Week 24 Day 5

Finding God in the Mysteries of every day

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2 Corinthians 11:3-4 New King James Version ³ But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. ⁴ For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!

            I have been reading recently the opinions of people outside the Christian framework who are aggressively opposed to what the world perceives to be the Christian kingdom in the world. Christians to them are seen as persecutors, murderers, conflagrationists, and haters of the earth and all creation. When one looks at the long history of the Christian faith with all of its internal upheavals, its corruption, and its military posturing it is very easy to understand the reluctance of people to even attempt to understand why they should bother with a faith that can turn so cruel and uncaring, that is willing to eradicate whole segments of the population of people who do not “fall in line” with their so called Christian world view.

            There have been several calls and reform movements within the church over the centuries, but it seems that there are always those who claim to be Christians who would use that word to gain power over other people and to eliminate any opposition in the name of “defending the faith”.

            So, what is the result of all of this. First, persecution has been and remains today a hallmark of true Cristian faith as Christians around the world continue to die because they believe in and witness to the grace of Christ. Second, The pulpits of many churches have been given over to a kind of embarrassed and weakened, watered down preaching that ignores or edits out the fact that Jesus was crucified, and more importantly was resurrected in fulfillment of prophecy. Third, the church has been so marginalized in a world gone mad with secularism, hedonism, and a thousand other isms that it has been beaten down to its knees in the face of withering criticism from every quadrant. The call of Christ is to be like Himself in this world. If His church had not deviated from that path, if they had not chosen political and military power, wealth and dominance over humility and grace, community and hope just consider where the world would be today.

            Forgive us Lord. We have all sinned and fallen short of Your glory. Help us I pray to reflect a love and humility like unto Your own in this sad and broken world. Please Lord in Your great love help us to communicate our sorrow at the meanness and cruelty we have inflicted over the centuries. And help us I pray to be helpful and compassionate in the face of the miseries of these days. I ask this in the Holy name of Jesus our Christ.