God is our Creator and our Father. Our Heavenly Father should always hold center stage. With Him, all things are possible. Without Him, we are left to wander in the dark.
~ LISA BLAIR
YouVersion.Bible.com/Roger Coles
Psalms 47:1 tells us to shout to God with joyful praise. Why? God is our creator and Father. He is God Almighty. Our God is faithful. The God who sees. The Lord of Peace. He is our provider, a strong tower in times of trouble, and our healer. God loves us.
We should always be filled with great and good thoughts of God (biblestudytools.com). As Christians, we should want to put God first in all that you do. It is vital to recognize Him each morning and thank Him for a new day’s journey. We should go to Him if you need direction throughout the day to avoid unneeded pitfalls. We should praise Him for all He does. And, acknowledge Him for whoHe is and what He has done for us. Believe it or not, there is a miracle in every step we take, and every thought that comes to mind. God left nothing to chance when He created us.
God, our Father in Heaven should always be up front and first in our lives. He sacrificed His son for us, gives us new beginnings, Salvation, and Eternal Life. There is none other like Him.
God so loved the world, He gave us His only son to save us and give us direction. The most important commandment is to love one another.
~ Lisa Blair
Photo: L. Durden
God does not discriminate. He wants everyone to believe and receive Salvation.
Jesus’ Travels
Some time ago I wrote a post stating that Christ traveled outside of the Holy Lands to spread the Good News which was incorrect. In fact, I took it down. Looking back, I did not mean to write Jesus traveled to other parts of the world, I meant His influence spread across the regions.
Jerusalem was considered the capital City and was a commerce hub during Christ’s life. It was one of the major economic, administrative, spiritual, and cultural centers of the land. Merchants throughout the Middle-east, Arabia, India, and Egypt traveled there on land and across the Persian Gulf. Foreign markets connected the trade routes from Israel through Northern Africa, India, Malaysia, and the Arabian peninsula. (Footsteps of Abraham, by Malachi Martin. NT Times.com, archives. March 13, 1983)
The Disciples traveled through the Middle East Spreading the Good News
Jesus did not travel the world to reach nonbelievers and those following other religious faiths. Knowledge of the Messiah was spread by the disciples, others, and from people who lived in other countries and traveled the trade routes. I think it is safe to say that the Word was carried in part by merchants who learned of Christianity when visiting Jerusalem and other cities/towns Jesus ministered in. They were most likely unintentionally seeding hearts. The Word was spread in many ways.
After Jesus’ death, the disciples traveled throughout the regions as well, see above map, and therefore had many opportunities to preach to Gentiles from various religious backgrounds. Jesus commanded the disciples to spread the Good News bear and far. He assigned us, Christians, to do the same and to spread the Good News, God’s Truth, wherever we are. To this end, we should not be so insular as to communicate God’s message with only other Christians. We must suck it that the Gentiles are anyone that is not Jewish, they are people from all backgrounds and faiths who God claims through adoption. God does not discriminate nor should we.
Map of Middle Eastern Old Testament. Taxomita.com
Images/Maps – Romans 1:16, L.Durden; The Travels of Our Saviour. Pinterest.com; How the World looked when Jesus was born, according to Roman Geographers. by Sarah Laskow. atlasobscura.com; Map of Middle Eastern Old Testament. Taxomita.com
Resources – Footsteps of Abraham, by Malachi Martin. NT Times.com, archives. March 13, 1983; Commerce and the Temple in First Century Jerusalem by David Hendin. Bibleodyssey.org; Teachingthem.com;
Washing others feet is an act of intentionality. Why did Christ wash others feet? He did so to teach us humility.
~ Lisa Blair
The story about Christ washing feet is a parable. Washing feet is metaphoric. Christ was demonstrating how to humble ourselves in service to others. This story illustrates a spiritual lesson – we should always behave in a spirit of humility, loving others, and becoming like Christ.
There was a time when I thought serving others was bending low. [I was self-righteous before I was born again.] I learned that Christ was not literally asking us to wash feet [though we can, and some ministries do], He was referencing our behavior towards others. We are to treat everyone like Christ treats us, friend and foe. We are to operate out of love, not carnal self-indignation which is a sin. It is not our place to condemn others. It is our place to love them and acknowledge that God judges, not us. So many of us, including me, jump to judgment, especially during these times, and want to wish our leaders and others into the cornfield. There is an old adage, ‘hate the behavior, not the person’. I believe that this is a lesson many are struggling with today. It is easy to condemn, though Christ did not condemn us because of our sins. He died on the cross for us because He loves us. We must practice caution to walk with Christ. This means we must deliberately change our carnal habits to live our lives employing the Fruit of the Spirit, our suite of traits to love others, to be at peace, to be patient and tolerant, to be kind, to exude goodness, to be gentle, to be faithful, and maintain self-control. We must learn to maintain the stance of being humble in all things, to attain inward purity. It is not the action that is important, it is the intent of our action that is important. Our actions will not deliver us to heaven.
Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:9 NLT
Our God is a good and forgiving God. Like any loving parent, He waits patiently for us to acknowledge our wrong doing and ask for forgiveness.~ LISA BLAIR
Requests from the heart asking for God’s forgiveness are always met. All we have to do is ask God to forgive us and He will. Our challenge is not to repeat the sin or sins over and over again, and replace them with our adopted Christ-like character.
A Walkabout is defined as being a journey on foot undertaken by an Australian Aborginal in order to live in the traditional manner. (Siri)
As Christians, we are commanded to walk with (follow) Christ. Our journey is undertaken through living the Word, thereby spreading the Good News as we march toward our destiny. Our tradition (our belief) requires we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, be obedient, dependent, and aligned with God through good times as bad. Sometimes the road is challenging, but strength is the result of the challenge of you don’t give-in or give-up. Being a Christian is not intended to be easy, it is intended to provide salvation and eternal life.
Walk in His ways. Take on a Christ-like personality today, do not waiver. Close the (work) week out in victory!
Lisa’s Daily Inspirations 