OUR DAILY BREAD : RELIGIOUS NUTS

[cimi]

June 11
Thursday


RELIGIOUS NUTS

READ:
Matthew 10:16-22
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I have a friend who was invited to a dinner party where he was seated next to a belligerent unbeliever who delighted in taunting Christians.

Throughout the evening, the man baited Matt mercilessly about the evils of Christendom through out the ages. With each insult, my friend calmly replied, "That's an interesting point of view." And then he asked a question that revealed genuine interest in the man and deflected the discussion away from the issue that divided them.

As the two were walking out the door at the end of the evening, the man fired a final jab, at which point Matt put his arm around the other mans' shoulders and chuckled. "My friend," he said, "all night long you've been trying to talk to me about religion. Are you a religious nut?"

The man's animosity dissolved in a burst of laughter and then in sobriety, for he was indeed a religious nut. All human beings are. We're insatiably and incurably religious-- hounded by the relentless love of God, though we may try to keep Him away. Matt's kindness and deft humor awakened this man's heart so that he could be receptive to the gospel.

We are to be "wise as serpents" (Matt. 10:16) when dealing with non-Christians, speaking to them "with grace, seasoned with salt" (Col. 4:6). __David Roper
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```````````````````You have called us, Lord, to witness--```````````
`````````````````````Called to speak the truth in love;`````````````
````````````````````O how much we need Your guidance```````````
`````````````````And Your wisdom from above. __D. De Haan```````
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As the "salt of the earth," Christians
make others thirsty for the Water of Life.

**************Today's Bible Reading __ Matthew 1):16-22**********

16 Behold, I send you out
as sheep in the midst of
wolves. Therefore be wise
as serpents and harmless as
doves. 17 But beware of
men, for they will deliver
you up to councils and
scourge you in their
synagogues. 18 You will be
brought before governors
and kings for My sake, as a
testimony to them and to
the Gentiles. 19 But when
they deliver you up, do not
worry about how or what
you should speak. For it
will be given to you in that
hour what you should
speak; 20 for it is not you
who speak, but the Spirit of
your Father who speaks in
you.

1 Now brother will deliver
up brother to death, and a
father his child; and
children will rise up against
parents and cause them to
be put to death. 22 and you
will be hated by all for My
name's sake. But he who
endures to the end will be
saved.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The Lord Jesus commanded His disciples to witness amid opposition:
"For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak"
(v.19). Our Lord's admonition to the apostles is reminiscent of what
God said to Moses from the burning bush: "Now therefore, go, and
I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say" (Ex.
4:12). the believer who witnesses will always have the help of God
through the Person of the Holy Spirit. __Dennis Fisher

Thoughts from cimi

"My friend, are you a religious nut." _____How cute and funny was that?