Daily Reading. September 25, 2023

What defiles a man defiles a culture, Pt. 1

'That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.’ Jesus rebuked the disciples for not understanding what causes our actions to be foul and sinful. They tended to accept the judgement of Jewish society influenced by the Scribes and Pharisees. The Pharisees taught it’s what you eat and the rituals you follow that make you pure. Jesus obliterated that false idea. And [Jesus] said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?….” And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed…[a]ll these evil things….” —Mark 7:18-23 Today, we begin a multi-part series on how human sin and our defiled natures affect our lives, society, culture, and government. Why is it important to understand this? How does human nature cause harm to all of us? What are the ramifications of this problem upon our lives and even on our country? Join us this and next week for an important discussion on this critical topic for our times. Welcome to the new Justice and Kindness Devotional series After reading through the Bible for a year, Jim is embarking upon an effort to make Justice and Kindness a devotional series. Give us feedback at jim@justiceandkindness.com. Let us know if this is a blessing and help to you. SUPPORT THIS EFFORT Please subscribe to Justice and Kindness Substack [https://justiceandkindness.substack.com/] to provide the financial backing for this effort. Go to www.JusticeAndKindness.com [http://www.justiceandkindness.com/] to find out more. If you want a truly secure VPN service, choose the best. Get ProtonVPN for truly private internet. Go to LocateJim.com to find links where you can bet your own private VPN. If you would like private email to get away from Gmail or other services tracking everything you do, get Proton Email [https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=3363&url_id=589]. There's a link at LocateJim.com Find all our offers at www.LocateJim.com [http://www.locatejim.com/]. Get full access to Justice and Kindness at justiceandkindness.substack.com/subscribe [https://justiceandkindness.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Do not inquire after their gods

Is the Church following after pagan gods? As believers in Christ, we are under the same command as Israel refrain from seeking other gods. We have the same temptations as ancient Israel had. We must every day corporately and in our individual lives refrain from such pursuits. We are commanded to hold firm to Truth and reject falsehood. It seems we are failing at this. Western culture is declining at an alarming pace. What causes this? We should be convinced that in free societies like those in the West, the major responsibility for this decline lay with the Church of the Living God. We neglect the study of scripture (Old and New Testament). We neglect conforming our lives to it in the fear of the Lord. And we end up paying the price. We have a tendency to follow false gospels and not the Gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus began His preaching ministry thus: “Repent! For the Kingdom of God is at hand.” It’s repentance and conforming to God’s word is His command. In today’s podcast, Jim Pfaff talks about this problem and relates it to our personal lives and the major happenings in our world today. Welcome to the new Justice and Kindness Devotional series After reading through the Bible for a year, Jim is embarking upon an effort to make Justice and Kindness a devotional series. Give us feedback at jim@justiceandkindness.com. Let us know if this is a blessing and help to you. SUPPORT THIS EFFORT Please subscribe to Justice and Kindness Substack [https://justiceandkindness.substack.com/] to provide the financial backing for this effort. Go to www.JusticeAndKindness.com [http://www.justiceandkindness.com/] to find out more. If you want a truly secure VPN service, choose the best. Get ProtonVPN [https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=3363&url_id=659] for truly private internet. If you would like private email to get away from Gmail or other services tracking everything you do, get Proton Email [https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=3363&url_id=589]. Find all our offers at www.LocateJim.com [http://www.LocateJim.com]. Get full access to Justice and Kindness at justiceandkindness.substack.com/subscribe [https://justiceandkindness.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Armor of God

We are admonished here to "stand firm against" the "schemes of the devil." The idea of standing firm implies—and I would also say requires— very real effort every day and for an entire life. It has the idea of establishing one's self, of firmly being set, of being made to stand (Jude 24). The follower of The Way is commanded to undertake this effort of standing. This command is necessitated by the fact that the devil has schemes he is undertaking to thwart the individual believer in both their personal life and their outward workings on behalf of the Lord to establish God's Kingdom. The devil has methods for thwarting and harming those seeking to follow The Way. In Ephesians 6:10 we are told to walk in the power of Jesus' might. We are to work against the "world forces" of "this darkness." The Greek word for “world forces” could also be translated "cosmic forces.". The forces against us are throughout the world and regularly around us. The ultimate goal is to fulfill the admonition we have in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. [We are] destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and [we are] taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Welcome to the new Justice and Kindness Devotional series After reading through the Bible for a year, Jim is embarking upon an effort to make Justice and Kindness a devotional series. Give us feedback at jim@justiceandkindness.com. Let us know if this is a blessing and help to you. SUPPORT THIS EFFORT Please subscribe to Justice and Kindness Substack [https://justiceandkindness.substack.com/] to provide the financial backing for this effort. Go to www.JusticeAndKindness.com [http://www.justiceandkindness.com/] to find out more. If you want a truly secure VPN service, choose the best. Get ProtonVPN [https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=3363&url_id=659] for truly private internet. If you would like private email to get away from Gmail or other services tracking everything you do, get Proton Email [https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=3363&url_id=589]. Find all our offers at www.LocateJim.com Get full access to Justice and Kindness at justiceandkindness.substack.com/subscribe [https://justiceandkindness.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Refresh your prayer life

Prayer is truly the lifeblood of the Christian. Join Jim Pfaff today as he discusses prayer and why we need to take some time to think about it in a new way. Ephesians 3:14-21 is a model of prayer devotion for all of us. Paul has been considering all the joys, triumphs, trials, and tribulations he and the Ephesians had endured. He turns to God in prayer and gives a masterclass in seeking God—the why and the how of seeking Him. Get Andrew Murray’s classic With Christ in the School of Prayer. https://amzn.to/3O5pcUG [https://amzn.to/3O5pcUG] Welcome to the new Justice and Kindness Devotional series After reading through the Bible for a year, Jim is embarking upon an effort to make Justice and Kindness a devotional series. Give us feedback at jim@justiceandkindness.com. Let us know if this is a blessing and help to you. SUPPORT THIS EFFORT Please subscribe to Justice and Kindness Substack [https://justiceandkindness.substack.com] to provide the financial backing for this effort. Go to www.JusticeAndKindness.com [http://www.JusticeAndKindness.com] to find out more. If you want a truly secure VPN service, choose the best. Get ProtonVPN [https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=3363&url_id=659] for truly private internet. If you would like private email to get away from Gmail or other services tracking everything you do, get Proton Email [https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=3363&url_id=589]. Find all our offers at www.LocateJim.com Get full access to Justice and Kindness at justiceandkindness.substack.com/subscribe [https://justiceandkindness.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Daily Reading. September 25, 2023

Justice and Kindness daily Bible reading for September 25, 2023. 2 Samuel 21. Galatians 1. Ezekiel 28. Psalm 77. Support our effort by going to https://glow.fm/justiceandkindness [https://glow.fm/justiceandkindness]. The daily reading follows M'Cheyene's bible reading calendar [https://www.mcheyne.info/calendar.pdf]. We use the New American Standard Bible (NASB)--published by the Lockman Foundation [https://www.lockman.org/]. Please give us five stars in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. You can visit our podcast page at https://sites.libsyn.com/424394 [https://sites.libsyn.com/424394]. ©Innovative Research and Data Solutions, LLC and Jim Pfaff Get full access to Justice and Kindness at justiceandkindness.substack.com/subscribe [https://justiceandkindness.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]