FWD: Morning Manna (Dec. 8); BP: Is. 53; RBTTY: III Jn; Dan. 8-10

 
Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net

 

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-----Original Message-----
From: Apostle Tom <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 11:36:40 -0600
To: <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Morning Manna (Dec. 8); BP: Is. 53; RBTTY: III Jn; Dan. 8-10
 
December 8                                                                                      "Evil Imaginations"  
"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet, we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted."
                                                                                                                                                  Isaiah 53:4
      If, as someone said, "Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder," so is evil.
     Students of American literature have, most likely, at one time or the other come across some of the works of Edgar Allen Poe. His writings were quite dark, almost sinister in nature, as evidenced in his work, The Tell-Tale Heart.
 
     In that work he talked about a man whose guest in his home had "the eye of a vulture—an eye with a pale, blue film over it that made his (the host’s) blood run cold. And, so by degrees the host decided to take the life of the old man and thus rid himself of the eye forever."
 
     Although Poe’s gruesome work sprang from his demented imagination, the fact remains we’re all born with an "evil eye" (Mt. 7:1-5). By nature we’re more prone to criticize rather than congratulate. . .condemn rather than comfort. . .find fault instead of dispensing grace. That’s exactly what’s being described in today’s Manna—and how we should ask God to repent of such sinful "evil imaginations" (II Cor. 10:5).
 
     The Jews of Jesus’ day believed anyone who was crucified on a cross was "accursed by God" (Gal. 3:13b). This was rooted in Old Testament teachings (Deut. 21:23) and, consequently, conveniently applied to Christ. However, the difference is He was sinless—and the problem rested in their view (and ours) of Him.
 
     Natural eyes look at things at they are. They "judge a book by its cover." They size things up in a single glance and hastily jump to a conclusion, convinced they are right, without first trying to find out the facts.
 
     Thus, we should not be surprised that Jesus was "esteemed (Heb. ‘chashab’—‘to plait, weave, plot, contrive, regard, value, compute, conclude, etc.’) stricken (Heb. ‘naga’—‘to violently strike, punish, beat down, etc.’), smitten of God (Heb. ‘nakah’—‘to beat repeatedly, kill, slaughter, give stripes to, etc.’) and afflicted (Heb. ‘anah’—‘to look down upon, be browbeaten, ravish, speak ill of, chasten, etc.’)."
 
     Simply put, folks said "He simply got what’s coming to Him." Or, "What goes around comes around."
     However, if we are to ever know Christ, our "Wounded Healer," we must ask Him to create in us new hearts and minds like unto His own. And, in this process He transforms us and replaces our natural eyes of pride and prejudice with spiritual eyes of mercy and grace that cause us to say, as someone said, "But for the grace of God, there go I."
 
     May the Holy Spirit help us spend some time reflecting on Jesus and what lay before Him that night when He was born in Bethlehem. Then, may His love help us to relate to others as He does to us: Sinners in need of a Savior, who can be transformed by His redeeming love. Amen and amen.