Hello, John and Doves,
Why are we still here?
Our prayers run like this:
1. Maranatha!
2. Save many!
3. Mercy and Justice!
It is written,
14Enoch,
who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these
people. He said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of
his holy ones 15to
execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every
person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults
that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”f
Jude verses 14-15 NLT
Again, we read,
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
14After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial. 15But
now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now
Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to
him,” they said.
16So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he instructed us 17to
say to you: ‘Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did
to you—for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of
the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph
received the message, he broke down and wept. 18Then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said.
19But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? 20You
intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to
this position so I could save the lives of many people. 21No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.
Genesis 50:14-21 NLT
Once again, the Word says,
14Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! 15For God said to Moses,
“I will show mercy to anyone I choose,
and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”i
16So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.
17For
the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the
very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame
throughout the earth.”j 18So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.
19Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”
20No,
don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God?
Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why
have you made me like this?” 21When
a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the
same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw
garbage into? 22In the
same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power,
he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined
for destruction. 23He
does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those
to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. 24And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.
25Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea,
“Those who were not my people,
I will now call my people.
And I will love those
whom I did not love before.”k
26And,
“Then, at the place where they were told,
‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called
‘children of the living God.’”l
27And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out,
“Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore,
only a remnant will be saved.
28For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth
quickly and with finality.”m
29And Isaiah said the same thing in another place:
“If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
had not spared a few of our children,
we would have been wiped out like Sodom,
destroyed like Gomorrah.”n
Israel’s Unbelief
30What
does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow
God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that
this took place. 31But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the lawo instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said,
“I am placing a stone in Jerusalemp that makes people stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.
But anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”q
Romans 9:14-33 NLT
~Blessings,
Mike