Mountains move…
Author: newlifenarrabri
Reflection on 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1
Scripture
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Observation
While we can do anything or eat anything, not everything is beneficial. It is not about law any more, but about grace.
We can eat anything without raising questions of conscience. If a person who isn’t a believer invites us to share a meal, we can eat anything put before us. However, if they say the meat was offered to an idol, then we should not eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the other person.
Eat or drink, whatever we do should be done for the glory of God. Like Paul, we should try to please others for the sake of their salvation.
Application
Paul is very pragmatic about the issue of food offered to idols. He advocates a” Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy so that Christians are not put in a position where they may inadvertently offend an unbeliever.
We are free to do many things, but we should exercise freedom wisely, in order to glorify God. If my dogmatic freedom turns others away from the Kingdom of God, where is the benefit?
I read the other day of someone who is known as a christian shouting through the door of a cafe denouncing the use of vaccine passports. He is free to do that, and he is free to refuse the vaccination. But why be aggressive in this freedom?
Jesus tells us to be wise as serpents and gentle is doves. Sometimes I think we get it the wrong way around.
There are times when it is right to demand justice for christians and for the church. There are times when it is right to show that we treat idols with contempt. We just need to make sure we do this in a way that honours the Lord.
Prayer
Please help me, Lord, to receive every freedom that is mine in Christ. Grant me wisdom in the way I express this grace. Amen
Ephesians 5:28
Here is my commentary on Ephesians 5:28. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au
Ephesians 5:28
“In the same way men should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.”
Just as Christ loves the church and continues to make the church holy, so husbands must love their wives.
The word used for love here is not eros, the normal word for romantic love, but agape, the love that God has for his people. Christian husbands are not to love their wives because they are attracted to them physically, but because their wives are to be loved. Agape love gives for the sake of the beloved. It never gives up and does not keep a record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13).
Marital love then is to mirror God’s love in being perfect and unchanging.
Just as we love our own bodies, husbands are to love their wives. We are usually acutely aware of the needs of our bodies, whether we are hungry, thirsty, hot or cold, distressed, or in pain. We unconsciously monitor the state of our bodies with our various senses. When something is awry we take remedial steps. We might even take preventive steps, for example putting on a coat before we get too cold.
Husbands should have the same awareness of the needs of their wives that we have for our own body. This includes not just the bodily needs, but also the emotional, social, and spiritual needs that she has.
This is not to suggest some kind of controlling policy where the husband micromanages every part of his wife’s life, being the sole provider of everything she might need.
Rather, this is a sensitivity to a wife’s needs in the same way that we are sensitive to our own needs.
The question that is at the heart of this instruction is, “How can I help my wife to flourish and become all that God wants her to be?”
In verse 31, Paul explicitly references Genesis 2:24. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” But already in this verse this reference is hinted at in the expression that a man who loves his wife loves himself.
The “ one flesh” description of marriage is more than the shallow “happy wife happy life” mantra. It suggests that in marriage a spiritual union is made under the hand of God. This union means that marriage is more than a convenience or a legal institution.
Unity in marriage is such that when one partner flourishes so does the other. When one is struggling so is the other. The marriage bond is more than two individuals coming together. It is a new creation.
Key points in this verse:
- husbands are to love their wives in the same way Christ loves the church
- husbands must love their wives with the self-giving agape love of god
- husbands should concern themselves above all with their wife’s physical, spiritual and emotional well-being
Carson Weitnauer: How can we discern who really loves Jesus?
From Reasons For God:
So many people claim the name of Jesus.
But sometimes, what looked like love for Jesus turns out to be a mask that conceals a lust for money, power, fame, or sex. It is a stunning and painful experience to realize that someone would intentionally violate our deepest values to take advantage of us.
So what if we could find out what separates those who love Jesus from those who want to use Jesus?
In all honesty, sometimes we can’t. Cunning operators are often successful in their deception and manipulation. They tell us what we want to hear, and it works.
Still, in John 6, we have one story that can help us.
A little boy offers his five little barley loaves and his two little fish, and Jesus blesses the weakness of this humble offering. We see the beauty of bringing together human weakness and God’s power: a crowd of many thousands eats their fill.
And why did Jesus do this astounding miracle? He explains it the next day, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” If you depend on Jesus to feed you bread and fish, then do you trust Jesus to satisfy your deepest longings?
Sidebar: What are your deepest longings? Does Jesus fulfill them for you?
But what does the crowd want from Jesus? They want what they want! John tells us they are on the precipice of forcibly demanding that Jesus be their king. His powers are fantastic; he can overthrow the Romans!
So what does Jesus do? He withdraws to a mountain by himself. And when the crowd chases after him, he challenges them.
Notice the contrast?
Jesus draws close to the weak — and blesses them.
Jesus moves away from the power-hungry — and confronts them.
Read the rest here
Like water
Quote for the Day
But for now, we understand that because God is a spirit without a body, He is everywhere present and thus is always near. He is always close at hand. Steven Lawson
God lives in them
Today’s Bike Ride
I took the bike to get serviced yesterday. The guy told me that I have worn it out 😂 Guess what I want for Christmas! 🚲
It was still wet this morning from last night’s rain, so I rode in the afternoon instead. Bike went well.
True Friend
Jo Nova:Suddenly Nuclear Energy is popular
Jo Nova writes:
Suddenly Nuclear Energy is popular
The Gösgen Nuclear Power Plant by Pareixk Federi
The global energy crisis is squeezing the green religion to its logical endpoint. As long as we pretend “carbon” is pollution, the only way out of the maze for badgered politicians is nuclear power. The renewables industry may have thought that beating us over the head with climate propaganda was going to make renewables dominant and profitable, but it may just push everyone into nukes instead.
With the gas price crisis, wind drought, and coal shortage, suddenly everyone is talking about nuclear power:
Nations Go Nuclear As Prices Spike & Renewables Fail
National leaders around the world are announcing big plans to return to nuclear energy now that the cost of natural gas, coal, and petroleum are spiking, and weather-dependent renewables are failing to deliver.
France was reducing nukes from 70% to 50% of its total power generation fleet, but not any more:
“The number one objective is to have innovative small-scale nuclear reactors in France by 2030 along with better waste management,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.
“But the mood has now changed,” the paper writes today. “Macron said on Tuesday he would begin investing in new nuclear projects ‘very quickly.’” — Financial Times.
Public support for nuclear energy rose 17 percentage points in France. “I do not want our country to lose its energy sovereignty under the pretext of an absurd energy transition copied from Germany,” said a conservative French presidential candidate seeking to defeat Macron.
Finland has joined France, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic in lobbying the European Union to categorize nuclear power as sustainable.
Yesterday, Japan’s new prime minister, Fumio Kishida, defended his pro-nuclear policies in Parliament. Kishida came to power on a pro-nuclear platform.
Half of Australia wants nuclear power
The AUKUS “nuclear subs” announcement was a bolt from the blue after decades of Nuclear-free energy debates. But a recent poll shows Australians are rapidly growing to like the idea. Of course, electricity prices have rocketed since 2015 too, adding to the shift.
In 2015, forty percent of Australians supported it, and forty percent opposed it, and one hundred percent of politicians avoided discussing it. Now suddenly, we’ve bought a couple of nuclear subs and in a blink 50% support nuclear power and only 30% oppose it.
Just like that, and with no discussion, suddenly nuclear power has potential. Imagine what the numbers would be if people actually discussed it?
The bottom line is that the West had better hurry.
China is the Fastest growing Nuclear Power in the world
As Jo Nova said in May:
China is poised to be the largest global nuclear power by 2030, overtaking the USA in the next nine years. In the last twenty years, China has increased its fleet of nuclear power reactors from three to 49, with 17 more plants under construction. That means it will soon surpass France which has 57 reactors. At the rate the USA is closing plants, China may hit the No 1 spot faster than expected.
China has a nuclear Belt and Road project too, Argentina, Iran, Pakistan:
Future projects are also being developed in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and South America
Brown coal is still the cheapest kind of electricity there is, and we are mad not to use it, especially because it’s only $30 a MWh and feeds plants and we have a 300 year supply sitting there in the ground.
Rise of Nuclear Power in China. Graph.
