Daily Devotional: Mon. June 2, 2008

[omonija]

Do Not Discriminate


(James 2:9) But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.


People are often quick to judge according to appearances. Some people might seem easier for you to love than others based on how they appear outwardly.

Do you often tend to gravitate only towards people that are like you? Do you make your time and resources readily available only to those that seem to be like you? Are you quick to affiliate with those of the same background with you while you would rather not have anything to do with others?

If so, then your love is with respect to persons. Jesus associated with everyone. He communed and fellowshipped with sinners and non-sinners alike. In fact all the people that he fellowshipped with were sinners as no one was born-again at that time.

Jesus saw beyond external appearances. He realized that everyone He came in contact with had potential for greatness.

Start loving all men equally because what lies within them is greater than what you see on the outside. Your love-life ought to be without discrimination. You are the expression of Jesus to your world and if He loved unconditionally - so should you!

DAILY SCRIPTURE READING: James 1:1-26




MY DAILY CONFESSION

I am born of God and I have His nature of love. The love of God has been shed abroad in my heart. I let loose of the force of love from my inside. I do not walk in strife, malice or unforgiveness. I walk freely in the love of God because it is my nature.

I subject my flesh to walk in love. I do not walk according to the dictates of the flesh but I walk as led by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit enables me to walk in love at all times. God is with me, God is in me and God is for me so I cannot fail.

I please God and obey His commandments. I love God and I love my neighbor as myself. I therefore walk under open heavens. God opens the windows of heaven over my life because I cooperate with Him by walking in love. I enjoy the benefits of the New Covenant established on better promises. I walk in healing, health, prosperity, preservation and wholeness. I am satisfied with long life and prosperity.

I cannot fail in life because love never fails. Whatsoever I lay my hands on prospers. I prosper in my health, family, relationships and my career. I am born to win and designed for success.

I stand out in my environment. I am distinguished because I walk in the love of God. I represent God adequately in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. I shine as light. I am set upon a hill and I cannot be hidden. I am an effective witness of the kingdom because I walk in love.

[Onyiiboy]

Originally Posted by omonija

In fact all the people that he fellowshipped with were sinners as no one was born-again at that time.

People had been being "born again" before Jesus came about. He just reintroduced it to the Jews.

[Onyiiboy]

Well since its clear that omonija doesn't have the knowledge to challenge what I say, I will give more info to people who want to know more about the universal teaching of being "born again":

The divine realm has been expressed in any of various ways across cultures — as God/Allah/Brahma/Creator, baqa' (Sufism), the perfect goodness, ultimate reality, hal (Persian sufism), a universal presence, force or divine principle. The ultimate unification with the divine may be experienced by the mystic as psychological emancipation, samadhi, being born again, wahdat al-wujud(Sufism) or unity consciousness, but in practical terms it can be described as a surrendered egoless state in which the external world synchronizes with the mystic's true nature and purpose. The term, heaven/nirvana, while generally considered an after-death experience in Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism is seen by the mystic as a non-physical realm or "field" with physical effects in the eternal "now." Severe cultural alienation often accompanies this effort as the mystic turns away from the world (fasting/emptying) seeking reunion with the Creator or Godhead within.

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysticism