BBD 07.06.17 The Good Neighbor (Classic)

#1 · July 6, 2017, 11:09 am

Quote from Forum Archives on July 6, 2017, 11:09 am
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2010

Burning Bush Devotional

06 July 2017

The
Good Neighbor

Then Jesus
answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell
among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed,
leaving him half dead. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he
was. …So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, …set him on his own animal,
brought him to an inn, and took care of him. …when he departed, he took out two
denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and
whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So which of
these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And
he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do
likewise.” - Luke 10:30; 33-37 (Please read all of the parable
in Luke 10:25-37.)

Resul Mor is a modern day good Samaritan, who lives in Germany. He was on his
way home from work when a man flagged him down and told him he needed help for
his very ill wife. Resul took them to the hospital, and at the hospital, he was
asked to sign a registration form while the husband went with his wife. You can
imagine his shock though when he received a $9,263 bill for the woman's
treatment. According to the hospital, the form Resul signed also committed him
to pay for the woman's treatment if she could not pay. A German court has ruled
that Resul must pay the bill. Resul says, “I didn't
expect her to not pay anything. I'm just an ordinary man who did someone a
favor.”

Reading the parable of the Good Samaritan now is somewhat troubling for some,
but in the time of Jesus this must have been not just shocking, but earth
shaking. Imagine two people thought of as having the ultimate in human
goodness, a priest, and a Levite, who did not stop to help. However, the
Samaritan, and all Samaritans were hated by the Jews; and were thought to be as
low as a half breed dog or worse, the Samaritan did stop to help. This person,
this hated Samaritan according to Jesus was the one who was acting like a “neighbor” to the
one who was “half dead.”

The question now for us is this: who is our neighbor, and will we act as a good
neighbor ought to toward them? Will we be a good neighbor if it costs us
something? Would we be a good neighbor if we knew it would cost us $9,263? It
is unknown in today's dollars exactly how much the Good Samaritan of the
parable paid for the care of the man who was “half dead,” but it
would not have been cheap. Would we be a good neighbor if it involved any
possible risk to our own safety, or to that of our family? If you consider the
situation of the wounded man of the parable you can see that there is danger
involved for the Good Samaritan. The Priest and the Levite passed on the other
side because they did not want to risk being attacked as that poor man had
been. The Good Samaritan took a great risk to help a man who could do nothing
in return for him.

In many ways, you see Jesus Himself as being the ultimate Good Samaritan. Jesus
took the risk of putting on human flesh, being born into a peasant family, and
paying with the ultimate cost of his life on the cross. He did that for us who
have no way of repaying what He did for us. The question then becomes will
we be Jesus to those that we encounter in this life?

Copyright © 2010 - 2017. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of those
first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to
prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net

www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites are celebrating
19 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush
Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 14,000
subscribers across the world.

The Addictions Kit - Biblical Help for Addictions by Ed Wrather is now available
for download from Amazon. The
Addictions Kit provides practical Biblical steps to defeat your addiction that
actually work.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIYLNLM

The New Pastor's Training Manual is available for download on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ8UTGS If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from
the Burning Bush website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk

Books now available at the Burning Bush website:

New Pastor's
Training Manual

Biblical Help for
Overcoming Substance Abuse

Biblical Help
for Overcoming Sexual Addictions In Times of
Trouble - Devotionals to Encourage and Strengthen You (Also available for
download on Amazon.)

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the
Devotionals at the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of
the home page. Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please continue to pray for
healing for Pastor Shane Hall, Michelle Abetz, Wesley Lewis, Brandy, Brad,
Damon D. & wife, Beverly (Jeanie’s sister), Brent Baker, Lexi McCalip, Gary
Kirk, and Jeanie.

Please also pray for Kirstin and
Vernon and their unborn child. Also, please pray for Dan Proctor.

Please pray for an end to the
racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. Many
prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page.
You can also post your prayer requests there (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me. My
prayer focus is now that God will give me opportunities to preach. As the
apostle Paul says, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

You can help support this
ministry by using this link: www.paypal.me/EdWrather

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group (Because of time
constraints the devotional is only being sent now in html format) by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

--

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Classic from 2010

Burning Bush Devotional

06 July 2017

The
Good Neighbor

Then Jesus
answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell
among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed,
leaving him half dead. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he
was. …So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, …set him on his own animal,
brought him to an inn, and took care of him. …when he departed, he took out two
denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and
whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So which of
these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And
he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do
likewise.” - Luke 10:30; 33-37 (Please read all of the parable
in Luke 10:25-37.)

Resul Mor is a modern day good Samaritan, who lives in Germany. He was on his
way home from work when a man flagged him down and told him he needed help for
his very ill wife. Resul took them to the hospital, and at the hospital, he was
asked to sign a registration form while the husband went with his wife. You can
imagine his shock though when he received a $9,263 bill for the woman's
treatment. According to the hospital, the form Resul signed also committed him
to pay for the woman's treatment if she could not pay. A German court has ruled
that Resul must pay the bill. Resul says, “I didn't
expect her to not pay anything. I'm just an ordinary man who did someone a
favor.”

Reading the parable of the Good Samaritan now is somewhat troubling for some,
but in the time of Jesus this must have been not just shocking, but earth
shaking. Imagine two people thought of as having the ultimate in human
goodness, a priest, and a Levite, who did not stop to help. However, the
Samaritan, and all Samaritans were hated by the Jews; and were thought to be as
low as a half breed dog or worse, the Samaritan did stop to help. This person,
this hated Samaritan according to Jesus was the one who was acting like a “neighbor” to the
one who was “half dead.”

The question now for us is this: who is our neighbor, and will we act as a good
neighbor ought to toward them? Will we be a good neighbor if it costs us
something? Would we be a good neighbor if we knew it would cost us $9,263? It
is unknown in today's dollars exactly how much the Good Samaritan of the
parable paid for the care of the man who was “half dead,” but it
would not have been cheap. Would we be a good neighbor if it involved any
possible risk to our own safety, or to that of our family? If you consider the
situation of the wounded man of the parable you can see that there is danger
involved for the Good Samaritan. The Priest and the Levite passed on the other
side because they did not want to risk being attacked as that poor man had
been. The Good Samaritan took a great risk to help a man who could do nothing
in return for him.

In many ways, you see Jesus Himself as being the ultimate Good Samaritan. Jesus
took the risk of putting on human flesh, being born into a peasant family, and
paying with the ultimate cost of his life on the cross. He did that for us who
have no way of repaying what He did for us. The question then becomes will
we be Jesus to those that we encounter in this life?

Copyright © 2010 - 2017. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of those
first devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to
prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net

http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites are celebrating
19 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush
Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 14,000
subscribers across the world.

The Addictions Kit - Biblical Help for Addictions by Ed Wrather is now available
for download from Amazon. The
Addictions Kit provides practical Biblical steps to defeat your addiction that
actually work.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIYLNLM

The New Pastor's Training Manual is available for download on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ8UTGS If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from
the Burning Bush website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk

Books now available at the Burning Bush website:

New Pastor's
Training Manual

Biblical Help for
Overcoming Substance Abuse

Biblical Help
for Overcoming Sexual Addictions In Times of
Trouble - Devotionals to Encourage and Strengthen You (Also available for
download on Amazon.)

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at http://www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the
Devotionals at the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of
the home page. Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Please continue to pray for
healing for Pastor Shane Hall, Michelle Abetz, Wesley Lewis, Brandy, Brad,
Damon D. & wife, Beverly (Jeanie’s sister), Brent Baker, Lexi McCalip, Gary
Kirk, and Jeanie.

Please also pray for Kirstin and
Vernon and their unborn child. Also, please pray for Dan Proctor.

Please pray for an end to the
racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. Many
prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page.
You can also post your prayer requests there (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me. My
prayer focus is now that God will give me opportunities to preach. As the
apostle Paul says, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”).

You can contact Ed Wrather at
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

You can help support this
ministry by using this link: http://www.paypal.me/EdWrather

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group (Because of time
constraints the devotional is only being sent now in html format) by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org