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Loving the Unlovely February 9, 2011

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Matt 5:43-48
You know what really separates Christians from the rest of the world? Love. Or, it should be. Christians ought to be people who love. Not some romantic love. Not some mamby-pamby sweetness love. We do not need to change our words and phrases to mimic some sugary sweet so and so. We do not have to carefully um, consider um, the um, exact wording of what we are um, trying to say. We do not have to “tsk” at the end of every phrase as some are in the habit of doing, especially when praying. This does not get God’s attention any more than anything else and is so annoying that people will turn you off and not listen. NO. Christians do not need a change of language or vocabulary as much as we should have a change of heart and attitude.
What are people looking for when they enter our church houses and gathering places? They looking to be accepted and loved, right? Yes. But, not in some over the top, sticky sweet fashion. Rather, they want to be valued. Very often however, a new person enters a church and is ignored. More than that, others (home folk as we call them) cut side-long glances and secretly wonder, “Who is this now? Why have they come into my church?” The answer is simple. This is one of God’s beloved. We should not offer to our friends more hospitality than anyone else. We should not prefer one person over another. It is easy though, especially if one person appears to be homeless and looking for a handout and the other is in a suit and looks they just left the office. Both need Jesus and preferential treatment is not, should not be what Christians offer.
If you doubt what I am saying here, try it. Dress in scraggly clothes and visit another church and see how you are received. We can learn a lot by visiting other churches.
When I was in seminary in New Orleans, I often liked to get out of the city. You could call it a Sunday drive. One Sunday evening in particular, my family and I were going along and decided to stop along the way and visit a little, country church for their evening service. We walked in and got all the side-ways looks and questioning expressions one might expect, but no one greeted us. As we settled into a pew, two little old ladies walked up and stood over me and said, “You’re in our seat.” They did not say hello or anything else, just that. I said, “I did not realize there was assigned seating here.” To which they responded, “They don’t, but this is our seat.” I thought maybe they had donated the pew and asked them. No, their “donated” pew was up front. This is where they sat, where they always sat, and we had to move. So we did. We nearly left.
What if we had been new in the area? How would that interchange have colored a seeker’s view of the church as a whole not to mention this one congregation. This was not a demonstration of love. We should do better. Let’s practice what we preach.

Debts of Gratitude December 2, 2010

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Philipians 4:10-20
I owe many people many debts of gratitude. I am attempting to pay back my debts of gratitude in a way that honors God and the benevolence of the giver.
While I was in the Army, I was invited to go out fishing with a couple of NCO’s. I was just a private, but they invited me just the same. As it got dark and cold, we headed back towards the barracks but stopped for a quick supper at Taco Bell first. I did not have any money with me at the time so one of them bought my supper for me. It probably did not add up to five dollars, but I felt compelled to pay him back. I told him I had some cash in the barracks and would pay him back when we returned. He said, “Do you really want to pay me back? Here’s what you do; someday you will be the old sarge and there will be some young private with nothing. Pay for his meal. That will pay me back.” I have never forgotten that and have sought out opportunities to pay him back many, many times.
I remember when there was just not enough. I started to college in 1991, right after high school. I decided it wasn’t for me and joined the Army. After I got out of the Army I got married and moved back to my hometown in Idaho. There, I started back to college, this time with renewed interest and determination. I had numerous jobs. It seemed I needed a different job with each new semester due to schedule changes. After a couple of years, we decided to move back to my wife’s hometown in Louisiana. I skipped a semester and started again. I changed majors a couple of times all the while working different jobs for minimal income because I could not get in many hours due to my classes. After graduation, I intended to start work as a teacher. I taught one semester before moving to New Orleans to attend seminary. It was not enough time to really get caught up on debts, bills and loans that accumulated over the many years of college. From New Orleans, we kept our ties to Lake Charles; the church we attended and the National Guard unit I was part of. We commuted in at least once a month. We stayed with various people. There was never enough money for fuel and expenses, but there were benevolent people along the way that contributed because they believed in what we were doing. One man in particular; I will call him ‘Jack.’ Jack was a funny old guy. He shook hands funny. He would roll up one finger in his palm and say, “Excuse the wart.” He would barely take your hand and say, “Am I hurtin’ you?” Very often when he would shake my hand there would be a $100 bill in it. It seemed as though every time we came into town this happened. It was often the money we needed to pay for food, gas or some bill until my next pay check. I told him once, “You know there’s no way I can ever pay you back, don’t you?” He told me the way I could pay him back was to be the best preacher possible. He said I should keep studying and do great things. He died not too many years ago. I am still paying off those debts.
Here Paul is so moved by the generosity shown to him by the people of Philippi that he sends heartfelt thanksgiving to them for their love and assistance to him in his ministry. There would never be a way for him to repay the generosity and benevolence shown to him by them but, he would strive to honor them the best he knew how. His mention of his contentment is only in reference to their contributions which made his imprisonment bearable. God supplied Paul’s needs and he used the Philippians to accomplish it. God would supply the needs of the people who gave in support of Paul, especially those who gave above and beyond their means. They gave in faith that God would supply their needs as well. Paul recognized this and wrote to thank them by remembering all the times of the past they had helped. He had established the church in the town. They were now living out true devotion and love by ministering to Paul in monetary form. God receives the honor when His people demonstrate love in their contributions without concern for themselves or expecting anything in return.
Do you have debts of gratitude to others like I do? Don’t forget to pay them as you have opportunity.

My Rock and My Redeemer July 2, 2010

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Psalms 62
We are so fragile. Some more so than others. Our bodies are mere clay pots. Our lives described as only a vapor, here one moment and the next moment, gone. Not only our physical statutes, but also our emotional parts. We wear our hearts on our sleeves. We are quick to love and forgive, but we are easily hurt in the process. “You have to be thick skinned,” they tell us. “If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t pick on you,” they say. They are “just kidding.” We are supposed to let insults and criticisms roll off of us like water off a duck’s back. It is easier said than done. Sometimes it is just too much.
Our fellow man is often rude and cruel. They very often go too far. Then, when someone feels the sting of a personal jibe, others are quick to jump on the critical bandwagon like sharks when there is blood in the water. When my friends and I were young, we would all hang out and rip on each other. We could tell when it got to be too much. When whomever was “it” for the moment had had enough, we were sometimes kind enough to rip on someone else in the group for a while. Eventually the offended came around and began to participate again. That’s when they became fair game and the cycle continued. We were friends. What about when it is someone from outside your circle. Jesus says we are supposed to love these people.
Rather than being critical to one another, wouldn’t it make more sense to be kind? Wouldn’t it make more sense to build each other up? The world is tough enough out there. People are criticized at work and in the home. Our shortcomings are always before us, held up like a neon sign that says we are not good enough. Especially among our friends, wouldn’t it make more sense to be supportive? We’re not though, too often, are we? Nope. We live in this constant state of self comparison and put others down to make ourselves feel better. The problem with that is, we ought not compare ourselves to each other. We have a holy standard to live up to that we will never obtain but we should always be striving for it. Especially Christians. We should build each other up, but too often we compare ourselves to others and say, ‘as long as I am doing better than that person, I’m still good enough.’ What if that’s not true? We elevate ourselves in our minds above this person or that one only to find that when we think we have arrived there is someone else waiting to put us down from our new high and lofty position.
We are so easily toppled. We are mere leaning fences in our emotional states. We are already so close to going down, falling down, giving up, giving in… Who can we turn to when we need someone to cry out to? Can we truly go to God with our hurts? With our fears? With our pain? Raw emotions and all? Will He receive us or will He put us down to elevate Himself like so many of our peers? No.
God is complete within Himself. He does not need our failures and shortcomings to make Himself feel better. He is better than us, all the time. He is perfect. He needs nothing to make Himself any more than He is. He simply ‘is.’ God is our Strong Tower. He is our Rock, our Shelter, our Fortress. “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing… “ We can run to Him. We can hide in Him. We can confide in Him. And, He genuinely wants to hear from us. He wants to care for you. To shelter you against the midst of the flood and the storms that are in your life. God wants to care for you and protect you. He loves you.
Low born men are born so low. Yet, God can raise them up. You know, rags to riches stories. The homeless man who becomes the millionaire. My favorite is the sinner who becomes a Christian and heir to the throne. God rescues us out of our sinful state to be high born men. We may not see it in this life, but someday. High born men too often think too highly of themselves. They do not know the struggle. Jesus said, “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” High born men are born into plenty and do not often know need. Both are but a breath, a vapor, morning mist. In Steve Taylor’s song “Meltdown at Madame Tussaud’s,” we learn everyone meets the same fate. No one can outrun death. “Look at all the criminals soften to the cores. They’re mixing with the head of state floating down the lane. Good, bad, there they go down the same drain.”
In the end, God will reward everyone for what they have or have not done. You can run to Him when the world and the people in it get you down. People look at outward appearances, but God looks on the heart. Our heart is right when Jesus lives in it. Our actions reflect the One who lives in and through us. Let us not identify ourselves with the rest of mankind that desires to build themselves up by putting others down. Their excuses will be silenced and their deeds weighed upon God’s scales of righteousness. Do not be found lacking. Live out your faith. Live the fruits of the Spirit. Then, regardless of the status you were born in, you will be high born into the Kingdom, grafted into the body. This world will have difficulties for a little while, but the eternity we spend with God will make it all worth it.
Are you living right?

Disciplined to Do Right June 30, 2010

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Hebrews 12:1-11
What hinders you? Set it aside. Jesus said, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It would be better for you to enter the Kingdom of God maimed than to be thrown into hell. That is some pretty hard teaching. Jesus was not being literal of course. He was saying that whatever hinders you, whatever causes you to stumble, you should get it out of your life.
We all have that thing that hinders us. We all have that thing that causes us to stumble. I said that from the pulpit one Sunday in church. A well respected man in the church told me later he did not have anything like that. I disagree. To say you don’t have a “thing” is to reveal it. In this case, it is pride.
What hinders you? What are you doing about it?
Sin entangles. It is a nasty business that sucks us in like a miry pit and closes in around us. The more we struggle and fight, the more difficult it is to get free. God knows we have this sin nature within us. He made a way where there was no way for us to be freed from it. We do not have to live in constant fear of God striking us down because of His grace. He sent Jesus.
The world deceives. It is all we see and know. It is all our senses perceive. We must be very disciplined to avoid the pitfalls of the world. God knows this and helps with our development. As Christians we have a new nature and a new identity. We are spiritual beings, but the old, earthly nature remains. We live in this tension between the already spiritual and the not yet arrived. God corrects us when we are wrong. He shapes us to be who He wants us to be. Just as the potter shapes the clay, so God shapes our lives to be what He wants them to be. (See Jeremiah 18)
God disciplines. His discipline brings a harvest of righteousness. Discipline is different from punishment in that punishment is the direct result of wrong actions. Discipline involves guidance. It is choosing to live right when opportunities abound to do wrong. It is choosing right over wrong for the sake of right. Dogs love treats. But, a dog can be trained to balance a treat on its nose before eating it. This is a well disciplined dog. People can be trained as well. We put ourselves on diets and avoid ice cream. We drink water instead of soda. We eat broccoli instead of chocolate. We get up and go to work or school instead of lying in bed extra time. We say please and thank you. We don’t lash out at the irritating person who just . . . You get the idea.
God’s training helps us overcome our sinful nature. Just as a parent knows what is best for their child, God knows what is best for us. Even if the child does not understand, they learn to trust their parents. It may not be pleasant at the time, but God has our best interest at heart. With faith, we can know that the discipline we are receiving is for our good. “I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 289:11) God is chipping away the stuff He doesn’t want to leave behind what He does. A sculptor was asked how he created such magnificent images. He simply replied, “I imagine an image and remove everything that doesn’t look like that image.” We are created in the image and likeness of God. He is forming us all the time to be more like Him.
We all know people of character. How did they become people of character? They endured the fiery trials. If we want to be people of character someday as well, we must also endure those trials that shape us, form us to be the person God intends us to be. We are not alone. We have a great crowd of witnesses. We identify with them in our sufferings. These unnamed men and women of faith described in Hebrews 11 endured more than we will ever know.
We also identify with Christ when we undergo discipline. Jesus was persecuted, abandoned and abused. He was despised and afflicted by sinful men for their sakes. He was forsaken by His own Father. He was crucified on a tree that we might be redeemed by His blood. We will never know the depth of His sorrow nor the suffering He endured, we can only know our own. If you are willing to endure, your character will be perfected. Your soul made right. Without it you are an illegitimate child of God.
Wouldn’t you rather endure a little discipline now than endure the wrath of judgment forever?

Jesus, The Good Shepherd June 21, 2010

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John 10:1-18
Who takes care of you? When we were children, we looked to our parents for affection and attention. They met the needs we had for food, shelter, clothing, etc. If our biological parents did not meet these needs, we looked to someone else or some other benevolent souls came into our lives with the care we needed. People do what they can to care for others. Parents care for their children; whether they are their own offspring or not. Husbands and wives care for each other. Nurses care for the sick. Teachers care for their students. Pastors care for their congregations. But, no one cares for us like God can.
The “Shepherd” is a common theme throughout the Bible. It is an image that is well understood in the Biblical world. Even now, as I find myself deployed to Iraq, I recognize the importance of shepherds and herders. In fact, this morning on the bus ride to work I saw two young men herding outside the fence. They both carried sticks with which they moved the herd around the canal and into the green, grassy area. Their goal was obvious, to get the herd to the grass to graze before the hot sun scorched it and it disappeared. They were caring for their herd.
Moses was a shepherd. David was a shepherd. They led their herds to the grassy areas and to find water. Sheep cannot care for themselves. In fact, sheep are quite helpless. They have difficulty standing back up if they fall. They drown easily. They have no natural defenses against predators. They require constant care and defense. That is the role of the shepherd. Now, the owner and the shepherd are sometimes different people, but the shepherd is the one appointed to care for the sheep. If they are not his sheep, he loses nothing if harm comes to them. But a good shepherd would not let that happen. A good shepherd guards his sheep with his life. David describes how he defended his sheep against attacks by bears and lions. Long before firearms, he used a club and a sling to defend them. In the beloved 23rd Psalm, David speaks of a rod and a staff. The rod was a stick or club about two feet long that was used to defend the sheep but also to hit them to
move them in the right direction. It was an instrument of correction and guidance. The staff on the other hand was the shepherd’s crook. It was a long staff with a hook on one end that could be used to hook sheep that had fallen into a hole or pit. The crook was an instrument of care and provision.
Jesus is the Shepherd. No one cares for us like Jesus. The basic necessities of man can be met by man. We can feed and clothe ourselves. We build shelters. We work and make money to get the things we need and want. But, there is one all consuming need that mankind has that we cannot meet, what do we do in order to get to heaven when we die. Who takes care of that need? Only Jesus can. Jesus is the only Gate. Anyone else who has ever called themselves the way has been wrong. Only Jesus is the Way. Others have attempted to lead people astray, they were not the true Shepherd. They came only to make a profit regardless of what it cost others and lead others away from the true Shepherd. Only Jesus provides life. And, not just “a” life, life. And, not just life, but abundant life.
Only Jesus laid His life down for His sheep and He did so willingly that we might be able to live with Him in heaven someday. When we are part of Jesus’ flock, we know it. There is a certainty that comes with being a Christian. I know that I belong to Jesus. I know that I have a relationship with Him. You can too. You can know you are His when you know His presence. It abides within, in a spiritual sense. When He speaks to you, you simply know it. There is no magical power or knowledge that comes with it. But instead, a presence that cannot be explained with words.
Who cares for you? You don’t have to care for yourself alone. Invite Jesus to come into your life. Become part of His flock. Let Him care for you as no one and nothing else can.
Jesus cares for you.

Knowing God May 26, 2010

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John 17:24-26
After Jesus shared His last supper with His disciples they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. They stopped at a place called Gethsemane where Jesus invited His disciples to pray with Him. He went on a little further and poured His heart out to God. When He returned, He found the disciples sleeping but encouraged them to stay awake and pray a second time. When He came back, He again found them sleeping so He went a third time to pray alone. When He came back the third and final time, His betrayer was coming with a mob to get Him, to drag Him off for trial and execution.
This makes a very good story. But, many want to know; it is real? The place is real. A person can still go to Israel, to Jerusalem and see the walls of the Temple, see the Kidron Valley, see the Mount of Olives and even the Garden of Gethsemane. Within the garden is a very old olive tree estimated to be some two thousand years old. Could Jesus have leaned against this tree as He poured His heart out to God?
The place is real. Could Jesus be real? Well, an ancient scholar named Josephus mentions a man named Jesus who performed miracles. Josephus was real. We have his books.
The Bible is real. The authors of our Bible were real. The characters recorded in the Bible were real. Not too long ago an ossuary was found with an inscription on it that said, “James the brother of Jesus.” It is real.
Every time a scientific discovery is made or archaeological site is discovered, it reveals more truth supported by the Bible.
If the places are real, if the Bible is real, if Jesus is real, the stories must be true, and God also must be real. If God is real then He can be known as Jesus said He could be and prayed that He would be.
I get a kick out of the people who say that God cannot be known. They say nothing about God can be known. He is a mystery and we are unable to know Him, they say. They contradict themselves. To say that God cannot be known, that is to say He is “un-know-able” reveals something about Him. We “know” that we cannot know Him. Strange.
Jesus’ last prayer in the Garden was that His followers would know God. No one has ever seen God, true enough, but that is not to say that we cannot know Him. We know Him through Jesus. I believe every physical manifestation of God even in the Old Testament is Jesus. Jesus is God, but separate from God somehow. Notice Jesus’ last prayer here in these verses. Jesus is saying, the world (the people of the world) does not know You, but I know You, and they know I am here. I am making You known by being here. By My being here, I am revealing You to them. I am revealing Your love for them.
God’s love is such that He desires that no one should perish. God demonstrated His own love for us in this; while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) It is God’s intention that no one spends an eternity in hell, permanently separated from His presence for all of eternity. Our sin demands action. If we will do nothing about it, then we have chosen to accept whatever consequences are required. Where God is, sin cannot be. God is perfect, sin is the exact opposite. If we remain in our sin, then God has no other alternative but to separate us from Himself. But, if we will admit to our sin… If we will recognize our shortcomings and turn away from the world and determine to follow Him then we will receive the blessing He has waiting for us on the other side of this present reality.
Jesus’ prayer was that His disciples would be with Him wherever He is. Jesus is currently in heaven at the right hand of the Father. We who are His disciples await a glorious reunion with the Author and Perfecter of our faith. But, the invitation is available to all who would deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him.
Receive Jesus and know God personally.

The Greatest of These Is Love April 21, 2010

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I Corinthians 13
Faith, Hope and Love. What is that? And, why is the greatest love?
Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as, “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” in the NIV and the, “substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” in the KJV. Chapter eleven then goes on to describe for us who had faith and what it looked like and what they did. These are the heroes of the faith. But, what does that mean?
As I understand it, faith is knowing “it” is out there but not being able to see it, describe it, or even know what “it” is in many cases. It is something. We are so sure that no amount of rationale will divert us. No logical argument will persuade us to leave it alone. Faith is knowing it is out there and waiting for it. Faith sometimes acts like a muscle that must be exercised. It will not grow unless put under stress and strain. In these times we like to say that our faith is being tested. Yes. It is being exercised, pushed from where it is to where it needs to be. God puts us in situations that make us depend on Him. Sometimes we question, but we never lose heart. That is faith. Faith says it is for my good and that God still loves me even though I don’t think so it right now.
Faith is similar to hope, but different. We faith that which we hope for. Hope is a noun, not a verb. We don’t hope as an action so much as we have hope. Our faith proves it. Romans five describes it well. “we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us…” While suffering whatever the thing is, our faith says God intends it for our good and our hope is that we will know that good someday. Faith and hope work together.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We have never seen God, but we believe. We have never seen a resurrection yet we anticipate it. How is that possible? It is our hope and our faith.
Why, then is “the greatest of these love”? Because, someday our faith will become sight. Someday all that we hope for will become reality and only one will remain, love. Love for whom? People? Maybe. For God? Certainly. When we approach the gates of glory I don’t think the question will be whether we had faith or not, or hope or not because by then we would be seeing it and faith and hope would be complete. There is no more wondering. Now, only one question remains, “what did you do with my Son? Did you love Him?” There can be nothing else. People in the world have some faith and hope. But only believers have love for the Son and Father and Spirit whom they have never seen.
We know they are there and we long for the day our faith becomes sight. Until then, love the Son.
What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see, when I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace, when He takes me by the hand, and leads me through the Promise Land, what a day, glorious day that will be.

No Good News? April 9, 2010

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Jeremiah 8:4 – 9:24
Some might contend that this is a very long passage to use as a devotional though for the day. Perhaps. Others might argue that there is no good news found here at all. This passage covers Israel at a very low point, facing God’s wrath and judgment against her for wickedness and idolatry. Right. So why would I use such passage for a daily devotional? For a couple of reasons; one, it is true. It is in the Bible. It describes characteristics of God. Secondly, I believe there is good news to be found here. The good news is found before this event and especially after.
Look back at Joshua. God lets us choose. Such great freedom. But with freedom comes great responsibility. When we choose poorly, there are consequences. Here we find Israel at a low point. They have strayed from God. They have chosen instead to bow down to false idols and the deities of the people around them. Some find themselves in similar circumstances in their own lives. God is no longer their first love. They have forgotten or forsaken the One who called them out of their darkness and into His glorious light. They have drifted from their churches and congregations. They feel the pain of discipline and cold edge of judgment against their soul. Chastisement hurts. No one likes correction. Yet Paul makes it very clear. If God does not discipline us, then He does not love us and we are illegitimate children. (Hebrews 12) Return to God. The old hymn says, “if you’ll take one step toward the Savior my friend you’ll find His arms open wide.” Leave the path you are on and return to Him.
Here’s some more good news. There are always people that still care. Jeremiah is commonly referred to as the weeping prophet. Verses one and two capture his concern. He is brokenhearted over his people. He knows they have drifted away. He was given a word from the Lord to deliver to the people. The unhappy task of warning and rebuke falls to a few who are called even though they may not want to be. Very often, instead of heeding the word of the Lord through the prophets, people have sought to kill the messenger. Jesus commented on this in Luke 13. Those who bring us such news are not always our enemies. Sometimes God reaches out to us by way of a friend or one concerned for our well being. The good news is, God gives us an opportunity to get right before He goes to extreme measures to get our attention.
Here’s some more good news. God is long suffering, patient and kind. He is abounding in love and faithfulness. (Exodus 34:6) God does not bring down judgment and punishment on you for each and every little thing even though we deserve it. God is perfect and we are not. He knows that and is compassionate with our plight yet when He has had enough and has given us ample opportunity to get right, He has no other alternative but to correct us.
Here’s some more good news. God always leaves a remnant. Over and over again, Israel has fallen away and yet remained God’s chosen people. They have given ample reason to be rejected completely as we all have, but, God made a promise and God keeps His promises. He always keeps those who did not bend the knee to the false gods and idols. From them He rebuilds His people. This is true for all people and all nations that follow God.
Here’s some more good news. We are no longer under the Law but under grace. That is not to say that the Law is gone. Under the Law we were helpless. God has regarded our helpless estate and made a way where there was no way. He sent Jesus. There is no better news than that. Are you facing correction? Return to Christ. Do you feel weighed down with your burden of sin? Give your life to Christ.