Tag: grateful

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Are you Grateful?

Romans 11 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how unfathomable his ways! [Rom 11:33] 

Paul expertly reveals the plan of God for His people and we who are the Gentiles. Thus, Paul reminds us that salvation given to us is a gift for we were the wild olive branch and yet He chose to graft us in. He reminds us that the we who are the Gentiles must remain humble lest we too be cut off. Salvation is for all and God is pleased when we accept His plan. Once grafted in we become part of the true olive tree and for this we are to be grateful. 

Today I am more and more grateful for His plan and His acceptance of me as a wild olive branch which He chose to graft into the true olive tree. 

Secondly, Paul explains that there will be a day when the Jew will also be grafted into the true tree but for now their stubbornness has kept them from believing this: salvation is for Jew and Gentile. Has God forgotten His promise to them? Not in anyway but they are walking in darkness at this time. Keep pressing on, keep praying, keep living the grace filled life so they will see the benefit of salvation. 

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The God I serve!

God inspects before He judges

Jeremiah 5/Gen 18 Have you ever felt the deepness of a heart’s sadness? The world seems shattered, and the residents see death all around them. At times like this, our words lay fallow in our prayers—or so we think. We wonder, as Jeremiah did, Is there any good news, or Is it all bad news? But step aside and listen: God asks Jeremiah to go and “See if you can find a single person who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. If you can, then I will not punish this city.” [Jer 5:1] Does this ring a bell about another story with a similar thread? In Gen 18, Abraham and the Lord God conversed about Sodom and Gomorrah. Our merciful God had quietly shared with Abraham: “I must go down and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests; if NOT, I want to know.” [Gen 18:20-21]

By definition, we say one of God’s characteristics is His omniscience. God is “compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth.” [Ps 145:8] Because He is that and more and not an arbitrary idol god, He always thoroughly investigates a situation before passing judgment and sending calamity. He judges the evidence just as a judge does in a courtroom. God does the same for each of us. Are you thankful today that God judges righteously and not capriciously?

How grateful I am to serve God with these character qualities; How about you?   

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“Four Parables”

Parables are about real life and real decisions

Ezekiel  15 to 18 In the NT, Jesus told three parables about things or people. Ezekiel’s four parables, earthly stories with a heavenly purpose, mirrored these stories in many ways.

Parable: #1 In the branch parable, we see a branch full of life thrown into the fire. Life without God is like the fires of hell.  #2 In the unfaithful bride parable, we see a rags to riches story. God takes us from the gutter and bestows his blessings, yet the world’s lure is always at the doorstep of our heart.  Be on guard!  #3 In the parable about the eagle, we see that God raised up Nebuchadnezzar, who deported the people to Babylon, leaving a vassal king who swore to honor the king in charge. Yet the vassal grew impatient and soon rebelled against the king. Solomon wrote: when you make a vow, do not delay in paying it.  #4 In the parable of the two sons, we see a family whose lives mirrored the NT story. The younger was restless and disrespectful of his father. Seeking his inheritance, he left and walked the world.  The older son served his father but with an ungrateful heart. The younger returned and sought reconciliation, but the older remained unforgiving.

Israel had been blessed by God but was unfaithful and ungrateful. Yet, like the prodigal’s father, God was always waiting to restore the relationship. She would need to return to the father in confession and repentance. What would she do? What would you do?

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Choosing to Serve…

1cor-9-choosing-to-serve

When someone shares their heart you either ignore it or dig deeper or just pray. Paul takes a moment here to share his heart and his love for the Corinthians. Paul stopped to say that they were the evidence of his work and in fact he said when I stand before the Lord you, Beloved Corinthians, will be the evidence that God will see. That is the reason I proclaim the gospel message free of charge. I want the evidence more than the monetary gain I might make.  You are the seal of my work and proof of my calling and that is enough for me. I glory in that!

There will always be some who scrutinize us, our walk, and our work. We must stop and ask ourselves:  Why are we even sharing the gospel if it is not to stand before the Lord unashamed as we have presented the gospel which has to power to save?

Why might we choose this when Jesus proclaimed that those who proclaim the gospel should be paid for that work? Let me share personally how I answered that question. Just as Paul, I made the choice to be a volunteer, not paid staff for Bible.org. I did it so that I might, like Paul I might be free to offer the gospel free of charge. I made a choice to serve you FB readers freely without obligation or compensation. And I do it because Jesus did so much for me; it is all out of gratitude for the sake of the gospel.

Is there some place you are volunteering to share the gospel message freely without looking for compensation? Then join me in being grateful for that privilege.

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