Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

February 16
Saturday


IT'S A FACT

READ:
Ephesians 4:1-6
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[I pray] that they all
may be one, as You,
Father, are in Me, and
I in You. __John 17:21
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In doing research for his epic story Roots, Alex Haley embarked on the freighter African Star, sailing from Monrovia, Liberia, to Jacksonville, Florida. He did so to better understand the travails of his ancestors, who were brought in chains to America.

Haley descended into the ship's hold, stripped himself of protective clothing, and tried to sleep on some thick, rough-hewn bracing. After the third miserable night, he gave up and returned to his cabin. But he could now write with some small degree of empathy of the sufferings of his forbears.

It's one thing to say we believe that Jesus Christ, the second Person of the holy Trinity, identifies Himself with us. It's quite another to feel the blessed experience of our identification with Him. But we need not resort to extreme measures to grasp the truth of that oneness, for Christ Himself has endured the most extreme of all measures to identify with us. He went to the cross to reconcile a sinful human race to Himself (Rom. 5:10-1).

Reading Scripture, praying, and partaking of the Lord's Supper can help us gain at least some awareness of our identification with our Lord and Savior. But regardless of how we feel, our unity with Him is a fact that we must grasp in faith. __Vernon Grounds
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`````````````````With longing all my heart is filled````````````````
`````````````````````That like Him I may be,````````````````````
````````````````As on the wondrous thought I dwell,```````````````
`````````````````That Christ liveth in me. __Whittle````````````````
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The just shall live by faith__not by feeling.

*************Today's Bible Reading __ Ephesians 4:1-6*************

1 I, therefore, the prisoner
of the Lord, beseech you to
walk worthy of the calling
with which you were called,

2 with all lowliness and
gentleness, with
longsuffering, bearing
with one another in love,

3 endeavoring to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace. 4 There is
one body and one Spirit,
just as you were called in
one hope of your calling;

5 one Lord, one faith, one
baptism; 6 one God and
Father of all, who is above
all, and through all, and in
you all.

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

C.S. Lewis' book Screwtape Letters records the fictional
correspondence from a senior demon to a junior demon on the best
means of tempting humans. In observing the Christian's response
of faith, Screwtape writes: "[God] wants them to learn to walk and
must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is
really there He is pleased even with their stumbles...Our cause
is never more in danger that[when the believer] looks round upon
a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished,
and...still obeys" (p.47). The facts of Scripture are the basis of
faith--not dependence upon changeable feelings. __HDF