Euphoria

 

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Proverbs 4:18 Good News Translation

¹⁸ The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come.

 My wife, Sylvia, came home one day glowing. She had chatted with a panhandler. His sign read, “Save me from myself.” He had had an encounter with Jesus, and it had left him euphoric over the glory of God. Like so many other panhandlers, he was addicted to alcohol. It had had a vicelike control over his life. She wanted to help him get a job where he could live his newfound freedom from addiction.

The sceptic in me felt that this was a lost cause. But I also admit that the Holy Spirit has a mighty way of guiding all of our lives, especially when we encourage Him to do so. A few months earlier a friend of mine had taken me over to a large Salvation Army Corps, east of us on I-215. It had a center that distributed all the donations to various smaller corps in the L.A. area. It also had a center where people could come and live while they consolidated their freedom from addiction.

Anyway, Sylvia saw the panhandler several more times, and told him about the Corps I had described to her. She wanted to drive him over there. I was solidly against letting her drive an hour away from home alone with a former addict. She finally got me to agree to take him.

She arranged a point where we could meet him. He put his stuff in the trunk and climbed into the passenger side. Sylvia rode in the back. I instructed her to come to my rescue if he pulled any surprise on us.

As we drove, I chatted with him about his conversion experience. He glowed with the euphoria he had experienced, (Have you forgotten your experience, or did you never have one?) He wanted this euphoric experience all the time. It was so much superior to what he used to get from his liquor or drugs.

I tried to point out gently that the Christian experience is like someone lost in a cave. When the lost turn a corner and see the bright light of mouth of the cave in the distance they are overwhelmed by the distant light. A great wave of rescue and freedom sweeps over them. Then as they thread their way carefully and possibly painfully toward the light, it becomes ever brighter, and their original euphoria fades in the brighter light. Finally, they step out of the cave and the full rays of the sun envelop them in warmth and light. They no longer have that initial thrill, but they have something much more beautiful and vital.

I stepped into the Salvation Army Captain’s office with him. He invited us to sit down. The captain interviewed the panhandler briskly. When asked how long he had been clean, he had to admit that he had gone over to his girlfriend’s home the previous evening and had celebrated this new step with a stiff drink. The captain informed hm that they didn’t take anyone unless they had been clean for at least six weeks. He then directed us to a home where he could lodge until he had achieved the six weeks. Sylvia and I dropped him off there. His mother later informed us that unfortunately he was back on the streets within a few days. 

 

Dear Lord, may Your Spirit guide firmly and successfully toward Your perfect light.

 

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[1] https://medium.com/sensible-biohacking-transhumanism/the-meaning-of-euphoria-in-mental-health-and-spirituality-ca3781e87ef9

Double-Edged Sword

 

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Hebrews 4:12-13 Contemporary English Version

¹² God's word is alive and powerful! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. ¹³ Nothing is hidden from God! He sees through everything, and we will have to tell him the truth.

 

We recently attended a Wycliffe Associates Summit here in California. They accentuated the transformation native speakers undergo when they read the Bible in their own language. The translators especially are changed because they have spent genuine time actually understanding God’s word and then expressing it in their own heart language.

Some of my fellow believers ask me if it wouldn’t be better to donate what I give for Bible translation to church evangelism instead. As we discovered in Tanzania many years ago, where people used an English or a Swahili version of the Bible to study for themselves. I heard them say, “But this is in the language of our oppressors.” Indeed, the English were the most recent rulers of Tanzania, and Swahili is a language created by the Arabs who used it in the slave trade. It can be difficult to learn about love and grace in a language normally associated with oppression.

But then, some argue, what if people misinterpret the meaning of the text? That is the same argument the Catholic Church made in order to restrict the use of Scripture throughout the Dark Ages. Some experts claim there are over 9,000 Christian denominations in the United States alone (over 33,000 worldwide). See what happens when each person is able to read the Bible and form his/her own opinion about the Truth of God?

God’s Word is alive! It is causing people to think about what message God has for them. It is the Holy Spirit’s duty to teach each person what he wants them to believe as well as what He wants them to do. It is only the active intervention of the Holy Spirit in our lives that prepares us for heaven, that applies God’s grace to the individual believer.

Just as God used human instruments to write His words contained in the Bible, God has given people the privilege for making His Word available to every to every nation, kindred, tongue and people[2] in their heart language.

Thank You, Lord, for giving us the opportunity to help spread Your Word to all of mankind. And Thank You also that it is not our assignment to police how Your Holy Spirit chooses to use this Word.

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[1] https://clipground.com/images/gods-words-clipart-3.png

[2] Revelation 14 :6 “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,”

 

Conformed Computer Transformed

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Romans 12:2 New International Version

² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

 

Several months ago, Microsoft installed an unwelcome and unsolicited update on my laptop computer. The net effect was that it disabled my computer from showing pictures, etc., on my TV, or any other device. I tried to fix it. I spent hours trying to fix it. No luck.

There is not much that affects my spiritual or mental equilibrium like having my computer revolt against me. Then the other day my nephew suggested that he had had good luck by taking his computer in to a place called Human Computer. I saw John there, and after some hard work, he got my computer doing what I expected it to do.

Thinking about my experience, I realized that my computer is like my mind. Microsoft is like the devil who does his best to zap my mind. Finally, John symbolizes the Spirit of God that can renew my mind so that I can do what is good pleasing, and perfect in God’s eyes.

As long as I own a computer, Microsoft is determined to do some more tweaking to it. And as long as I live on earth, the devil is trying to tweak my mind to cause me frustration and get me to quit living according to God’s will. Praise the Lord, His Spirit is constantly available to place my mind back on track.

Please, Lord, keep us on the strait and narrow road that leads us away from perdition.

 

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[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DA6CMsde2k