Monday, June 04, 2007

God's Love of People

As I begin the Book of Romans, I take a special notice to what I normally just pass over. Paul, in all off his letters, shows is genuine care , concern and love for the peopl ethat he is writing to. He truly cares for these people. he is not just writing cordial greetings to set up what he really wants to say. I can tell he cares because he stakes his ministry and relationship with God on his statements towards these people. He sites God as his witness to his longing and encouragements he recieves from them. Furhtermore, he is genuinely encouraged by them. He could easily come to thee people as an authority and teach and preach as he sees fit. But, he is really encouraged and edified by their faith.

I need to continue in this example. I wouldnt say that I do not follow in Paul's footsteps, but I know I could be doing better...

Friday, June 01, 2007

"Make Every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holyness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheretince rights as the oldest son. Afterwards, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done." Hebrews 12:14-17

We must be patient before the Lord. It is too easy to look at what is immediately infront of us and make decisions based on that state of things. Our humanity and captivity ion our human bodies is often distracting from eternity. Esau sold his birthright for a meal. I can relate. He was probably so hungry he thought he was going to die. At that point he probably thought that a birthright would be of no value if he were to die. Even more if he kept his birthright and died, his brother Jacob would have recieved the right anyways. It wasn't as if he sold it outside fo the family. But he failed to follow in his grandfather's example. Abraham believed that God could bring Isaac back from the dead to fulfill His promise. Esau, was short-sighted on God's ability and on teh bigger picture.

I need to remember to remain faithful to what I knwo to be true of God and of eternity. The current worldy state of things, my current view of reality, which can be easily flawed, is not superior to what God has made sure. That is the faith I do not see.

Lord strengthen me and help me to continue to see the things of faith that are not visible to me...