OUR DAILY BREAD : WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

[cimi]

THURSDAY AUGUST 20


WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

READ:
Luke 10:37
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Go and do
likewise
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Mary enjoyed her midweek church group meeting when she and several friends gathered to pray, worship, and discuss questions from the previous week's sermon. This week they were going to talk about the difference between "going" to church and "being" the church in a hurting world. She was looking forward to seeing her friends and having a lively discussion.

As she picked up her car keys, the doorbell rang. "I'm so sorry to bother you," said her neighbor Sue, "but are you free this morning?" Mary was about to say that she was going out when Sue continued, "I have to take my car to the repair shop. Normally I would walk or cycle home, but I've hurt my back and can't do either at the moment." Mary hesitated for a heartbeat and then smiled. "Of course," she said.

Mary knew her neighbor only by sight. but as she drove her home, she learned about Sue's husband's battle with dementia and the utter exhaustion that being a caregiver can bring with it. She listened, sympathized, and promised to pray. She offered to help in an way she could.

Mary didn't get to church that morning to talk about sharing her faith. Instead she took a little bit of Jesus' love to her neighbor who was in a difficult situation. __Marion Stroud

**Lord, help me to be ready at any time to be Your hands and feet
to those in need.
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Faith is seen in our actions.

***************************Today's Bible Reading __ Luke 10:30-37**********************
30 Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went
down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves,
who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and
departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a
certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him,
he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he
arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the
other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came
where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34
So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil
and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him
to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he
departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper,
and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you
spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'

36 "So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him
who fell among the thieves?"

37 and he said, "He who showed mercy on him."
Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Samaritans lived in the territory between
Galilee (to the north) and Judea (to the south). Historically, they
were Jews who, when conquered by the Assyrians, intermarried
with their conquerors and lost their ethnic purity as Jews. For
this reason Samaritans were despised by Jews who would not
even travel through Samaria, choosing instead to travel around
that land. Samaritan as the hero of this parable and an example of one who
was a neighbor. __Bill Crowder