S Dave Brown: men struggled with this from the very beginning with the first Adam in Genesis, sat by as Eve ate the fruit a life of passivity is void of courageous decisions The life of Jesus was an engaged, active life, marked by obedience, obedience to His father We know how Jesus turned over the money changer tables in the Temple and challenged the pharisees by healing and other activities He did on the Sabaath. We also see in Matt 10:34-35 "34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;", but he wasn't a macho man or tough guy the way think of today and the way we glorify tough guys in the movies, like Rambo and John Wayne. Jesus was a servant.  He washed His disciples feet. He told His disciples to turn the other cheek if someone struck them. "Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God." - Matt 5:9 "18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." - James 3:18 Matthew 11:29 was the only time when Jesus talks about His heart, and He said His heart is gentle and meek So we don't fight against passivity by being violent but rather by being obedient, which means following God's Word, being Torah observant.  But we also should be ready to take a stand when necessary to stand for God and His Word and against the traditions of men which I would say is when Jesus showed the most passion   How many of you have gone tubing, where you just float down a river That's a fun thing to do on a relaxing summer day but it's a poor model for living the Christian life More than ever we need to be intentional if we're going to be obedient and be ready for the return of Yeshua. That's true of our personal relationship with our Father, and it's also true of our responsibilities He has entrusted with. As a husband, we are to follow Ephesians 5:25-28 "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. " As a father, we should follow Ephesians 6:4 "4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." A couple resources I'd like to mention are podcasts "Parenting Today's Teens" and "The Dad Whisperer" Our work, Ephesians 6:5-8 "5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free." and Colossians 3:23 "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men," In all these roles and responsibilities we should be checking ourselves in several ways. One way is demonstrated in Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting." Another is Galatians 5:22 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."   Final thought on all this is that often we're passive not out of laziness but out of a sense or unworthiness. To respond to that I want to first share a couple verses and a brief devotional. The verses are familiar to all of us but we need to reminded of them and not become too familiar with them. Romans 8:1 says "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who[a] do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." Romans 8:37 says "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" Philippians 4:13 says "I can do all things through [a]Christ who strengthens me." The devotion is called First Light, put out by Pastor Brian Biggers from The Lamb's Chapel in Burlington, this particular one was sent out on July 12th and was called "Rich in Poverty"

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1:3 

 

Hettie Green is listed in the Guinness record book as the world's greatest miser. She lived in a one room rundown apartment in New York. She turned the radiator heat up just enough to stay alive. She ate cold oatmeal at every meal. She owned one black dress that she would take off and wash every few nights. Don't pity Ms. Green. She had millions of dollars on deposit with the Chase Manhattan bank. She chose to live in poverty although she certainly didn't have to. If this verse in Ephesians is true, then Hettie's life is a picture of the life of God's children. Living in poverty although Jesus has purchased for us "every spiritual blessing". What is included in this "Divine deposit" the lover of our soul has made for us? His Word is the catalog of all that is ours in Him. Our peace, contentment, love, joy, purpose and prosperity are just a few of the treasures He records in His Book. We will spend a lifetime and all of eternity discovering all that is ours in Him. The tragedy would be to live in any need if it was already mine. Let’s get in His Word and find our inheritance and then lay hold of it by faith. If there is one moment of regret in heaven it will be to arrive poverty stricken and find that it wasn't necessary. Let Hettie scrape by if she wants to. I don't want Jesus sacrifice to go to waste.  

Thank you for being a good Father. Open my eyes to the "riches of my inheritance in Christ Jesus". I pray for grace not to waste your sacrifice for my blessing.

    E   L So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. Nehemiah 4:6 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Nehemiah%204:6&version=ESV       A

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Ben LaCorte

• To be prepared, know good Theology.  They started a podcast "Word on the Street", geared toward someone who doesn't know a lot of Theology already.  Some future topics include critical race theory, why is there human suffering in the world, what is the Christian's right role in politics, what does God say about social justice, 

I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist with Frank Turek (after checking it out)   H John Shirey

• To be set free you need to limit the distractions.  Don't let your phone create any sounds. When at home don't have it with you every second.