Good morning to all on this last day of November. Waine and I are in Orlando, enjoying the pitter patter of little feet. Aleron joined us for Thanksgiving at Freddie and Tracy's and I can't thank them enough for their generosity and hospitality. I got to catch up on some rest and Waine caught up on golf. Kai and Hailie had an abundance of unconditional love for their Poppop and GanMa as usual and I am already missing them as we prepare to head back to Thomaston, GA. Continue to keep us in your prayers as God's blessings continue to be poured out to our families.
I am continuing my journey in Romans, chapter 9 verses 1- 33, "I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
It is not as though God’s Word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”
Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My Power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist His will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the One who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the Potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? What if God, although choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of His wrath—prepared for destruction? What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As He says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘My people’ who are not My people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not My loved one,” and, In the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: 'Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out His sentence on earth with speed and finality. ”It is just as Isaiah said previously: 'Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame." Amen and may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word!
It should now be Crystal Clear that the Jews do not have a Special dispensation just because they are Jews. Paul makes it plain that God's Promise of a Special Nation was based on the Spiritual Nature of Abraham and not his genealogy. The Spiritual Genealogy of Abraham was what God's promise pertained to and when we align ourselves with the God of all ages through His Son, Jesus the Christ, we become heirs of all God's promises. We become His children!
I was observing my son Freddie and how he interacts with his children. His daughter can literally melt his heart--the transformation is something to behold. When his son get happy and excited, my son's face just lights up. How much more LOVE does God display on our behalf through His UNCONDITIONAL LOVE for us. God just delights in loving us--He makes sure that we are taken care of. We don't have to make sure our heart beats, or our brain functions. He made us to be able to enjoy life and in ABUNDANCE. It saddens Him that so many of His created creatures live lives of desperation. He made us to have a song of thanksgiving in our hearts. He wants us to come to Him daily and start each day with a fresh and renewed heart so that we can enjoy the life He created for us.
If your life is not abundant I would suggest you turn it over to Him. Get connected on a daily, hourly, minute by minute basis with Him. Give every care to Him. As I write this Blog entry, I am giving Him my tired and painful feet. He doesn't want me to suffer so I a claiming victory over my feet. He wants me to be whole and I am claiming the victory that comes with my birth right. Hallelujah and amen!
Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
Stephanie