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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. Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Gentiles Like a Grafted Branch Bible Verse:Romans 11:17-24 "But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. " Message:
Paul continues an extended metaphor today, based on the “tree of Jesse,” the historical depiction based on Isaiah 11: “And there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” Judaism and Christianity are frequently compared to a living tree, and the analogy works not only in the spiritual sense, but also in the physical sense, because Jesus was the blood descendant of Jesse.
Abraham and three angels icon
Abraham and three angels
But now, some Gentiles have become part of the tree, and some Jews have been lost from it. Paul compares the Christian Gentiles to branches being grafted onto an olive tree; and he compares the Jews who cannot accept Christ to branches that have been broken off.
Paul thus informs us that we have become part of a continuing religious tradition that goes back perhaps 4000 years, to Abraham; this is why we have the Old Testament in our Bible, because we are part of a living organism that began when God made his first covenant with humanity. As Christians, we are living members of a living society, those whom God has chosen as his children.
Paul cautions us not to get too full of ourselves. If God has broken some of the natural branches (unfaithful Jews) off the tree, he can just as easily break off the grafted branches—us. And he can also take the discarded branches and restore them to the tree, an analogy that was more important in Paul’s time, when he was actively recruiting Jews to Christianity, than today, when Jews finding Christ has become much less frequent.
His message to us is clear: Do not become complacent in your salvation, for God can take it away as easily as he granted it. We must always seek to renew and revive our faith in Christ.
Meditation : Prayer : Lord, support me all the day long of this troublous life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over and my work is done. Then, of Thy mercy, grant me a safe lodging, and a holy rest and a peace at last through Jesus Christ, our Lord........Amen. |
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