Would that ALL would choose to be Christ's.

How great is our sorrow. Seriously. This world is filled with sorrow on so many levels. If you've never felt sorrow then you can't comprehend what I'm talking about at all.

Sorrow.  Dictionary Definition-  deep distress, sadness, or regret especially for the loss of someone or something loved

There are not too many people in this world that can actually say they've never felt sorrow. When we feel sorrow our heart is very, very heavy. To have a continual sorrow is very disheartening to say the least. Paul talks about the continual sorrow he feels for his people- the Israelites. His sorrow is so deep because he knows this--

Rom 9:27  Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved

A remnant will be saved. That doesn't say - ALL the children of Israel will be saved, even though their numbers are as the SAND of the SEA. We cannot count the number of grains of sand in the sea it is impossible. Imagine a few of something too numerous to count, too numerous for us, not God. Still, one hundred from millions, trillions, is a drop of water in an ocean. I'm not saying one hundred is the number, I'm just giving an example. So few from so many, no wonder Paul was continual sorrowful.

Rom 9:28  For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. 

This is truth. In the grand scheme of things when we think of time- a thousand years is as one day with the Lord. The work is being cut short.

Read the following and from it there is so much to consider. So much our finite minds cannot comprehend fully. Without Christ our Savior, we are ALL lost. Would that ALL could be saved, that all would be willing to be saved.  All by the GRACE and MERCY of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

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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. 

Rom 9:6  Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 

Rom 9:7  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 

Rom 9:8  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 

Rom 9:9  For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. 

Rom 9:10  And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 

Rom 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 

Rom 9:12  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 

Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 

Rom 9:14  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 

Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 

Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 

Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 

Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 

Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 

Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 

Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 

Rom 9:24  Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 

Rom 9:25  As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 

Rom 9:26  And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. 

Rom 9:27  Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: 

Rom 9:28  For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. 

Only You Can Separate Yourself From God.

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 

Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 

Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 

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. 

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? 

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. 

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. 

NOTHING can separate us from Christ Jesus our LORD, nothing can separate us from the LOVE of GOD.

Do you believe this? You should.  The ONLY thing that CAN separate us… I know, it sounds contradictory because I just said NOTHING can separate us, but I was wrong. I should have said, NOTHING other than ourselves can separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus our Lord. We CAN separate ourselves from the love of God. We can't stop His loving us and wanting to redeem us, wanting to claim us as His, but we can choose to stop loving God. We can choose to invite God to hate the sin in us, and us. God hates sin, and if we are advocate for sin then we are inviting God to hate us. We may have a propensity for sinning, but that NEVER means we have to advocate for sin. We never have to accept sin, we never have to desire to sin.  We can either seek forgiveness, and repent - choosing to desire to obey our God who is LOVE, or we can choose to seek NOT to choose God. We can separate ourselves from God. Don't EVER think you can't separate yourself from God because you can. One of Satan's many evil deceptions is the false belief that we can't separate ourselves from God once we are born anew to Him. Some people truly believe that once they accepted Christ that sealed the deal and nothing will change that, not a single thing. They can sin all they want, but they won't lose their salvation. God does NOT work that way! We have to know that we can choose at any moment of our life to leave God's love. God forbid that we ever choose to leave the love of God.

Nothing externally can separate us from God's love, not a single thing. PRAISE GOD!

Truly, all things work together for good, even if we can't comprehend how. Faith.

Rom 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 

Do you KNOW that ALL things work together for good if you LOVE GOD, if you are called according to HIS PURPOSE?

Seriously, do you know it, and what I mean is do you experience the knowing of this truth? It's easy to read something and comprehend it without ever experiencing the truth of that same thing. Do you experience the truth of knowing that ALL things work together for good? When you are experiencing the horrors of this world, do you comprehend that somehow, some way it will work for your ultimate good? When we are suffering no matter the type of suffering it isn't easy to believe any of it will be for our good. The pain, the horrible agony of deep sickness, the struggle of dark emotional living, the awful throes of watching loved ones suffer viciously, all of this and so much more that the darkness of Satan's evil brings with it- can it truly, somehow we can't comprehend in the slightest - work for our good? By faith- it is TRUTH, it CAN and it WILL work for our good.  Only by faith- SIGHT UNSEEN- can we have the hope of this truth. We can CLING to this when everything else falls totally apart.

Often we quote from the book of Job because of all He endured and remained faithful. Maybe we need to be reminded of this often because he lived by FAITH in God.

If you love God, that doesn't mean your life will be pain, and suffering free. Some who love God suffer terribly. God's blessing does not mean you won't feel pain. We just don't understand the ultimate reason for that pain.

Too many pray for suffering to end and then stop believing in God with suffering doesn't end and only increases. They may be asking for the ending of suffering for another and believe their request is selfless and deserving, and when God still doesn't answer their prayer they find it very easy to stop believing in praying, to stop believing in God altogether.  People say, and I've heard them say it, that a God who permits the awful suffering of innocent children, animals, elderly- isn't a God they want to believe in. They refuse to believe there is a BIGGER picture where ALL suffering will one day end completely. They refuse to consider the whys and wherefores, and just stop any chance of believing with their own supposed superior thinking. They won't be made a fool of by believing, but ultimately those who don't want to be considered fools either by others or to themselves, will one day prayerfully realize that as they lay upon their death beds looking back on their lives, that God does exist and God does love them, and God sent His Son to save them from all sin, offering them life eternal without any of the horrors that exist in our world today.

Please, Lord, please help us to LIVE in Your truth, experiencing Your truth, knowing the REALITY of Your truth in our lives as a living, breathing, entity of love!

All in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ our LORD, now and forever! 

God Tries Our Hearts.

Rom 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 

God KNOWS our hearts.

God KNOWS the mind of the Holy Spirit.
The HOLY SPIRIT makes intercession for the saints- according to the will of God.

Our hearts, our minds are known. Nothing can be hidden from God. We are naked before Him in the most vulnerable of ways. If we stand naked in our flesh we are not even then anywhere near as vulnerable as we are with our minds completely exposed, with our hearts laid bare before God.

1Ch 28:9  And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. 

The LORD SEARCHES ALL HEARTS.

The LORD UNDERSTANDS ALL IMAGINATIONS of the THOUGHTS.

IF we SEEK Him- He will find us.

If we FORSAKE Him- He will cast us off forever.

1Ch 29:17  I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee. 

God TRIES our hearts.

God has pleasure in uprightness.

Uprightness-

Act 24:16  And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men. 

2Co 1:12  For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.

1Th 2:10  Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe

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God has pleasure in - our having a good conscience- without any offence towards God, and men

God has pleasure in- sincerity, not in the wisdom of the flesh- by His grace.

God has pleasure in our behaving ourselves- justly, unblameably, holily.

We KNOW what it means to be upright, we aren't stupid. And ONLY by the grace of God can we be upright, only by His grace can we please Him.

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Psa 7:9  Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

The righteous God TRIES our hearts and reins. God will KNOW whether we are wicked or righteous. We want the wicked acts that that wicked do to come to an end, don’t we? If we long to be among the righteous we have to realize that God will try our hearts.

Psa 44:21  Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. 

God KNOWS the very secrets of our hearts!

Pro 17:3  The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts. 

Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. 

Act 1:24  And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men…

Act 15:8  And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us

1Th 2:4  But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. 

Truly we would should LONG to please God, more than men. God needs to be first. God who TRIES our heart.

More on this tomorrow, by the grace of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord!

The Spirit Helps Our Infirmities.

Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 

The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities-

Infirmities-- 'Define infirmity: the quality or state of being infirm; the condition of being feeble : frailty; disease, malady'

The Holy Spirits helps our- feeble conditions, our frailties, our diseases.  Left on our own accord without any hope, without a Savior, without a Holy Spirit, without God- our condition could most assuredly lead us to despair quickly.  Sure, there are a lot of atheists and such, who seem to lead good lives here and now and why wouldn't they? Why would Satan have to beleaguer them if they belong to him? Tested and tried, our God wants us to recognize our need of Him, our need of a hope beyond this world, beyond all our infirmities of every sort. How can we truly believe that all the heartache and pain, all the horrors of this world are supposed to be the way of humanity. For thousands of years we've tried to bring world-wide peace, but it never really takes, why? The simple answer is because ultimately mankind is so incredibly selfish that there are not enough people who aren't selfish to bring the sacrifice it takes to work towards real world peace. We will never have world peace, mankind without the truth found in Jesus Christ will never as a whole be unselfish. 

Luk_12:51  Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division

Joh_14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Joh_16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Until we live with our Savior in a world without sin, there will be no world peace, none. There may be overtures towards this, there may be strides made, but ultimately true world peace cannot exist without our Savior, and frankly, there are way too many people who choose not to serve our Savior, not to believe. 

The Holy Spirit will help our infirmities as individuals, as we choose to belong to our Savior.

Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 

We know we ought to pray, just not always what to pray for. We often pray amiss because we are praying from a selfish frame of mind, a mind that wants its will to be done, and not God's. God's will isn't always in line with the things we want to be done, the things we want to do, the things we desire. We may think they are, but we aren't privileged to know the end from the beginning. We do NOT know what fires, what tribulations, what agonies we need to go through in order to refine us. Just as we do not know what we need to go through, we can't possibly know what others need to endure. We pray for so much, but ultimately we need to pray God's will be done. The Holy Spirit will make intercession for us with GROANINGS that can't even be uttered, we need to let the Holy Spirit make intercession for us, we need to yield to the Holy Spirit.

All through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR, NOW and FOREVER!!!!!!! All in HIS LOVE!

Free From Bondage.

Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 

Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 

Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 

Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. 

The bondage of corruption- how well we know what this is. We are all familiar with being bound to decay, to death. We know all too well our life without hope. Without hope we are truly in bondage all through our lives. We have death to look forward to as we walk this life, but with hope we have life eternal. There is liberty in being a child of God.  All of creation was lost, without the hope of salvation, completely and utterly lost.  And now, we wait for the redemption of our bodies, for our adoption to be finalized. Truly we are saved by HOPE in our Savior and His promises.  And hope that is seen isn't hope.  If you are hoping for a puppy, and you get that puppy, you no longer hope for that puppy. We wait for our redemption, and that redemption will be realized when our Savior returns.  If this is our true belief then we will WAIT PATIENTLY for it to be realized.

Waiting patiently, playing the long game is another name for choosing to wait a long time for something. But waiting for salvation isn't a game at all, it is truth, it is reality. We have to live this hope, it needs to be a reality to us in all we do.

We may have been in bondage, but our hope, the hope that our Savior gives to us frees us from all bondage to the things of this world. Our hope in Christ, our adoption by the Heavenly Father is real.

Let us LIVE IN HOPE, LIVE IN CHRIST all through the Holy Spirit, all through LOVE.

In Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior now and forever, let this be our reality!

Sufferings Now, Glory Later.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

Sometimes we talk about our various sufferings and how they were 'worth' it, or the opposite, how they weren’t 'worth it'.

Childbirth is a good example. Who hasn't heard the whole - all that pain was worth it when that baby was put in its mother's arms? How many mothers will back that up? The majority I wager. I’m sure there are some mothers out there who don't agree with the pain being worth it and they may be among those who go on to never have another child again. 

We also hear a lot of 'hero' stories where various people have suffered through accidents, injuries, birth defects, tragedies and so much more only to recover from those and go on to actually benefit from the suffering they went through. Of course hero stories are not the majority, right? If they were the majority they wouldn't really stand out as heroes so much because their triumph over tragedy would be the norm.

Suffering is the word we use to convey unpleasantness of many varying degrees, but true suffering usually comes into play with the more severe types of unpleasantness. We may say we suffered through that boring movie… but that isn't severe, right? We may also say we suffered through the nightmare of abduction and abuse…which is extremely severe. When we read- 'the sufferings of this present time', I personally believe this includes all suffering that a person experiences during their lives, sever sufferings. I can't say your suffering is less than mine because I was abused and you weren't. Your suffering could be emotional trauma of living with debilitating fears, or maybe each day for you is a mental struggle just to exist- you are suffering. One person's suffering may bring them to despair, while another's may give them reason to rise above. As belonging to Christ, we have the hope that He has promised us.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

Suffering compared with glory.  Any suffering we may experience now cannot be compared to the eventual revelation of glory in us, the glory of Christ in us.

The suffering, and make NO mistake, there will be a lot of suffering we experience in our lives but no matter the degree of suffering we do have the hope of future glory which can never be taken from us. As long as we are in our right minds and can comprehend in truth the glory of our Savior, we have His hope to sustain us in our deepest depths of suffering.

Some may believe their entire life is one of suffering and in some ways it's true isn't it? Those with chronic illnesses of any sort never stop suffering from those illnesses. People with chronic pain live with that pain endlessly, but prayerfully with some relief through medication. Even those who aren't suffering through illnesses of any kind or pain, can suffer just by living in this sin-filled world and all its endless amount of tragedies, horrors, sicknesses that they witness others suffering.

Where we can- we must strive to alleviate any suffering we encounter. We must do our best to love others in truth which means in our actions. In loving others if we witness their suffering, may our Lord and Savior enable us to help them even in the smallest way possible. And may our hope be in the future revealing of the glory that will be us.

All through Jesus Christ our LORD, our SAVIOR, now and forever!!!!!!!