Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in YouTube song and lyrics from the group Avalon singing … Orphans of God … poignantly singing of the reality that our God accepts all who come to Him in faith.
=============
Highlight Verse[s]: Acts 10:34-35 [NLT] … 34 Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. 35 In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.
… Peter declares openly his realization, as should all Christians, that God welcomes ALL into His kingdom and family who repent and believe on Christ as Lord.
==============
Highlight Passage [context]: Acts 10:34-38, 44-48 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Peter had to come to realize that Gentiles were also welcome in God’s kingdom.
=============
Reference Passage : … Isaiah 45:22 [NLT] … 22 Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other.
… God, thru Isaiah, declares His desire that all be saved.
Reference Passage : … Ezekiel 18:23 [NLT] … 23 “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live.
… God desires that all be saved and live, yes, … even the wicked ones.
Reference Passage : … John 6:37 [NLT] … 37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.
… In His own words, … Jesus will reject NO ONE if that one comes to Him repenting of sin and turning to the Lord in faith.
Reference Passage : … 2 Peter 3:9 [NLT] … 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
… God’s word is clear that the Lord desires that ALL come to Him in repentance and be saved.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Winn Collier, uses a historical reference to illustrate how our church/culture often rejects some based on social/ethnic profiling. The ODB author writes … Our church meets in an old elementary school, one that closed in 1958 rather than obey a US court order to integrate (the act of having African-American students attend schools previously attended by only Caucasian students). The following year, the school reopened and Elva, now a member of our church, was one of those black students who were thrust into a white world. “I was taken out of my safe community, with teachers who were part of our life,” Elva recalls, “and placed in a scary environment in a class with only one other black student.” Elva suffered because she was different, but she became a woman of courage, faith, and forgiveness.
Her witness is profound because of how much evil she endured at the hands of some members of a society that denied the truth that every human being, regardless of race or heritage, is loved by God.
Would the attached photo be a good logo for your church, fellow Christian? If a disheveled beggar (yeah, I’m profiling here!) walked into your church would he be welcomed the same as a man in a neat, wall-street looking suit? If a woman walked in Sunday wearing a Muslim burka be welcomed the same as lovely “church-type” lady? I wonder!
These are challenging questions these days in our socially and culturally polarized world, where divisiveness abounds. But God’s word is clear (see above), isn’t it? No … God rejects no one based on the way we dress, the color of our skin, or our ethnic profile!!
So, if a smelly beggar walks into our church Sunday, will we be the first to give him a hug and welcome him into God’s house of prayer and worship?
=============
My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for rejecting no one … even me!
=============
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to welcome ANYONE who walks in the door of our church peacefully, ANONE seeking to be accepted and loved. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
No comments:
Post a Comment