At the congregation of the Lord’s people that meets at Westlake, in Wentzville, Mo., the elders recently instituted a study on several specific Psalms. Some of the men of the congregation were asked to present lessons and my husband, Bill, was given the 23rd Psalm – Trust in the Lord.

We discussed how trusting in the Lord has seen us through many difficult times in our lives as His children. Putting our confidence in God shows we have complete and genuine trust that He will take care of us. (Psa 1:1-3; 4:1, 18:1-3; 25:1-2; 26:1-2; 27:1; 31:1, 14, 19; 119:33-35).

Several years back, Bill was diagnosed with prostate cancer. We prayed that God would see us through it. During the pre-testing to determine if surgery was feasible, it was discovered he’d suffered a silent heart attack a year or two before. (God saw us through a difficult situation we weren’t even aware had occurred.)

Surgery was definitely out of the question so the oncologist and Bill opted for radiation treatments. When they were completed he was deemed cancer-free and has been so since. We must trust in God as Noah did (Heb. 11:7), as Abraham did (Heb. 11:8-10) and so many others in the Old Testament scriptures. Mal. 3:6 says God never changes.

Our faith rests on God’s power (1 Cor. 2:5); He showers us with spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3-4) through His Son (Eph. 2:4-7). There is only ONE way – God’s way (Eph. 4:4-6), and we must strive daily to do the will of God (Phil. 3:8-14). Only then will our trust and faith give us the power to grow and fight the sins of the world.

As we grow older, we have learned that trusting in God means we do not worry - wondering how things will turn out. The ladies at Westlake had a study on the book of Philippians recently. The one verse that always comes to mind is 4:13: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Devotion to daily Bible study is an enhancement of our faith and trust in God. This is an Important part of our daily lives and we should make certain that we are learning and growing as we should – regardless of our age (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

May God continue to bless and watch over His children.

Gale Conway
Missouri

As I sat at the first of two funerals I had planned to attend one week and watched the large extended family file down the aisle, grief etched on so many faces, it struck me how many lives this man had influenced. Morgan had died of a sudden heart attack and was in my eyes a gentle, spiritual giant. His Bible knowledge, wisdom, and compassion for others left a lasting impression on me. Having known him only a few months, the admiration I felt for him must have been greatly magnified in those closer to him.

As it turned out, the other funeral I planned to attend did not take place. I suppose “John” was just buried without any ceremony wherever they bury those who are destitute. I had never met him, but wanted to comfort the family, with whom I had been acquainted. I assumed they would be grieving, if only for what should have been. Having never been a real husband or father, he spent much of his life in jail, dying at the hand of a fellow inmate. Why do two human lives have such different outcomes, one a success in every sense of the word and the other seemingly without purpose?

John 3:5 states, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven,” and Morgan had experienced that spiritual birth. Having learned about God and Jesus from an early age, he reached the point of believing that more than this earthly life existed, proven by the resurrection of Christ. He was baptized into Christ, and continued to grow spiritually “in grace and knowledge” (2 Pet. 3:18). He fed on a steady diet of truth. (Jn. 17:17). He surrounded himself with spiritual people, whose encouragement built on the foundation in place. He left behind a legacy of love, respect, and encouragement, which provided the nurturing of an emotionally healthy, spiritual family.

“John”, on the other hand, from all indication had only lived in the flesh, possibly unaware that he was heeding the call of Satan, the father of lies (Jn. 8:44). He chose his companions from those of low degree. He left a legacy of emotional scars, dysfunction, immorality, addiction, and poverty, which was perpetuated in the lives of the family left behind.

My spiritual walk may find me somewhere in between these two extremes, so what legacy will I choose to leave? The good news is that everyone has the chance to know God and experience the spiritual birth. My family does not determine my destiny. I have the ability to choose good or evil, to know God or deny Him. I can heed God’s instruction to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom. 12:1,2) My goal should be for my life to reflect the light that will make the path clearer for those in my circle of influence, leaving a lasting spiritual legacy.

Janet Barnes
Alabama

You Shall Not Oppress a Stranger
(posted 2/28/08)

 

Do you doubt your Heavenly Father’s love? Anyone who sees all He has done and does today for everyone who lives on the earth and doubts His love for mankind is very foolish. Psalm 19:1 tells us, “The heavens declare the glory of God, And the firmament shows His handiwork.” He does love us. He loves all of us, not just me. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” So we can know that He cares about our concerns when we go into scary places, places of danger, both physical and spiritual. And also when I am righteous due to the information from this verse and all the rest of His book, He tells me I can ask for His help and He will give it. 

Due to God’s love for all of us, He wants me to care for strangers. When the Mexicans and Guatemalans come to Russellville how am I to treat them? God says I am to treat them well, give them welcome. The Indians of this land welcomed our forefathers. They showed them how to grow corn and other survival things. When we repaid their hospitality with bad treatment, death, and disease, soon nearly all these friendly relations were over. 

“We are to do good to all men.” We are to do good to strangers and in doing this good work we are also obligated by God not to be taken in by their gods or wrong ways of living. 

My husband and I were uniformly welcomed in Michigan when his job took us there. This was mainly the Christians we met by worshipping, but even other people were helpful and friendly. Choosing Christians as contacts and companions will protect us from many dangers and strengthen the Christians where we worship as they do the same for us. 

Where have you gone and needed someone to be kind to you? Where were you a stranger, alien, or sojourner? Perhaps meeting future in-laws, going to a new school, a new job, a new congregation, a new town, a new state? How do you personally welcome a stranger? The new baby? The new person or persons in your congregation? The new family member? The new person in any place? Do you seek ways to make him or her more comfortable, help them orient themselves there? God tells us in so many places in His extraordinary book that this is how to be like Him and how to make us pleasing to Him. 

God said to the Israelites that they were strangers in Egypt, so they knew how important it is to welcome the stranger. College Press said Egypt may not have especially welcomed the Israelite strangers with their herds of cattle and other animals. The Egypt capitol, Memphis, held the bull, Apis, as sacred. Thus the Israelites were very blessed by God to have their own particular area Goshen. 

Exodus 22:21 says, “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” College Press on this verse says that shielding aliens from wrong is a basic act of godliness. Now the sojourners in Exodus were resident aliens living among the Israelites. In Deuteronomy 10: 18-19 we read, “He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Love for aliens was not the practice in most ancient nations. The Egyptians hated “strangers,” and the Greeks called them “barbarians.” 

 

Exodus 23:9 and 12 tells us, “Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt…Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed. 

“Heart” is from the Hebrew nephesh, and means soul, life, feelings, self, with numerous related meanings. For instance, naphesh means “be refreshed.” “Be refreshed” is from the verb, naphash, related to the noun naphesh meaning soul. It can be translated to mean, “to breathe, to take rest, to draw breath, to be refreshed.” On the Sabbath days people were to “catch their breath.” The stranger is included in this blessing from God according the scripture above. 

Exodus 23:13 states, “and in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.” NO mention was to be made of the name of other gods. While the Israelites were not to oppress sojourners, they were not to utter the names of the sojourners’ gods. This prohibition about uttering the names of gods should have prevented marriages and other contacts with idolatrous peoples. This verse probably accounts for the dropping of the name Baal in the names of several men whose names included Baal’s name. Instead of Baal the word “bosheth” (meaning shame) was inserted. Thus Jerubbaal (Judges 6:32) became Jerubbesheth (2 Sam. 11:21); Eshbaal (1 Ch. 8:34) became Mephibosheth (2 Sam. 4:4). Note that the book of Samuel, which is prophetic in character, avoided the name “Baal.” 

Probably all of us know already that not following this law of God in spirit caused both the nations of Israel and Judah to lose their nations and go into captivity. It takes determination and devotion to remember that we can love sinners but must not be taken by their sins. If we do, as the Israelites were lost so will we be—one danger from being kind to the strangers among the Israelites is mentioned here and will also apply to us today. We have as many warnings as they have about this subject; idols of numerous varieties are in our world from among the multitude of choices around us. False teachers, recreations, activities, music, movies, television, books, shopping, comfort, food, in our day and time are in the same category and will cause us to lose our soul as well as the actual idol images threatening them during that period. 

Not oppressing strangers is such a basic concept for when we develop our life philosophy and our love for our Maker and Savior that if anyone has not delved into all the related ways to do this, now is a good time. Spend some thought to learning ways to put this law into continuous action. Actually this work is a basic to living the gospel while living in this world today. Who is not a stranger to us? Everyone who is not one of God’s children. But there are also those who can be found among us as we have mentioned in this writing. May we do well in not oppressing strangers and please God in this excellent work. 

Jerri Hamilton

Alabama