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Spiritual Butterflies #1

12/27/2014

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Hi all,
In my e-newsletter of the 16th I shared a recent visitation with the Lord in which He talked about His people chasing 'spiritual butterflies'. (If you did not receive the e-newsletter please go to cwowi.org and click 'articles', and in the drop down menu click 'newsletter') 

A recap

The Lord came to me and said this: "Many are wondering about the coming year, but I am working in hearts to the degree that many have determined they will no longer chase spiritual butterflies, but will center in on the core of who they are in Me and what they believe, and seek out those who have the same spiritual priorities.” 

Then we were standing next to a field with children chasing butterflies. But some stopped chasing butterflies and sat down on the edge of the field, facing out, and gave water and food to those outside the field. Again, follow the above instructions if you haven't read it yet. 

What did He mean by 'spiritual butterflies?'

When the Lord returns He tells us in Matthew 25:34-40 of those righteous in His eyes:
"The King will say to those on His right 'Come, you who have gained my Father's blessing! Take your inheritance - the kingdom reserved for you since the foundation of the world! For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was lonely and you made me welcome. I was naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you came and looked after me. I was in prison and you came to see me there. 

Then the true men (righteous) will answer Him saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry/fed...thirsty/gave drink...lonely/visited...sick or in prison/visited?' And the Kind will reply; I assure you that whatever you did for the humblest of my brothers you did for me."  (JB Phillips Translation) 

Those words will happen exactly as He stated. If we believe that, and if we believe we are in the end times, shouldn't we be able to read the above passage with assurance and say, "Yes Lord, that is my life, that is what I do, those are my priorities too!" 

What if He came right now to those who think the height of spiritual experience is getting 'slain in the spirit' or 'drunk in the spirit' or feeling 'spiritual goose bumps'? What if He came right now to those who think having some minister lay hands on them for a fresh anointing is the highest and best God has? What if a person was so focused on personal prophecy - or deliverance - or going to the 3rd heaven - they think these types of things are the highest and best God has and is doing right now? 

If Jesus came back right now could each one of us say what is most important to Him is also most important to us? Is his idea of the work of the ministry also our idea of the work of the ministry? 

At the start

The apostles heard Jesus tell them directly what He is looking for at His return, and they imparted that priority and lifestyle to others, for in Acts 2 through 6 the people are going so far as to sell excess resources to help care for the physical needs in their midst.  

"And the multitude of believers were of one heart and soul. No one said anything they had was their own...neither was there any among them that lacked; for as many as were possessors of lands or houses (people who owned multiple homes and lands) sold them and brought the prices of those things sold and laid them at the apostles' feet for distribution." (4:32-34) 

That doesn't mean they lived in a big commune, no, they retained their own homes to live in, but their hearts were devoted to helping others in their midst, and if there were needs people were willing to take from their savings and investments even, to help meet the needs around them. (They didn't have banks in those days, so all cash investment was tied up in homes, lands, livestock and such)  

All these resources were going to provide water, food, clothing, shelter and more to those in need, consistent with Jesus' priorities. Over the next 30 years that Acts and most of the New Testament cover we see the work of the ministry continue to be defined this way, with the body of Christ having Jesus' same priorities. In Antioch when Agabus prophesies about a coming famine in Judea, the body (who met in homes) gathers an offering to send to Judea for famine relief. (Acts 11:28-30) 

Paul receives offerings for the poor in Jerusalem in I Corinthians 16, II Corinthians 8&9, Romans 15:25-26.

James says this: "True (pure) religion and undefiled before God the Father is this; To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep yourself unspotted from the world." (James 1:27) 

How do you spell religion?

So we consistency through all the leaders and people, and through all the New Testament that the body of Christ' priorities were consistent with Jesus' priorities at His return. Shouldn't our priorities be the same? 

Do we define pure religion that same way? To keep ourselves unspotted from the world? To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction? 

Or do we now, or have some of us in the past, defined pure religion as learning to give personal prophecy, or going out on the street to talk to strangers and see the Lord give us words, or to yell and scream at God to open heaven to us, or to be drunk in the spirit and wobble around like a child's spinning top? 

Why do people get distracted with spiritual butterflies?

From the start Christians have met in homes as their primary gathering place to be the church. Being in a living room every week with roughly the same people means you get to know one another and the needs in the midst, and everyone takes personal responsibility out of a heart of love to care for everyone. Things naturally flow therefore to how a person can be helped; money, skills, time, wisdom and other resources are used to help meet the needs. 

In the auditorium church it is all about the program that does the work of the ministry, it is not based on individual responsibility. There is a Friday night outreach to the apartment complex, a food and clothing drive in which all that is required is to bring a can of soup and a coat you don't want any more to put in a large box as you walk into the auditorium. There are prison ministries that you can give money to, a bus program to bring underprivileged children to church, and more, all funded by your tithes and offerings. 

But you don't have to do anything. That gives Christians in the auditorium church the luxury of chasing spiritual butterflies for themselves. They have no other responsibility to anyone once they give their tithe, offering, can of soup or spare coat. Relieved of responsibility, they can chase butterflies! 

"Have you been to _____? I got so drunk in the spirit, I have a whole new level of anointing in my life now! We prayed down heaven I tell you, we yelled and screamed for God to open heaven and some said they were caught up to the 3rd heaven, wow, one lady was rolling and screaming the Lord was on her so mightily! I even heard a demon talk to someone before it was cast out, wow what a powerful time of ministry we had."  

No matter how much I look at Jesus' words in Matthew 25 I can't imagine Him saying something like:
"Come and inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for you. For I was the needy family next to you in church, but you didn't want to associate with people dressed as they were. I was the single mom who needed a little cash for some clothes for her children, but you felt giving your old worn out coat into the box in the foyer was the extent of your duty - good for you!"  

"I was your neighbor struggling in their marriage and rather than reach out to them you ignored them on your way to church. Great! Come inherit your kingdom! For you ignored those around you though by your own words I gave you increased anointing (what did you think that was for, yourself?). Enter into your kingdom with those goose bumps! Come and prophesy all you who think you are prophets because you are a little experienced in personal prophets!" 

Hmmmm....spiritual butterflies, or having Jesus' priorities? And what does that look like if we want to change - until next week! Blessings,

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

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Should I have a Christmas tree? #2

12/20/2014

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Hi all,
Last week I shared how modern Christmas came to be; born of many different pagan rituals, 'Christianized' and monetized, and asked how modern Christians should act in the midst of it all. 

I have no problem celebrating the birth of our Lord, but what I detest is the perversion of the message of Luke 2:13. It records that after the lone angel brings word of the Savior's birth to the shepherds... 

"Behold! Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God (Father) and saying; 'Glory to God (Father) in the highest, and on earth, peace (He has) good will towards men.'" 

The message isn't mankind having good will towards each other, but rather the armies of heaven came to earth in full battle array, then stopped short as their Captain lay in a manger a short distance away, communicating the message from the Father to mankind - We haven't come to destroy you! The Father has peace and good will towards you! He sends His Son, our Commander, as a Shepherd for mankind and a peace offering to mankind! 

THAT is the message of Luke 2:13. How sad that the Father's good will towards mankind has been removed and replaced with a simple 'You all play nice with each other'. ARRGGGGHHHH! 

Pagan festivals galore

In the days the New Testament was written there were many more pagan celebrations Christians had to deal with than merely our Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. Each city had its patron god and therefore idol and temple, Roman culture had their gods and temples, Greek culture had their gods and temples. 

And they were far more advanced in their occult practices than most in the west have ever seen. (Remember the burning of occult books in Acts 19, Ephesus) There are today places in the world where the occult is strong enough that demonic miracles are commonplace, including things like healing (which opens the person to a worse ailment weeks later) shape-shifting, Bible type miracles, people transported here and there by demonic power, and so forth. That is the world Paul also lived in, and many Christians today live in cultures with similar demonic manifestations, even some who are reading this. 

A good steak, gods, and conscience

Paul addresses the gods and their celebrations in I Corinthians 8, 10, and Romans 14, with the core message consistent throughout. 

Paul begins I Corinthians 8 with: "Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.  

I love the literal of "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies" in 8:1. The Greek word translated here as 'puffs up' is from 'physa' which is a 'bellows' - used by blacksmiths to fan a fire. It means therefore to inflate or blow air into. By contrast, the word 'edify' literally means 'to build the house'. 

Paul said therefore, "Knowledge makes you full of air, but love builds the house. If you think you know something to the point you become full of air, you don't know it as you should." (I Corinthians 8:1-2) 

He follows with: "Therefore concerning the eating of those things that were sacrificed first to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in this world, and there is but one God (Father). For though there are many called gods, whether in heaven or in the earth, indeed there are many gods and demonic authorities, to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things and we in Him (the Father); and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things, and we by Him." 

"We know that an idol is nothing...However, not everyone walks in this knowledge. For some if eating it would have their conscience defiled since it had been first offered to an idol." 8:7  

Sensitivity and responsibility

His focus for the rest of the chapter and also in chapter 10 was being sensitive to the conscience of others concerning eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. In Corinth they had the central temple where the sacrifices were made, then the meat was sold to meat markets and restaurants for sale to the public. Paul would later say in chapter 10 that if you are having a meal at one of those restaurants with a brother whose conscience would be defiled if you ate a steak in front of him, then eat something else for the sake of the weak conscience of your brother in the Lord.  

Paul placed the responsibility upon those who walk in freedom to be sensitive to those who have are weaker in the faith that they are in direct contact with. That is an important point. Paul didn't say for all believers not to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols, he said if you are with a brother who would be defiled, then refrain from your freedom and for his sake eat something else. If you are by yourself or with others who have no issue with where the meat came from, then you can walk in your freedom and eat. 

They didn't have to worry about someone with weak conscience walking along outside the restaurant and 'OH no, what if they see me eating a steak' - a chance encounter is not something they could control, therefore they had no responsibility to be on the lookout for weak conscience believers, nor did they have to eat in a back room lest someone see their freedom in Christ.  

He said 'All things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient (suitable). All things are lawful, but not all things build the house." Do what is suitable considering the conscience of your friend. (I Cor10:23) 

For us in our day and Christmas

As it pertains to this subject, some of our brethren have their conscience defiled in the celebration of the Lord's birth because they cannot get over the fact its roots were pagan. What they do is unto the Lord, so we should not try to 'convert them' to the freedom we have, though we should answer their questions honestly.  

Love builds the house, and the house they are building in the Lord we are not to hinder. If they ask, we respond, but we aren't to evangelize our freedom by force, for they must respond to revelation themselves. 

But the reverse is true as well. If you have a Christmas tree up and the house decorated, and you have a friend who doesn't celebrate Christmas coming over for a party or meal, you don't have to remove the tree and decorations just because they are coming to your home.  

It is up to them to walk in love towards you, even if they think you are an idolatrous Christian who may be doomed to hell or at least are opening the door to demonic activity due to your Christmas tree. ha! 

As I shared with my students at that lunch time, most all we eat at one time or another, and even in our day and age somewhere in the world, is food sacrificed to idols. And for some, Christmas is about everything except celebrating the Lord coming to earth. But for most of us, what we do we do unto the Lord, surrounded by messages of His love and eternity future. 

What Chris said sums it up

On Saturday the 6th I was driving Chris back to his group home - we have him Fridays and Saturdays when we are in town - and neither of us were talking, just watching the landscape pass by, when he spoke up and said with a smile in his voice: "I'm just so happy with Jesus." I was so blessed he had been thinking about the Lord in our silence and asked, "Why are you happy with Jesus?" He replied: "He lives in my heart!" 

I'm happy with Jesus for the same reason - all else is fluff. Focus on Christ in you, and to the degree you celebrate this season or not, do so unto the Lord and love one another. From me, Barb, and Chris, Merry Christmas and blessings, new subject next week.

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

 

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Should we have a Christmas tree? #1

12/13/2014

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Hi all,
When I was the Director for a Bible school in Tulsa I'd often take students to lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant after classes, and it was always a time of rich questions and answers. One December some of the students were sharing how they were raised without a Christmas tree though they gave gifts, and another was raised just ignoring the holiday altogether.  

Now that they were out in the 'real world' they wanted to know balance concerning the holidays because there were so many voices saying so many things about what honored God and what was an abomination to Him. 

A history

I shared a little history with them before going on to New Testament truths, so we'll start there as well. Christmas began as a pagan festival, Saturnalia. Saturnalia was celebrated by the Romans from roughly December 17-25 in the belief they were banishing the forces of darkness. Remember the shortest day of the year is December 21, and after that date the earth adds roughly 1 minute per day of daylight to the longest day on June 21, when days begin shortening again by roughly that same amount. (Northern Hemisphere) 

Saturnalia comes from Saturn, 'to plant', and marked the end of the fall planting season. It was a time when the wealthy exchanged clothes with the poor, gifts were given, human shaped baked goods were given and sold, and dice games were played. At its worst, Roman communities chose 1 poor victim, man or woman, and forced them to a week of overeating and sexual acts, and then on December 25 the person would be offered as a human sacrifice. They believed doing so appeased the forces of darkness and the 'Lord of Misrule', and the sun would begin warming the earth again as a result. 

Fill those auditoriums

In the 4th century Roman church leaders tried to gain members to fill their auditoriums (they had recently called people out of home based meetings and into former pagan auditoriums to gather for 'church') and so tried to make Saturnalia a Christian festival, choosing to celebrate the birth of Jesus at that time.  

The word Christmas is short for 'Christ-mass' or the 'Mass of Christ'. A 'mass' at its root is anything with body and density, so a gathering of people is called a mass of people. In the Roman church it is a gathering of the people in the auditorium to worship Christ, therefore Christ-mass. Christmas. Thus the celebration of Saturnalia was merged with the celebration of supposed birth date of Jesus. (He was born in either spring or fall, but that's for another discussion perhaps) 

Abuse of Jews

Saturnalia didn't disappear entirely however. In 1466 Pope Paul II forced Jews to run naked through the streets of Rome after having been force fed to the point of being stuffed. By the time of the Pilgrims in America, Christmas was banned until about 1681. As late as the 18th and 19th centuries Jews were abused and Rabbi's were dressed up as clowns and paraded around cities. In 1881 in Poland it escalated to attacks against all Jewish citizens, with many women raped and many men killed. That was only 133 years ago! 

The holiday is filled with pagan roots

Saturnalia as mentioned above is just one example of pagan roots. Evergreen trees were brought indoors and worshipped as not dying in winter like all other trees, as part of the Asheira religion. They danced around them, adorned them with ornaments, and that practice was sanctioned by the church as a Christmas tree in order to further merge Christianity with pagan practices.  

Mistletoe was used by Druids to poison their human sacrifices, and kissing under the mistletoe is a blending of the sexual excesses after coming under the influence of food and drink at Saturnalia with the Druid's human sacrifice at that time, watered down to our day of coming 'under' its spell and being kissed.  

The god of Santa Claus

Many know of Nicolas of Parara, Turkey, made a saint in the 1800's. He became the Bishop of Myra and died on December 6, in the year 345. He was generous and idolized for centuries, and his bones were eventually moved to Bari, Italy.
 

Bari had a local goddess honored every December called 'the Grandmother', who used to fill children's stockings with gifts, and was blended with the worship of Nicolas to be celebrated on December 6, the date of Nicolas' death. The cult of Nicolas worship moved north into Europe and was adopted by the Germans and Celts and blended with the Norse god Woden, father of Thor. Woden had a long white beard, wore a heavy winter robe, and rode a horse across the sky one night each autumn, so when blended with the Nicolas cult his flight took place on December 6. 

And once again the Roman church stepped in to include the Nicolas cult so that the giving of gifts, filling of stockings, and him riding a horse across the sky were moved to a couple of weeks later, December 25. 

From there you can follow the line quite easily: Washington Irving wrote a popular satirical American article in 1809 entitled 'A History of New York' or 'Knickerbocker History' which poked fun at Dutch culture who were the aristocrats at the time in NYC, and mentioned several times their white bearded, horse flying through the sky giver of gifts, using the Dutch name Americanized, Santa Claus.  

(Knickerbocker was the last name of some of the founding Dutch families of NYC. The Dutch founding of NYC is why we have for instance, the New York Knicks NBA team, and numerous organizations to this day including 'Knickerbocker' in their name,) 

Modern Santa Claus

Less than 13 years later, in 1922 Dr. Clement Moore read 'Knickerbocker History' and made a poem for his children, published in December of 1823 which we know as 'The Night Before Christmas'. In the poem he brought these elements together, but made Nicolas flying by 8 reindeer instead of a horse .
 

Illustrator Thomas Nast worked for the US magazine, Harper's Weekly from 1862-1886, and based on Dr. Moore's poem over the years gave us our modern Santa Claus, including his list of good and bad children, his workshop at the North Pole using elves to make gifts, and so on. 

In 1931 the Coca-Cola company contracted Swedish artist Haddon Sundblom to create a Coke drinking Santa Claus. Drawing from elements above, and asking his friend Lou Prentice to model due to his cheerful and chubby face, Sundblom completed the blending of the once pagan god to the modern Santa Claus. 

What is a Christian to do?

As I shared many of these things with the students and they shared other details their parents had taught them of the evils of Christmas (and Easter, but that's for another time perhaps), I noted the ingredients in our food: beef, chicken, vegetables, grain, dairy, oil, salt.
 

I asked them if they realized everything they were eating had at one time, or were in our day and age considered holy or sacrificed to various gods. They looked at me like I'd slapped them across the face. 

The beef we ate was considered holy by Hindus and beef offerings are common in many religions. Catholic/native religion blends in Central and South America offer beef, goat, chicken, grains, vegetables to the various gods and idols. They realized that various people in the past and present make idols of everything from food to animals to figurines of owls, frogs, cattle, elephants and more - so that having even a figurine in their house could mean they had an idol on their shelf.

Where to draw the line? What does God expect of us since we are surrounded by idols? The answers are found in the pages of the New Testament, and that is where I'll pick it up next week. Until then, blessings, 

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

 

 

 

 

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Israel-Messiancs-law #4

12/6/2014

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Hi all,
To understand what most 'Messianic' disciples believe we need to understand that the Mosaic law consisted of 3 parts: Worship/God, health, and moral laws.  

The worship/God laws included the 7 Biblical festivals (6 feasts and 1 fast), as well as the sacrificing of animals. The health laws included such things as not eating scavenger animals and washing your hands. The moral law included things like assigning responsibility if your cow injured my cow and repayment of debt.  

All 3 parts of the law (God/health/moral) are found in and summarized in the 10 Commandments.

For instance, if you are having a friend over for dinner you won't serve an unclean animal (health), as honoring your neighbor (moral) who is made in the image of God. (God). Therefore all 3 parts (God/health/moral) are summarized in the 10 Commandments.  

Paul's wrote of these 3 elements of the law in Romans 14 when he noted some choose to honor Sabbath days and some do not (God), that some eat only herbs, some eat all things, some drink wine and some don't (health), and he brought it all together by saying what each person does they do so unto the Lord, so walk in love towards one another and don't argue about it. (moral) Thus once again we see, walking in love fulfills the whole law because love includes all 3 parts of the law.  

What is a Judaizer?

There were some in Paul's day who said the work of Jesus wasn't enough, and walking in love towards God and man doesn't fulfill the law. They believed we are made 'more complete' by obeying the 613 specific laws of Moses, or at least selective ones that applied.  

Today when we talk of 'Messianic' believers, many of them follow in this same spirit. They believe just walking in love towards God and man isn't enough, we must also walk in the health and the part of the worship law that can be observed. Thus they often observe the 7 Biblical festivals, gather for worship on Friday night or Saturday, and often follow some of the dietary laws in addition to walking in love. (There is no Biblical command to worship each Friday night or Saturday, it is a man-made tradition created by the Pharisees roughly 200 BC. See Exodus 20:8-11 for the Sabbath command)  

They fail to recognize what the founding apostles believed and taught as I pointed out above: All 3 parts of the Mosaic law are found within the 2 Royal laws: Love the Lord with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself, which as Paul said, fulfills the whole law.  

To teach that disciples are not complete or may become 'more complete' or 'please God more' if they specifically follow each Old Testament law, is wrong, possibly out of ignorance (though zealous) and more than that, heresy and rather a slap in the face of Jesus and His work on the cross. But many think they are walking in higher truth, though living in fear and bondage which is plain for all to see.  

My experience has been in interacting with many is that fear is often the common denominator: Fear of displeasing God, fear for their health, fear of 'missing it' spiritually therefore following the OT law is known and can't be missing it because God Himself gave the law - so if they've missed it in the past in the crazy Charismatic world, at least they won't following the Mosaic law.  

The word 'Judaizer' is found in Galatians 2:14 when Peter felt pressure from Jewish believers to eat with them, separating himself from Gentile believers. His action was hypocritical as Paul pointed out :
"You being a Jew live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, so why are you now compelling the Gentiles to *live like the Jews?" (Greek literal: *live according to Jewish customs, or in English: Judaizer). 

These Judaizers are the ones who pressured Paul and others to (selectively) observe all 3 parts of the laws of Moses. So if a believer pressures others to obey the worship/health laws of Moses, they aren't the modern term 'Messianic', but rather as scripture says, a Judaizer.  

But for us "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to all who believe" and "Love does no wrong to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." (Galatians 3:25-26, Romans 7:7, 10:4, 13:8-10) 

Now...what about Israel?

The common teaching is that spiritual Israel (believers in Jesus) have replaced natural Israel. It is built around natural Israel rejected their Messiah so God turned to the Gentiles, who have been grafted in (along with some believing Jews) and have become the 'real' Israel. Therefore to some, natural Israel means nothing. 

This argument is blind to the larger purpose of the Lord, who says to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 of their covenant: "...and in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed", showing God's covenant with Abraham would include all nations, not just for his descendants that became the nation of Israel.  

There would come a time when the Lord would stop referring to Jew and Gentile 

By including 'all nations' it meant there would come a time when God would end making a distinction between Jew and Gentile because His larger purpose was for all nations to be in Him.  

That time was Christ, which Paul understood: "...For you are all the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus...there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you are in Christ you are a descendant of Abraham and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:26-29 

The work of Jesus means in God's eyes only 2 types of people exist: Those who know Him and those who don't know Him. And those who do know Him have become a descendant of Abraham by that covenant. 

Some believers who follow the law of Moses believe only spiritual Israel counts, again, not seeing the larger picture. Because the Father's larger plan was to include people of all nations, it is understood that Israel is included in 'all nations'.  

We charismatic's take this verse out of context 

We often use the verse 'The gifts and calling of God are without repentance' to give comfort to a friend who has perhaps missed God, and we encourage them that the Lord STILL has a plan and they haven't missed it beyond the point of no return. 

But the context is actually about unbelieving Israel - the natural Israel. "From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown you they may now also be shown mercy. For God has shut up all of us in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all." Romans 11:28-32 

Whatever way you've applied the gifts and calling of God are without repentance to yourself or a friend, it was actually written about unbelieving Israel, so apply it accordingly.  

To this Paul continues: "I don't want you to be ignorant of this mystery brethren, so you won't be wise in your own self, that a partial hardening (blindness) has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved exactly as it is written: The deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob (Israel), This is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins." 

So natural Israel matters both to world and to spiritual Israel.  

If some reading this have specific questions I'm of course happy to answer specific questions, just email me at the email listed below. The fact is the Jewish and Gentile believers of the New Testament were overwhelmed by the new creation realities that Christ lived in them by virtue of the new birth.  

Paul said in II Corinthians 5:16-17, "From this point on I know no person by natural standards (race, wealth, social class) for if a person is in Christ he is a new creature, old things have passed away and behold; All things have become new." 

Paul measured people as God the Father now does, who no longer recognizes Jew nor Gentile, but only if they are His kids or not. What rule, what fast or feast, what formula could add to that miracle of being re-born into the Royal family of the Father God?  

New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

 

 

 

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