Daily Bread 11-8-16

Mark 9:43-50

43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands that go into hell, into fire that shall never be quenched:

44 Where their worm diet not, and the fire is not quenched.

45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched.

46 Where their worm diet not, and the fire is not quenched.

47 And if thy eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes to be cast into hell fire: 48 Where their worm diet not, and the fire is not quenched.

49 For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith shall ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

ref. - Matt 18:8 - Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

Isa 66:24 - And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Matt 5:29 - And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Lv 2:13 - And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.

Matt 5:13 - Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt hath lost it's savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out,and to be trodden under foot of men.

Luke 14:34 - Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

Coll 4:6 - Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Rom 14:19 - Let us follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

If we look in to this passage we see that Christ was telling his disciples that they needed to pay attention to what was going wrong in them instead of worrying about they of other flocks or they who were not part of their group. He said that if others were gathering in his(Jesus) name to leave them alone. Worry about the body that we have been put in. Purify our own relationship with God. The word talks about eyes, hands, and feet. What we see, what we touch, and where we go. We must be sure that our direction is led by God and the things that will cause is to stray are put away. We cannot walk, talk, touch, or see, the same things we did when we were sinners. We must be a changed person, sacrificing the ways of the world and having the ways of God put in us in Jesus Christ. If where you are walking today is causing offense to God being contrary to the teachings of Christ, stop walking that way. Not only stop walking that way, but cut off the path that you are walking down. Sometimes we have to leave certain possessions, certain, beliefs, and even certain people behind so that we may walk on the right path. It says we are better left cripple(without things that the world teaches us we need) to the world than to try to get in with a bad foot. If what you are touching causes offense to God, whether carnally or spiritually, don't just put it aside, cut it off. You are much better off with one hand touching good things than to have one hand fighting against the other. We have to get rid if the things that we touch that bring us to sin. Whether it is alcohol, tobacco, drugs, certain people, etc.......whatever it is,we should cut it off. It will be better to have one hand clean than to have one always trying to clean up the filthy one. Our eyes, what we look on? So many things we look at, different doctrines, different people, different beliefs, that will take us away from the teaching of Christ, stop looking that way. If you can't keep your eyes off of another man's wife, stop looking that way. Cut off the reason you are looking at her. Stop coveting that which is not yours. This can only be done through a sound salvation in Jesus Christ. This is where we are tried in the fire and our salt either is salty or flavorless. What the scripture is saying today, in a nutshell, is this; We must get rid of the things that are causing us to sin. Not only for a season or a time, but for good. What God has given us in Jesus Christ is to be renewed and refreshed each and every day. Made stronger in the Holy Spirit of God. Not to fade or whither away, but to always be fruitful and flavorful to God. If we are constantly going back and forth like a cow's tail we will ever be able to be useful in the kingdom of God. There will be no way that we can be helpful to one another. And, in turn, we will not be able to fulfill the second, and equally important commandment, Love one another. So, let us follow after the things which make for peace. Not hugs and kisses, but a solid stand for the things of God, stand up for what we believe in, and remain filed with the fire that burns within us in Jesus Christ. Clean, hot, fire that cannot be put out. After all, there is a reason that Jesus kept saying about them who would not cleanse themselves, where their worm diet not, and the fire is not quenched. We are not dealing with this short life on earth, we are dealing with eternity. Let's clean it up and draw closer to God in Jesus Christ today!! Have a great day!!