Pathways For Sojourners

[Beetow]

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Hello;

Some years ago, just for the adventure of it, I set out compiling some directions
one might take in accord with Matt 28:19-20 suitable for all Jesus' followers
regardless of denominational affiliation. In time I realized that my rough-hewn
walks in the park, accompanied by a little commentary, would make a pretty good
devotional similar to the old standby "Our Daily Bread" pioneered by Dr. M.R. DeHaan.

● Matt 11:28-30 . . Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my
burden is light.

Buen Camino
Pleasant Journey
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[Beetow]

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001) Acts 15:20 . . Abstain from food tainted by idols,

In the old Roman world, nourishment dedicated to pagan deities was
oftentimes sold as groceries. Most of us here in the USA will likely never
encounter that kind of food in Costco, Safeway and/or Whole Foods whereas
markets in other parts of the world might carry stuff like that.

. . Abstain from promiscuity

Promiscuity typically refers to things like adultery, incest, shacking up, one night
stands, sleeping around with swingers and/or escorts and working girls, etc.

. . Abstain from the meat of strangled animals.

Strangulation is a slow, inhumane way to die. If you know that the meat you're
being served came from an animal that was choked to death, consider it food fit
only for predatory beasts. We want nothing to do with animal abuse.

But the point is: a strangled animal's blood hasn't been properly drained before
butchering it for human consumption.

. . And abstain from blood.

In other words: folks unified with Christ are forbidden to imbibe blood as a
beverage.

There are cultures that poke holes in cows' necks in order to drink blood straight
out of the living animal utilizing its own blood pressure like a tap to fill their cups; a
rather ghastly repast that might be okay for pagans and barbarians but certainly
not for us.
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[Beetow]

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002) Rom 6:11 . . Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

"dead to sin" in this case doesn't mean that folks unified with Christ can't, won't,
and/or don't sin-- in point of fact it would be utterly dishonest of them to claim
otherwise. (1John 1:8-10) It means that sin can no longer give God cause to slam
them with the sum of all fears.

● Rom 6:3-11 . . Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into his death? . . For we know that our old self was crucified
with him

● Gal 2:20 . . I am crucified with Christ

● Col 3:2-3 . . Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For
you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

NOTE: "in Christ Jesus" is a position similar to Noah's position in the ark. Getting
into the ark was a simple physical action, whereas getting into Christ Jesus requires
the assistance of a complex supernatural action. More on that later; meanwhile
suffice it to say that as his position in the ark provided Noah safety from the Flood,
so their unification with Christ Jesus provides folks safety from the great white throne
event depicted by Rev 20:11-15.
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[Beetow]

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003) Rom 6:12-13 . . Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its
evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of
wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought
from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of
righteousness.

That's essentially the same instructions that God passed on to Cain; to wit:

"If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right,
sin is crouching at your door;" (Gen 4:7a)

That's the very first instance in the Bible of the word "sin". The Hebrew word
basically means an offense; as in repeat offender. In other words; not just an
occasional slip-up, but a life style, i.e. habits.

"It desires to have you, but you must master it." (Gen 4:7b)

That's the first mention of self control in the Bible. In other words: God created
humanity with the capability to choose bad ways for itself; but that's only half the
story. God also created humanity with the capability to choose good ways for itself;
so He wasn't requiring something impossible from Cain like touching his right elbow
with the thumb of his right hand. So if self control was within the capabilities of a
brutish man like Cain, then I should think self control would be within the
capabilities of Christians too.
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[Beetow]

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004) Rom 12:1 . . Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.

The Greek word for "sacrifice" technically refers to a victim; but it's not always
applied that way. For example speaking well of God, doing good, and sharing are
legitimate sacrifices. (Heb 13:15-16)

The sacrifice required herein is a living sacrifice rather than deceased so Christ's
followers don't have to martyr themselves in order to fulfill it; but their bodies do
have to be holy in order to be accepted; which means avoiding things that defile
their bodies like indecency, promiscuity, adultery, and LGBT stuff.

The Bible calls those requirements "reasonable". In other words: It isn't asking too
much of the folks unified with Christ to keep themselves pure.
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[Beetow]

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005) Rom 12:2 . . Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God.

Bible reading is a good place to begin with Rom 12:2; however, the ways of God
aren't meant to be self-taught; they're meant to be instructed by teachers
empowered by God for that specific purpose. (Rom 12:4-8, 1Cor 12:1-30)

Sermons and Sunday school classes are Christianity's traditional sources of
teaching. But these days with radio, television, and the internet; competent God
given spiritual expositors are wide-spread and readily available. In centuries gone
past, it was necessary to journey to hear them speak. Nowadays, they speak to the
whole world by means of electronic gadgets.

* Beware construing 1John 2:27 as an excuse to circumvent instruction. When
Christians do that, they risk stunting their spiritual growth and becoming heretics.

● Eph 4:11-13 . . And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in
the unity of the faith

The Greek word translated "edifying" means to build up as opposed to tearing
down.
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[Beetow]

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006) Rom 12:3 . . By the grace given me; I say to every one of you: Do not think
of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober
judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

"sober judgment" is from a Greek word that basically means to be of sound mind,
i.e. sane, sensible, and rational, viz: not under the influence of fatigue, drugs,
alcohol, and/or counter-culture, e.g. woke; defined by Webster's as politically
liberal or progressive (as in matters of racial and social justice) especially in a way
that is considered unreasonable or extreme.

A popular saying going around is this: "You can be anything". No, we cannot be
anything, and it's unreasonable to think otherwise. Know your limits and stay within
them; don't be setting impossible goals for yourself; especially in matters of faith
and practice.

● Rom 12:4-8 . . Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these
members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form
one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts,
according to the grace given us.

. . If someone's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is
serving, let them serve; if it is teaching, let them teach; if it is encouraging, let
them encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let them give
generously; if it is leadership, let them govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let
them do it cheerfully.

Some church managers have a really bad habit of recruiting people to teach Sunday
school who don't have a gift for it in accordance with Rom 12:3-8, 1Cor 12:1-30,
and Eph 4:7-12. Well; if teaching is not your spiritual specialty; then the sensible
thing to do is decline. Function within your range like Rom 12:3 says, and don't let
those managers pressure you into submission by making you feel guilty for refusing.
To my knowledge: no points are gained with Christ by going off-reservation.
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[Beetow]

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007) Rom 12:6 . . If God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you
have faith that God is speaking through you.

The Greek word for "prophesy" in that verse basically pertains to predictions, which
were common in the early church; for example Acts 11:27-28 and Acts 21:10-11.

Hunches don't count because it's required that prophets sincerely believe
themselves infallible and channeling God's thoughts with perfect understanding, i.e.
by means of inspiration. (2Pet 1:20-21)
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[Beetow]

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008) Rom 12:7a . . If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well.

"serving well" implies serving conscientiously and whole-heartedly rather than half
baked, grudging, and/or hit and miss.

My youngest brother was a construction supervisor for decades, and one of his
perpetual complaints is that he never knew from one day to the next whether some
of the men he hired would show up. In other words: they weren't reliable; he
couldn't count on them.

What I'm saying is: if you're thinking about becoming helpful in some way, don't do
it unless you're willing to commit to the long haul because people need to know
that they can depend on you to stay the course.
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[Beetow]

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009) Rom 12:7b . . If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching.

I had a Sunday school teacher some years ago who worked as a maintenance man
in a public swimming facility. One Saturday he had to work very late repairing some
equipment leaving him no time to prepare his lesson plan for Sunday morning so he
just threw something together. It stunk; and my wife and I got nothing out of it.

In contrast, I once knew a pastor who took all week long to prepare his Sunday
morning sermons rather than put it off till Saturday night. Now there was a guy
who knew what it means to do a good job of teaching; viz: a conscientious job.
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[Beetow]

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● Jas 5:16a . . Confess your sins to one another

Words for "your sins" aren't in the Greek manuscript; viz: they're editorial
insertions. Some even pencil in the word "faults" which is no less arbitrary.

So we can safely omit "your sins" and clean up that verse to read "Confess to one
another".

The Greek word translated "confess" means things like consent, assent,
acknowledge, agree, and/or concur. It can also mean to "own-up" (a.k.a. man-up)
for example:

When folks are deathly ill-- for instance dying from terminal cancer --then is a good
time to make amends with those whom we've hurt or done wrong in some way or
another. We sure don't want to leave this life while at the same time leaving a bad
taste in people's mouth. And besides, folks need to know of our regretting the way
we treated them.
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[Beetow]

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010) Rom 12:8a . . If your gift is to encourage others, then do so.

Developing children benefit from encouragement in a big way. Thoughtless grown
ups can destroy a young child's fragile spirit by criticizing them all the time and
never once giving them an "attaboy" or a single vote of confidence.

A very charming example of this was acted out in an old movie wherein Spencer
Tracey played Thomas Edison. In a scene, he tasked a young boy with carrying his
freshly completed prototype of an electric light bulb upstairs to the lab for testing.
The boy stumbled on the stairs, and the bulb was ruined.

So Tracey made another and tasked the same boy with taking it upstairs again.
Tracy's assistants protested that the boy dropped one bulb already; but Tracey
handed him the precious prototype and said: He won't drop this one. And the boy
didn't because Tracey believed in that kid.

A fitting word spoken at just the right moment can really beef up somebody's
resolve to meet life head on. If you're good at that sort of thing, then watch for
opportunities to do so. It has to be honest though because leaving people with a
false impression of themselves is all the same as treachery, and sets them up for
disappointment.

● Prov 29:5 . .Whoever flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his feet.
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[Beetow]

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011) Rom 12:8b . . If you have money, share it generously.

"generously" is translated from a Greek word basically meaning simplicity, which
can be construed as innocence and/or naivete. In other words; sharing one's wealth
without expecting reciprocity and/or gaining an advantage. To the pragmatic mind,
that kind of generosity is a poor investment, i.e. it's like throwing money out the
window.

For example: contributions to a political candidate's campaign fund typically aren't
motivated by generosity, whereas contributions to a charitable agency like
Samaritan's Purse and/or a local rescue mission are because folks benefiting from
those contributions are so powerless, and so disadvantaged, that there's nothing
worthwhile to be gained by offering them assistance.
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