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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:The Children of God Bible Verse:Romans 9:6-13 "But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” " Message:
Not everyone knows God; not everyone will go to heaven. Paul treats this theme in terms of Abraham and his first two generations of descendants.
Abraham had two children: Ishmael by his maid Hagar, and Issac by his wife Sarah. Although both were his sons (and both were circumcised), Ishmael was sent away to wander the earth, while Isaac was blessed and became God’s servant. This was not because of legitimacy—adultery was not yet forbidden, and Ishmael was a gift of God, conceived with both Sarah’s and God’s blessing.
Abraham and three angels icon
Rather, it demonstrated God’s election by spirit, rather than by blood. Abraham’s sons were not blessed because they were his sons; rather, one of them was blessed because he had been elected in the spirit to be God’s child.
Then again, with Isaac’s children, Jacob (also called Israel) was chosen over his twin brother Esau while they were still in the womb. Although God had promised Abraham a great nation of faith, in two generations a majority of his descendants had already been denied the promise.
Paul is demonstrating two ideas here. First, for reasons we cannot fathom, God knows in advance who will become His children, and it is not a gift that passes necessarily from parents to children. It passes by spirit, not blood. So not all Jews were blessed by the old covenant, and not all Jews would be blessed under the new covenant of Christ.
Second, it is not works that determine our blessing, but God’s choice to give us grace. This is clearly shown in the case of Israel and Esau; Israel could not have been chosen over his brother because of his actions, because he was anointed before they were born.
We often find the egregious sinfulness of the world, especially the modern world’s turning away from Christ, to be painful. We must remember that God knows that all people will not be saved. It sounds harsh, but that is clearly the message of the Bible. We have free will, and God will grant us grace if we use our free will to accept Christ and salvation; but God knows that many will not do so.
Meditation : Prayer : Now, to God the Father, who first loved us, and made us accepted in the Beloved; to God the Son, who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood; to God the Holy Ghost, who sheddeth the love of God abroad in our hearts, be all love and all glory in time and to all eternity.....Amen |
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