| by James Steinle (Swanville, Minnesota) |
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| Every 5 weeks I can send in a ‘letter to the editor’ of our local Morrison County Newspaper which I have been doing for less than a year now. The letter must be limited to 200 words or less (not counting the title or signature). My hope is some other believers might be inclined to start doing the same thing in their local paper area. Below is an example of two for any interest or inspiration. Example 1: BEST GIFT TO GIVE What gift could we possibly give to someone who has everything? Have we ever come up with that dilemma? What about a gift to our Creator? Thankfully He does not leave us in the dark; He does tell us what He would like. His Son answered a question about this with this statement, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” (Matthew 22:37) We read about our Father’s great heartfelt desire for this gift from us in Deuteronomy 5:29, “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!” (See Exodus 20 & Deuteronomy 5) Sadly, we all can sometimes fall very short, but if we have been called by Him and have accepted His gift to us of His Son Yayshua’s [Jesus] blood sacrifice and received the gift of His Set-apart Spirit, then we can give Him the gift of obedience out of a full, contrite and loving heart. A gift He desires and will accept. Example 2: THE DIFFERENCE IS ENORMOUS Is our religion a method to gain the Kingdom by going to church and thinking that does it, or is it a loving, obedient personal relationship with the Father and His Son? The difference is enormous! If we call ourselves followers of the Messiah, do we know what is required of us? The apostle John writes, “He that says, I know him, and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (See 1 John 2:3-6) We need to ask ourselves, are we walking as our Savior walked? Are we following Matthew 22:37-40 in loving obedience to the Father and loving our neighbor as our self, the two Great Commandments? Are we changing our carnal ways through the power of the Holy Spirit; thereby showing respect and honor for what the Messiah did for us? Our Heavenly Father has much patience with us if we are trying to walk the walk. If we fall at times we need to repent and change and be forgiven. When Messiah comes to judge he will set the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left (Matthew 25:31-46). Which will we be? The difference is enormous. |
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