Daily Devotional – June 29

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Daily Devotional – June 28

The Matrix – Part 3

The Red Pill

You dash down the road, searching frantically.  Where did he go?

Just before he disappears around the corner, you yell at the top of your lungs, “WAIT!”

He stops and you breathlessly hold out your hand.

“I don’t want the blue pill,” you hear your heart pounding in your head as you hastily thrust it back into his hand.

“Since I accepted you, Jesus, I have lived with the blue pill–life is the blue pill!”

Jesus, holds out the hand containing the red pill.  You reach for it, but he draws it back.

“Are you sure?” he asks, “It comes with a price.”

“What?”

“Commitment.” he says softly.

Words again echo in your mind:  “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Your hand closes upon the red pill.

Daily Devotional – June 27

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].

Tomorrow:  The Matrix – Part 3.  The Red Pill

Daily Devotional – June 26

THE MATRIX – Part 2

The Blue Pill

Your hand closes upon the blue pill.   The disappointment and sadness you see in the eyes of Jesus is reflected in the shame you feel in your heart. 

A weary smile touches the lips of the man standing in the doorway.  He nods and turns to leave.  You notice a slump in his shoulders that wasn’t there when he arrived.

You look down at your clenched fist, the blue pill pressed almost painfully into your palm. 

Words, all but forgotten, fill your mind:

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud…lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears…

When you look up, he is gone.

Daily Devotional – June 25

THE MATRIX – Part 1 

What would you think if Jesus showed up on your doorstep tomorrow and told you that you were the “one.”

He bluntly tells you that a lot of what you see around you isn’t real–that it is careful constructs created by a master computer used to distract ones’ attention from reality.

Something strikes a chord and you realize that there ARE things that just don’t seem completely right, but you can’t place your finger on them. You feel at times you may be being used by something or someone, but are not sure exactly what it is.

You refocus on the man standing in front of you, and your first inclination is…to doubt him, dismiss what he says. Surely reality is what you have seen, experienced, not the unbelievable phantom that is standing in front of you!

The look on Jesus’ face gives you the impression that what he has to say is something  you don’t want to hear. You think about the life you have–its warmth and security coupled with the tangibility of where you have come from and what you have worked so hard to accomplish. You think about where you see yourself going…

He holds out his fists, opens them and in each hand there is a pill. A red one, a blue one.

He tells you that if you accept the blue one, things will continue as they always have, but…if you take the red, your world may be ripped apart and put back together into something you may not appreciate; it may even destroy you personally, but in the end it would open your eyes and mind to the reality of His world.

In all honesty, which pill would you choose?

Note

Dear blogging friends and family,

I am going on an extended leave of absence from the blogging world, and regret that I will have to discontinue the postings at my personal site and the Berean site. 

I would like to thank all of you for contributing toward my education–you have shared in my personal growth.

I do appreciate your prayers and continued support of the Berean as it continues under new leadership.

Also, stay tuned for the new changes to come as the Bereans transitions into – www.CommonSenseChristian.com

If God wills, I may return, but until then a fond farewell to you and may God bless.

-Jack 

Daily Devotional – June 19

BE YE KIND

A wise man declared: “That which makes a man to be desired is his kindness” (Prov. 19:22). Kindness includes attributes like friendliness, compassion, generosity, and tenderness. To be kind is to be God-like (Luke 6:35).

In a world that is saturated with harshness, a kind disposition is a refreshing breeze:

• There is many a woman who would trade a handsome husband for a kind one.
• Kindness would stifle the plague of child abuse.
• More kindness among brothers in the Lord would alleviate so much church trouble.

The Scriptures demand that we be kind to one another (Eph. 4:32).

Daily Devotional – June 17

NEED SOME SNAKE OIL?

I was in a church not long ago, and as I listened to the pastor appeal to people to “come to Christ”, it struck me how much he reminded me of a used car salesman.

• “Having financial difficulties?”
• “Sick and in need of healing? “
• “Problems in your life? Buy this car…[oops, I mean] Accept Christ and all of this will go away…”

I get more convincing sales pitches via spam in my email!

Is this what Christianity has come to? The sale of good luck charms or miracle cures?

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

If YOUR Christianity is promising you a bed of roses it may be time to find out what Bible they are preaching from.

We are never told that God would do away with our problems–just that he would help us bear them.

Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Daily Devotional – June 15

Psalms 19:1 (b) The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Daily Devotional – June 14

EXCITED YET?

A Psalm of praise.

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Psalms 100