WHAT SPRINGS TO MY MIND

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

            A.W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  When Paul thought of God, he exclaimed about things like riches, wisdom, and knowledge.  How close to that is my ‘first thought’ of God ~ the one that arises in private that no one else ever hears because I dare not speak it.

            How I perceive God dictates the kind of relationship we share.  Satan loves to encourage a distorted picture because he knows that if I believe it, the ability to trust anything God says will be shattered.  Without trust, there is no love, security, beauty, and significance.  At one time, my first thought of God brought words like ‘distant’, ‘demanding’, ‘passive’, and ‘one who plays favorites’.  My relationship with Him was cold as a result.  He was warm; I was not. Continue reading »

NO LONGER DISPOSABLE

For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy….Romans 11:30

Mercy is cheap if I perceive it as something I barely need.  Take a hardened criminal, he needs mercy, right?   I only need a little in comparison.  This is the deception in the church as we can easily think we’re different from other people, other nations, other cultures.  When I watch the news and see bands of gang members in the back of pickup trucks in Sudan, wielding weapons and machetes, I have no trouble seeing them as needing vast amounts of mercy.  But am I like them?  Do I need the same amount of mercy?

Mercy is only of infinite value when it’s placed against the backdrop of sin and hopelessness.  Until I see myself as utterly lost and condemned, then what Jesus did in giving His life for me will be a story that causes me to yawn in boredom.  Who will feel the most ecstatic over being forgiven?  The one who knows how deeply he has sinned and offended God.  Who will embrace salvation with his whole heart?  The one who has despaired of being justly condemned with no way out. The Pharisees made no admission of being lost.  Therefore, Christ Jesus was of no value to them.

I’m not one who likes ‘forwards’ in emails.  Rarely do I even read them.  However, this was sent recently.  The source is unknown.  The story paints a moving picture of mercy that even our children can understand.  I’m asking God to take the precious gift of mercy home to my heart in a more profound way today. Continue reading »

THEY’RE STILL FOR ME!

The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.  Romans 11:29

         Once God makes a promise, a covenant, it is irrevocable.  The one upon whom God places His favor cannot ‘un-earn’ covenant love.  “But God, didn’t you know that Abraham’s descendants would commit gross sins against you?  Didn’t you know they would bow down to other gods?  Didn’t you know that they would throw their own children in the fire for sacrifices?  Didn’t you know they would hear You calling and choose to turn their backs?”

         Yes, He knew.  His love remains to this day.  Though He has experienced anger, even pronounced temporary judgment, His covenant still stands.  Their calling is irrevocable.

         While praying for you this morning, God showed me that some of you are reading these daily devotionals with one eye closed, head turned to the side, as if to lessen the impact.  Continue reading »

ONCE GOD HAS SPOKEN

As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake.  But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.  Romans 11:28

         Paul lived in a time when he saw absolutely no proof that what he was writing (regarding the Jews collectively embracing the gospel) would come to pass.  In fact, just the opposite.  They were vehemently rejecting Christ and persecuting all who became disciples.  Can you imagine telling the parents of a child who was murdered, “Right now, the killer is your enemy.  But one day he will be beloved by God, and by you.”  How offensive and potentially explosive unless it was absolutely true.

         God had once spoken.  Abraham would be blessed and Israel would be His people.  Nothing could shake that.  Paul’s certainty in his writing is due to His belief in the unchanging character of God.  Even though it appeared God’s promise was ludicrous, his faith didn’t waver.

         God has given each of us a promise that is specific to us and our story.  It comes to us in prayer, built upon our time in the Word, and we know – that we know – that God has promised it.  Continue reading »

A SWEEPING ACT OF UNFATHOMABLE LOVE!

“The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”  Romans 11:26-27

         Every child I know trembles when he hears the words, “Just wait till your father comes home.”  It is associated with anger and disappointment, as well as punishment and shame.  Human parenting can be so far removed from the perfect parenting of our Heavenly Father.  What is behind a ‘deliverer coming from Zion to banish ungodliness?’  A covenant.

         Some covenants are made between two people.  “If you do this, I will do that.”  This is not the covenant God makes with Abraham.  In fact, he put Abraham in a deep sleep and God did all the talking.  His covenant was one-sided.  Not matter how obstinate or submissive the children of Israel were, or are, or will be, His covenant still stands because God promised it with His eyes fully open.

         God exposes, dies for (through Christ), and forgives sin because He loves.  If sin exists, there is a breach in the relationships He prizes above all else.  The distance between the hearts of His people and His heart wounds Him deeply.  He calls out into the night of men’s souls with mournful cries to return to the One who loves them without condition. Continue reading »

REVEALER OF MYSTERIES

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  And in this way all Israel will be saved.  Romans 11:25

         When something happens that we fail to understand, we have a saying, “It’s a mystery!”  That usually means that there will never be  enlightenment.  Like yesterday, a folder full of files just disappeared from my desktop.  It contained notes to every seminar I teach; all my study notes for future seminars, and all the outlines for those who attend events.  “It’s a mystery!”  And, they are, as of now, unrecoverable.  (I stated, out loud, that their loss on paper meant little since every word and teaching given to me by God is in my heart, passionately simmering until I can deliver it. I am not without words just because the computer copies don’t exist.  I’m also trusting God for new oil!)  Nonetheless, the folder’s disappearance is a mystery.  Was it warfare?  Satan surely hates this ministry.  But was it God?  Perhaps He’s removing old props and plans to write something totally new on my heart.

         ‘Mystery’ in scripture doesn’t mean that something is veiled.  A mystery of the kingdom is veiled to the masses but un-veiled to the remnant who belong to God.  They come to us as special revelations. Continue reading »

OH, THERE’S TWO SIDES!

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.  Romans 11:22

         I had a dream last night.  I was walking down the middle of a busy street.  It was mobbed.  Every person I passed had a hand-written label pinned on his or her jacket.  On most of the tags was a detailed list but a few had empty tags with nothing written.  In my dream, I asked the Lord about it.  I came to understand that the labels with the long list were details of that person’s sins against God.  The longer they lived, the longer the list became.  I saw evidence of that.  Old people had a label reaching nearly to their knees.  They were all walking aimlessly toward destruction.

         I asked Him about the empty labels with no writing.  “These are the ones who have come to me, by faith, for the forgiveness of their sins.  Their list of sins was nailed to my cross.  There’s nothing left on their list to forgive!”  That accounted for the joy on their faces as they passed me.  They had purpose in their stride.

         Two spiritual states.  Two opposite destinies.  Two polarized facial demeanors.  Continue reading »

LOVE DOES NOT GIVE UP

If the first fruit is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.  Romans 11:16

         The technicalities associated with a scriptural passage are important but I should not get lost in the minutia and miss the beauty of the larger meaning.  All scripture is to cause me to worship God.  This verse is no exception.

         To be holy is to be set apart by God.  Devoted and consecrated for His pleasure.  Once God sees me, chooses me by His grace and sets me apart for Himself, I am considered holy – even if rebellious before my conversion.  God’s love does not waver and He is true to His promises.  How unlike my love!

• The firstfruits and lump refer to the first Jewish converts and the lump is the whole nation.
• The root is Abraham and the branches are all his descendants.

         So what God doesn’t want me to miss is this ~ Whom He loves, He loves.  He does not give up no matter how long it takes and no matter how obstinate we are.  Israel may be blind and rebellious for thousands of years but God still considers her ‘His people’ and sees them as set apart for Himself.  She is considered holy.

         If God has made me a promise that someone I love will be saved ~ a father, a son, a friend ~ then their rebellion does not jeopardize that.  Continue reading »

BEYOND HUMAN POSSIBILITY

For if their (the Jews) rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?  Romans 11:15

         Does it seem far-fetched to believe that the Jews can one day be reconciled to God out of their unbelieving state?  Has their long history of antagonism toward Jesus painted a picture for us that is hopeless?  Just because it’s always been that way, do we have a hard time believing that this kind of transformation is possible?  Why should the gathering of Israel seem inconceivable when it is God who is doing it?  Is this too hard for him?  “With God, all things are possible.”  Matthew 19:26

         Women tell me all the time that their situation is hopeless and their problem un-solvable.  “It’s always been this way,” is their defense.  The path of hopelessness is not the path for the believer!  Just because something has been broken, or someone has been alienated, or a marriage has been excruciating, is no grounds for unbelief.  How can any of us pick up our face out of the dust and look up with eyes of faith?  By standing on the promises of the Word of God and reviewing His track record.

         The man at the pool of Bethesda had been crippled for 38 years.  The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years.  The Jews have been blind to Jesus for 2000 years.  Lazarus had been dead in a tomb for 4 days and had already started decomposing.  These obstacles are nothing to God.  One mere breath from His mouth puts flesh on skeletons.  One command of Jesus brings a dead man out of the tomb.

         Where do you smell death today?  Where has it become a way of life; a comfortable mindset that embraces despair like an old friend?  The Word of God is a sword that cuts through deception and unbelief.  Repentance breaks the power of it over my life.  Standing on the promises and character of God, out loud, will begin to infuse my soul with well-founded hope.  The God who will one day bring a spiritually dead nation to new life is still invested in that which I have dismissed.

It’s time to hear the call of Jesus on the other side of the tomb.  “Come out!  Step into the light where resurrection power is the norm and where hopelessness is banished.”

Someone I love hasn’t yet been fully transformed by your love.  I’m waiting, but not without hope.  I put their name in scripture and make these my prayers.  I praise You.  You are the God of the new-birth. Amen

JEALOUSY IS A POWERFUL CATALYST

Now I am speaking to you Gentiles.  Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellows Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.  Romans 11:13

         If I believe that my own flesh poses no threat to my spiritual condition anymore, then I just have to experience how powerful my feelings of jealousy can be.  I can be offered something, turn it down because it fails to interest me in the slightest, but change my mind when someone nearby considers it a treasure.  I’ll be sorry I refused it. Continue reading »