Will God Have To Use Somebody Else?

Romans 10:18-21

18 But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: “Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world.”

 19 But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: “I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.”

20 But Isaiah is very bold and says: “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”

21 But to Israel he says: “All day long I have stretched out My hands To a disobedient and contrary people.” 

In the verses above the Apostle Paul is talking about the nation of Israel's rejection of the Gospel and their denial of the message of Jesus Christ being the Messiah.  We are all pretty familiar with this, Christ came and they refused him for the most part and then salvation was offered to the Gentiles and salvation has now been made available to all the world.

But what we need to realize is that through the spirit of adoption and by the Blood of Jesus Christ, we who are saved are now the Seed of Abraham also and therefore we are Jews or the Nation of Israel too.  We are God's chosen people as much as anyone else.

That being said we need to beware that God will not have to say the same thing about us that he said in the verses above about Israel.  We need to examine our devotion and our dedication to God and to Jesus to make sure that we are not the disobedient nation, and that God does not have to find others to replace us but instead to add to us.

It's time for us to all rededicate ourselves to our Love and devotion to God, we are his chosen people and we don't want him to have to choose another because we won't serve him.

Let's Do Better

We had a guest speaker at church today who shared a simple yet powerful message that I wanted to share with you all.

The message was basically that God is going to do better for us but we also need to do better for God.

He gave 5 points on what we need to do better, and these I felt were really on point:

1. Church Attendance

     -Don't just come to church but come on time.  We often feel it's not a big deal to miss Praise and Worship as long as we make it for the Sermon, but the truth is that Praise and Worship is what we do for God and the sermon is God giving back to us.  When we miss Worship what we are basically saying is that we want what God has but we don't want to give him the Worship and Praise he deserves.

2. In our prayer life

     -pray other than when other than when you need something

     -pray everyday.

     -walk throughout your day in a position to talk to and hear from God at any given time.

3. In Giving

     -every year have a goal to give more than you did last year.

4. Inviting people to church.

     -The Bible says "compel men to come"

     -Pray, fast, and keep asking them to come if they refuse

5. In serving.

     -everybody should be working at the church

     -don't be a taker only be a giver.

Daddy's Home!!!!!!!

There are a few phrases I hear on a daily basis, but not too many come close to making feel as good as "Daddy's Home!!!!"

If you are not a father, or you are a father but you have decided to not take the necessary responsibility of being involved in your children's lives, then you cannot quite understand the joy that is felt in being greeted at the door by children that have been eagerly awaiting your return home from work. It is an honor to be a parent, and I feel it is a special honor to be a father, after all God is a father.

In our home I play multiple roles; husband, provider(God of course provides, but uses me as a vehicle), disciplinarian, encourager, sometimes cook and cleaner. But besides husband, nothing compares to being DAD. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love my children and have made many sacrifices for them, but there is no price I have paid that compares to how they make me feel when they show that is spite of many things they still love me and are eager to see me.  In spite of the spankings and groundings, in spite of the chastisement and lecturing, in spite of my hectic work schedule and often limited time they are still always eager to see me when I return.

This makes me think of my Father God.  I bet he feels this way about me and you too.  I bet he loves when we are eager to be in his presence again, and when in spite of all the issues we face in life we still Love and trust him.

Now that i think about it, the only thing better than being a husband and a father is being fathered by God...