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dc 07/03/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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Today's DC is another
response to the milk and meat comparison of Hebrews 5, provided by
James Richardson. -K
11 There is much more we would like to say about
this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are
spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now
that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to
teach you again the basic things about God’s
word.[a]
You are like babies who need milk and
cannot eat solid food. 13 For
someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know
how to do what is right. 14 Solid
food is for those who are mature, who through training have the
skill to recognize the difference between right and
wrong.
HEBREWS 5:11-14
NLT“Milk vs Food”.
We all strive to eat solid food but during times in
our life we tend to just take the milk in the hopes that it is
enough to sustain us. What we often forget is that we do need
solid food (The Bible) in order to survive. Milk only goes so
far in a spiritual journey. When we fill up on just the
superficial (only going thru the motions) we find that we are still
hungry at the end of the day. Then we try to fill ourselves
up any way WE can EXCEPT with HIS WORD. How many times has
this happened to you? I know for myself this has happened
quite often. It has only been recently that I have been
craving the solid food or MEAT of Christ. HE has been patient
in my infant stages as I have tried to crawl away and learn on my
own, but I now realize that we as Christians can not live on Milk
alone but instead need the Meat to keep us strong and allow us to
encourage and teach others so that they may feed
also.
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dc 07/02/08 |
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dc 07/01/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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today's DC was written by John
Faulconbridge. He tackled my question about the difference between
spiritual "milk" and "meat" in Hebrews 5. -K
A Call to Spiritual Growth
11 There is much more we would like to say
about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you
are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so
long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need
someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s
word.[a] You are
like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on
milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is
right. 14 Solid food is
for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to
recognize the difference between right and wrong.
HEBREWS 5:11-14 NLT
I think that the "milk" is the
idea that we are living under the Grace of God and realize that He
has forgiven us of our past transgressions the instant that we ask
Him to. It's living under the teaching and guidance of other
Christians who are helping us to grow, but not taking the
personal responsibility for our growth or actions.
The "meat" is when we truly
come under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, we become accountable
for our actions as they impact not only our relationship with God,
but may impact others as well. Our growth is then deeper and
purer since we are growing as the Spirit leads rather than another
human. We become accountable to a far higher standard than
other humans can expect (we will never reach all that is asked, but
that's where the Grace comes back in). It's where we stop
thinking, "God, I'm glad you're along for the ride." and
start thinking, "God, where would you have me go."
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dc 06/27/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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A Call to Spiritual Growth
11 There is much more we would like to say
about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you
are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so
long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need
someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s
word.[
a] You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid
food. 13 For someone who
lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do
what is right. 14 Solid
food is for those who are mature, who through training have the
skill to recognize the difference between right and
wrong.
HEBREWS 5:11-14 NLT
If you are down here you just read the
scripture above. Go back to the top and read it again.... Go on.
Today's DC is a question for you: In your own words, what is the
difference between the milk and the
meat of God's Word? We tackled this in our
Thursday evening group. Would love your feedback and with your
permission I will share it with all on the list.
K
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dc 06/26/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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written by Ken Mitten
We are not fighting against human
beings, but against wicked spiritual forces.
EPHESIANS 6:12 GN
This scripture brings me to
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a play that many of
us were forced to read aloud in English class. Some of us enjoyed
doing this more than others....... I would love to tackle the role
of Friar Lawrence who does his best to keep the young lovers
together but cannot.The doomed love affair and eventual double
suicide (there is almost always a significant body count at the end
of Shakespeare's tragedies) was a direct result of a family feud
between Romeo and Juliet's families, the Montagues and the
Capulets. The feud stemmed from a street brawl involving the
families. The street brawl leads local government (Prince) to
punish both families. Both believing they are right, they begin to
hate one another and through a series of events a "blood feud" very
quickly develops.
R and J is a play but its themes
are so universal and ring so true particularly when we examine the
energy these families devote to remaining at odds with one another
and the tragedy it eventually leads to.
We decide this every day. We
choose our enemies and hold grudges against people for a long long
time based on a comment, a glance, a series of events. This is what
the evil one wants. He is counting on it. My next suggestion is not
that we all paint signs that say "Make love not war" and parade
around making and faking nice with one another. Examine who you are
in conflict with and why. It may amaze you that when you pull
back far enough that the fights you are engaging
in/the enemies you have chosen and named in your
life have been placed to trip you up like
a dog lying in a doorway. Our real enemy wants
us to always be at odds with one another/ wants us always to
doubt the goodness in others/ wants us to hold grudges until the
stage is littered with bodies (figuratively as well as
literally).
Who should we truly be
fighting?
K
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dc 06/25/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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written by Ken Mitten
I wrote about the dual deeply
personal and public nature of worship yesterday.
When I am in a line (pick one:
DMV, grocery store) with my wife and I become bored I begin to
talk to pass the time. Normal behavior right? Something that
Heather has pointed out to me over the years is my tendency when in
this situation to angle my body in such a way for those around us
to have a good view. I also raise my voice so others can hear as
well. Heather says that when on line in these situations I become
an actor playing to an audience. The jokes come flying fast and
furious and I play my audience, pretending all the while that I do
not know that people can hear me.
I denied/minimized Heather's
observation for a while, probably because I was a bit embarrassed
that I was doing it. However, it is something that I do, borne
out of my theatre background, though it goes deeper than that
ultimately.
When do you play to the audience
around you? By audience I mean your family,
co-workers, neighbors, friends, total strangers. By
play I mean change who you are to suit a
particular situation/ to give an impression of who you are. Do you
do this in church or when we are with people from church? Think
about how if at all you change how you speak and act when you
are with Christian brothers (both those you know well and those you
don't). Find a way to pull back and observe your behaviors like a
fly on a wall in the room that you are in.
You may be surprised by what you
see.
K
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dc 06/24/08 |
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Daily Courage Devotional
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written by Ken Mitten
The Altar of Incense
1 "Make an altar of acacia wood for burning
incense. 2 It is to be
square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high
—its horns of one piece with it. 3 Overlay the top and all the sides and the
horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it. 4 Make two gold rings for the
altar below the molding—two on opposite sides—to hold
the poles used to carry it. 5 Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay
them with gold. 6 Put the
altar in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the
Testimony—before the atonement cover that is over the
Testimony—where I will meet with you.
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"Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when
he tends the lamps. 8 He
must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so
incense will burn regularly before the LORD for the generations to
come. 9 Do not offer on
this altar any other incense or any burnt offering or grain
offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it. 10 Once a year Aaron shall make atonement
on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of
the atoning sin offering for the generations to come. It is most
holy to the LORD."
EXODUS 30:1-10 NIV
I am still pondering these detailed Old
Testament descriptions of how we must make offerings, what the
altar must be made of, where it must be placed. I am struck by the
realization that these specifications are no longer necessary. An
altar can just be an altar, made of wood (any kind) or not made of
wood at all.
Why is "going to the altar" such an
emotionally loaded trip? When Pastor opens up the altar do you
feel that you should only kneel before Him if something is
desperately clawing at you? What if we made our way to the altar as
an act of worship and thanked Him for all He has done in our lives
this past week, month, year? Altar time ultimately is one-on-one
time with Him, regardless of the fact that we are "up in front" of
everyone. This is the paradox of the altar call I guess. It is by
its very nature both a public and private act
simultaneously.
How do we keep our insecurities about what people
we say or think or assume about our trip to the altar in check?
Also, if we are "making the trip" to show others how connected we
are to God we have missed the boat as well?
How do we navigate the very public and private
aspects of this act of worship?
K
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