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The Amish Voice 15
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The Amish Voice
P.O. Box 128
Savannah, OH 44874
(419) 962-1515
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Dear Amish Voice:
God has revealed to
us that our lifestyle has no merits for
salvation. Galatians 3:2-3 says,
This
only would I learn of you, Received ye
the Spirit by the works of the law, or by
the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish?
having begun in the Spirit, are ye now
made perfect by the flesh?
Galatians 4:9 states,
But now, after that
ye have known God, or rather are
known of God, how turn ye again to the
weak and beggarly elements, whereunto
ye desire again to be in bondage?
We now see the lack of spirituality and
the way people leaned on and trusted in
their supposedly humble lifestyle. Still,
we unconsciously cling to that security.
The questions arise, “If we completely
lose our lifestyle, where will we end up?
If keeping that lifestyle will help us and
the next generation stay spiritual, why
don’t we consider it as part of our
salvation?” Our human tendency is to
think that keeping this lifestyle will help
us stay more spiritual and more humble,
when in reality it takes the focus off
God and puts it on human effort. The
real focus is drawing close to God in
meditation and prayer and service. If
we plant Jesus and His word deep in our
children’s hearts, we teach them that
Jesus is their friend who hears all their
prayers, and that He is the only thing in
this life that can keep us spiritual. Let’s
live and breathe Jesus Christ. He will
keep us Godly and humble in a way that
no human methods can.
When we think that our lifestyle keeps
us close to God, we show our sinful
pride in that outward observance as
being part of our protection against
Satan, when really the only thing greater
than the evil one is God who has given
us the spiritual armor, His Spirit, His
word, and prayer. The armor that we
have created is weak and human,
beggarly and pathetic, compared to
God’s wonderful plan of protection.
Our old belief system tends to go back
to trusting in things that we were taught
would protect us, when it is really just
Satan’s means of getting our eyes off the
real protection— Jesus Christ.
Where is the spiritual fruit that we
should be reaping? Many people go
from the sin of legalism to the sin of
being overly liberal. Both are sins, but
the liberality is not as deceptive and will
be easier to see. People can live in
legalism for years and be oblivious to
the fact of their lost condition. Our
children down through the generations
will be in danger of falling away to
either legalism or liberality, so our only
means of safety is to teach them to love
Jesus, to know and experience His
saving power, and to study God’s word
and rely on it as the final authority for
direction. — J. O.
Dear Reader,
it is not necessarily wrong
to have a certain lifestyle. It may even
be beneficial and admirable. The
problem comes when we trust in that
lifestyle instead of in Jesus. In what are
you trusting? In your works? In your
lifestyle? In your religion? Or in Jesus?
If you would like to write to us or call
us, please do. Ask a question, request
more information, comment on an
article, suggest a topic. We would love
to hear from you.
The Amish Voice
P.O. Box 128
Savannah, OH 44874
(419) 962-1515
Letter From a Reader
—By J. O.
Matthew 13:2-9:
And great
multitudes were gathered together
unto him, so that he went into a
ship, and sat; and the whole
multitude stood on the shore.
And he spake many things unto
them in parables, saying, behold, a
sower went forth to sow; and when
he sowed,
some
seeds
fell by the
way side
, and the fowls came and
devoured them up:
Some fell upon stony places
,
where they had not much earth: and
forthwith they sprung up, because
they had no deepness of earth: And
when the sun was up, they were
scorched; and because they had no
root, they withered away.
And some fell among thorns
; and
the thorns sprung up, and choked
them:
But other fell into good ground
,
and brought forth fruit, some an
hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some
thirtyfold.
Read Matthew 13:10-23 for Jesus’
explanation of the sower and the seed.