Romans 10 – Brandon Hatmaker “Hind-Sight”
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
"The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” - Romans 10:8b-10
In these few verses, Paul reminds us what was written about the coming Christ through quoting scriptures from Deuteronomy, Isaiah, and Joel. It’s amazing when you look at it all from hind-site how many could still miss it. It's a perfect fit. The hope they had been looking for since the beginning stood before them, He gave His life as scripture had outlined, and now Paul is showing them directly how it is in line with God’s Word.
So many times we pray for a sign. We ask God to affirm that He is really there. We ask Him to give us a reminder of His hand. I’m so thankful when He does. Today I’m thankful that He always has. This is just one of many of the gifts of God. And it’s in plain sight. The question is, are we looking?
Posts
Poor yet Generous
-
Not long ago I was in line at a downtown Wendy's when a homeless guy cut in
front of me. He literally acted as if he didn't see me. He stepped up to
the co...
"Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved." - Romans 10:1 (NIV)
ReplyDelete"Believe me, friends, all I want for Israel is what's best for Israel: salvation, nothing less. I want it with all my heart and pray to God for it all the time." - Romans 10:1 (MSG)
"Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved." - Romans 10:1 (NLT)
For all of the seemingly negative rants, tirades and admonitions directed toward those worshipping the law code instead of the true Messiah, when we read between the lines of Paul's words, we see a heart that truly pulses with a massive love for Israel.
It's so human to want to draw up battle lines, put up fences and pick teams...so natural to argue and fight. Especially against something that we know is so off-base, confused or dead wrong. But I think it truly is a work of the Spirit to be able to speak the hard truth to people with a real love and a desire for them to draw near to Christ. Not to prove that you're smarter. Or a better debater. Or that they're wrong.
This is a huge reminder that the motivation behind everything I think, everything I say, everything I do, must be rooted deeply in love. For God and for people. Period.
Search us, O God - examine our hearts, our motives, our motivations, and remove everything but love.
Great thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI often fail to remember the heart Paul had for the Israelites. He probably even loved a few of the Pharisee's. Imagine that. It was probably very frustrating for him to have such passion about something so important for someone who he had so much passion for that just couldn't get it.
Then let's take it a step further, think about how much God loved Israel.
The lines that strike me in this chapter are words like, "will be saved", "everyone", "all". I love the fact that God does not work in the "gray" world. He doesn't say you might, maybe, possibly be saved. He says you WILL be saved. He does not say this person or that person. The one with money or the one without money. You have to go to this church or that church. You have to sing this hymn or this praise song. He says ALL and EVERYONE. God wants every single one of His creations in Heaven with Him. The outside does not matter to God. We are the ones that get caught up in the worldly trappings of people. What type of house they have or car they drive. How much money they have or don't have. It just doesn't matter. We have to start looking at the world and the people in it as God does. Otherwise we are just playing favorites.
ReplyDelete