Spiritual Training

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October 28 - Morning

"As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable."
- Romans 11:28-29

God's Gifts and Call Will Not Be Taken Away


In the Old Testament there were many Jews who had faith and trusted God, not the Law, for salvation. Sometimes large portions of a generation believed.

Abraham: “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” – Genesis 15:6

Jacob: “The Lord will be my God.” – Genesis 28:21

Joseph: “God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” – Genesis 50:24

Joshua: “Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is given you for your own.” – Joshua 1:11

Samuel: “Speak, for your servant is listening.” – First Samuel 3:10

David: “Create in me a pure heart, O God…You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it…The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” – Psalm 51:10, 16-17

Solomon: “The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.” – First Kings 3:10

At the same time there were many Jews in the Old Testament who did not believe, such as King Ahaz who was warned by Isaiah:
“If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” - Isaiah 7:9

And, in Jesus day an entire generation followed their rebellious leaders and rejected the Lord:
Jewish crowd: “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”…We have no king but Caesar.” – John 19:15

Paul faced the same rejection from large groups of Jews when he presented the Word of God:
“Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. They disagreed among themselves and began to leave…” – Acts 28:24

Paul writes in Romans 11:28-29 that the Jews are enemies of the gospel, because they as a culture oppose the gospel message. They showed contempt for the promise, and, instead, chose the Law. Yet, the Gentiles did not stumble over the concept of salvation by faith.
But, because of the promise given to the patriarchs such as Abraham, Jacob, (and, the promises that were believed by Joseph, Joshua, David and many more) Israel is still elected by God. Israel was chosen for a purpose and Israel was given a mission. As a people group Israel cannot be forgotten by God and neither will God’s plans be changed, because God gave Israel their mission and God called them to action. It will be done. Israel will accomplish God’s call and his plan will prosper because:
“God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.”
Talah (Hb) - Hang (Eng) - the Hebrew talah comes from a Hebrew root word that means "to let dangle." This word is found most frequently in the book of Esther. It can be used in a figurative sense to identify something that is dependable and can be trusted. Talah is used to describe the act of hanging an object or hanging a person to death.
Do I feel I have made to many mistakes? Do I think that I have wasted God's call and gifts in my life?
I will understand, believe and act on the promise that God's gifts and callings are irrevocable.
I will keep moving towards God's plan and serve him with the gifts he has given me.



Bible Reading Descriptions Here

Narrative

Complete Text

General Text




Personal

Improved understanding of love

Church

Testimony to the
Power of God
Foreign policy
Solomon Islands - history of revivals and Christian's ministered during a civil war



Marilyn looks at the southeast corner of the Temple Mount over the Kidron Valley from a tomb on the side of the Mount of Olives belonging to a family of priests named Bene Hezir (or, sons of Hezir). An inscription says the "sons of Hezir." 1 Chronicles 34:1 and 15 mention a priest named Hezir from the line of Aaron serving in the days of David. An inscription written in Hebrew found on the tomb says: This is the tomb and the monument of Alexander, Hanniah, Yo’ezer, Judah, Simon, Johanan, the sons of Joseph son of Oved. Joseph and Eliezer sons of Hanniah – priests of the Hezir family. The inscription mentions a monument that may have been located to the left of the tomb entrance on the wall.
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Archaeological details of the excavation at Sepphoris.
(click on image for larger size)





Someone to Quote

"The true follower of Christ will not ask, 'If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?' Rather he will say, 'This is truth. God help me to walk in it, let come what may!' " - A.W. Tozer

Something to Ponder

Council of Constantinople II (680) - rejected Monothelitism a belief that Jesus had both a human will and a divine will.

Here’s a Fact

Archaeologist Bryant Wood identifies Bab edh-Dhra on the east side of the Dead Sea shoreline as the site of Sodom. Excavation revealed that when this culture was destroyed the people at that time were burying their dead in little round or rectangular buildings on the surface of the ground built of mud bricks in a large cemetery. All of these tomb-houses had been burned from the inside out. Archaeologist wondered if burning the dead in these little mud houses was part of the burial practice to prevent the spread of disease. But, it was discovered that the fire did not begin inside the little buildings, but instead started on the roof, which then collapsed into the interior where the fire then burned from the inside out on every one of the little mud houses. This fact confirms with the destruction of Sodom when the Lord rained burning sulfur down on top of this city. (Genesis 19:24) (Bab edh-Dhra; details here; and here.)

Proverb

"He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty."
- Proverbs 28:19

Coach’s Corner

Remember: Jesus died, was resurrected, and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Now, take that thought into every hopeless situation! 

Luke 5
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”
11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
14 Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus Questioned About Fasting
33 They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.”
34 Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”
36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’”
1 Corinthians 4
New International Version (NIV)
The Nature of True Apostleship
This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.
Paul’s Appeal and Warning
14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
18 Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?
Luke 16
New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
“‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
Additional Teachings
16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”


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