2025-05-30
Good morning, Dear Ones,
Last week, I presented the reasoning behind traditional Jews rejecting Christ’s divine nature. The Holy Spirit directs me to attempt to answer the question: Does God intend for the rejection of Christ’s deity by traditional Jews to be permanent? Any careful study of the Scriptures leads me to say, “no, it’s not.” JER 23: 5-8, sheds light on this question. “The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King Who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which He will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior. So then, the days are coming’ declares the Lord, when the people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, Who brought the Israelites out of Egypt,’ but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, Who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where He had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.” [Read carefully: IS 11: 1-5]. RO 11: 25-27, gives us what I see as the clearest, most direct answer to the question above. “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob (meaning the traditional Jews). And this is My covenant with them when I take away all their sins.”
The Holy Spirit doesn’t want me to abandon the subject of types of worship. He just wants me to acknowledge God’s plan of salvation as presented in the Scriptures. We are urged to worship our God both individually and corporately; He wants us to understand why our God deserves nothing less. And no, God and the believer are not equals by any stretch of the imagination. PS 46: 10, “He says, ‘Be still and know I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the Earth.” Individual worship, as with corporate worship takes many forms. In most cases, it begins in the home by parents dedicating an infant to God and agreeing to rear this infant in a home of faith. Later, as the child gets older, going to Sunday school and faith-based activities with agemates are experiences faithful parents offer. Of course, there are people like me that must wait until adulthood before they come to faith. Our Lord Jesus welcomes all seekers just as He finds us. It might be in a huge crusade like Rev. Billy Graham’s altar calls, or it might be as the result of a personal dissatisfaction with the status quo that leads one to a search for God’s teaching on his own. This leads to baptism and melding into the congregation of His choice. We mustn’t forget Christ’s words in JN 15: 16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit –fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in My name the Father will give you.” Surrounding oneself with other people who are following Christ is a blessing, if my experience teaches. We may disagree on human political issues, but faith in Christ unifies us as nothing else in my life has. Over the years, it has brought me in contact with wonderful people who teach me how I can enjoy inner peace through our shared faith, while learning valuable lessons from each of them. Each of us has his own unique set of experiences that shape his thinking and outlook.
Yesterday, I was blessed to hear a sermon from Pastor Lee Coate, visiting from Las Vegas, NV. He imparted such great wisdom that I must share some of it here. He said each of us has a private side where God lives and our feelings and values as believers in Christ are housed. The other side is our public persona, that the world sees. These were represented by a paper strip given to each of us, with a white (private side) and colored (public side) represented. If the strip ends were connected in a circle, our lives are shown to be compartmentalized. If it was twisted once and then connected as a Mobius strip, both sides are spiritually balanced-the ideal way to live. Pastor Lee’s point was that we all too often focus on our public side to the detriment of our private side. MT 16: 26, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet to forfeit their soul?” This is certainly food for thought.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have given us the Scriptures as a guide to the benefits of believing in Jesus Christ. 2 TIM 3: 16-17, “All Scripture if God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” What a wonderful gift You have given us! Furthermore, You have given us the Holy Spirit, Who helps us to understand them and to make wise decisions that allow us to live by them [JN 14: 15-17]. Our Lord Jesus has given His physical life on the cross, so that our sins may be forgiven eternally, we may be justified, and we may be saved [1 JN 1: 9; RO 4: 3; JN 3: 16]. All these things and so much more are the reasons why our lives should be a “living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to the Lord—this is the true and proper worship” [RO 12: 1]. We offer You praise, thanksgiving, obedience, our faithfulness, and loyal, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m commanded to discuss some ways of obeying RO 12: 1-2, with our service, friendship, prayers, etc. next week. We must remember RO 5: 9-11, “Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him [Christ]! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only this is so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have now received reconciliation.” Between what has been written here and the gifts of the Holy Spirit (the overall topic of this series from GA 5: 22-23), who can ask for anything more? Praise and thanksgiving be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2025. All Rights Reserved.
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