A Stumblingstone

Rom 9:30  What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.

Rom 9:31  But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

Rom 9:32  Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

Rom 9:33  As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Works of the law- a stumblingstone.

Being given the law to follow with penalties for not following that law - it is easy to see how one might begin to believe that obeying that law is all that is needed and faith could take a back seat. 

Follow the pattern- get the end result you want.

Yet the lifeless results are not what is needed and Christ our Savior came to open the eyes of God's chosen people to this very truth!

God NEVER wanted lifeless, loveless obedience.

God's chosen walked by FAITH.

Heb 11:4  By faith Abel...

Heb 11:5  By faith Enoch …

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah...

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham...

Heb 11:20  By faith Isaac …

Heb 11:22  By faith Joseph...

Heb 11:23  By faith Mose

Heb 11:31  By faith the harlot Rahab…

Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

TRUTH!

The people of God had this knowledge of their forbearers, they had the books we now call the Old Testament.  They knew their forbearers walked by faith. Yet they hardened their hearts and stopped living by faith and started living by works.  God did NOT forsake them even then. God over and over heard their cries for repentance and forgave them their backsliding.  

Then… God sent His Son, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ our LORD, our Savior.

Jesus came to strip away the lack of faith by revealing the love in God and His moral ten commandments.  Jesus came to reveal the LOVE in the obedience, the faith in obedience. Jesus did not come telling us to obey without faith as so many did. Jesus did not tell us to work for our salvation without believing. Jesus did not review the ten moral laws with us and tell us if we keep them we're saved.  Jesus DID tell us that it was good to keep the moral law but there was more needed.

Mat 19:20  The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

Mat 19:21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Mat 19:22  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Jesus was revealing the LOVE necessary to be saved, to have eternal life. 

Just obeying the laws was not going to help any one. But love and obedience resulting from love, that is truth!

There is a block of stumbling, a stone of stumbling, and that is the fine line drawn clearly- that so many choose to ignore. The line that reveals the love first and foremost, eclipses the law without the love.

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our LORD and SAVIOR!

In His name…

AMEN.

A prayer by the apostles

A prayer...

Act 4:24  And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

Recognition - The LORD GOD who MADE heaven and earth and the sea and ALL in them.  The God of ALL that exists. We CAN call upon our GOD.

Act 4:25  Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

God- using David, a servant of God, uttered a prophecy that Jesus would face rulers and kings and it came to pass!

Those same rulers and kings which had a hand in killing God's only begotten Son now persecuted those who chose to follow the teachings, the message of that Son, the Savior.

Act 4:29  And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

Act 4:30  By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

They prayed for power to speak God's word with boldness.

They prayed for God to heal others through them.

They prayed for God to makes signs and wonders through them.

All through the name of God's Son, Jesus Christ our LORD, God's HOLY CHILD, for He will FOREVER and EVER be the ONLY BEGOTTEN CHILD, SON OF GOD.

Act 4:31  And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

THEY PRAYED and their prayer was HEARD by GOD and the HOLY GHOST filled them! The power of God was working in them!

Act 4:32  And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

Act 4:33  And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

GREAT GRACE was upon them!

GREAT POWER was upon them!

Witness of the resurrection- TRUTH!

They were all of one accord, they were all believing, all of them were ONE HEART, ONE SOUL, all agreeing in ONE.

We call this communism, w e call this socialism, and we call this wrong because of the abuse of such things.  When people say the following this is what is being distorted-

'Neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things common.' 

We have been taught in our society, the western world, to possess things fiercely and at all costs, to die to protect what belongs to us.  WE are taught to believe that the things we have are the real treasures of life and that being able to leave these treasures to others is our goal so they in turn can keep our treasures and continue to pass them on down, but forever keep them selfishly in the family at all costs. WE are taught to own things is the goal of our existence. How many people do NOT feel complete because they have next to nothing of societal value. They have no home, no car, no earthly treasures of great value and they are told they are to believe they are FAILURES because of this lack. The poor are truly despised.  Those who are rich and willfully make themselves poor by giving to others are told they are crazy.  Those who say we should all share our resources so none lack are told they are wrong, that people should just take care of themselves and give of their excess, not of their means.   Do I say I want to live in a socialistic society, no, I want to live in GOD'S society.  At this time of the early church they lived as they had to, am I saying we no longer need to live this way? No. I'm saying this--

Mat 19:24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Mat 19:25  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?

Mat 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Truly only by God will we enter the kingdom of God.  We must give our lives, our entire lives to Him and His will.

May we live by the POWER OF GOD!

May we pray the prayers God can answer, all through the Holy Spirit, in the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

For these we need a heavy heart filled with sadness.

Called to choose.

Rom 9:1  I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

Rom 9:2  That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.

Rom 9:3  For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

Rom 9:4  Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;

Rom 9:5  Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

Paul had a choice to make and he had to make it daily.

Paul was a Pharisee.

Act_23:6  But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.

Act_26:5  Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

Webster's Definition-PHAR'ISEE, n. [Heb. to separate.] One of a sect among the Jews, whose religion consisted in a strict observance of rites and ceremonies and of the traditions of the elders,and whose pretended holiness led them to separate themselves as a sect, considering themselves as more righteous than other Jews.

Paul lived his life as a strict Pharisee- he considered himself more righteous than other Jews. He persecuted Christians, He despised and hated Christ Jesus and was among those who wanted Him dead. And after Christ Jesus was crucified and there arose followers still of the risen Christ, Paul wanted to destroy those followers too- believing they were against God.

God saw something in Paul though, God saw a heart in Paul that was susceptible to the truth. Paul was such a good and devout Pharisee because he truly believed he was living the will of God, that he was living the truth.  God knew Paul's heart.

When Christ revealed Himself to Paul, Paul did NOT shove aside the vision as a sickness of the mind, as the temporary possession of an evil spirit, but rather his heart was opened to the truth which went against everything he believed to be true.

Just what we do when we are faced with undeniable truth that counters all our previous beliefs that we thought were true is something we have an example in Paul for. Paul LIVED this and he suffered this.

Paul stood by and consented to the MURDER of one of Christ's followers, and was instrumental in the imprisonment and torture of many others. 

Rom 9:1-5  I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.  Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.  Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

Could Paul have MISSED the life he knew as a Pharisee?  He had a GREAT HEAVINESS, and a CONTINUAL SORROW IN HIS HEART because all those he knew to be his brothers and family in the faith he followed- remember he was a Pharisee and his father was a Pharisee before him, he was PROUD of this heritage. To follow the TRUTH at such a cost, losing that bond he shared with so many and becoming one that was accursed to them, this is the life Paul endured. He knew the Israelites had received many promises, that the Israelites were given the law of God, that they were given ceremonies, and services of God, and he also KNEW they rejected CHRIST who came to save them!  This great heaviness, this continuing sorrow in his heart- it wasn't for a longing to return to that life because he was free to do so- it was because of the knowledge that most of those whom he loved rejected the truth. He could wish THEY would know Christ and the truth at the expense of His NOT knowing the truth. But we know it doesn't work that way. 

The truth is made known, and if Paul rejected the truth that would never make those who also reject the truth suddenly accept it.

We can't unlearn the truth in hopes of those choosing not to know the truth will accept it.  There is NOTHING we can do to MAKE anyone accept truth, not a single thing!  We can live the truth, present the truth, but never force another to take the truth to heart and live the truth.

What sorrow we all must have for those who will not live the truth. We may not know who they are, because we can't judge the truth, but we know few there be that accept the truth and live the truth.  We pray that we are not among those found wanting, all the while hoping many around us will not be found wanting as well. Truth. 

May we all feel such heaviness and sorrow in our hearts, hoping beyond hope that all our relatives, all our friends and all those we know in our lives, will belong to Christ. 

We are all called to choose, as Paul was called to choose and the choice we make is one of continual sacrifice on many levels.  The choice we choose is one that the majority will not desire and this is truly cause for sadness.

While we may not be faced personally with persecution for being followers of Christ Jesus, while we may not know the personal attacks from those who would rather us be dead than preaching Christ, we know that there are many, many out there who are willfully not Christ's.

For these we need a heavy heart filled with sadness.

All by the grace and mercy of our LORD and SAVIOR, now and forever.

Amen.

More than conquerors

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A conqueror.   When a person is in a battle they are fighting to win that battle, they are fighting to become a conqueror.  To be MORE than a conqueror means what?  We like to embellish things and say 110%, when everyone knows there is only 100%. We say 110% because we want to emphasis just how amazing something or someone is.  We embellish to portray how much we want to get across how we feel.
 

MORE than conquerors.

We are MORE than conquerors with CHRIST JESUS our SAVIOR.

Not death.

Not life.

Not angels.

Not principalities.

Not powers.

Not things present.

Not things to come.

Not height.

Not depth.

Not any creature.

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can separate us from the LOVE OF GOD- which is in CHRIST JESUS our LORD.

God will FOREVER love us. This does not mean He will force us to love Him in return.  He doesn't force our love. This means that God will NOT force us into eternal life. And make NO mistake, to force someone into eternal life would ultimately make them miserable.  You can't force someone to love.  And that is what God wants from us love. No one can have eternal life without love.  An eternal life with sin would be the worst thing ever and God will not allow that.

There will be NO ONE experiencing eternal life who chooses willfully, knowingly not to love.

God is not being a horrific being by not allowing everyone to have eternal life- good and evil.

We are ALL sinners! None of us DESERVE eternal life! NONE of us are GOOD ENOUGH to deserve eternal life. There is not a single person who will enter eternal life who will be able to say they deserved it, NOT ONE!  Christ and Christ alone deserved eternal life.  Those who will gain eternal life will do so because they comprehend that they need to let themselves be SAVED by Christ.  Those who will not gain eternal life will not because they do not comprehend their need of a Savior-Jesus Christ.  And that Savior is LOVE- selfless love!

By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ may we comprehend our NEED to be saved by LOVE.

Amen.

We are told to love

Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Psa 44:22  Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

In the old testament and in the new testament those who would be God's are NOT promised a happy life. The promise is eternal life, not happy temporary life.  Christ our example- SUFFERED.  Why do we honestly believe we shouldn't suffer? We believe that, we really believe that. We wake up believing we deserve happiness. We go through our lives feeling the heavy weight of depression upon us and we look for cures to it. I'm not saying people don't need cures for depression, drugs and therapy etc, I would never say that, I've sought help myself. I'm saying that we feel this weight and want cures but truthfully we aren't promised cures beyond the hope we have for eternal life.  And we shouldn't be upset because we aren't promised happiness, we are told what we need to do to survive- over and over we are told.  WE are to believe, we are to think on these things--

Php 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

We are told to LOVE- to think outside of our self needs/desires.  If we cared more for others needs/desires than our own, just how different our lives might be.

Yet we insist we need to be treated with respect- our version of it. We insist we need to be thought well of. We insist that others shouldn't put us out. We rebel against others treating us wrongly- again our version of it. One person's seemingly selfish need, might just be our selfish refusal to meet that need. Their need might be genuine and not at all selfish, but we see it differently and we rebel against that. We get upset because we are put out from our own desire/need.  Truly we need the power of the Holy Spirit working in us if we hope to at all be selfless, to truly love others, to truly love God.  

All by His grace and mercy, HIS LOVE, not ours.

We are truly sheep meant for the slaughter in so many ways, yet we rebel against this truth. Satan would have us continue to rebel, to never quite give up ourselves in favor of others. Others will never be worthy of our unwavering, unquestioning obedience, yet this is exactly what is needed.

We belong to God, may God use us according to HIS service, not our own self-serving.  Please, FATHER GOD, please bless us with YOU and the power of the Holy Spirit to do all we cannot do, which is so much.

By YOUR LOVE.

In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever.

Amen.

We can only separate ourselves from Christ

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

It is NOT possible for any one or any thing to separate us from our Savior.  We can ONLY separate ourselves.

This is truth.

We separate ourselves when we choose not to believe, when we choose to take our hope off Christ and place it elsewhere.

Tribulation.

Distress.

Persecution.

Famine.

Nakedness.

Peril.

Sword.

These things may rob us of this life, but it cannot rob us of eternal life- the life we will share with our Savior upon His return.

There are a lot of people who want these things to separate us from the love of Christ.  They expect these things to reveal that Christ doesn't love us. They tell us that if Christ really loved us He wouldn't let us suffer.  They believe that we should imagine that we are better than our Savior. 

Joh_15:20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Mat 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

We were never promised eternal life, with eternal blessings in this lifetime, in a life living in a world ruled by Satan. Our hope is in eternal life with Christ AFTER He returns to take us to heaven with Him.

By His grace alone we are saved. By His grace alone do we hope even when everything is falling apart around us.

Please, Father in heaven, we would be YOURS.

Through the mercy and grace of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Now and forever…. Amen.

When we say we believe

Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Our Savior at the right hand of God making intercession for us.

Christ who died so we could have the hope of life.

Who needs intercession?

*

(Dictionary)

Intercession. 1: the act of interceding. 2: prayer, petition, or entreaty in favor of another

verb  interceded, interceding.1.to act or interpose in behalf of someone in difficulty or trouble, as by pleading or petition 

2. attempt to reconcile differences between two people or groups;mediate

*

We NEED intercession.  We need our Savior to pray for us, to petition for us, to entreat for us. We need our Savior to interpose for us because we are in trouble. We need to be RECONCILED to God through our Savior.

We can understand this because we have been blessed to have the knowledge of what it means to intercede for others. Even if we don't have personal knowledge of interceding for someone who doesn't deserve intercession, we know of situations where people have.  We can comprehend. Through Christ we can know our need.  And we need to comprehend our need. If we don't know we have this need how can we seek help?   Do we ever seek help without knowing what we need help for?  How can anyone ask for help if they don't know they're in need of help? As soon as we ask for help we are comprehending we cannot help ourselves.

When we say we believe, we are admitting our need of a Savior. We are saying we believe in being saved and that Christ our Savior is the One who can save us.  When we say we believe we are saying we believe in the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. We are believing in the message of the gospel. We believe in the kingdom of heaven. We believe in life everlasting. We believe that our Savior will return and when the last trump sounds all the dead in Christ shall rise, and all the living will rise as well to meet Christ in the air!  When we say we believe...we have HOPE.

We believe that we have an Intercessor with the Father. We believe that our Savior intercedes for us, letting His spilled blood and murdered body pay the death for our sins!

By the grace of God may we believe and allow our Savior to intercede for us!

All by HIS LOVE!

Amen!