Our Spiritual Immune System

After reading about the legal haggles  surrounding the Supreme Court's Junes 26 ruling re-defining marriage and the backlash response of the Religious Freedom Protection Act, I struggle against a sinking feeling. All the laws remind me of the Pharisees of Jesus' time. They had a lot of laws too. Jesus violated some of them because He valued compassion and healing and freedom of soul above doctrines and laws. He realised that man made laws could  deter people from living in the Spirit of the Creator of the Laws of the Universe. He realised that Satan could creep into laws through unredeemed minds. The Pharisees therefore, though very law-abiding, did not recognize the Truth when He stood before their faces.

At first my hope rises up when I read about the Religious Freedom Protection Act: a counter attack against the clear assault against religious freedom of  the June 26 ruling. Then I think, "The Muslims can use the RFPA to protect their rights to do things Allah's way." That way certainly has not worked out very well for the human family.

I finally come to rest in the deep understanding that the redemption and transformation of the heart brought forth by faith in Jesus is the only hope for our nation and our world. I remembered the devotional I wrote some years ago entitled "The Nation's Immune System" [below].  The best I can do for this world is to live and try to propagate the Christian Faith--the realization that there is a God of this universe Who is Love. That He commands us to love each other, and has demonstrated Truth through Jesus the Christ. If I or those Christians coming after me are  jailed or beheaded [like many of my brothers and sisters in other nations today] for this belief and profession, we will die victoriously for the best Cause in the human family. And we can be at peace amidst the swirl stirred up by the battle against good and evil, like Jesus asleep in the storm at sea, knowing that in this peace--the peace of Christ--we are the most powerful warriors.
 

THE NATION’S IMMUNE SYSTEM

Psa 33:12   Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

Mat 13:33   He told them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened."

On two recent motorcycle trips, one to El Paso and the other to my hometown of Sylacauga, Alabama, I decided to avoid the interstates, take state and county roads instead and get a feel for some parts of the rural South. On both occasions I was struck with the number of churches along the way – hundreds of them. Many of them had roadside signs with admonitions, encouraging statements or invitations: “Looking for a church family? Try us!” or “The man who is not ready to die is not ready to live.” They had names that included certain qualities of the Faith, like, well, “Faith”, and “Hope”, “Grace” and “Abundant Life.” Many of them were named “New” something or other: “New Life”, “New Hope” or “New Beginnings.” One was named “New Morning Star Baptist Church.” Another was named “Mt. Nebo”, the mountain from which Moses looked over into the Promised Land, and on which he died. One church that particularly seemed to invite me to stop and take a nap under the shade of its live oaks [which I did] was, appropriately enough, named “Pilgrim’s Rest Baptist Church.” I rested well there.

I’ve heard people make disparaging or scornful statements about the “Bible Belt.” I felt very encouraged by all those churches. I know that, in them, every Sunday, children are being taught to respect and obey their parents and elders. Husbands and wives are being taught to be faithful and kind to their mates. Parents are encouraged to care for their children. And all are being taught to live the “Golden Rule” - to treat others the way they want to be treated. Jesus said the Word of God is to the world like yeast is to dough: a little goes a long way to enhance the quality. All those people in all those churches hear the Word of God – the wonderful teachings of Jesus – then they go out into their communities with the Light of it shining in their hearts. They are not perfect, of course, but how can they not be a little better, week after week? A little better at loving the people in their communities. When I stop and talk to some of these gentle, friendly people, I imagine that they – or perhaps their parents or neighbors – attend one of those churches. I feel comforted. I am at home. I am among my people. I am among God’s family.

Lord, thank You for making us a true family. May Your body of Believers – the Church – continue to flourish and prosper, and protect our world from evil.