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Intrusion

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zacchaeus.jpg WHEN I THINK of Zacchaeus, I see Danny DeVito–someone short, crooked, and a little flamboyant…
As an employee of the Roman government who made himself rich by skimming the tax money, Zacchaeus was ostracized from Jewish society. He’s scum. And since he manages the local tax collectors, he’s a crook managing other crooks. His mere presence disgusts his fellow Jews because he is a reminder that they are an occupied country. Roman soldiers stand next to his tollbooth, enforcing his collections.
But Jesus boldly intrudes into Zacchaeus’s life. He stops and looks up at him, and then invites Himself over for dinner and to stay the night. This is similar to the President stopping his motorcade to say he’s coming to your house–Jesus is the hottest thing to hit Israel in a few hundred years. If you were Zacchaeus, you’d be honored. Yet I doubt the President would say “I must stay” or “come down immediately” (literally, “hurry up”).
But in the first century “good people” didn’t eat with tax collectors because a meal was not just about eating; it was a sharing of life. Jesus’ willingness to eat with Zacchaeus told everyone that Jesus not only accepted the tax collector, He also forgave him. This disgusted the crowd. Jesus had broken a social taboo.
When we love, we get dirty. Here the dirt comes the opinions of people who look down on Jesus for associating with someone who has stolen from his fellow Jews and divided their money between himself and the Roman government.
Why does Jesus intrude? He’s on a God-directed mission to seek and save what was lost. Jesus sought out Zacchaes. He didn’t just wait for people to come to Him. He is an invading king. But what a strange kingdom: the poor, outcasts, prostitutes, Samaritans, and women! No wonder Jesus told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Paul E. Miller, “Saying ‘Yes’ To Gentle Intrusion,” Love Walked Among Us, 149-150
KneEmail: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10
Bible reading for 07.23.10: Acts 24; Psalm 33, 34
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Undeserved

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Jesus knock2.jpgA MAN IN his sixties was walking down the street of a modern subdivision…
In his hand was a scrap of paper from a doctor’s office with a name and address scribbled in pencil. As the man approached the house, he waded the paper and pushed it into his pocket. He made his way to the front door, pushed the doorbell button, and waited anxiously.
Earlier that day, the man had been reading a medical journal in a doctor’s office wiating room when he came across an interesting article about organ donation. He was reading how so many people were on waiting-lists for kidney transplants, and how some would surely die waiting. As he closed the journal, still waiting for his name to be called, he imagined what it would be like too be dying in a waiting room. Right then, he made the decision to donate one of his kidneys.
An hour after asking his doctor for a lead, he was standing out in the cold on the doorstep of a complete stranger. As he herd the door being unlocked from the inside, he was eager to look upon the face of the one who would benefit from his sacrifice. The door pulled open.
“If you’re selling something, I’m not interested.” The first response was automatic. The man inside was middle-aged and appeared somewhat annoyed by his uninvited guest. “No, I’m not selling anything sir,” the older man answered back. “Actually, I guess it might seem odd why I’m here, but you see, I was just out walking and this air is terribly cold, so I thought perhaps you would allow me to step in for a few moments to warm up…” The man inside hesitated for a couple of seconds, glancing back and then sighing with a hint of frustration. “Alright, come on in.” The invitation was cold and half-empty.
The older man stepped into the warm house, and for the next few minutes, he did everything he could to carry on small-talk with the stranger. More than anything, he just wanted a glimpse of who this man was, a peek at the life he would spare. But it soon became evident that this man was ready for his guest to leave. “Sorry, but I’ve got something planned, so I’m afriad you’re going to have to be on your way now.”
The older man generously offered his thanks and quickly stepped back out into the cold. As he walked away from the house, he paused and looked back. Through the large front window, he watched as the man inside plopped down in front of a television and reclined back in his chair. It was precisely at this moment, as he looked upon the undeserving man, that he smiled and said to himself, “This is the man I want to help.”
THOUGHT: Why choose to help someone who doesn’t deserve it? When Jesus came to this earth, he voluntarily sacrificed himself to offer us hope — and certainly not because we deserved it. As Christ hung on the cross, He looked down upon an undeserving crowd of spectators and cried, “Father, forgive them…” Thank God that His desire to save the hopeless was not detoured by rejection. Alan Pitchford
KneEmail: “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:7-8
Bible reading for 11.04.09: Hebrews 1; Jeremiah 32, 33
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Health

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healthcare6.jpgTHE FUTURE OF our nation’s health care system is in the spotlight…
Congress has been asked to pass a package of legislation with an unimaginable price tag. No one denies that there is a need to make changes to our present system. The way to fix the system is where paths diverge.
But there’s another matter that should take even higher priority: our souls.
Jesus affirmed that truth: “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26, NKJV).
One’s spiritual well-being, however, is low on the list for most people. As long as life is going reasonably well, why fret over religion?
Religion was not on the to-do list of the rich man of Luke 16. He “fared sumptuously every day”, according to Jesus, and didn’t notice the beggar lying at his gate (Luke 16:19-21).
When he died his perspective changed.
Finding himself in flames, his only concerns were a drop of water to cool his tongue and someone to warn his brothers — still living — not to come to “this place of torment” (Luke 16:24-28). Food, clothes and housing were no longer important to him.
How we need to hear the message of God’s word! Our lives are much more than the physical. As Jesus taught in the passage above, we each have a soul that can be lost.
If we lose that soul, nothing we attained or enjoyed on earth will matter in eternity.
Nothing.
Paul taught that the Lord’s supper is an opportunity for spiritual self-examination. If we discern the Lord’s body, he said, we do well.
But those who neglect this weekly appointment, or whose minds wander as the elements pass by, face a danger: “For this reason many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep” (1 Corinthians 11:30).
Paul wasn’t discussing physical sickness.
John’s concern for those to whom he wrote must become our concern: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2).
Yes, our physical health matters. But the prosperity of our souls is paramount.
Is it well with your soul? (Tim Hall at: http://www.forthright.net)
KneEmail: “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
Bible reading for 07.17.09: Acts 20:17-38; Job 18, 19
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Mattress

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mattress.jpgJERUSALEM — An Israeli woman mistakenly threw out a mattress with $1 million inside, setting off a frantic search through tons of garbage at a number of landfill sites, Israeli media reported Wednesday.
The woman told Army Radio that she bought her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise on Monday and threw out the old one, only to discover that her mother had hidden her life savings inside. She was identified only as Anat, a resident of Tel Aviv.
When she went to look for the mattress it had already been taken by garbage men, she said. Subsequent searches at three different landfill sites turned up nothing.
The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot published a picture of the woman searching through garbage at a dump in southern Israel.
Yitzhak Borba, the dump manager, told the radio station that his staff was helping the woman, saying she appeared “totally desperate.” He said the mattress was hard to find among the 2,500 tons of garbage arriving at the site every day.
He said he increased security at the site to keep would-be treasure hunters at bay.
For her part, Anat said it could be worse. “People have to take everything in proportion and thank God for the good and the bad,” she said.
THOUGHT: Loosing a $1M would be bad; loosing your soul would be a lot worse.
KneEmail: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” Mark 8:36
Bible reading for 07.11.09: Matthew 19:1-22; Ezra 1, 2
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