JMD Devotional 236 Romans 11:29, 17-23 Religion and Politics
29 For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.]
Some prominent TV ministers have an affinity for putting their foot in their mouth. It is very dangerous to claim to know the mind of God; our puny minds do not have near the RAM. Since we do not have the capacity to know it all, we use another operating system called faith. Faith in God and faith in His Word. But there is latitude in the interpretation of that Word; mandating humility; God distributes knowledge and each of us knows only in part. When speaking before the public, remember our ignorance outweighs our knowledge, and avoid making divisive statements. Common wisdom says that the subjects of politics and religion foster conflicts. However, it is impossible to take the Bible very seriously without pondering the nation of Israel, the disbelief of the Jews in their Messiah, and their place in prophecy and the world today. God invented all of the ingredients of dynamite, and this is the high-grade stuff. Israel will trouble the whole world in the end times. In Paul’s letters, he expounds how the Gentile (non-Jewish) church is used of God to make the Jews jealous, as a tool to ultimately draw them back to Himself. They are His chosen people, as are we. Paul calls Israel the natural olive tree, and we are ‘grafted in’ Christians. Restraint must be used on how blunt truths are communicated; some may not have been meant to be shared at all except for sober meditation and introspection within one’s own heart. Share the truth in love!
17-23 But if some of the branches were broken off, while you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them to share the richness [of the root and sap] of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches and pride yourself at their expense. If you do boast and feel superior, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root [that supports] you. You will say then, Branches were broken (pruned) off so that I might be grafted in! That is true. But they were broken (pruned) off because of their unbelief (their lack of real faith), and you are established through faith [because you do believe]. So do not become proud and conceited, but rather stand in awe and be reverently afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches [because of unbelief], neither will He spare you [if you are guilty of the same offense]. Then note and appreciate the gracious kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's gracious kindness to you--provided you continue in His grace and abide in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off (pruned away). And even those others [the fallen branches, Jews], if they do not persist in [clinging to] their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.
Dear God,
Many times I thought I was serving You, but my message was wrong. I have been legalistic, critical, homophobic, negative, self-righteous and insensitive: please forgive my many wrongs! Help me to follow Your lead in what ‘truths’ I share, and what will benefit the hearer, and what will best express the love of Jesus to all people. May Israel obtain the peace and inheritance that You long to give her; and may there be harmony between her and the Gentile Church; one Church, one Lord, one Faith and one baptism: for Your glory. Help us to do Your work in Your way; following our Master in gentleness and humility. Guard my lips! And Lord, help me to believe that there is hope for everybody; that You can graft broken branches back in as good as new. Praise God!
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
Some prominent TV ministers have an affinity for putting their foot in their mouth. It is very dangerous to claim to know the mind of God; our puny minds do not have near the RAM. Since we do not have the capacity to know it all, we use another operating system called faith. Faith in God and faith in His Word. But there is latitude in the interpretation of that Word; mandating humility; God distributes knowledge and each of us knows only in part. When speaking before the public, remember our ignorance outweighs our knowledge, and avoid making divisive statements. Common wisdom says that the subjects of politics and religion foster conflicts. However, it is impossible to take the Bible very seriously without pondering the nation of Israel, the disbelief of the Jews in their Messiah, and their place in prophecy and the world today. God invented all of the ingredients of dynamite, and this is the high-grade stuff. Israel will trouble the whole world in the end times. In Paul’s letters, he expounds how the Gentile (non-Jewish) church is used of God to make the Jews jealous, as a tool to ultimately draw them back to Himself. They are His chosen people, as are we. Paul calls Israel the natural olive tree, and we are ‘grafted in’ Christians. Restraint must be used on how blunt truths are communicated; some may not have been meant to be shared at all except for sober meditation and introspection within one’s own heart. Share the truth in love!
17-23 But if some of the branches were broken off, while you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them to share the richness [of the root and sap] of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches and pride yourself at their expense. If you do boast and feel superior, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root [that supports] you. You will say then, Branches were broken (pruned) off so that I might be grafted in! That is true. But they were broken (pruned) off because of their unbelief (their lack of real faith), and you are established through faith [because you do believe]. So do not become proud and conceited, but rather stand in awe and be reverently afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches [because of unbelief], neither will He spare you [if you are guilty of the same offense]. Then note and appreciate the gracious kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's gracious kindness to you--provided you continue in His grace and abide in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off (pruned away). And even those others [the fallen branches, Jews], if they do not persist in [clinging to] their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.
Dear God,
Many times I thought I was serving You, but my message was wrong. I have been legalistic, critical, homophobic, negative, self-righteous and insensitive: please forgive my many wrongs! Help me to follow Your lead in what ‘truths’ I share, and what will benefit the hearer, and what will best express the love of Jesus to all people. May Israel obtain the peace and inheritance that You long to give her; and may there be harmony between her and the Gentile Church; one Church, one Lord, one Faith and one baptism: for Your glory. Help us to do Your work in Your way; following our Master in gentleness and humility. Guard my lips! And Lord, help me to believe that there is hope for everybody; that You can graft broken branches back in as good as new. Praise God!
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
Labels: addiction, Christian, devotional, faithfulness, integrity, purity, recovery
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 5:23 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home