The Devotional - R033

The Devotional

Comment:

A compass has 360 degrees or 36 points, 1 point contains 10 degrees; for the average person this means little but most sea-faring or river and lake travelers use the compass to go from port to port or dock to dock. In this small realm of knowledge the average sailor knows that if he or she goes off course; that they will not arrive at their intended destination. Just one degree, which seems insignificant is enough to send the ship hundreds of miles from where it is supposed to be when the distance from point A to B is significant. Therefore; Idolatry which is false religion may look like it is on course, but it is time and distance that will be the proof that God’s Plan and Promise for any people group was violated. God’s original Promise to Israel included a Plan that has proved Israel’s failure to be a Light to the gentiles – Isaiah 42:6, and yet it is the context of Isaiah 42 that keeps God’s Promise and Plan protected for the gentiles, as we shall see. God’s Promise and Plan is protected in His Word, it is forever fixed, and it is mankind who strays off course.

Challenge: Romans 9:6-13

Many struggle with the terms “calling and election” as if God has selected only the elect few for His eternal Kingdom, well might I say that this is TRUE, it is true that God calls out to the nations that He alone is the Savior from sin and death. We have no human ability to go into eternity without the help of God who created us, sin and death has blocked the door to the eternal kingdom. Genesis 3:24 – Therefore the LORD God drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the Tree of LIFE.

Thus God Himself has the only Plan with a Promise that opens the gate for His Children to enter. The question on most people’s mind is am I or the church I go to included in that Plan and Purpose? Israel went “off course” Romans 9:6 the apostle Paul uses a nautical term for the word “effect or failed” in some translations meaning that Israel was driven off course. This being so that over the course of time sin and idolatry were the ill winds that drove the theocracy of God’s chosen nation to failure.

It is evident to see from a quick reading of Romans 6:9-13 that not all the nation, even though these were of the seed of Abraham, was the called or chosen of God. “As in Isaac your seed shall be called and too, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated”. These words of God to Abraham are originally recorded for us in Genesis 21 and 25 a future reading for you if you so desire. We observe this calling and election as God Plan, but it does not reveal the Promise in full detail.

Isaiah 42:1-9 – is a must read for anyone who seeks to understand that God’s call to Israel and the Nations is not to just a limited few, but to the whole world. To every person who has or will be born. In this passage God is talking through Isaiah about a SON, not a nation. Now we are going to stop here, since my time is running short and there is needed time to focus on Isaiah 42:1 – “Behold! My Servant who I uphold” (what joy fills our soul to KNOW that God’s Son Jesus/Messiah – is that Servant.

God says “I have put my Spirit upon Him, He is my Elect (Chosen) the One in whom “My soul delights”. He Jesus/Messiah will bring forth Justice to the Gentiles. We need to study the Living Word of God and see the context of "calling and election” the joy of it is overwhelming for the soul because it is “solid food” for the child of God who seeks to mature spiritually. I know I have left us hanging, but my time this morning is short, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life – John 3:16. 

This is good news, it is not old or a fable; God has a Promise for you in that if you believe that God sent His Son forth to bring you Justice, forgiveness and eternal life as His Child, you will not be disappointed. Romans 10:11 – For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame”.