A Deeper Look at the Good Samaritan Parable

Recently I have seen a many articles relating the parable of the good samaritan to some of the cultural issues going on in our country. The border crisis, Afghanistan, Covid 19 mandates, masks, vaccines all seem be topics of many of these articles.

The Good Samaritan parable is actually about the religious law and religious attitudes. The context in which this parable is written is a significant framework for this parable. Chapter 10 in the book of Luke starts out with Jesus sending out the 70 to speak the word and heal people. There are some great instructions about helping and healing people that are interesting to read. The 70 saw great success applying the instructions they were given. Jesus taught them about their attitude in light of what they saw:

19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. Luke 10:19-20

Next in Chapter 10, Jesus was questioned by a lawyer who, in that theocratic culture, was a religious leader. Jesus knew that the man was challenging him and responded by putting a question to the lawyer. The Hebrew culture had developed a whole system of laws to hold God's people to the law. This lawyer was fully aware of the Hebrew law. Jesus shared  the parable of the good Samaritan with him and in it, he included a priest and a levite (both religious positions) that had passed by a man who had beaten by robbers. Finally a Samaritan came by and immediately helped the man.

Samaritans were looked down upon in the culture. During the time of the captivity, they had married pagan wives and that was frowned upon of the legalistic religious leaders. Jesus made the point in getting the lawyer to admit who the real neighbor was. The lawyer had wanted some rule to justify himself as to who his neighbor was. Jesus brought out the truth. The good samaritan parable focus is on the lawyer and what Jesus was saying about attitude.

Our attitude is important in everything we do. In the last section of chapter 10 following the samaritan parable, is the story of Martha and Mary which is one of my favorite records (having been at times a Martha and at other times a Mary myself:

38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.

40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10:38-42

Mary wanted to hear Jesus and what he had to say because she knew what it meant for her life and others with whom she came into contact with. Sometimes we work too hard at doing the right things.  We obscure where the greatest treasure lies and is what the greatest reason is for why we do things. Our service to others is very often about what we think we should do for others and then using rules and regs to govern actions. It is really about what God wants us to do for others according to his Word. If you really want to be given the opportunity to genuinely and in a godly way help others, this is the mindset to have! It is a thread that runs through the chapter.

Such As I Have Give I Thee!

There was great excitement at the Temple on the morning of the day of Pentecost in 3 BC. Jesus Christ had recently died, but was raised from death and had just ascended to his rightful position at God's right hand to be Lord of the church that was being raised and continues to be raised today on this earth. 

The events of that day are recorded in Acts 2. Peter and the apostles sat in the temple and received the gift of holy spirit.  Peter delivered the first sermon explaining the significance of the day to all that were there. He invited all who were in the temple to join in:        

38 Then Peter said unto them, "Repent (change your mind), and be baptized (immersed in the gift of holy spirit) every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation." Acts 2:38-47

Well, we still have an untoward generation, but we who were afar off from this scene in both time and distance were invited in to look away from untowardness too and receive the same grace from God. The people were excited and gladly wanted to know more:

41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized (immersed in holy spirit): and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

People were brought into the family of God and started immediately seeing grace (God's favor):

43 And fear (awe and respect) came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

Of course signs and wonders popped up all over their community.  There is no formula or 'how to' to get this to happen.  God WANTS to shower us with grace . We just have to receive his love gladly:

46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,47 PRAISING GOD, and having favour (sharing their power of God) with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved (made whole).

A couple of days later Peter and John went back to the temple for prayer and a lame man asked them for help. Peter made it clear that what he himself had could be shared. Peter shared the love, grace and power of God.!!:

3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. 5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 

6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. 7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.  Acts 3:3-8 

This got a lot of attention round about and many people had a lot of questions and marveled at what was going on:

12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; Acts 3:12-13a

The Seal of Ephesians

An incident popped into my mind that happened many years ago. I was walking through a dark thick woods very late at night. It was difficult to see since there were no street lights  in the area. The path that I was walking on was overgrown with bushes. Suddenly, in the quiet night, I heard a crunch and a snap, that sounded like the sound of a snap of a branch or twig.  My heart  jumped and seemed to skipped several beats. It was so-o-o dark, damp and chilly! I wondered what was behind me, in front of me or beside me as I could not tell from which direction the sound was coming from. Immediately I stepped up my pace, haphazardly pushing away branches and bushes, unsure of my footing.  Finally I reached the front door of our cottage and slipped inside. With the door shut and locked, I was immediately sealed off from the outside.  The darkness and the unknown slipped out of my view and was replaced by the comfort, warmth and safety of our living room and was thankful to be with my family.

In Ephesians 1:13 Paul writes about us being sealed with the holy spirit of promise.  In the Word of God, the word 'sealed' is basically used for 4 things. First, it is used to represent security like the seal in a tomb (Matthew 27:66), The Christ inside of us is not a dead body, but a living reality because we have been sealed, secure and enclosed in the living room of God's love.

Second, it is to hide and preserve the contents of a letter.  (Revelations 5:1)

Third, it confirms or establishes the presence of the holy spirit (II Corinthians 1:22 )

Finally, it indicates ownership. (Ephesians 4:30, Ephesians 1:13)

The book of Ephesians completely expounds on the love of our father God for his family. Our job is to bring our minds to what has made given to us. We have been locked in the comfort and warmth of the security of God's love. We have been hidden, enveloped and encased in that love. We have been established and confirmed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Finally, we were bought with a price. We are purchase possession and Gods kids. We got the whole ball of wax. Knowing all this and renewing our minds to our rights and privileges as sons of God we rest safely in God's love.

We can be so thankful to God for everything he has  done for us:

20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. NASB

Freedom to Believe

Romans 1 is officially the opening of the 7 church epistles specifically to people of this time In this chapter God explains that the creation is design to show forth who he is. We can study the structure and functions of a tree and learn great lessons about God. It has always impressed me how the leaves of a tree are flat and set up so they can receive the light of the sun to carry on photosynthesis. When the sun isn't out the flat bottom of the leaves have openings that let carbon dioxide and water out. When the sun is out these pores provide oxygen to the atmosphere for us to breathe in.

The human body is 'magnificently and wonderfully made' (Psalm 139:14). God's design of the body is purposeful and provides for the greatest maximum care.  I majored in Biology in college and developed an even greater thankfulness to God as I continued to study. My favorite system, at the present time during the corona virus onslaught, to take a good look at, is the immune system. The body is designed to defend itself at many levels. We have T-cells that defend and develop memory for pathogens that attack the body. There are other types of related cells that come on the scene and work to rid the body of undesirable invaders. Other bodies are produced that are called antibodies that fight off germs at the time they arrive. 

The immune system is quite a complex system and quite remarkable. The human cell itself is quite complex and you need a microscope to see all the fascinating structures and types of cells. There are many different shapes and functions in cell. I pictured to the right are red blood cells with a white blood cell moving among them. Below is a body cell. 

Man has invented medicines and many times God has inspired those remedies. Often, in the name of science, man, has worked to fight off invaders by other means using drugs and therapies which have deleterious side effects. Man also uses and abuses the human body in ways that are detrimental.

I am thankful to the God I know for what he has provided.  I am thankful for doctors and researchers who are specifically tuned in to the way God's  human protection system is to work. When someone takes aim at God's creation design in a detrimental way, it is difficult to understand. 

So does the constitution of this country support my freedom of belief? It most certainly does! The first amendment guarantees it and also guarantees the same freedom to people who don't agree. A very loving God gave us all freedom of choice to either believe and know him or choose not to. 

Does God Know What Is Going On Down Here?

What a crazy chaotic time we are living in! It is hard to believe all the things going on, but one thing is for sure! God knows exactly what is going on and he is at work.  He is exposing all of it, the curtain is being pulled back wide open.  I pray for this country. God always answers prayers! He doesn't control people. We need to respond to his answers and and it looks like people are. Righteousness is the passport to living above the fray and wielding the power of God.

In the Matthew 5:20, Jesus said to the people who followed him:            

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The scribes and Pharisees were big law pushers and even wrote laws to keep people from breaking the law. I guess you might say they were religious and politically correct at the same time. Their law contained so many extra jots and tittles, people could hardly breathe. As recorded in Matthew 5, Jesus  taught that righteousness was so much bigger than jot and tittles. The grace and power to live for God goes way beyond the righteousness by the law. Righteous by grace is relational to God. Righteous is all about knowing God for real and acting accordingly.

The effectual fervent (energized, inwrought) prayer (for a personal need) of a righteous man availeth (power to prevail) much. James 5:16b

Recently I read some articles by parents who are upset with current educational policies that clearly violate the rights of parents.  This is nothing new under the sun, it has been going on for a long time. Parents have a right to have a say in what is taught to their children. This is a simple point that falls under the auspices of the1st amendment to the Constitution. It is a right in God's eyes for every parent to bring their children up according to God's principles. This is what freedom of religion assures us. 

When people say that the constitution 'separates church and state' they are wrong. They use this phrase to twist and cancel our rights. The constitution never says that. The phrase 'separation of church and state' came from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote the Danbury church in 1802. It actually was reassuring them that the government could not interfere with the 'free exercise of religion'. The government has no right to interfere with our right to teach our own children the difference between right and wrong. the government is to protect the rights of the people. ( https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html )

God knows what we are dealing with. He has absolutely given us the power and answers we need to handle the gaslighting and twisted schemes that arise when people attempt to control the beliefs of others. Righteousness is a huge powerful gift from God to be used to stand up to any violation of our God-given rights.

The Sword of the Spirit

Jesus Christ's purpose was to reveal the presence of evil and expose opposition to God.   Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to the adversary.  Evil can be blatant or subtle. Evil penetrates this world through  suggestions, philosophies, ideologies, idolatries and a lust for power. We see it in the media, education, politics and even in religion ('Genesis 3- 'Did God really say?'). There is no little red demon with horns and a pitchfork; the devil is a spiritual force of evil that is a parasite on words and ideas. The success of this force depends upon being believed, that is why evil often uses religion to sell its wares.  The closer to truth the adversary gets without being truth, the greater the success at dragging an individual into its traps.

The world is in a bit of uneasiness to say the least; there is a lot of hypocrisy, lying and accusation, which eats away at our trust in things going on; BUT:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6

Trusting God who is faithful to his word is so refreshing and real. We are not wrestling against flesh and blood in this present world. God has supplied protection and weaponry to battle the dark areas we face:

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Ephesians 4:14-17

Truth is our safety belt. Our hearts are protected by righteousness (God's) and our feet are protected by peace. We have a shield that comes from believing God which can move around to fend off the evil aimed at us. Some of the evil that presents to us is in the form of subtle attacks as well as the more obvious hits. The sword of the spirit which is the word of God, is a singularly unique weapon. The spirit of God can so work in us to detect things behind the scene and make a direct sharp hit. It may involve thoughts within our own heads as well as from others. 

The greek word for 'word' in this verse is the word 'rhema'. The are two major words for 'word' in the Bible: 'rhema' and 'logos'.  'Logos' refers to the doctrine of God, 'rhema' refers to specific saying or word that applies to a time and situation. 'Rhema' is surgical, that is why the 'sword of spirit' is used in this verse. We just don't throw verses at the wall to see what sticks, we allow the spirit of God to inspire our thinking; the right thought for the right attack. It might not come immediately but it will come at just the right time which is crucial and incredibly exciting!

Broken Toys

God is our Father. He is the perfect father and yet many people still blame him for the ups and downs and injustices of life.  When they pray and they don't seem to get the answers they want right away, they may get angry or may even doubt God, his love and existence.

As children bring their broken toys with tears for us to mend,

I brought my broken dreams to God, because he was my friend.

But then, instead of leaving Him, in peace, to work alone;

I hung around and tried to help, with ways that were my own.

At last, I snatched them back and cried, "How can you be so slow?

"My child," He said, "What could I do? You never did let go." 

Author unknown

God does so much better than we could imagine and as we grow, we learn to yield to what's best. Yielding to God's love brings great peace to our lives.

There are some things we hang on tightly to for a lot of different reasons. Our environment and culture exert certain pressures on our minds to cause us to be unsure, lack confidence and commit to 'quick fixes'. The bottom line is fear. But!:

There is no fear (terror, panic flight) in love (Godly love) ; but perfect (mature, completed) love casteth (with force and effort) out fear: .1 John 4:18a

The "toys of this world" come and go.  As we mature, some things get old and we move on hopefully not clinging to the childish things that need to be left behind.  God replaces our fear with power, love and a sound mind which are the faithful solid tools of life and with these tools we have peace that exceeds our expectations.

Darkness and Gloom - Turn on the light!!!

This past week has been rainy and cloudy. It can feel gloomy when weather like this drags on so long. The dark gray clouds seem to exert a heavy pressure on the air.  Finally the sun blew it all away yesterday. It was so nice to see bright light again!

Light can be physical and it can be spiritual. In John chapter 9 there is an interesting record that seems to parallel both:

 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation,Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. John 9:1-7

Jesus and his disciples passed by a blind man and the disciples asked an interesting question about how this man's blindness originated. They wanted to know if it was caused by sin. Sin occurs when a person ignores God and sets out to do something he shouldn't do. They wanted to know if it was his sin or the parents sin that was responsible for the blindness. Jesus said 'Neither'. 

There is one main reason that bad things happen in this world and that is because there is evil in this world. God doesn't cause blindness so he can show a miracle. Since Genesis 3, the adversary has had opportunity to mess up God's original creation in many ways. Sickness and disease entered after  Adam and Eve transferred power to the adversary and he has been messing up everything ever since.

Jesus explained that he was to work the works of God who sent him (it is interesting that Siloam means 'sent'). The blind man received his sight. Darkness turned to light for him.

Spiritually when things get bad, dark and gloomy, Turning to God's word turns on spiritual light. Spiritual light causes spiritual gloom to flee!

Projection And Mis-Judging 2021

 This is a repost from 2017 that I still think is very timely:

This morning, I got to thinking about a wonderful verse in Ephesians:

18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, Ephesians 1:18

It had popped into my head when I was pondering a phone conversation I recently had with someone when she called me back after I left a message to have her call me. When she called back, she immediately started talking to me about something I had no idea about. All I could figure out was that she was worried about what I was thinking in regards to something that she was handling. It was not what I was thinking about at all!  When I realized what was going on and a significant pause opened up, I stopped her and explained what  I wanted and assured her that my brain had not gone that way. In the end each of us was blessed. It is great for relationships to work things out like this when there is misinterpretation. Too often people run to others who don't even know what is going on and unload and cause further chaos and division. Many situations can be solved by talking to each other personally and not about each other. (Matthew 18:15)

'Projection' is an image in our mind that we 'project' on a situation when dealing with others based on our own thoughts within ourselves.  It happens a lot since we humans have busy minds. We can do it in both a positive and a negative sense based on the way we are feeling at the time. It is a form of mis-"judging". It is very prevalent in our news cycles, and all over political and religious circles. You can find examples of projection everywhere. 

This is a great reason to listen carefully to what people are saying and help free them from misconceptions about what they might be thinking if you get the opportunity. Sometimes people are so busy thinking thoughts they don't really have time to listen. What a great thing to pray for!

People often project their thoughts on God too! It is something to watch out for. It is possible to think God is mad at us, when he isn't. It is possible to think God doesn't even think about us or that we have no place in his heart. All you have to do is look at the beautiful spring gifts he has made to remind us of all the loving touches he put in this world to bless our lives.

The verse above in Ephesians came to mind and is very apropos to the spring cleaning that needs to go on in our minds periodically. (It's the first day of spring! Yea!). It is actually a prayer and it is a good one.  In fact it is beautiful! It is an effective prayer to pray and believe. Let in the light, open the windows, breathe and clear the cobwebs of our minds out!

Be The Person God thinks You Are

Recently I saw a quote on line that read ;"Be the person your dog
thinks you are". I have known a few wonderful dogs in my time and the dogs I have known have been loving, loyal friends. One thing I remember most about the dogs we have owned was seeing their eyes light up and their wagging tails that always greeted us when walked towards them on especially tough, tiring days. It was so heartwarming. Our Katy and Maggie could always make us smile.  

God made animals to bless us and they do offer us amazing lessons in life.  All of God's creation teaches us about how much he has provided for us and loves us. Getting back to the quote, I chuckled at the the spelling of the word 'dog'. It reminded me about being the person God thinks you are. God looks upon us as sons and daughters. Ok, maybe he doesn't wag his tail when we enter the throne room of his love, but he is certainly happy, loyal and excited when we do.

I didn't always know God as I do now and I'm very thankful that I know him now better than I ever did. Last night, I read a few of David's psalms after a very long day. Now don't get me wrong, the book Psalms is filled with beautiful prayers to God, but the ones I was reading didn't light up for me or chase away the gray cloud that was hanging over my head. David lived in Old Testament times, we live in the times of the New Testament which is all about Jesus Christ and what his life means to us in our connection to God. If you really want to know who God thinks we are, read the book of Ephesians, Colossians or I, II or III John! just as a start. 

God is faithful, loyal and he invented love! If we focus on our shortcomings, failures, and  downright sin, we tend to run away from God and hide like kids do when they mess up. Well, God even tells us that we all sin and come short of the glorious life God has for us. We should never hide from God because the minute we step into his light, our lives change and he remembers nothing about our sin. If he had a tail it would be wagging faster than a helicopter blade on a supersonic jet!

How do we step into his light? Read Ephesians, pour your heart out to him and make a list of things he has done for you. One day when I was feeling schmucky, I bought a little yellow spiral notebook and wrote down all the things I could remember of how God had blessed me. The list grew and grew and grew. I started remembering things from my childhood (and that was long ago). I remembered people who specifically taught me how much God loves us. Other things kept popping up and I'd write them in my book. Everyday something pops into my head.  It often occurs when I read a record in the Bible and it reminds me of an incident.  I get my yellow book and write it down so I don't forget.

There's a lot of garbage floating around this world to try and push us to forget God and what he has done for us, so it is good to go back and read these lists.  When I reread my list, I am amazed at the miraculous life I have lived! Forget the sin, the negatives and ask God to remind you of his work in your life. The only thing sin will remind us of, is its utter futility and distraction and traps. God himself, on the other hand, constantly reminds us what he thinks of us and lifts our heart.

Vision

Have you ever just come to the point where you have felt where there is just no solution in sight to where you are headed. You might even blame yourself for being just so stupid and deserving to have the word 'failed' stamped on your forehead. Probably everyone has frequently experienced such pressure. That's why we needed a person who felt all our pain to lift us up and out of this trap. That man is Jesus Christ. He is not a fairy tale, a myth or fable. How do we know that? We can know it by what is written and by experiencing it in the here and now because he still lives and he is God's right-hand man.

6 Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Have you ever noticed in the bible when Jesus is referred to, he is Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ  or Christ Jesus. Christ is not his last name. It is a title. When the title 'Christ' is first it emphasizes his risen Messianic position meaning he delivers and rescues as an agent of God. He is a savior.

We have been given the gift of holy spirit as a result of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.  We have an internal receiver that can hear the voice of God deep within our heart. In that gift are included word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, faith, miracles and gifts of healings among other things. Evil can stealthily dish out vision that can be quite deceiving, but  God's spirit in us can separate good and evil. Worry and fear can be pretty noisy, but God's quiet calm will shut them up. That's a miracle.

So how do we get us out of trouble and anguish, even trouble that we deserve? We have to look to God's word for our answers. We can also pray to God to know what to pray for and then we have pay attention to the answer. God provides answers many ways. Things may just happen right away or it may take some time. God can give us vision to see ahead and have that peace that passeth understanding if we have to wait. It may be in the form of assurance or comfort. It is supernatural light piercing through darkness and settling a new calm on the heart. We may not have all the specific details (just the details we need), but the peace is so different than just ordinary 'chillin' that it guards you from anxious thoughts. All you have to do is ask:

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally (generously, simply and sincerely), and upbraids not (without rolling his eyes -my definition); and it shall be given him. James 1:5

The more we do this and experience God's peace that passes understanding over and over the quicker, we will ask each time when we are presented with a negative situation.  God's peace will cause us to thrive and excel.