Thoughts on the Sojourner

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. —Deuteronomy 10:18

sojourner— a) a temporary inhabitant, a newcomer lacking inherited rights, b) of foreigners in Israel, though conceded rights

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. —Matthew 25:37-40

I have been thinking a lot in recent months about the concept of the sojourner in Scripture. This has been prompted by two things: (1) My reading of the Old Testament, which contains many references towards sojourners and God's compassion for them. (2) A continual encountering of sojourners in my daily life and ministry. My reading this morning of Isaiah 58, which makes clear God's expectations as to how His people should treat those in need, has prompted me to finally to sit down to gather and express my thoughts on this matter.

Where I live, the prevailing attitude towards foreigners, most of whom are from Mexico, is disdain, or at best, apathy. Even professing Christians often express their feelings with unveiled animosity. No! I should say most of the negative comments I hear are from professing believers. Unfortunately, their sentiments demonstrate their ignorance of Scripture and their lack of knowledge of the character of God. As you can see from the passages and definition provided above, God's expectation of His people is to care for and minister to sojourners in our midst. God does not specify conditions for this care and ministry.

Our sin nature makes us naturally suspicious and resentful towards those we do not understand and who are not like us—those we see as taking advantage of us or consuming resources that do not belong to them or that they do not deserve. When Jesus changes our hearts, He gives us the understanding that nothing that we have is deserved. It is all by His grace alone. Therefore, we are more likely to extend that grace to others. That is what has happened in my life. As God increased my understanding of His Word, His character, and my need for Him, He began placing in my path people to whom I can extend the grace He has so freely given to me. Because I have a basic Biblical understanding of that grace, I cannot be disobedient by failing to extend it to others.

I challenge you to reexamine your attitude towards the sojourners in your midst, and to seek God to determine if your thinking is pleasing to Him. The bottom line is this: God cares about these people, and if we are followers of Jesus Christ, we will care about them too.

Childlike Faith vs. Immaturity

From today's devotion in Tabletalk Magazine:

Immature understanding of biblical doctrine leads to immature thinking and living; thus, many believers do not live up to their calling in Christ to be salt and light to the world. There are numerous reasons for this immaturity. One of the most common is the failure of many churches to grasp the true meaning of childlike faith. When Jesus says we must become like children to receive the kingdom (March 10:15), He demands that we become like the typical child in our attitude toward Him, not in our knowledge. To be childlike in matters of faith does not mean that our knowledge of facts is as deficient as a small child's; rather it means that we are wholly dependent on the Lord, just as little children rely wholly on their parents. Unfortunately, many believers think childlike faith requires childlike knowledge when , in fact, the opposite is true. Only as we begin to understand the greatness of God do we realize our utter weakness, which prompts us to live as children absolutely dependent on our Father.

Another contributing factor to the pervasive immaturity we see in the church today is the antirationalist spirit of the current culture. The importance of critical thinking and the need for our minds to inform our feelings and emotions have all but fallen by the wayside. Yet Scripture places a premium on loving God with our minds, so Christians must never succumb to this antirationalist spirit (Mark 12:30).

Blessings

Sunday morning, Marshia's daughter sang this song in worship. It was no coincidence that the sermon that followed was on Romans 8:28.

Inner Strength Promised and Godliness Defined

Following is an excerpt from yesterday's Tabletalk devotion based on Ephesians 3:16-17. God always knows when to provide the encouragement I need!

...that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. —Ephesians 3:16-17a

The term riches suggests inexhaustible resources—our God has a well of gifts and treasures that never runs dry; He can give us lavishly without holding back, never having to worry that that the storehouse of His power will be emptied. Indeed, we can be ever-confident that God will grant any request we have to be strengthened in our inner-being. The Holy Spirit will grant power and strength to our hears and minds, enabling us to endure any trial, encouraging us when we are down (Acts 1:8).

Specifically, Paul asks God to grant strength "so that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith" (Eph. 3:17). This request seems perplexing at first because Jesus already dwells in believers' hearts, but the apostle is not referring to the initial indwelling of Christ by His Spirit at conversion. Instead, he asks that believers might become people in whom the perfect Savior feels fully at home. Essentially he prays for advancement in our sanctification—our growth in personal holiness—that we might bring Him no shame as we profess Him as Lord and live before a watching world. We never reach a point in this life where such a prayer becomes unnecessary. John Calvin writes: "Believers have never advanced so far as not to need further growth. The highest perfection of the godly in this life is an earnest desire to make progress."

PRAISE THE LORD!

Thoughts from Hosea

I read the following verses this morning in Hosea:

When Ephraim saw his sickness,

and Judah his wound, 

then Ephraim went to Assyria,

and sent to the great king.

But he is not able to cure you

or heal your wound.

For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,

and like a young lion to the house of Judah,

I, even I, will tear and go away;

I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

I will return again to my place,

until they acknowledge their guilt

and seek my face,

and in their distress earnestly 

seek me.

Hosea 5:13-15

The message is clear. In our sinfulness,we tend to resort to means other than our Father in Heaven to find cures, healing, fulfillment. But God will not rescue us from bondage to the things of this world until we acknowledge our guilt and earnestly seek Him. This cannot be a half-hearted seeking that is simply a thinly veiled (not to God, of course) attempt to get our own way. We must be broken, contrite, and repentant. And we must know in our hearts that nothing else in life really matters but our relationship with the Father. In my experience, we may have to demonstrate this mindset to God for some time before He finally and decisively rescues us from ourselves, but when He determines we are ready, it is worth the wait.

A More Efficient Way of Sharing Online Items

I have been tinkering with how to better share items I read online that I think will encourage you. As you see in my last post, I tried the daily approach, but the script setting keeps adding more items rather than allowing me to post certain items each day. Therefore, I have added a widget in the sidebar that displays links to the posts I recommend. The disadvantage of this approach is that you cannot receive the links as a single post via email. You will have to check the blog to see the recommended items, or you can go directly to my Google Reader Shared Items page. You could simply bookmark that page and check it regularly to see the items I am recommending.

I promise not to bombard you, but to only include what I think will be the most meaningful articles.

Blessings,
Katy

Redirect 7-4-11

Sorry, to post so many at once. I'm caught up now! :)