But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/isa.53.5.KJV
Jesus went through this for you
Category: Salvation
How much are we alike?
In many, many ways actually. God created mankind in His Image. All of us, regardless of our location on Earth, have two legs, two arms, two eyes, two ears, one nose and one mouth and of course the appendages that go along with arms and legs too. Granted there are many who have lost the use of or the presence of an arm or leg or both in war, but for the most part we come from His template. Even our blood is the same color.
So why do we focus on the color of our skin or even the color of our eyes much of the time? It has been said that “the eyes are the window to your soul” and for the most part it is true. You can look at someone’s eyes and see lots of different things. You can’t know their heart for sure in this manner or even their personality but you can get a “gut feeling” of the type of person that they are. Sometimes it is wrong but occasionally it is spot on.
We do not all look alike. Some of us are dark skinned and some are light on melanin which helps each of us depending on our location on Earth with respect to the Sun. So…why have we become so polarized in our relationships because of our skin color?
The reason seems to have started a few centuries ago and it was wrong then too. Explorers from Europe and England considered the “dark-skinned” inhabitants of Africa and Middle Asia (India) to be “less than human”. The same was thought of as the Aborigines of Australia and the South Pacific Islands. But why did they think this way? It could be that they thought of Chimpanzee and their skin color and equated them with the “darkies” as they labeled them that way.
This was a very European way of looking at other people from other cultures and areas of the world but it wasn’t the correct way at all. Jesus was a Jewish man born in what is Israel, He was dark skinned and not like any of the “white” Jesus paintings that artists painted of Him. There are many misrepresentations of Him and Adam and Eve and many other Biblical figures in museums around the world but thankfully the Word of God in the Bible is true.
Will racism ever be fixed? Not by reading books about it nor by any amount of violence or destruction of property but it will be taken care of when Jesus returns to rule over Earth for a thousand years. Consider this and seek to know Him before the end of the church age comes.
Delight yourself in the Lord
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord ; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Psalms 1:1-2 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.1.1-2.KJV
God created all of the stars!
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jas.1.17.KJV
Racism or ?
Racism-the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.
I have said this before and I am emphasizing it again. God created the human race and we descended from a man and a woman that God created. We did not evolve from apes. God didn’t even use apes as the idea for us because He said, “Let us make mankind in our image”. We are created in His image and we still carry His image inside us.
So….what causes racism? It could be many things but the most likely culprit is in your own family. We see how our grandparents and our parents treat people who have darker skin than we do so the treatment or the thoughts toward those with darker skin are taught and handed down over the generations. It has become ingrained in our white culture just as other behaviors are in other cultures.
Is it hard for white people to talk about racism? Yes, it is. Particularly when some of us have worked with people of color, regardless of the color and yet those of us who are “white” are called crackers, and honky by some outside our friends at work. Why? What did I ever do to deserve such names? Have I been disrespectful to you or someone in your family? My family never owned any slaves. But to hear the “news” today you would think that every white person has been a part of the slave trade from 200 years ago.
The earliest ancestor of mine came over on a ship from England as a servant to someone who could afford a servant. So…what does that make me? I am a descendant of a slave or servant as well, even though my skin is white. God doesn’t agree with slavery or the idea of it but the Bible was used in a very evil way to justify slavery.
Jesus didn’t come to save you based on your skin color because He created all of the shades of color which adorns our human race. Each has its advantages and disadvantages but not in the way that the news media tries to spin it these days. God created us in the way that would be the most beneficial for us to be His disciples so that we could take His message of love to those that we are known by and to some who may not know us at all.
Each of us has a talent or ability which may make an impression on someone outside our comfort zone. Hopefully it will bring them to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. I pray that our ideas of race and racism will be put behind us one day and one day in His Kingdom it will be. We just have to get there first. Lord, come quickly.
Read God’s Word…
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua 1:8 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jos.1.8.KJV
Believe in Jesus
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:38 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jhn.7.38.KJV
Keep your eyes on Jesus
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/heb.12.2.KJV
Physically dying but spiritually Alive!
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/2co.4.16.KJV
Does God care for us?
There is so much evidence for His love for mankind until I would imagine that it hurts His heart when someone asks this. He loved us enough that He created Earth for us. He placed it at the right distance from our Sun so that it isn’t too hot or too cold. He put the right mixture of gases in our atmosphere so that plants and animals of all kinds could grow along with us. Our planet has an abundance of water and the right nutrients in it for all of the life in the oceans and rivers.
God also sent Jesus to pay the penalty of our sin debt so that we could live into eternity with Him one day if we will place our faith in Jesus for our salvation. That is the one gift which we have that no other part of creation has or can understand…the gift of God’s love and His atonement for our sins through His Son, Jesus. This gift from God is by no amount of worth on our part. We cannot earn it nor can we purchase it in any way other than our deep belief in Jesus as our Savior. That is the easiest purchase that we can ever make because we don’t have to spend anything for it. Just believe in Jesus for your salvation and ask Him for your forgiveness of your sinful life before you knew that you needed Him.
God calls us to come to Him through His grace and He gives us enough faith to believe and repent in order to be saved. It has nothing to do with your idea of being saved or your decision of going to church to be saved. When His Holy Spirit convicts your heart of your need of Him, you will respond one way or the other. Choose the right way and trust in Jesus for your salvation. Time is growing short and when He comes for His church you do want to be in the number of those called home to Heaven.
The Living Message of Christ 