Legal Rights ~ Jonathan Anderson, Smithville, TN Church of Christ~
During a football game one Sunday afternoon, one of the players got upset at a referee after he disagreed with a call that he made. The player was twice as big as the referee and probably ten times as strong. He was angry, and his anger prompted him to do something unthinkable and unacceptable. He shoved the referee! The rules in football are very strict. Players are never allowed to put their hands or any part of your body on the referee. When a player touches a referee, that referee has legal rights, although he may be much smaller than the player, and even though the player has got on all of his equipment while the referee only has on a t-shirt and a pair of pants, the referee has legal rights.
After the player made contact with the ref, he simply reached into his back pocket, pulled out a yellow flag, and tossed it up in the air. He waved his hands up and down and sent the player off the field. The referee ejected the player for initiating contact with him.
Think about it! How can a little guy, who probably can’t lift half the weight of the football player, who has no equipment to protect himself, throw a flag up into the face of a three-hundred-pound professional football player? Where did the referee get the power? Where did he get the strength? Where did he get the confidence? It’s all legal. It has nothing to do with strength or equipment or weight. It has everything to do with authority. Satan is bigger than you. He’s been lifting weights longer than you. He’s got on more equipment than you. But you’ve got a flag in your back pocket. Based on Jesus Christ, you have legal rights. The power of the believer who uses his legal rights in heavenly places is mightier than the power of Satan. Never forget that you have authority that Satan never will. “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those [worldly] people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” (1 John 4:4 NLT)
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Who Would You Be ~Jay Launius, Maud TX Church of Christ~
A study of bible characters can be one of the most interesting, inspirational, and beneficial efforts in the pursuit of scriptural knowledge. The vast number of individual personalities described in both the Old and New Testaments can supply years of fascinating learning experiences. As we study the selected character, one cannot help but compare oneself to actions and responses of the character studied. We may even ask ourselves, “If I were a bible character, which one would I be?” Would I be
described as one of the champions of faith found in Hebrews 11, or some other person who struggled with a weak faith? We think of Abraham, Moses, Ruth, David, John the Baptist, Priscilla, or the Apostle Paul as heroes of the bible narrative and would never dare compare ourselves to them. Yet each of them possessed the same human weaknesses and faced temptations just as we do. They made mistakes, disappointed their friends, family and their God. It’s likely that we relate more to those characters who possessed a “not-so- perfect” record and were scolded for their missteps. Simon the wizard, from Acts chapter 8 or Simon Peter (Galatians 2:11ff) come to mind. Even though the bible is now complete (Jude 3) and the stories of these mentioned are forever sealed, our stories are being written as we live and breathe. “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” (Revelation 20:12)
Even though my personality is flawed and filled with imperfections, the pursuit of my faith opens the doors of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-10) and is received upon obedience to the gospel message (Romans 1:16). The good news of Jesus Christ is offered freely, not only to a select group of good people, but to “all men everywhere” (Acts 17:30). “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11)
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