file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940307.txt
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          OUR DAILY BREAD                            Monday, March 7, 1994
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          Read:  John 8:1-11

                                 LOVING THE UNLOVELY

                      God demonstrates His own love toward us,
                        in that while we were still sinners,
                                 Christ died for us.
                                    --Romans 5:8

          An  inner-city  mission worker longed to show  Christ's  love  to
          others,  but she found it difficult to give genuine affection  to
          one particular vagrant.  One day the sickly and unkempt woman  to
          whom  she  had been witnessing was sentenced to  jail.  When  the
          Christian  worker saw her sobbing bitterly, she was  filled  with
          compassion.  Quickly going to her side, she tenderly put her  arm
          around  her.  Never having felt such love, the  distressed  woman
          was deeply moved, and later she accepted Jesus as her Savior.

          After  being released from prison, the woman was nursed  back  to
          health  by the mission worker.  Not only had a needy sinner  been
          rescued,  but  a  Christian  had  been  brought  into  a   deeper
          experience of Christlike compassion.

          God  doesn't  love us because we're lovable but  because  of  His
          grace.  We  freely  receive  His  undeserved  favor  through  the
          Savior,  who loved us "while we were still sinners"  (Rom.  5:8).
          We are to reflect this new relationship with Christ in our  daily
          lives  by  showing his compassion to those who are  difficult  to
          love.

          As  one  who has been saved by God's grace, are you  showing  His
          love to the unlovely?

          Author:  Henry G. Bosch

                       Give to the needy a warm helping hand,
                            And lift up the fallen today;
                  Filled with God's Spirit, love all who are lost,
                          And point them to Jesus, the Way!
                                        --HGB

          THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
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          Loving the lost is the first step in leading the lost to Christ.

          THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Deuteronomy 23-25


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