letsloveothers

Love one another as Jesus has loved us.

The apostle Paul reassures both Jews and Gentiles that Papa has not forsaken Israel, despite her current rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. At the end of this age, the Jewish people as a whole WILL embrace Jesus as their deliverer. Thus consummating the Mount Sinai covenant.

Paul encourages both Jews and Gentiles to accept and support Papa’s plan for Israel’s redemption. Even if it sounds counter intuitive.

My brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be in the dark about this mystery. I am going to let you in on the plan so that you will not think too highly of yourselves. 

A part of Israel has been hardened to the good news until the full number of those outside the Jewish family have entered in. This is the way that all of Israel will be saved as it was written, so it also stands.

The Deliverer will come from Zion. He will drive away wickedness from Jacob. This is My covenant promise to them. On the day when I take away their sins.

It may seem strange when it comes to the work of the Gospel. The fact that they oppose it is actually for your benefit. But when you factor in God’s election. They are truly loved because they descended from faithful forefathers.

You see, when God gives a grace gift and issues a call to a people. He does not change His mind and take it back. 

There was a time when you outsiders were disobedient to God and at odds with His purpose. But now you have experienced mercy as a result of their disobedience. In the same way, their disobedience now will make a way for them to receive mercy as a result of the mercy shown to you. Romans 11:25-31

Although Israel’s sin will be judged. Papa will ultimately restore her to fellowship with Him as Ezekiel prophesied.

 I will plant a new heart and new spirit inside of you. I will take out your stubborn, stony heart and give you a willing, tender heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit inside of you and inspire you to live by My statutes and follow My laws. 

Then you will live in the same land I gave your ancestors. You will be My people, and I will be your God. 

I will rescue you from your impurity. I will summon the grain to produce large harvests and never bring a famine upon you again. I will increase your harvests of fruit and grain. So that you will never have to face the disgrace of famine again among the nations. Ezekiel 36:26-30

Of all the nations in the world, why did Papa choose Israel to be His beloved? Knowing her inhabitants’ stubborn, stony hearts— disobedience would continually require His discipline. Knowing her spiritual disobedience— rebellion would keep her imprisoned in a vicious cycle of idolatry, sin and oppression, proceeded by repentance, deliverance and temporary peace. 

Why?

So that Israel would showcase Papa’s glory and superiority. He alone…

Reigns over all of creation.

Establishes the rules of conduct in His kingdom.

IS THE GOD OF ALL gods!

Despite Israel’s apostasy, Papa has remained faithful to the covenant He initiated with Abraham. His anointed prophets warned the Jewish people of impending judgment if they didn’t turn from their wicked ways and repent. 

Israel in eighth century B.C. was an economic, political and military giant. Misjudging the reason for her prosperity, the nation’s inhabitants were wantonly disobedient. Angered by ;her unrighteousness, Papa sent the prophet Amos to warn the nation of pending judgment. 

No longer would the unrepentant observance of feast days, sacred assemblies or religious rituals be ignored. Unless the Hebrews repented and lived righteously, they would be disciplined. 

Nevertheless, Papa’s counsel fell upon deaf ears. Which in retrospect isn’t surprising. Historically, the positive impact of Papa’s discipline was temporary at best. Despite drought, disease, military defeats and foreign oppression, Israel was incapable of righteous living on an ongoing basis.

Foolishly forgetting that Papa is a jealous and avenging God. Protecting and demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His. The Lord avenges, and He is full of wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies.

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power. He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Nahum 1:2-3

He has His eyes on every man and woman. He doesn’t miss a trick. There is no night dark enough, no shadow deep enough, to hide those who do evil. 

God doesn’t need to gather any more evidence. Their sin is an open and shut case. He deposes the so called high and mighty without asking questions and replaces them at once with others. Nobody gets by with anything. Overnight, judgment is signed, sealed and delivered. He punishes the wicked for their wickedness out in the open where everyone can see it, Because they quit following Him, no longer even thought about Him or His ways. Their apostasy was announced by the cry of the poor. The cry of the afflicted got God’s attention. Job 34:21-28

The Hebrews’ insatiable appetite for self-gratification had replaced their duty to live righteously so that their lives honored the God of Israel. They…

No longer obeyed Papa’s commandment to love the poor and the foreigners living in their land.

Defiling themselves by participating in worship services at the shrines of foreign idols. 

Embraced adulterous relationships and promiscuity. 

Endorsed slander, usury and bribery as fundamental business practices. 

The Hebrews were children of the God of Israel in name only.

Despite Papa’s prophetic warning, Israel didn’t repent and sealed their fate. A fate no one anticipated.

Look, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. However, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob. This is the Lord’s declaration. For I am about to give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground. All the sinners among My people who say: “Disaster will never overtake or confront us,” will die by the sword. Amos 9:6-10

This sifting began approximately thirty years later when the Assyrians conquered Israel. The first of a succession of foreign nations that would govern Israel until her independence in May of 1948.

Although a remnant of Jews continually resided in Israel during the centuries of foreign occupation. Many Jews were deported to Roman colonies following the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. This deportation— the Diaspora, relocated Jews to Roman settlements on the coasts of the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Greek Islands. Jews also fled to northern Europe and eastward.

Thankfully for the nation of Israel, Papa included in the prophecy a promise of His unfailing love and mercy: 

“In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory. Israel will possess what is left of Edom and all the nations I have called to be Mine.”

The Lord has spoken, and He will do these things.

“The time will come,” says the Lord, “when the grain and grapes will grow faster than they can be harvested.

Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel will drip with sweet wine. ! will bring My exiled people of Israel back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again. They will plant vineyards and gardens. They will eat their crops and drink their wine. I will firmly plant them there in their own land. They will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God. Amos 9:11-15

Yes, the day is quickly approaching when the entirety of the prophecy will be fulfilled.

Imagine living in a country where every nation surrounding you would welcome your demise. Where even the neighbors of your neighbors plot your destruction. That’s the heritage of the Jewish state of Israel

Israel continually walks a tenuous line between peace and war with her neighbors. Where terrorism is a reality of life. Where armed militia patrol the streets. Where Israel’s enemies govern sections of the country. 

Why would Papa place Israel, His beloved, in the midst of enemy territory?  

So that Papa’s glory— steadfast love is showcased for mankind’s edification and salvation. Even from ancient times this has been the heartfelt cry of Jacob— Israel. 

Do not hold us guilty for the sins of our ancestors! Let Your compassion quickly meet our needs, for we are on the brink of despair.

Help us, O God of our salvation! Help us for the glory of Your name. Save us and forgive our sins for the honor of Your name.

Why should pagan nations be allowed to scoff, asking, “Where is their God?”

Show us Your vengeance against the nations, for they have spilled the blood of Your servants. Listen to the moaning of the prisoners. Demonstrate Your great power by saving those condemned to die.

O Lord, pay back our neighbors seven times for the scorn they have hurled at You.

Then we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will thank You forever and ever. Praising Your greatness from generation to generation. Psalm 79:8-13

Even before this psalm of Asaph was written, Papa had set in motion at Mount Sinai the initial phase of His answer.

The Lord instructed Moses: “Come up here to Me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance. Only Moses is allowed to come near to the Lord. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.”

Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the Lord had given him.

All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.”

Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord’s instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent some of the young Israelite men to present burnt offerings and to sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. Moses drained half the blood from these animals into basins. The other half he splattered against the altar.

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people.

Again they all responded, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey.”

Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people.

Declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions.”

Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. There they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, He did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in His presence!

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the tablets of stone on which I have inscribed the instructions and commands so you can teach the people.” 

So Moses and his assistant Joshua set out, and Moses climbed up the mountain of God. Exodus 24:1-11

Papa sovereignly chose to redeem Israel by making them His people. In His desire to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable nature of His purpose, intervened and guaranteed it with an oath. So that by two unchangeable things, His promise and His oath, in which it is impossible for God to lie. Hebrews 6:17-18

This redemption is closely linked to Papa’s covenant loyalty or steadfast love. Israel is Papa’s unique possession, and He dwells among them. Israel has been redeemed to be Papa’s servants.

Of all the nations in the ancient world, Papa entered a covenant relationship with only Israel. This unique belief system has sustained the Jewish people during times of captivity and despair. 

At the end of this age, Israelites will once again endure hardship and captivity as the antichrist’s reign of terror rages. But thankfully Papa’s faithfulness to the covenant made at Mount Sinai, He will once again provide an escape. Beause He saw, and it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one and was amazed that there was not one to intercede.

Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on His head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a cloak.

According to their deeds, so will He repay. wrath to His adversaries, retribution to His enemies. To the coastlands He will deal retribution.

So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west and His glory from the rising of the sun. For He will come like a rushing stream which the wind of the Lord drives.

A Redeemer will come to Zion and to those in Jacob who turn from wrongdoing, Isaiah 59:15-20

Yes, at long last Jesus will lead the Israelites into eternity’s promise land, never again to wander in the wilderness of unbelief and rebellion.

As a disciple of Christ, you are continually at war with the enemy of your soul— satan. One of his military tactics in this war is to destroy your Christian testimony. To negate or make it a mere whimper by polluting your heart with sin or apathy. 

You must keep Papa’s precepts before you. Meditate on them. Set them safely in your heart. For those who discover them, they are life. They bring wholeness and healing to their bodies.

Above all else, watch over your heart. Diligently guard it because from a sincere and pure heart come the good and noble things of life.

Do away with any talk that twists and distorts the truth. Have nothing to do with any verbal trickery.

Keep your head up, your eyes straight ahead and your focus fixed on what is in front of you. Take care you don’t stray from the straight path— the way of truth, and you will safely reach the end of your road. Do not veer off course to the right or the left. Step away from evil and leave it behind. Proverbs 4:21-27

Unfortunately, many Christian hearts are more like black holes than well guarded fortresses. Whatever tickles their fancy, whether righteous or unrighteous, is allowed entrance. 

So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind. When we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace— a new life in a new land!

That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus. When we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country.

Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life— no longer captive to sin’s demands! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way. Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you. God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.

That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time— remember, you’ve been raised from the dead— into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God. Romans 6:3-13

Being conformed to the image of Christ isn’t automatic. It requires time, commitment, study and sacrifice. Something not accomplished by simply sitting in a chair on Sunday morning.

Want to do more than keep a seat warm? Then there must be a metamorphic change of your character. 

HUMILITY

What hardens a heart?

 Pride! 

The refusal to acknowledge you don’t have all the answers ultimately will lead to catastrophe because pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly of spirit with the humble than to divide plunder with the proud. Proverbs 16:18-19

The proud have an elitist attitude. Since they have all the answers, anyone who disagrees with them is misinformed or uneducated. This condescending attitude makes it impossible for them to learn from others, even Papa Himself. 

It’s humility that allows Papa’s wisdom to penetrate deeply into your spirit, encouraging you to place your trust in the Eternal. Rely on Him completely. Never depend upon your own ideas and inventions. Give Him the credit for everything you accomplish, and He will smooth out and straighten the road that lies ahead.

Don’t think you can decide on your own what is right and what is wrong. Respect the Eternal. Turn and run from evil.

If you depend on Him, your body and mind will be free from the strain of a sinful life, will experience healing and health and will be strengthened at their core. Proverbs 3:5-8

CONTENTMENT

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:6-7

Only by looking at the big picture— eternity, can you objectively assess your current circumstances. It’s this objectivity in the midst of chaos that permits Papa’s peace to saturate your soul.

But for many peace is elusive because their daily companion is stress— the brain’s response to unpleasant or uncontrollable events. The human body can’t cope with stress for extended periods of time without negative consequences.

But if you relinquish control and trust Papa and His wisdom, you’ll learn to live in the moment, not the past or the future. Disruptions are simply opportunities to display your confidence in Papa’s faithfulness.

Papa’s omnipotency and covenant promises assures His chosen that everything, good or bad, has His approval. This truth will guard your heart as it did the apostle Paul who claimed with confidence.

I have learned to be content and self-sufficient through Christ. Satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or uneasy regardless of my circumstances. I know how to get along and live humbly in difficult times, and I also know how to enjoy abundance and live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing life. Whether well-fed or going hungry. Whether having an abundance or being in need. 

I can do all things which He has called me to do, through Him who strengthens and empowers me to fulfill His purpose. I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency. I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace. Philippians 4:10-13

MERCY

All are benefactors of Papa’s mercy. Through Christ, Papa compassionately extends forgiveness of sin. Affording all the opportunity to escape His judgment of eternal damnation— even though we deserve it. 

Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace and always be thankful. Colossians 3:12-15

If the evils of starvation, human trafficking and wars are rampant, it’s because of the absence of mercy. As a disciple of Christ you are to extend mercy even when it…

Disrupts your personal agenda.

May adversely affect your reputation. 

Is anonymous.

Includes those outside your circle of influence, regardless of ethnic, cultural or religious backgrounds. 

The result?

A Church non-believers can trust because they can say.

I was hungry, and you fed me.

I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink.

I was homeless, and you gave me a room.

I was shivering, and you gave me clothes.

I was sick, and you stopped to visit.

I was in prison, and you came to me.

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