Tag: good samaritan

Not a victim, but a Survivor

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Not a victim, but a survivor

I’ve been considering what it means to go through a divorce you didn’t ask for. I’ve been considering what it means to suffer through it twice. For many, divorce can be devastating, for some it can be like being set free from Hell. For me, I’d say both times it was the first. I didn’t want, nor did I ask for this to happen. What I do know, is I will not be considered a victim, I will a survivor. The pain felt deep within my very soul has affected me profoundly. As I have traveled this world I have seen many men and women in need, I have seen many and in my time I have happened upon much I have found it in myself to stop and provide aid. I have been so many times the Good Samaritan.

As a survivor I have had my brushes with death, more then most. I have seen the evil in man’s heart; I have witnessed it first hand. I have watched good men die; I have had them die in front of me as I stood by powerless to stop it. I have seen the cruelty and the lies others will tell to their own selfish natures and desires. I have seen those stand idly by and do nothing, I have seen those who support the ill intent that has befallen me and even with all the bad that’s happened, I have emerged from the filth and the mud, and I have been blessed by God. I know that there will be trials ahead, and I know that there will be troubled waters. As I navigate through the blackest of nights, I know that there are those out there who support me, who love me for me, who believe in what I’m doing.

There’s a whole wide world out there for me to explore. There’s a whole lot of hurt I’d like to be able to make a little better for those whom I care about. As I revisit the Good Samaritan, where are we and what are we? Are we the priest, the Levite, the Samaritan, or the ill intent that left the man on the side of the road half dead? Are we the innkeeper that was paid to aid the man? Where we fall in the spectrum and why? I have often found myself questioning where have all the good men gone, and where are all the good women. I have often found myself questioning the business of our society today that we are on the go from dawn till dusk. We see ourselves running and running, and as our priorities are set, what then is left out of our 24 hour day?

No I’m not a victim of ill intent, I am a survivor. I have survived more then my fair share, and I continue to fight the fight every day. I one day want to be able to look my loved ones in the eye and tell them I too have fought the good fight, I have kept the course, and I too have finished the race. I want to leave behind a legacy for my family to be proud of. I was not born into a world that is so fallen there is no hope. I believe in the Hope of Jesus Christ, and I believe that those who follow Him, those who believe in the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, that those who follow that in their hearts and show the world that’s where hope is born, that there are still good people out there, and that my God is a living God living in us every day. I believe that as we put our faith in God, that the people who believe in God are bound to find others, that attract others in the name of the Lord.

We can see the hope around us, we can see the small spark even in the darkest of night if we keep our eyes open. Although man will fail you, and man will disappoint you, knowing that the Holy Spirit can and does wonders for the human heart, that tomorrow as doom and gloom as it appears, is only one day in the vastness of forever. Find yourself the light in the darkness, and you too may be able to say one day who you are in the story. Define yourself by the content of your heart, and allow yourself to be defined by what you do, and how you treat others along the path. The Ill Intent, The Samaritan, The Traveler, The Priest, or the Levite. The Choice is yours.

The Man Under the Hood

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The Man Under the Hood

By The Arrow Preacher

 Imagine yourself walking down a long road, mountainous, dry, dusty, at night, and all of a sudden out from behind the rocks 3 men jump out beat you to the ground, steal everything you own to include your coat, your wallet, your sandals, and leave you there bloody, cut, and dying. The sunrise comes as a welcome sight. Finally someone will see you and come and help. Your suffering is obvious; someone will surely stop and provide aid. You struggle to breath, you raise your hand to try and stop the masses from walking by you. Some even move to the other side of the road to get away from you. You can’t believe it, of all these people no one has enough compassion to stop and help? You see a peace officer pass by you and never stops or even slows down. A little while later you see and recognize your local senator you call to them, gasping past your own broken lung, but they walk by you, not looking down, pretending you don’t exist. Defeated, broken, and barely conscious you think it’s then end of the road for you. The day parches your throat, lips are chapped, and as the stars start to come up as the sun falls, a dark figure comes from nowhere. A dark hood covers his face so you can’t see him. He picks you up, barely conscious now, and carries you to a nearby inn. He pays for your stay, gets a first aid kit, and orders the innkeeper to help bandage you up. He says he’ll pay for everything. A dark knight from the shadows, a faceless protector the one to save your life, but who is this man under the hood?

Luke 10:25-37 “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”

 Who are you in the story? Who are we all? “I always thought that I was the Samaritan in that story. It’s funny, isn’t it? How even the best of men can be… deceived by their true nature. What the hell does that mean? It means that I’m not the Samaritan. That I’m not the priest, or the Levite. That I am the ill intent… who set upon the traveler on a road that he should not have been on.” (Wilson Fisk) The ill intent of the travelers is most certainly the Devil and his games. He will brings destruction to everything He touches. During this war good people, civilians are caught in the firefight, casualties of war. The good honest man just trying to go to work, trying to take care of his family, trying to be a husband, trying to be a good wife, a good mom, the devil doesn’t care how it’s done so much as lives are ruined. The Peace officer who walked by, the politician who walked by let their hearts be hardened, let their cultural stereotyping blind them to the truth. It doesn’t matter how someone looks, how someone sounds, we are all people first and we should be treated as such. In my own life I have been bullied, beat up, tortured emotionally by people different then myself. Even today as I find myself putting my life back together I have skeletons in my closet that could cause people to pass an unfair judgment upon me.

Is this what we do when we see the homeless on the side of the road? Is this what we do when we see someone suffering online, or at work? If the ill intent is the Devil inside us, who then is under the hood? Jesus commanded we love our neighbors, and that wasn’t just the ones we liked, the ones we tolerated, but our enemies, those who wish to do us harm. Christ living in us, is the man under the hood. It doesn’t matter what they look like, doesn’t matter who they are, what matters are those who are willing to do right and make a difference without seeking glory, or even a thank you. The hood can be worn by anyone, and anyone can be the Good Samaritan. We may not always get a thank you, we may not always be safe doing Gods work, but if doing Gods work leads to your own death, then that just means you get to go home sooner. Don’t be afraid to put on that hood and do good works. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” He lives so we can live without fear, we can live knowing that tomorrow we could be in perfection.