Am I drifting from God?

Jeremiah 2:4-13
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves? 6 They did not say, "Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?" 7 I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. 8 The priests did not say, "Where is the Lord?" Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit.
9 Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children's children. 10 Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing. 11 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit.
12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, 13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water
God asks us hard questions here. What do you find in the LORD that caused you to desert HIM? What was wrong with God’s character and competence that the LORD was not worth making your ultimate concern?
Now God is talking to HIS people at a time of backsliding and unbelief. The LORD is speaking to us on one of those days when we have been living out our unbelief much more than our faith. Perhaps it has become more than a day. Maybe, it has become a month, a quarter, or even a year. Normally we slip step by step backward and suddenly find ourselves in a spiritual place that is a land of drought and deep darkness.
Maybe today you find it hard to relate to this passage because today you have been living mainly by faith. You find it hard to imagine because the last month, quarter, or year has been one in which you have seen your faith grow. It is difficult for you today to even imagine backsliding into a dark spiritual place. Yet, be aware that only by guarding ourselves against falling into such insanity can we avoid it. The history of God’s people is that we a prone to eventually drift away. So this passage is a good reminder to be careful to maintain your faith and not take it for granted.
God spends most of his time talking to the people of the nation. He sees that the loss of faith is ultimately one that takes place on the level of the individual heart. While political rulers, priests, and prophets all hold great responsibility for encouraging idol worship, neglecting a call to prayer, and failure to proclaim God’s word, this does not excuse the people themselves for their deserting their Divine Savior who redeemed them. We can never blame leaders for our failures of faith. They are responsible for their sins and we are responsible for our sins.
Now the United States is not Israel. That is important to remember since we have had times when we see ourselves in that role. The Church is spiritual Israel. No national state is now the chosen people but rather the chosen people are of called from all nations to form God’s nation, the kingdom of God.
But, with this reminder it would be good to take note that the United States as a culture is moving from being a society dedicated to a Christian vision of God based on the Bible to a generic god of our own creation, an idol that justifies all our actions. The reason our moral and ethics are changing is because our faith is changing.
What evidence is there that this is the case? Here are just a few signs of the times.
Gallup reports that from 1948 to 2009 the percentage of people who identify themselves as Christian has dropped from 91% to 77%. In 1948 on 2% of Americans would say that they were not religious at all and that number is now at 12%. This is the fastest growing social group in the nation. The percentage of Americans identifying as Protestant or another non-Catholic Christian religion has been declining since the mid-1960s. When Gallup began tracking religious identification, the percentage of U.S. adults identifying with some non-Catholic Christian religion was routinely in the high 60%-low 70% range. The percentage fell below 60% for the first time in 1979, and since 2000 has been between 55% and 57%. This means that a faith that represents strong biblical principles founded on the reformation is declining. Faith in the Bible being the inspired word of God in which every word can be trusted to be inspired has declined from 38% (average in 1976-1984) to about 31% today (average from 1997 to 2007). All of these surveys indicate that we are moving away from God’s truth and not towards it as a society.
Now faith within the visible church is also struggling. George Barna reports the following information about how many people follow a Christian world view in America. Here is what Barna says:
“Defining Terms
For the purposes of the survey, a “biblical worldview” was defined as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview.
National Results
Overall, the current research revealed that only 9% of all American adults have a biblical worldview. Among the sixty subgroups of respondents that the survey explored was one defined by those who said they have made a personal to commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life today and that they are certain that they will go to Heaven after they die only because they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior. Labeled “born again Christians,” the study discovered that they were twice as likely as the average adult to possess a biblical worldview. However, that meant that even among born again Christians, less than one out of every five (19%) had such an outlook on life.
The same questions were asked of respondents in national surveys by Barna in 1995, 2000 and 2005. The results indicate that the percentage of adults with a biblical worldview, as defined above, has remained unchanged for more than a decade. The numbers show that 7% had such a worldview in 1995, compared to 10% in 2000, 11% in 2005, and 9% now. Even among born again adults, the statistics have remained flat: 18% in 1995, 22% in 2000, 21% in 2005, and 19% today.”
On one hand we are not seeing a decline in those who hold a biblical world view over the last 10 years but the total number of Americans holding this world view is about nineteen million out of a population of roughly 217 million adults. We can be a significant influence. But we are only a minority and we are not growing.
We need to have reformation in the Church, which is a return to a biblical world view.
We need to have renewal in the Church, which is a return to a living and passionate spirituality.
We need to have revival in the society, which is an experience of God’s saving grace in the gospel of Messiah Jesus.
To do this we must check our own spiritual direction today. Are we moving in the direction of having more faith or are we moving in the direction of having less faith.
Are we neglecting spiritual disciplines such as fasting, prayer, biblical meditation, giving to the poor, study of scripture, witnessing, and praise?
How consistently do we seek the LORD?
What do we seek when we need to find encouragement for our souls? Is it something outside of the Christian faith? Is this an idol in our life?
Whatever becomes the ultimate concern of our lives has become our God.
What is the ultimate concern of my life at this moment?
Have you been back sliding? Is your faith less than it was a year ago? What has weakened your faith? How could this be overcome? What could you do to grow in faith again? What most nurtures your faith? Do you need to take a weekend with be with God and talk out your frustrations and fears with the LORD? Why is it hard to say no to temptation? How could your strength to overcome your temptations be increased?
Is your faith greater than it was a year ago? How could it become even greater? What spiritual challenge do you need to accept from God? What steps should you take to prevent back sliding? What can you do to build up your local church? How could you be a blessing to your congregation? How could your faith impact your friends, neighbors, family, and associates in a greater way? How do you plan to seek as the ultimate concern of your life the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness?
God is faithful. The LORD knows that we drift away. The Lord brings reformation, renewal, and revival. The Messiah Jesus will build HIS church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. If God is for us then who can be against us? With hopeful faith we must pray for reformation, renewal, and revival. Seize the day for Christ Jesus!
(The nearly daily devotional is a ministry of First Church West. More information about this fellowship can be found at firstchurchwest.net. If you do not regularly receive this e-mail devotional then you can be put on the list by e-mailing terry_wise@bellsouth.net and asking receive the devotional.)

Road to Renewal and Revival

Isaiah 58:9b-14
If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
"If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
The main focus of Isaiah 58 is to teach us how to fast. It points out that we have to combine prayer and fasting with social concern and love or it is not something that pleases God. Like 1 Corinthians 13 it reminds us that without love then everything we do is empty and useless.
Lord, fill our hearts with love and concern for those in need.
One of the reasons we fast and pray is that we are looking for revival and renewal. We don’t fast when all is well. We fast when we are suffering losses and are in fear of defeat. Fasting is an emergency measure in which we are seeking to intensify the passion and purpose of our prayers because we see great need. We all want revival and renewal but fasting should reflect a deeper commitment to seeking God’s pouring out HIS blessing upon us and giving to us spiritual prosperity.
The Lord in this passage outlines what HIS people need to seek to do if they desire to see revival and renewal.
The first is they must free people from the chains of contempt ("pointing fingers") and slander ("speaking of evil"). God demands that the society of believers not be one filled with negativity, gossip, murmuring, complaining, sarcasm, and self righteous judgment of each other. The Holy Spirit is never inspiring negative talk.
(Exodus 16:7 ESV) and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?"
(Exodus 16:8 ESV) And Moses said, "When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him--what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD."
(Numbers 14:27 ESV) "How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me.
(Numbers 14:36 ESV) And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land--
(Numbers 16:11 ESV) Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?"
(Numbers 17:5 ESV) And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you."
(John 6:43 ESV) Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves.
(1 Corinthians 10:10 ESV) nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
(James 5:9 ESV) Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door..
God does not want congregations to be filled with complaining, griping, and murmuring. Ultimately, this shows a lack of contentment and joy. Revival and renewal will not come to a church that is filled with such abusive words.
Where should be our focus? We should be pouring out our souls to help those in need. That is what the Hebrew literally says here. We are to empty ourselves and our passions in caring for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of hurting people. This is what God want HIS people to give themselves to without restraint. We are to love one another.
If we do this then God will send revival and renewal. Our spiritual desert will become paradise. Our darkest moments will become like the brightest noon.
In addition to this the people of God must also become more passionate about corporate worship and Sabbath rest. We must give time, focus, passion, and intentionality to our praise and prayer. We must make our spiritual life a priority that simply does not get lost in the midst of our busy lives. The spiritual disciplines of worship, prayer, meditation on God’s word, praise, fasting, and study of scripture must be held in honor in our lives and in our schedules. Revival and renewal come when we believe meeting with God is vital and a delight.
Now God must give us such attitude. The LORD must move us towards these ends. But the map is clear. If we want revival and renewal then this is the path we must take.
What can you do to end negative talk in your life? The best way to stop negative talk in the body of Christ is to refuse to listen to it. When a conversation turns negative then just says “this is negative” and end the conversation.
What can you do to pour out your life to those in need? How can you serve those who are most weak?
What could you do to improve your worship on this Sunday? How could you become more serious in seeking God? Could you arrive five minutes early to pray? Could you sit in the front row to improve concentration? Could you prepare on Saturday night for Sunday morning? How can we take pleasure in our worship and glorify God?
(This is an example of the “Almost Daily Devotional”. If you would like to receive it then e-mail normwise@bellsouth.net and request to be put on the list to receive it on a regular basis. )

Help us believe!

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore." 13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them
Everyone human being has to function by faith. Even the hard core materialist has to have faith in their senses and the scientific method. The scientific method cannot prove the scientific method. It has to be accepted by faith. Everyone has convictions about reality. These convictions are our faith. One of the marks of our humanity is that we are by nature “believers” in something.
Now the Bible sees true faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as “faith” and everything else as unbelief. Unbelief is to believe wrongly. It is faith directed at the wrong object and distorted. It is to have a false hope and perspective upon life.
Our faith is foundational. It helps us look at the world as a creation by God. It is by trust in God’s Word that we gain approval. Faith is the bridge that reconciles us to God when it is rightly directed towards His promises. The better our faith the better we know God.
Now the promise that must be believed is that the Messiah will come. The promise to Abraham was that the one who would crush the head of the devil would come through him (Genesis 3:15). The earth would be “filled” with believers who would be the “children of Abraham.” (Romans 4). The humble would inherit the earth. The Messiah would restore paradise to the planet and the people of God would know perfect peace or “Shalom”
This restored paradise or “kingdom of God” is the better city that has been prepared for those who trust in God keeping HIS promises in Messiah Jesus. We will see the planet and human society healed. There will be a fellowship of respect and love which will endure for all eternity. Not only will humanity dwell in peace with God but they will just as amazingly be at peace with one another.
The power to do God’s purpose in our lives will come as we believe. Abraham believed and gained the power to have a child. The disciples believed and the Holy Spirit fell upon them at Pentecost. Only as we believe do we have the love needed to act. Faith is foundational to having the energy needed to accomplish our God given tasks and use our gifts.
There is another story of faith that has always struck me. A father had come to have his son healed. But the disciples could not heal his son. Jesus the Messiah now comes to heal the son. The father asks HIM to help “if he can”. Messiah Jesus confronts the unbelief in the man’s heart.
And Jesus said to him, "'If you can'! All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:23-24 ESV)
I think each of us is like the father of the child that day. We do believe. If the man did not believe he would not have his son seeing the apostles or even be asking Messiah Jesus for help. Total lack of faith would have kept the man home.
Yet, at the same time lots of bad things have happened. Things do not seem to be getting better and the people we hoped would help us seem powerless to assist us. It is hard to believe when we are tired and worn out. Circumstances do not seem to justify our faith. So our heart becomes divided. We believe but we don’t fully believe.
The man here does a very sane thing. He admits his unbelief. He confesses his lack of faith. Confession is always the first step in restoring our sanity. He then prays for his the Lord’s help in overcome his unbelief. Prayer is key to growing in faith. True faith is the gift of God. Only God can overcome the wrong belief that guides our hearts.
So can you confess today that there still remains in your heart unbelief? Can you define that unbelief as really faith in the wrong things? How well do you understand your own doubt? Can you pray today for God to help you to believe more?
Remember, faith come from hearing and hearing from the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). Sitting at the feet of Messiah Jesus is always a good place to find faith. Spend some time with HIM today just listening to HIS promises and love.
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42 ESV)

Worship & Compassion

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah…..
10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; 13 bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation— I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. 14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. 18 Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
The message of Isaiah is clear. God demands of his people that they combine worship with care for the poor. If the people of God attempt to just have worship without concern for social mercy then God will not respond to their worship. God views worship that is not combined with care for the needy as a vain action.
God says that when people fail to care for the needy in a community that they have become like Sodom and Gomorrah. While sexual lawlessness was part of the reason why Sodom and Gomorrah were judged with fire it was not the only reason.
As I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. (Ezekiel 16:48-49 ESV)
Any society that does not care for the poor and needy has failed to do God’s will. God desires that we show care for those who have physical needs because every person is made in God’s image and therefore deserves to have their life protected and their pain addressed.
All the institutions of society must seek creative, effective, balanced, fair, and compassionate answers to meeting the needs of the poor and needy. The family and the church are the two primary institutions that need to find practical answers to providing for those in need. The government must provide equal justice for all citizens regardless of their ability to pay for lawyers. How much the government is to be involved in helping to care for the poor is of great debate. From God’s perspective, more important than the exact role government, is that some way or another society finds a way to help the poor and needy. Ideally this care would be based on faith and love.
One of the marks of the rule of the Messiah and the line of David was that there would be great care to provide justice and compassion to the poor, needy, and oppressed.
Of Solomon. Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor! ….For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight. (Psalms 72:1-14 ESV)
Wherever Messiah Jesus is king there will be a compassion, pity, and protection for those who are weak, needy, handicapped, oppressed, persecuted, and in need. Where there is no care for the poor, Jesus is not LORD.
First Church West has attempted to show this compassion by always being active in caring for people in need. Our deacon’s fund has been very active in helping people in times of need and crisis. We are small and our resources are little but we have made a difference in many people’s lives.
Living Water Counseling is also a ministry of mercy to those in need. Many times people without insurance or resources cannot get the comfort and wisdom provided by a professional counselor. Their personal lives and families are troubled and painful because they cannot afford the care they need to get peace of soul and skills for living. Every week we provide such care with compassion and grace to hundreds of needy souls. I praise God for how we have by His grace been able in these ways to show care for those in need.
So what should we do with this? We need to make sure our worship is combined with an attitude of repentance. Repentance is turning away from selfishness and pride and turning to follow God’s love and compassion in every circumstance. Our worship is acceptable when our hearts are filled with true confession, faith, and repentance. Whatever is not of faith is sin. Worship without faith and repentance is blasphemy. It is not perfection but direction that is the key. Repentance is a change in direction.
How can we prepare our hearts for worship this week? What sins are in our lives that we need to repent of and seek a new right path? Today is a good day to ask forgiveness and seek the Lord that we may give HIM praise for our pardon and take joy in HIS amazing grace.
What could you do more than you are doing to care for the poor and needy? God would ask you to find ways to give them grace today.

The Father's Unfailing Love

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.
They shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me. The sword shall rage against their cities, consume the bars of their gates, and devour them because of their own counsels. My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all.
How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
They shall go after the LORD; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west; they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD. (Hosea 11:1-11 ESV)
It would seem clear from reading the Bible that parents are not responsible for the behavior of their children. One key example of this truth is that God is the Father of His people and they are always rebelling against HIM. God is a perfect Father. Yet, HIS children do not obey.
God loves HIS children. He communicates them HIS love. He invites them into a healthy relationship with HIM but instead they follow other gods. God the Father teaches His children, heals them, and feeds them. Yet, they go astray.
At the time this passage was written the apostasy of Israel had brought upon them the promised results. If they did not want to be the children of God then they could return to the world. The EXODUS could be reversed. From the nations they were created and to the nations they could return. Assyria will come and take the ten tribes into captivity because they had rebelled.
But, as the heavenly Father sees the just and logical consequences of the sins of his covenant children HE cannot just let them go. How can he allow them to be destroyed like Admah and Zeboiim, two minor cities that were destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah? No, the FATHER’s great compassion cannot allow that to be their end. He will bring revival to Israel. He will give them life again.
Here we see God’s great grace motivated by HIS great love. He will wake up HIS spiritually sleeping children and they will return to HIM. He will save the nation and they will fulfill HIS redemptive purpose in history. God’s grace will satisfy God’s justice and bring the kingdom of God to the earth. God’s grace gives hope.
Now God’s election works at many different levels. God the Father elects individuals to have personal faith in Messiah Jesus and be His disciples in a broken world. God the Father has also elected to create a new community “The Church” which is the “new Israel” made up of both Jew and Gentile believers to be His covenant people (see Ephesians 2). God the Father has also elected to bring all of physical Israel and most of the middle east to faith before the final coming (see Romans 11 and Isaiah 19:19-25). God works with both individuals and with groups.
God, the creator of the world, is the ruler of the nations. What is the basic principle by which God works among the nations?
If I threaten to uproot and shatter an evil nation and that nation turns from its evil, I will change my mind. If I promise to make a nation strong, but its people start disobeying me and doing evil, then I will change my mind and not help them at all. (Jeremiah 18:7-10 CEV)
So God is at work to establish justice among the nations but mixes this with mercy and compassion. Like Nineveh, rebellious nations can be spared (see Jonah). Repentance is always the wisest choice for nations, churches, or individuals (Revelation 2 & 3).
Today let us remember that God is our heavenly Father. He has adopted us in Messiah Jesus. He has given us the same relationship with HIM as Messiah Jesus has with HIM. We have become the “sons and daughters of God”. He gave this gift to us. It was 100% motivated by HIS great love. It was given to us by grace alone.
How have we rebelled against HIM today? What actions, words, and attitudes are not conformed to HIS will? What idols (objects of ultimate concern) do we have in our lives?
Do you hear the Heavenly Father calling out to you today? Do you hear HIS invitation to come home? Are you ready to return to HIS will for your life and the warm embrace of HIS unconditional love?
Remember, the heavenly FATHER who began a good work in you will see to it that you finish the race well and are with HIM forever in glory. HE never fails to save any of HIS true children. Find joy in HIS grace and love this day.

Be a peace maker

As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own. Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. Try your best to let God's Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3 CEV)

Eph 4:3

(ASV) giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

(CEV) Try your best to let God's Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace.

(DRB) Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

(EMTV) being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

(ESV) eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

(GNB) Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace that binds you together.

How can the church maintain the unity that the Holy Spirit has created by baptizing us into the body of Christ? How can we live in guietness and rest with each other. How can we keep our relationships right?

None of this is easy. Sin's first impact was to divide the man and the woman in shame from each other. Christians have struggled to have emotionally healthy relationships since the first century. So how can we strive to obey this command? How can we move in the direction of preserving the unity and peace of the body of Christ?

I believe that the first step is prayer. We must really pray for each other. If I am praying for my brother or sister sincerely then it is less likely that I will say or do things to hurt them. Now, the prayer has to be an honest prayer and not a self righteous judgment in the form of a prayer. I have to actually be praying the Lord will bless my brother or sister. I also have to pray that God will restore and reconcile our relationship.

I also have to remind myself of the common ground that I have with every other Christian. We all have the same heavenly Father. We all have the same Savior. The Holy Spirit is in both of us. We share a common faith and the common goal of the kingdom of God. We are forever family. This bond is actually stronger that that of blood from God's perspective.

I need to grant the judgment of charity, love, mercy, and grace to my brother or sister when they do or say something wrong, foolish, or confusing. What would be the best motivation my brother or sister could have had for doing or saying this? We must not demonize each other or think that our brother or sister only had the darkest and most vile motivations when they did something. Our emotions are controlled by the story we tell ourselves. If we tell ourselves a horror story then our feelings will become filled with fear and anger. We must tell ourselves the best story we can about what has happened since only God knows the heart. When I make my brother or sister a monster this is most likely not God's view of my brother or sister.

Judge thyself with the judgment of sincerity, and thou will judge others with the judgment of charity. — John Mitchell Mason

We must follow Matthew 18

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
(Matthew 18:15-17 ESV)

We must understand that while gossip, rumor spreading, and murmuring come naturally to us this has never helped to protect the unity of the church or promote peace. We must face the self rightous roots of all such behavior and dedicate ourselves to going to people one on one when we have conflicts or have been hurt. If we cannot find reconcilation we must press on and get counseling with people where there is division. Some things may not be able to be fixed but we need to know that we have really attempted in every way humanly to find reconcilation. Whenever we do not have reconcilation in a relationship we have fallen short of God's perfect will. As much as it relies upon us we need to seek to have peace (Rom 12:18).

I find this hard to do. I think we all do. I think I have not sought for outside counsel when I should have in order to find reconciation when my own efforts failed. I have left to many things half fixed or unfixed simply because I did not know how to make them any better. I am challenged to work harder to solve these problems and not think they will just go away. We must strive to have a real unity in the body and one free of unhealthy division. We must be an emotionally healthy church.

I do think that good relationships are helped by good structures. Human beings in community do not do well when there are not an agreed upon set of rules. When everyone does what is right in their own eyes then people get hurt. If I know we are playing football I am not surprised when you tackle me. However if you tackle me in the middle of a game of chess I am greatly surprised. Knowing the rules and having the same expectations is important. Therefore, one way to help create unity is to have a framework or system which defines our roles, responsibilities, and organizational relationships. Who is responsible for what? Who makes financial decisions? How are decisions suppose to be made? All of these have to be carefully and fully defined or we will have conflicts. First Church West in my opinion does not have good structures. We must jointly decide on how we want to have things handled. We must define our normal operating procedure more effectively or we will continue to have crisis after crisis.

I want to be a peace maker. I want to maintain the unity and peace of the church. I know some people see me as a trouble maker and not a peace maker. I am sad about that. I hope that each of us can strive to find ways to be kind to each other and seek harmony in the body of Christ. May God have mercy on us and help us be an emotionally heathy body of Christ.

Endure Trouble

be patient in tribulation (ESV)

Be patient in time of trouble (CEV)

Enduring in tribulation (EMTV)

Be patient in your troubles (GNB)



This passage would tell us to stay under the rule of faith and persevere during times when we are under pressure from difficult circumstances such as persecution, afflictions, disease, famine, poverty, broken relationships, loneliness, political oppression, rejection, abandonment, and abuse. We are not to flee from faith when we face hardships but to hold fast to our faith in Messiah Jesus during the hardest of times. The Apostle Paul would encourage us to be brave and not panic during times of trouble.



We live in a society that is not very patient. We do not endure a lack of pleasure or pain very long or very well. We live in an "instant" society and want immediate results. The idea of trusting God during hard and dark times is the opposite of what we would expect we would have to do. A call to be remain faithful to God and faith even when God is not keeping bad things from happening in my life is a difficult concept. This is especially true if by the giving up of our faith we can get rid of the pressure we are under. Messiah Jesus warns that some will receive the gospel with great joy but when persecutions and hardships arise will fall away. If the roots of our faith are shallow then that faith will not endure.



It is clear the Apostles did not have a theology that said that if a person had faith they would not have tribulation and trouble in this life. The normal Christian life is one where people struggle and suffer. Faith helps us endure the suffering it does not keep the suffering from coming into our lives. We live in a time when one of the central doctrines of faith in America is that God will rapture all Christians out of the world so they will not have to suffer tribulation. It is vital to the faith of many that they will not have to endure such a time of great trouble. Now prophecy aside, what we do know is that Christians do suffer great trouble and have suffered great tribulation during all of Church history.



In this year alone an estimated 175,000 people will be killed because of their faith in Messiah Jesus. There are millions of Christians who suffer persecution under oppressive governments around the world today. They are patient in their tribulation. Regardless of our prophecy we must be ready to endure trouble, persecution, oppression, ridicule, and poverty for the sake of Messiah Jesus.



Paul is really saying that true love for Messiah Jesus will endure all things. Our faith is a relationship of committed love. As we suffer various problems we need to gain God's strength in the relationship we have because of Messiah Jesus' death for our sins and resurrection from the dead. Seeing His love for us should inspire us to trust and love Him as well.



To be patient in my troubles also means that I will not give into frustration and anger. Most of our abuse of others occurs during times when we feel under pressure. Our worst outbursts of anger come when things go wrong in our life and we feel pain. We forget that undisciplined human anger cannot make things right. The gospel calls us to bless people in our pain even as Messiah Jesus prayed for those who crucified HIM. Part of living a life of love is learning to exercise self control when we are under pressure.



How can I increase my ability to be patient when suffering and not give in to frustration, anger, and fear? One way is to remind myself of eternity and the hope of Christ's perfect kingdom. Tribulation will not be forever. It is just a short time and then I will be free of pain and know only God's warm embrace forever. Another is to believe that there is purpose in all pain. God is at work in the trouble to bring about something good in my soul and in the world. All pain is pregnant with kingdom potential. When I know that there is a purpose in my suffering it helps me endure the pain. Finally, my kingdom focused suffering allows me to better understand the heart of Messiah Jesus. As I take up my cross daily and suffer for God's kingdom, I become more like Messiah Jesus in HIS taking up the cross for my sins. My suffering makes me more like my Lord Jesus

Never Give In!

Never Give Up!

Not slothful in business (ESV)
... in diligence not slothful (ASV)
Never give up (CEV)
In carefulness not slothful (DRB)
... not lagging in diligence (EMTV)
Work hard and do not be lazy (GNB)
Never be lazy in showing such devotion. (ISV)

Here we understand that love works hard. Godly passion makes us focused, hardworking, and purpose driven. The gospel says we are not saved by works but calls us to work hard.

Oknerous, is the Greek word translated lazy or slothful and describes those who are slow due to hesitation, anxiety, or negligence. It is used in the Old Testament in Proverbs 6:6; 9 of those who allow inconveniences to stop them or who never move from the idea of a good action to actually do something about it (Proverbs 20:4; 21:25). Jesus the Messiah warns in Matthew 25:26 about professed disciples who hesitate to put their gifts to work and fail to live up to their eternal responsibilities.

The word translated "business" or "diligence" is the Greek word spoude which literally means speed or haste. Literally this verse would be "to not be slow in being speedy". But the word implies speaking or acting seriously. Doing what ought to be done as faithfully as we can do it. The meaning seems to be that we are not to become slow in doing what God wants to be the top priorities of our life.

The gospel calls us to a serious life. God sent His SON to die for our sins. God is serious about saving us. He wants us to share in being sober and serious people who are living disciplined and focused lives. We are to be seeking first God's kingdom and righteousness.

It is not easy to remain serious. We live in a culture that values entertainment and much of that entertainment makes us apathetic about seeking righteousness. Happiness is for us the opposite of being serious. Yet, only in being serious can we know joy.

For some of us we have been striving for decades. It is hard to keep the energy up. We sometimes lose heart. We feel the pressure of Ecclesiastes. We hear the song of "Vanity, Vanity, all is Vanity" ringing in our ears and we begin slowing down in our seeking the kingdom. Our acts of faith become tempered by fear of failure and cynicism has us abandon doing what we know God has called us to do.

We must never give up. By remembering what God has done for us in Messiah Jesus and has given us in Messiah Jesus we can keep ourselves focused on God's purpose and plan for our lives. The Lord who has started a good work in us will finish it.

In 1941, Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke to a school. The days were dark. The power of Nazism seemed impossible to stop. It would be easy to give up and easy to surrender. In the midst of those dark and desperate times the Prime Minister spoke these words.

"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

We are in battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The enemy is telling us to give up. To give in and choose the broad and easy way is tempting. How can we hope to make a difference in the middle of such a dark and broken world? Yet, we must remember Nazism does not win. God's kingdom will come and God's will done on this planet. We must never yield and be faithful in doing our duty with diligence, focus, and faith.

This reminds me of a hymn I sang as a child: "This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet." (Maltbie D. Babcock – "This Is My Father’s World" 1901). We will need to review our performance and sing to our hearts the song of God's victory in Christ. As our morale rallies we will find that we can find new strength to press on and "never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never ...

Church is suppose to be family

Love one another with brotherly affection ... ESV

In love of the brethern be tenderly affectioned one to another ... ASV

Love each other as brothers and sisters ... CEV

Loving one another with the charity of brotherhood ... DRB

Be warmly affectionate to one another with brotherly love ... EMTV

Love one another warmly as Christians .... GNB

Be devoted to each other with mutual affection ... ISV

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In English we might not see much difference between 12:9 where we are told to love without hypocrisy and 12:10 where we are told to love one another. But in the Greek you have two different words used. Romans 12:9 is talking about our "agape" which is an affection not based on performance and which indicates a calculated love based on making something the highest priority of our lives. It can be and most of the time is highly emotional, but it is emotion based on personal commitment. Agape love is not superior to other type of loves. It simply is a different type of love.

In this light one could understand Romans 12:9 as "Don't pretend to have the love God and others as your highest priority when it really isn't."

Now in Romans 12:10 we have two other Greek work used for love. One is philostorgos which is which is an old compound word used only here in the New Testament and philidelphia. Paul is now focusing on the idea that we are to not only agape God and others but now to give to Christians both philos and storgos type of love.

What is storgos? It is a love and loyalty based on a relationship outside of our control. It is the unconditional and long lasting love of family members for one another regardless of personality differences or performance. It is an affection that is given because of a unity we have with people that was simply destined to be by the providence of God alone. In this context Paul is saying we should feel affection for other Christians because God has chosen them to be our spiritual family. We are to give them loyalty, care, and warmth as we would family members.

Philadelphia is a word that strengthens this. It is when we actively pursue having deep and intimate family relationships. Storgos is the foundation for such a pursuit. But philos is opening our hearts to feel love towards our family members and seeking intimate friendship with them. Here is a commitment to emotional intimacy.

Now context always rules the varies shades of meaning these words may have. Here we have a call by Paul for Christians to recognize that the gospel of grace has made us a spiritual family and to love without hypocrisy we must open ourselves up to this new set of relationships found in the church and embrace other believers as relatives. This spiritual family is to have as much loyalty given to it as we would give to our physical families.

It also means that we must be seeking to make those in our local church those with whom we would have emotionally intimate friendships. Ultimately, these verses can only be experienced in the local church. We are to be ready to embrace any Christian at any time as a family member "storgos" and have a general "philos" attitude towards them, but it is in the company of believers we worship with that these words will take on concrete and real meaning.

The gospel calls us to make our local church the center of our social life. We are to be a company of friends who have faith in Messiah Jesus in common. Our love for HIM is to create love for one another.

At the present moment 39% of Americans attend church once a week. It would seem that weekly attendence at church would be the minimum effort people would have to make the local church the center of their social lives. We know that many who attend weekly have not done that. If we use the normal 80/20 rule we could speculate that in reality only about 8% of Christians in America have most likely made the relationships at church the central and most important relationships in their lives. Only 8% are experiencing to some degree the reality of what the Apostle Paul wants us to experience in our local church.

How can we open ourselves up to such intimate spiritual friendships? Many times we have been hurt in church and been disappointed by "hypocritical love" (see vs 9). It is God's will we give ourselves to this spiritual family and yet it is hard to do and hard to experience. May God grant each of us the grace to seek to deepen our love for one another.

Glued to Good

... hold fast what is good. (ESV)

... cleave to that which is good (ASV)

... hold tight to everything that is good (CEV)

Cling to that which is good. (EMTV)

Now we are not saved by our good works. However, this is due to the lack of such good works in our life and not because God does not take pleasure in our doing good. We have been saved by God's grace alone by the death of Messiah Jesus for us. Now that we have been saved, God has ordained us to live a life full of good works (Eph 2:8-10). We do good deeds not be be saved but because we are saved.

The Greek word here for "hold fast" is killao which is literally "glue". Strive to forever attach yourself to the good. To have the good stick to you is a literal image. We are to glue ourselves to the good or agathos. We are to become fully attached to virtue, health, usefulness, excellence, honor and that which brings true joyfulness into the world.

We are to run from in horror the moral depravity that causes pain and death and run passionately after moral good which causes true joy and brings life. We are to desire to become so attached to good that it would be like being "super glued" to something. We are to be unable to get rid of it without a lot of pain and trouble. To do good is to be and act like Messiah Jesus. It is to love God first and then have compassion on people. It is to live a sane, stable, and spiritual life consistently.

How can we get "glued to good"? Here are some ideas.

1. Wear goodness - This would mean first of all to dress in a modest way. It would mean for married people to keep their wedding bands on. It would mean to have something that reminds you of your relationship with Christ. Maybe a cross around your neck or a "big idea" card in your wallet. What can I do that will "glue goodness" to my appearance, dress, and routine of getting ready for daily life.

2. Read and talk about goodness to yourself. Watch your self talk and make sure that it is moving you in the direction of virtue and not vice. Talk to yourself about the goodness of God in dying for your sins in the person of Messiah Jesus. Remind yourself of the good character of God. Read the Bible and other devotional books which call upon you to seek goodness and run from evil.

3. Have your entertainment encourage being "glued to goodness" and not a temptation to vice. Entertainment has a lot to do with what we become "glued to" in our emotions and actions. Seek to find fun ways to seek a sane, stable, and healthy life. Some entertainment encourages our dark side while some fun activities help us appreciate living well. Is the music in your life encouraging virtue or vice?

4. Seek out relationships with people who encourage you being good. Bad company ruins good morals. We need people who will be "rubbing us the right way" and being cheer leaders for right behavior. This is one of the aspects of a small group since it can hold us accountable to what we know to be "good."

5. Make every meal a time to ask God to help you be filled with the Holy Spirit and seek first the Kingdom of God. By turning every meal into a reminder of God's love for us and our need to love Him, then this allows us to become "glued to goodness".

6. Make up self talk that summarizes all the benefits of doing good. Read this self talk part of your meal time and morning devotions. Sell yourself on the wisdom of doing what is morally noble over compromising with your darker desires. Fall in love with goodness.

7. Talk about good things with other people. Strive to take the "high moral ground" in conversations. Confess desire to do evil as wrong. Do not play with bad attitudes by expressing approval of wrong doing. Be a person who will counsel good behavior and wise living even when you struggle to do it.

8. Be alert to the opportunity to do good. Goodness will remain very abstract until we just "do it". By visiting the lonely, feeding the sick, encouraging the discouraged, giving to the poor, worshiping God with passion, sharing the gospel with the lost, giving wise counsel to the confused, and praying for those in need we become "glued to goodness" because it becomes a lifestyle.

9. Bathe yourself in reminders to be and do good. Have signs, posters, art, and rituals which remind you that because of Christ's goodness to you that now you desire to be good. Put reminders to do good and be good into your daily calender.

10. Become sensitive to the "clues" that you are beginning to backslide. Keep a radical moral inventory of your life up to date. Most of us become "unglued" over a long period of time. Our attachment to God's will for our lives is something lost by erosion rather than a radical decision to do evil. We simply stop reinforcing our commitment to goodness and then one day we notice we are in a very bad place spiritually.

Finally one more danger. Ignore anyone who says you are being too "religious" or taking seeking goodness to extremes. None of us on judgment day will be sad because we gained some virtue but many of us will regret the vices that still dominated our lives.

May God help me become glued to goodness this day.

Love one another

Jesus the Messiah wants us to love one another. He wants us to show respect to each other. He wants us to treat other Christians well and really even love our enemy. His desire is for a healthy and whole human community in which people can dwell without fear of being abused. Sound simple, but it is not simple.

Human community is complex. We have different personalities, needs, back grounds, doctrines, experiences, fears, emotional wounds, prejudices, passions, gifts, abilities, skills, agendas, definitions, and desires. We share faith in Christ but really if we analyzed what we meant by that what that really means to any two of us is radically different in many ways and only similar in a few ways. Most of the time "birds of a feather flock together" but in the church we may be called to be part of a flock that has many different species of "Christians" in it. To love and respect people who are like me and who agree with me is one thing but to love and respect people who are different than me and do not agree with me is a whole different story.

The local church is suppose to be an example of a healthy human community under the leadership of Messiah Jesus in the real and sinful broken world. We are to be an emotionally healthy church filled with people who know how to live emotionally healthy spirituality. To the degree we are emotionally healthy we fulfill the will of Christ for the church and to the degree we are not emotionally healthy we do not fulfill the will of Christ for the church. The church is suppose to be one of the main apologetics for the faith. The beauty of our love for each other and for humanity as a whole is to be what draws people to the truth of the gospel. If the gospel can produce a community of love then it is valuable to the human race.

On Sunday I talked to a man from India who was a Christian. He had become a Christian because his grandfather had become a Christian. His grandfather had become a deep and devoted follower of Messiah Jesus who had been born into a Hindu family. When I asked him how his grand father had become a Christian he told me a story of persecuted Christians who had shown his grandfather kindness and love consistently over many years. They had provided his grandfather with financial support, a place to live, and food to eat during hard times. They had helped him to get an education. Their actions seems so different than what his grandfather was use to that when given a bible he read it and eventually became a Christian. What really won his grandfather to the faith was the love of Christians for their enemies. This man was part of the fruit of that love. For this man had believed and was not a Hindu because his grandfather had become radically converted.

I am humbled by all of this. I fail to love as I should love so often. I fail to be as emotionally healthy as I should be so often. As a pastor I fail to really provide the healthy leadership I should so often. I need to become more an example of emotionally healthy spirituality so that we can better become an emotionally healthy community of faith. Ultimately, only then will we be able to be a clear witness of love and grace into a broken world.

The Lord is my Shepherd

Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
The Lord Jesus is my loving leader and therefore every need I have in my life will be provided as a gift of grace. He puts me in places where I am fed and watered, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He restores my energy and my life daily. He directs me on the paths that lead to life and not death. Sometimes those paths lead into very dark places and my confidence is that the Lord is with me, protecting me as we go into the darkness. On the other side of the toughest times the Lord has prepared for me again a place of abundant provision and abundant refreshment in the midst of a dangerous world. The goodness and the mercy of the Lord Jesus pursues me and chases me down every day of my life and one day I will dwell in the heavenly temple with my loving Lord for all eternity. (Norm Wise Paraphrase)
This psalm was part of my early spiritual education. My mother read this psalm every morning before she went to work. It was her psalm. She gave it to me.
When I was a little boy I thought this was a strange psalm at first. I understood the first verse to mean that the Lord was a shepherd that I did not want in my life! I wondered; “Why was I telling God that I did not want Him?”
At times maybe there is more truth to that then I would want to admit. All we like sheep have gone astray. The shepherd keeps the sheep no t the sheep the shepherd.
Now of course the real meaning is the Lord is my Shepherd and He will provide for me. God will give me food, drink, and protection as I have need of them in this life. He will be with be during the hardest times and eventually lead me to be comforted and provided for in the midst of my enemies. The psalm never denies hardship and danger, it only assures me that the good shepherd will get me through and give me glory.
Now this is one of the best known psalms in our country. Most people would still recognize Psalm 23. However, part of this is because it is normally read at funerals. It is psalm of comfort where our focus is that we imagine our loved one sitting in heaven as God’s dinner guest. Or perhaps we see ourselves walking through the dark valley of grief assured that eventually God will comfort us. The Psalm is used by God to bring comfort in all of these circumstances.


In some ways this makes sense since Psalm 23 follows Psalm 22 which is an account of God’s suffering servant. Here we have a poetic prophecy of Messiah dying for our sins and being raised from the dead. Now the risen Lord will be the shepherd of His people and eventually bring them into His kingdom. They will overcome their enemies and see God provide for them salvation.
But the psalm does not have to be understood in this light. For African and Asian believers this psalm has become a call to reject tyrannical political rulers who want to “shepherd” them and their lives. These believers quote the psalm as a clear statement that THE LORD and not the government is my ultimate shepherd that I will trust to take care of my needs. It has become their “Jesus is Lord; not Caesar” psalm and has significant political meaning to them.
The enemies of the Christian are the unbelieving world culture we live in, the rebellious and wicked fallen angels and the remaining lack of faith within our own hearts. None of these have the power to keep the Shepherd’s purpose of providing and protecting us from being achieved. The plan of the Shepherd to provide for us will be accomplished and the enemies of our soul will fail. This is God’s promise and gift to us. The Lord is our shepherd we will not fail.
This psalm also speaks to us of the Lord’s Supper. The shepherd has prepared a table for us. This is what Jesus did with the cup and the bread. How will the shepherd provide for our needs? We are very needy. The Shepherd will have to die for the sheep. He will have to suffer so they can be provided for and protected. The Shepherd will have to die to defeat the purpose of the enemies of the sheep. The table is a provision and a protection. It shows His care and His comfort. As we take of the cup and the bread that Jesus the Messiah has given to us it tells us that one day we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever in fellowship with our KING.
The bottom line to this psalm is this. The Lord is watching over us and will win over the enemies of our soul. We do have enemies and face dark times. If we were left on our own then we would be devoured by the real dangers of this life. But we are not alone. The Lord is our Shepherd and He will provide for us care and comfort. This Shepherd is chasing us down when we stray to give to us His mercy and love. If we tell ourselves this story daily, as my mother did just before she went to work, how can we fail to not have our anxiety fall and our faith rise up in confident joy. May the Lord, grant that we will experience some of that reality this day.

Why Follow Jesus - First Reflections

And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19 ESV)

This “Easter” season I began to reflect on what is there that attracts me to the person of Messiah Jesus? Why should I, or anyone commit ourselves to Jesus of Nazareth as our personal Messiah? This is a basic question and yet one which is at the heart of every other aspect of our Christian life.

This is the foundation of our Christian existence and practice. Having a good solid reason for following Jesus, liking Jesus, admiring Jesus, and loving Jesus is critical since without such a reason and experience then nothing else in my Christian life or the Christian life of others is very likely to really work. What is there about Jesus of Nazareth that should capture my heart?

As I mused about this issue I came up with seven centers of focus that can help us to become attracted to Jesus of Nazareth and from which we may gain an increasing faith in Him as our Messiah. The seven focal points for me in seeking to be drawn to Messiah Jesus are:

1. His fulfillment of specific Messianic prophecies.
2. His teachings
3. His miracles
4. His life
5. His suffering for the sins of His people
6. His resurrection form the dead
7. His existential offer of acceptance, fellowship and salvation

Each of these produces a different point of reference through which the Messiah Jesus can be perceived and admired. Each one has its own particular impact on our thinking and affections towards Jesus of Nazareth. Each is needed to get a full understanding of who our Lord Jesus is.

His fulfillment of specific Messianic prophecies.

The New Testament takes for granted that we will be looking for a Messiah. It assumes we know we need a Savior. It presents Jesus of Nazareth as the “answer” to a “problem”. Yet, many of us today in the modern world do not come to the gospels looking for an answer. Because of this it is hard for us to always appreciate exactly what the gospels are offering as they present their pictures of Messiah Jesus.

It has hit me that one of the things that caused me to become a believer in Messiah Jesus was that I began my study of the Bible in Matthew and not in Leviticus. I do not think I would have been attracted to follow the God of the temple unless I had first had come to be attracted to Jesus of Nazareth. His acceptance of temple and Moses allowed me to accept them. My faith in the Hebrew Bible, what we normally call the Old Testament, is based on my faith in Jesus to be the authoritative prophetic representative from God and not the other way around. Beginning my reading of the Bible in Matthew instead of Genesis really helped me to have faith.

However, with this being said, one's understanding of Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah or Christ can only really make sense in the context of the prophecies of the Old Testament. It is this “problem” that needs to be understood and accepted which them makes the gospels presentation of Jesus of Nazareth as the solution to that problem so impressive. Without this background then the appearance of Messiah Jesus is a lot less awesome and inspiring. For instance the gospel of Mark begins with these words:


The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'" (Mark 1:1-3 ESV)

In Isaiah, the prophet (en tōi Esaiāi tōi prophētēi). The quotation comes from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. The Western and Neutral family of Greek documents read “Isaiah”, the Alexandrian and Syrian, “the prophets,” which some believe was a correction made by a latter scribe because part of it is from Malachi. Most modern translations read “Isaiah” while the New King James reads “prophets”

If Mark wrote “Isaiah” instead of prophets no error occurred. Isaiah is mentioned as the chief of the prophets. It was common to combine quotations from the prophets in chains of quotations. The ancient world did not foot note in the same way we do today. It therefore is not a reasonable expectation to think that Mark would footnote his gospel in a manner different than other authors of his day.

But here we find that Mark links the appearing of Jesus of Nazareth with the coming of the “Lord” into history. John the Baptist is seen as being the fulfillment of prophecies of one who would come to prepare the way for the appearing of God into the history of humanity. The “Lord” was coming! This was part of the hope of Messiah. To understand Jesus as the Messiah we must understand the need of a Messiah and what this hope was all about. If we do not do this then the very name “Jesus Christ” has lost it real meaning.

I plan over the next few weeks to continue my musings along these lines. I believe that this train of thought will help me grow in faith. I hope it may cause others to grow in faith. Growing in faith is really all that is vital. For the just shall live by faith in Messiah Jesus.

The question I would ask today is:

What most attracts you to follow Jesus as Lord of your life today?

Has it always been that same quality or at different times did various aspects of Jesus of Nazareth impact you?

Why do you think different aspects of Christ attract us at different times?

How do you think you could become more attracted to the Lord Jesus today?

These are questions worth considering.

The gospel brings salvation to all

Acts 10:34-43
34 Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37 That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
Literal - The early church struggled to understand that “making disciples of all nations” meant “making disciples of all nations.” The Apostle Peter and many in the early church seem to have thought that people might first have to become Jewish and then Christian to receive Jesus the Messiah as their Savior and Lord. There had been many indications that God was going to work with the Gentiles nations in a more dramatic way once Messiah came (Isaiah 11:10; Psalm 2). Even Peter’s first sermon had talked about the Holy Spirit being g poured out on all humanity regardless of social status or power (Acts 2:17). Yet, it seemed impossible that God could include the “unclean” Gentiles into His kingdom plans without first cleaning them up by their becoming Jews.
Then God sent to the Apostle Peter a vision telling him to eat all the types of meat forbidden by Jewish dietary laws. The Apostle’s cultural habits are so strong that even at the command of God he refuses for he claims he has been ‘kosher’ all his life. God then tells him not to call unclean what God has called clean. The Messiah Jesus himself has already attempted to teach his disciples that the days when we need to worry about ‘kosher’ food is over and what really matters is the condition of the human heart (Mark 7:19). Yet, cultural and religious training runs deep in us and is not easily overcome. Only a direct vision by God moves the Apostle to begin to believe and see what God is doing.
As God is working in the heart of the Apostle Peter so He is also working in the heart of the Centurion Cornelius. He is a “God Fearer” which was a particular group of people in the New Testament. According to F.F. Bruce “God-fearers were Gentiles who attached themselves in varying degrees to the Jewish worship and way of life without as yet becoming full proselytes.” Those who were “Godfearers” were those who were worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and accepted the Ten Commandments as an expression of God’s ethical will but had not become Jewish in culture and tradition. They were many times people who supported the synagogues and came to listen to the Law being taught. Cornelius was such a man who practiced prayer to the true God and gave to the poor. His prayers to be forgiven were answered by God having him send for Peter and giving to Peter an additional insight into God’s amazing grace.
Here we see the Apostle Peter sharing that he has had a personal and profound insight. God shows no partiality based on if a person is a Jew or a Gentile (Romans 2:11). Everyone who has come to truly fear, honor, respect, and be in awe of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who created heaven and earth is a person who God’s Spirit is at work calling them to faith and repentance.
Now no idol worshiper fears God. There is greater hope for the Gentiles when they seek God at the altar of the “unknown God” than when they turn to the darkness of idols (Romans 1:18ff; Acts 17:23). Idol worship shows a lack of fear of God while seeking to worship the God who is revealed in the creation would lead one to worship in spirit and truth, the opposite of moving towards idols. Hinduism cannot save.
This chapter not only represents the Centurion Cornelius’ receiving the forgiveness of sins by believing in Jesus the Messiah and the embrace of God in the baptism of the Holy Spirit but also the beginning of the conversion of the early church to fully accept God’s mission to the Gentiles. Today perhaps we need to be converted to believe in God’s mission to the Jews and that He could make disciples of them as well as of us.
Such an insight might be needed especially in light of Jerusalem no longer being under the control of the Gentiles and the time of the Gentiles having been fulfilled in 1967 (Luke 21:24). The first Messianic Jewish synagogue was founded in 1967 and the growth in Messianic Judaism represented by such groups as Avodat Yisrael has brought more Jews to faith in Jesus as their Messiah than ever before in the history of the Christian Church. God’s Spirit is again moving to bring multitudes to salvation in the gospel of Messiah Jesus.
The message of the Apostle Peter is simple and straight forward. It is the Apostle’s Creed. Christ has died for our sins, been raised up in glory, and will come again in judgment. All who call on Messiah Jesus to have mercy on them will be forgiven their sins and receive the Holy Spirit. The one hope for sinners, both Jew and Gentile, is only to be found in Messiah Jesus. He is our one hope of salvation.
This is the message of Good Friday. This is the message of Easter. This is the message of the Christian faith universal. Let us affirm our faith this resurrection week and renew our trust in Messiah Jesus as our one hope of salvation. Amen.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive the sins of others

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matthew 6:12 ESV)

and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation." (Luke 11:4 ESV)

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14, 15 ESV)



What does it mean when we pray “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors?”


Let us think thru the possible answers to this question.

1. The one who prays serves as a model for God

Those who understand the verse this way would interpret it as “forgive us our debts (sins), like we have forgiven our debtors.” Or “forgive us our debts in the same manner as he or she has forgiven others.”

In this case the one who prays is a model for God and God should forgive in the same way that the one who prays does or has done.

This seems like a very unlikely interpretation for the verse since the normal pattern is that divine forgiveness serves as a model for human forgiveness instead of human forgiveness serving as a model for divine forgiveness. (Eph 4:32; Col 3:13). While some parables do illustrate divine forgiveness within untypical and outlandish human situations it does not seem that the purpose of this instruction is to make God acts of forgiveness depend upon our acts of forgiveness or that God needs us to model this behavior for Him (Matthew 18:23-35; Luke 15:11-32).


2. The one who prays as claims God’s forgiveness on the basis of their having forgiven others.

Those who understand the verse in this manner would interpret it as “forgive us our debts since we have forgiven others. “ Divine forgiveness is laid claim to on the basis of one’s having forgiven other people.

Those who take this position would feel that the parallel passage found in Luke 11:4 where the it seems to read “for also we ourselves forgive.”

However, the Greek word here rarely if ever means “since” and therefore this interpretation seems forced. In addition, this would make forgiveness from God one of merit instead of grace which seems at odds with the whole message of the New Testament.



3. The one who prays asks for divine forgiveness on the condition that he or she is willing to forgive others.

This would seem at a simple level to fit the immediate commentary by Jesus found in Matthew 6:14-15 and in the parable of the unforgiving servant found in Matthew 18:23-30.

This is also supported by both Martin Luther’s views and those of the Catholic Church.

“God has promised us assurance that everything is forgiven and pardoned, yet on the condition that we also forgive our neighbor....If you do not forgive, do not think that God forgives you. But if you forgive, you have the comfort and assurance that you are forgiven in heaven. Not on account of your forgiving, for God does it altogether freely....But he has set up this condition for our strengthening and assurance as a sign along with the promise which is in agreement with this petition, Luke 6:37, .Forgive, and you will be forgiven.. Therefore Christ repeats it immediately after the Lord’s Prayer in Matt. 6:14, saying, .If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you,”. (Martin Luther’s Larger Catechism)

“Our petition [in the Lord’s Prayer] will not be heard unless we have first met a strict requirement....This outpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have trespassed against us....In refusing to forgive our brothers and sisters, our hearts are closed and their hardness makes them impervious to the Father’s merciful love; but in confessing our sins, our hearts are opened to his grace “. (The Catechism of the Catholic Church (New Hope, KY: Urbi et Orbi, 1994) 681-682)

The idea here is that our forgiveness of others would not merit God’s forgiveness but would be a pre-condition of receiving the free gift of forgiveness from God. The presupposition would be that one who is coming in humble confession and repentance of their sins has also let go of condemnation towards other sinners. If one is still standing in self righteous judgment of others then how can one expect God to give grace and mercy to them? Such an attitude of self righteous condemnation is opposed to the attitude of “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner” which is needed to be forgiven. (Luke 18:13-14). Bitterness towards the sins of others blocks the exercise of faith and acceptance of grace needed to experience God’s forgiveness. There is no merit in forgiving others and yet without such an attitude one does not have faith.

Some commentators believe that Jesus the Messiah’s teaching here was part of a Jewish concept that human readiness to forgive was an attitude that had to be in a person before God would forgive their sins. We see this tradition reflected in Sirach 28:2 which reads “Forgive your neighbor of the wrong, and then your sins will be forgiven when you ask it.”

At one level this interpretation is plausible and could be regarded as correct as long as the attitude of forgiveness was seen as part of the gift of faith given by the Holy Spirit and if it is kept entirely free of earning forgiveness by merit. The problem however is if anyone could claim to completely fulfilled this requirement. It could be argued than no human being has ever forgiven another person perfectly. If God’s forgiveness only comes to us when we forgive others then how can any of us know for sure we have been forgiven by God? The grace of forgiveness like faith itself is never perfectly experienced in this life. So while this interpretation is possible it leaves us with a significant spiritual problem.




4. To the degree we experience the grace of forgiving others we can have assurance that our sins have been forgiven by God.

The traditional reformed (Calvinistic) perspective has been that to the degree we are able to forgive others we can have the assurance that our sins have been forgiven by others. Since our willingness of forgive others is a core fruit of true faith then to the degree it is in existence to that degree we can know we have believed the gospel and have been given the grace of forgiveness. This is seen in the Westminster larger catechism.
Question 194: What do we pray for in the fifth petition?
Answer: In the fifth petition (which is, Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors), acknowledging, that we and all others are guilty both of original and actual sin, and thereby become debtors to the justice of God; and that neither we, nor any other creature, can make the least satisfaction for that debt: we pray for ourselves and others, that God of his free grace would, through the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, apprehended and applied by faith, acquit us both from the guilt and punishment of sin, accept us in his Beloved; continue his favor and grace to us, pardon our daily failings, and fill us with peace and joy, in giving us daily more and more assurance of forgiveness; which we are the rather emboldened to ask, and encouraged to expect, when we have this testimony in ourselves, that we from the heart forgive others their offenses.
This answer seems to address and answer the spiritual problem raised by the earlier view. So instead of forgiveness being dependent on our ability to forgive only our assurance of our forgiveness is impacted. This interpretation allows us to deal with the imperfection of our ability to forgive without it becoming impossible for us to experience God’s forgiveness.
5. Seeing this as a community prayer that was designed to be a liturgical part of corporate worship which aims at teaching the importance of forgiveness in the new community of the kingdom of God.
The Lord ’s Prayer is not just a model prayer but intended by Messiah Jesus to be recited whenever His disciples gather for worship. It is clear from Luke 11:2 that the disciples are actually say this prayer. The Didache 8:3 which reflects the practice of the first century church instructs the believers to recite the prayer word for word three times a day. In the act of praying those who pray are reminded of their duty to forgive in order to live by faith in the gospel.
This approach would focus on the fact that this prayer was given as part of a worshipping community of disciples. Theologian Joachim Jermias, suggest that this clause could be understood “as we also herewith forgive our debtors” which is based on how this could have been expressed originally in the Aramaic. This would support the idea that this was a “performantive utterance” which was done in the midst of corporate worship. Those who took place in the literacy of the church formally declared amnesty on those who had sinned against them as part of their affirmation of God’s grace and forgiveness found in the kingdom of Christ. If one sees the parables of Jesus and such teaching such as Matthew 6:14 as rhetorical exhortations instead of dogmatic statements about God. God cannot be restricted or made dependent on human actions. But one can hear this as pastoral advice which would say:
“You want to be forgiven by God? Well how do you expect to be forgiven when you stand in self righteous and bitter condemnation of others? Ask God to grant you a forgiving spirit and recognize your own sins. Humble yourself and let go of your bitterness! Stop being such a Pharisee and recognize your own need of God’s grace.”
Now it is recognized by the community that they have not yet fully followed any of the commands of Jesus the Messiah. Part of the confession of sins is the imperfection of the disciples. But repentance is about direction not perfection. Therefore, in the praying of this prayer the community both confesses their need of divine grace and also the need to give grace to others.
From this perspective it would be wrong to understand the fifth petition of the Lord’s prayer as a dogmatic statement about God’s attributes which makes God’s power to forgive dependent upon the piety of the one praying or to see it as a precondition that a soul must attain in order to experience divine forgiveness. Instead, the prayer, as part of the framework of worship for the disciples of Jesus the Messiah is one that is crying out for renewed relationships. To ask for forgiveness from God and know that in the Messiah Jesus this forgiveness has been given, only then reminds the disciple of the duty of the forgiven to forgive.
It is interesting that the church father, John Chrysostom , says concerning this:
“Since He might indeed, even without this (us forgiving others), forgive thee all thine offenses; but He wills thee hereby also to receive a benefit; affording thee on all sides innumerable occasions of gentleness and love to man, casting out what is brutish in thee, and quenching wrath, and in all ways cementing thee to him who is thine own member. “
This church father seems to teach that God can forgive us our sins even when we fall short of perfect forgiveness of others but that this prayer calls us to “cement” our relationship with one another in grace and mercy. This would support the idea that our human forgiveness is but a reflection of God’s great forgiveness of us in the death and resurrection of our Messiah Jesus.
Conclusion
The traditional reformed view and the idea that this was a “performance utterance” aimed at reminding the Christian community that God’s grace was to make them a people of grace both seem to provide understandings that keep us from making these verses teach forgiveness by merit or taking from imperfect disciples any hope of knowing God’s forgiving grace. We need to remember that only by focusing on God’s grace and mercy in Messiah Jesus can we hope to reflect this in our human relationships.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32 ESV)

http://www.voskrese.info/spl/matthom19.html

http://www2.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/16-3_Forgiveness/16-3_Hultgren.pdf

God the great evangelist

Isaiah 55:1-9
1 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. 4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5 See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Many of us have gone to church services where people have been invited to come forward to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Appeals have been made and the evangelist has called out to people to come forward to be embraced by God and receive salvation. Some of us came to faith in such moments of invitation and appeal.
Here we see an invitation that comes from God himself. Yahweh is the evangelist calling out to us. He says:
Come, Come, Come
Listen, Listen
Delight, Incline
See, See
Seek, forsake, Return
Twelve imperative commands are here. Twelve heartfelt appeals out of the heart of God are here given. A cry from Yahweh to Israel to complete their destination as God’s chosen people by responding to His call in faith. This is a call to trust in God’s mercy and repent. It is an appeal to be reconciled to Yahweh.
The promises are clear. God is inviting us to a free spiritual feast. We will find mercy, pardon, steadfast love, covenant, and the nations converted to a son of David. In God’s love and promises to David, He will now bring hope and salvation to all of His people. He warns us to try to buy the kingdom with our own righteousness or from the idols of the nations is insanity. Only in the covenant of grace do we have hope.
God knows that the way of grace is not something that is the way of our broken humanity. The hardest concept for us to accept is that we have failed so badly morally that we need pardon. We are suspicious of mercy and feel more at home relating to God based on justice alone. Yahweh’s choice of grace is both what gives us hope and what most confuses us about Him. Yet, He asks us to trust in His goodness and not refuse His appeal. He hungers and thirst for our salvation more than we do.
So what will we do in response to this intense and passionate appeal? How will our hearts respond? Are we ready to accept God’s invitation to feast with Him?
Christological - Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30 ESV)

Moral-Seek the Lord and forsake wickedness

Eternal - And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." (Revelation 19:9 ESV)


Prayer: Lord let me listen and respond to your love.


Contemplation: God is seeking me.

Action: Focus on God’s love for you and see it as greater than your love for God.

Will Israel Be Rejected?

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. (Romans 11:1 ESV)

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? (Romans 11:2 ESV)

"Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life." (Romans 11:3 ESV)

But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." (Romans 11:4 ESV)

So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. (Romans 11:5 ESV)

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. (Romans 11:6 ESV)

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, (Romans 11:7 ESV)

as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day." (Romans 11:8 ESV)

And David says, "Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; (Romans 11:9 ESV)

let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever." (Romans 11:10 ESV)


Literal - The question is if God has rejected all the Jews? Has all Israel been lost? The answer Paul shouts out here is “NO!” such an idea must never be considered. Paul makes three points in response to this question in this section of Romans to prove his answer to this question.
(1) That God had saved him, a Jew, and therefore the gospel of Messiah Jesus cannot mean that God had cast off all Jews Rom 11:1;
(2) That now, as in former times of great turning away from God, God had chosen a remnant of Jews to believe Rom 11:2-5;
(3) That it was predicted in the Hebrew Bible that a part of Israel should be hardened Rom 11:6-10;
So has God utterly and for all time rejected the Jews? No for even now there are some who believe in Messiah Jesus and are saved. So anyone that would say that the gospel of Messiah Jesus declares God to have abandoned all Jews and His promises to Israel simply is not telling the truth. Israel has turned away from God by their rejection of the Messiah. This is a great spiritual apostasy and rebellion. But it is not final. God is not done working with the nation of Israel.

Now both Jew and Gentile need to accept the Messiah Jesus to be declared righteous before God.
“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:22-25)

If a Jewish person fails to have faith in Messiah Jesus then they will be justly condemned for their sins and be lost. There will be no second chance after death. If a Gentile person failed to have faith in Messiah Jesus then they will be justly condemned for their sins and be lost. There will be no second chance after death.
Not that it would matter if there was a “second chance” for the people in hell do not have repentant hearts and continue to be in rebellion against God for all eternity. It is appointed for every human being, both Jew and Gentile that they will die and after that death they will face a final moral judgment for their lives. The only hope anyone has of being forgiven and declared righteous at that judgment is if they have been given the righteousness of Messiah Jesus as a gift and His death has been put to their account to pay for their sins. Only those who believe in Messiah Jesus have hope of pardon.
When the gospel of Messiah Jesus came only a small number of Jews believed in Messiah Jesus in the first century. For the most part their rejection of the gospel was profound, violent, and absolute. Yet, this was not the first time that Israel had rejected God’s plans, killed her prophets, or rebelled against God’s kingdom.
Their rebellion could never stop God’s plan to bring the Messiah into the world through them. God would keep all His promises that He gave to Abraham. Not all physical Israel are members of the “true Israel”. But of some chosen Jews, God has always had thoughts of love before the world was created, to be in eternal fellowship with them. These elect and chosen ones will never be rejected or lost. These are the ones that God has circumcised their hearts and have been called into a faith relationship with Him.
“But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” (Romans 2:29 ESV)

As evidence that this is true and nothing new Paul tells the story of Elijah. The discouraged prophet complains about the nation of Israel in that day and says:
"I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away." (1 Kings 19:10 ESV)

Elijah believes that only he has remained faithful to God. He believes that “all Israel is lost”. But God tells him that he has kept 7000 faithful. God has preserved a small group and kept them from this general rebellion and apostasy that has captured Israel. God will fulfill his promises to Abraham and use his offspring to bring Messiah into the world.

God will always create a believing remnant among the Jews and never allow faith to totally die among Israel. This group is chosen by grace alone and not because they are better than anyone else. Only because God has given to them unconditional favor do they believe and are saved.


Now Paul begins to meditate on the Hebrew Bible and comes to the conclusion that the vast majority of Jewish people rejecting Messiah Jesus was all part of God’s preordained plan.

For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers). (Isaiah 29:10 ESV)

But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. (Deuteronomy 29:4 ESV)

And he said, "Go, and say to this people: "'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." (Isaiah 6:9,10 ESV)

Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually. (Psalms 69:23 ESV)

Now it is important for us to see how God has hardened and blinded Israel. If we see this in the wrong way our perspective of God will be radically perverted.

One view is that Israel is made up of good people who are seeking God and His will. Then God blinds and hardens these good people and damns them for their hardness and blindness. This would make God a spiritual monster.

The other view is that Israel is a rebellious people. As Messiah Jesus will teach:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! See, your house is left to you desolate. (Matthew 23:37-38 ESV)

God blinds and hardens people who are already committed to not honoring Him as God and are not thankful for what God has done for them.

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21 ESV)

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:24-25 ESV)



The way God blinds and hardens people is that God simply allows them to do what they desire to do. God stops resisting their rebellion and lets them go. God blinds and hardens people by letting them freely do what they desire to do which is to do evil. God rewards all who seeks Him (Hebrews 11:6) with revelation but punishes those who reject Him by letting them experience the consequences of their rebellion.

God is therefore just and fair in “hardening” and “blinding” people by releasing them to their unbelieving and immoral desires.

In summary, Paul makes three points in response to the question “Has the gospel of Messiah Jesus caused all Israel to be lost?”.
(1) That God had saved him, a Jew, and therefore the gospel of Messiah Jesus cannot mean that God had cast off all Jews Rom 11:1;
(2) That now, as in former times of great turning away from God, God had chosen a remnant of Jews to believe Rom 11:2-5;
(3) That it was predicted in the Hebrew Bible that a part of Israel should be hardened Rom 11:6-10;

In this response God hopes to show that the gospel of Messiah Jesus presents God as faithful, good, and just in His relationship to Israel and the Jews.

Moral: Do not harden your heart!


Eternal: All God has elected will be saved.

Prayer: Lord, help me grow in my understanding of your ways.

Contemplation: The Lord is our salvation!

Action: What can I do to actively seek God, depend on His mercy in Christ Jesus, and abandon my sense of self rightouesness?