ARCC Sermons

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August 3rd

The bible reading today is in 2 Chronicles 32,33.

“Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. Wow, if he reigned that long, surely God was all over him. He was the son of the godly king Hezekiah. He only knew his dad for 12 years, but he was discipled in the faith early on by his grandfather and prophet Zecheriah. And he reigned as king in Judah longer than any king in Israel’s history. As an outsider looking in, Manasseh had every advantage for a Godly life and kingship.

But so much for the seeming advantages and the blessings of God that surrounded Manasseh...Manasseh turned out to be the worst king in Israel’s history, except at the end of his life.

Let us listen to the text for today...“And Manasseh did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the “abominations of the nations” whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.”

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭33:1-2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Wow, here was a king in Judah that copied the darkest evil ever practiced by the godless nations that Yahweh drove out for His chosen ones of faith.

Now think about it with me...Youthful Manasseh had been schooled in the “fear of the Lord” of Israel. In other words, he had been taught that God was good and wise and that He had a wonderful plan for his life. He had been taught that God was watching and working in and around his life for his good and the good of his family and nation.

Manasseh had been taught that God loved him and treasured him as his own and that He wanted to use him for the Glory of God’s kingdom. And most of all, Manasseh had been taught that God wanted a love relationship with him. Believe Me...walk with Me...Let’s do life together. But even with all that knowledge, even with all that promise, Manasseh didn't care and simply chose himself over God.

Oh how this reminds me of my own youthfulness. I was brought up around religion. I believed in God’s existence. I would tell people that I believed the bible, that I had been baptized and joined the church. And yet, I chose myself over God every time. I didn't worship Him. I worshipped and served myself every time.

From a distance, I may have looked religious enough to fool most. But now I know that I wasn't fooling God not one second.

This part of the history of Israel is very telling. It reminds me of Jesus’s message about the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13.

“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13:24-26‬ ‭ESV‬

Jesus was teaching that there would be spiritual weeds that would grow up among the true spiritual wheat in the field of the world. From a distance, the weed looked very much like the wheat. It even had a head on the stalk that resembled the wheat, but when you opened it there was no fruit. There was “no Jesus life”.

That was Manasseh, that was me, weeds among wheat...at least for a season. And then God did something to the aging king on his way back from visiting pagan Babylon.

“Manasseh was in distress. He entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.”

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭33:12-13‬ ‭ESV‬

Manasseh lived the better part of his life rejecting the faith and the God of his father. At the end of his days, during great affliction, Manasseh repented and began to serve the Lord. Manasseh had been kidnapped by Assyrian captains and taken to Babylon and put in chains for a season. He got sick..very sick.

Remember Jonah rebelling against God? Remember how God put him in the belly of a whale to turn his heart toward the Lord? Well God put king Manasseh into a Babylonian dungeon to afflict his body and soul, to turn his heart toward the Lord.

Can you imagine what it would have been like for the faithful remnant in Jerusalem when they heard that their wicked oppressive king was actually coming back? They probably started appealing to God for help again. Imagine their surprise when he returned a converted man. Halleluiahs must have replaced their anxious cries.

Some theologians have questioned the validity of Manasseh’s faith after such a long history of ever-escalating sinfulness against God and God’s people. But Spurgeon said, “I do not wonder at Manasseh ‘s sin half as much as I wonder at God’s mercy.”

Oh, Mr. Spurgeon, my heart resonates with yours. Oh, the length and height and depth that my Lord Jesus went to in order to save me from my sin and sinning.

Praise You Jesus...and Manasseh joins in too.

Have a great day

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August 2nd

Our Bible reading today is in 2 Kings 20,21.

Judah is under siege by Assyria. God would deliver Judah from the hand of Assyria, only to give them into the hands of the Babylonians eight years later. These chapters major on the end of King Hezekiah’s reign in Judah and God’s promises to him before he died.

“In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death.” The king was 39 years old. And he was very sick. Isaiah the prophet came to him and told Hezekiah that his death was near...” get your house in order.”

‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭20:1‬ ‭

Hezekiah wept bitterly. He turned his face away from Isaiah and into the wall for a private time with God. Some say that Hezekiah was the “good king” in the history of the divided kingdom of Israel. Some have said that the young king was closer to God than most in matters of faith and devotion.

Yet when faced with death, Hezekiah wept bitterly. And begged God for more time. Why? Perhaps this young man was scared of death and dying. Maybe he would have been better at a sudden death, with little time to meet it. Maybe he had forgotten that death was not the master. His God was, and death was the Father’s Majestic horse carrying him to the Father’s house in glory. Or maybe Hezekiah genuinely did not want to leave his post as leader in Judah while the nation was in such a perilous conflict with Assyria. Or maybe, he honestly felt that if he had more time, he could adequately have and prepare a son to reign in his place. For at that time, the young king was without an heir to his throne.

God heard Hezekiah’s tearful prayer and gave him fifteen more years. In that time, Hezekiah had a son, Manasseh. And he had 12 years with the boy before he died.

Spurgeon said that “prayer was the burden of a sigh...the falling of a tear...the upward glancing of an eye...when none but God is near”.

By the way, I think that it is important that we take a look at the prayer of Hezekiah for a moment.

“Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.”

‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭20:3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I dont think this was intended to be a self-righteous prayer. Though it sure sounds like one. Or maybe he should have prayed, “Lord, you have been gracious enough to make me who I am. Whatever good is included, be pleased to spare my life in these days.”

So how should we pray? In Christ, we come to pray, not in our name and reputation, but in Jesus’ Name and His righteousness. Let us listen to Jesus...John 16.

“...Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father “in my name”, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing “in my name”. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

‭‭John‬ ‭16:23-24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Ok, Lord, my expectation of answered prayer is in You and your promises, not in me and mine.

Love you, Lord...

Have a great day

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August 1st

Our bible reading today is in the last three chapters of the book of Isaiah...chapters 64, 65, 66.

In chapters 63,64, the prophet is praying. Isaiah is interceding to God on behalf of himself and the whole of God’s people.

“Oh that you Lord would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence—”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭64:1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God our Savior...Elohim...come down...like you did at Sinai...where the mountains quaked and the sky was filled with the fire and cloud of your presence. Come down like that Lord...that awe and conviction would fill the hearts and minds of your people today just like our forefathers and mothers experienced You years ago.

When I read Isaiah’s intercession here, I can't help but apply it to the second coming of Christ. O Lord Jesus, you promised your first disciples at the time of your ascension into heaven that you would return to the earth in glory one day. We are still listening for the trumpet blast that will gather your people on earth and your people from the grave to meet you in the air. As the apostle, John said in the last chapter of the Revelation...”Come, Lord Jesus...Come...!”

We plead as Isaiah did. Rend the heavens. Come down. Do as you purposed to do all along. Make all things new.

When Isaiah prayed this prayer, he was broken over his sin and broken over the sinning of the rest of God’s people. O how he wanted God to do something that would awaken Israel spiritually. “as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— “Isaiah was praying that the “fire” of God’s presence would fall upon Israel and melt their cold hearts and set aflame once again their hearts toward God and for God’s purposes for them.

Isaiah prayed that God would so invade Israel spiritually, that the nations of the world would not only notice but also tremble at what God was doing.

Oh Lord, do that in your church today. Start with me. Let your fire fall on me and set my soul aflame once again for Thee and your people and the world which desperately needs the Gospel unto salvation.

“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭64:6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Isaiah bewailed his own sins before God. He confessed them. He didn't hide them anymore. He humbly admitted his disobedience to God, and was most sorrowful. He confessed to God that his sins had carried him away from God. And that he had been living in the soiled garment of sin too long.

Isaiah prayed...”Lord, even in our sin...You are still our Father... “Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭64:9‬ ‭

In chapters 65,66...God answers Isaiah’s plea...“I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭65:2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Oh friends, do we not see Jesus her? From the mount of olives...looking upon Jerusalem...”Jerusalem how long I waited for you...longing to gather you as a hen gathers her chicks...”

Isaiah knew his God...his Father...his Savior...we know Him too in Christ. We too take hold of him in repentance and faith. Come, Lord Jesus!

Have a great day

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July 31

Our Bible reading today is in Isaiah chapters 59-63.

During the years of Israel’s discipline at the hands of their loving, all-powerful God, many in Israel wondered if God still loved them. And many others wondered if the strength of God had diminished. Some believed that God’s hearing had become dull and that He had lost interest in His covenant people.

And then Isaiah speaks...“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭59:1

Isaiah would remind the people of promise that the problem was not on God’s end, but theirs. They felt distanced from God and blamed God. When in reality, their rebellious and unrepentant sinning separated themselves from close fellowship with God.

God was still right there. Their sinning simply made it hard for them to see and feel his presence or hear His gentle voice. I'm just quoting God’s prophet Isaiah...“your sins have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so it seems to you that he does not hear.”

Isaiah. 59.

Now in chapter 60...“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭60:1-2‬ ‭

The prophet’s message was one of hope and charge to Israel as their days in Babylonian exile marched on. Isaiah was preaching God has judged the nations just as surely as He has put you through the refiner’s fire. You are right, the earth has been covered with darkness.

But, the Lord will arise on you. So get up, take courage, let your faith in Him be seen brightly, shine now.

Fellow followers of Jesus, remember Jesus’ charge to the apostles?...“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:16‬ ‭

O friends, the glory of the Lord has already arisen upon us who believe Jesus. His light has already come to us who believe.

So Isaiah’s message may have been prophesy and hope for Israel’s future in the kingdom of God. But in Christ, the kingdom of God is within us, because the king lives in our hearts today. So let us rise and shine by the power of the Holy Spirit within us and point people toward our glorious Savior Jesus.

Now to one more piece of God’s thunder through the prophet today...Isaiah. 61

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭61:1-3‬ ‭

Sound familiar? This is what Jesus quoted when he spoke in the synagogue in his hometown. Saying...I am that person that Isaiah prophesied of 800 years ago. I am the Messiah you have been waiting for. And all that I do will be done for the glory of God the Father.

O Jesus if You lived for the glory of God...by your grace so will your disciples!

Have a great day

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July 30th

The bible reading is in Isaiah chapters 54-58.

In our reading today, the Holy Spirit had a message for the Judean exiles in Babylon and the dispersed of Israel living throughout Assyria. It was sweet to the taste and energy for their faith in the Lord. In this reading, I too feel like Jonathan, Saul’s son, who dipped his speer into the honey of the forest and had his eyes brightened and his resolve to serve God and his father strengthened. I hope you find the same today dear friends.

To the text...God’s words to His treasured ones. Ones who weren't feeling very treasured at the moment... “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?”

God’s people were feeling far from “satisfied”. They were captives now and worried about their futures. “We have lost our independence. We have lost our wealth and security. We have lost our husbands and children and friends. We've lost our life’s work. We've lost our life’s identity.”

And God hears them...Let us repeat it out loud...God “hears them” fellow friends of Christ who may be living with loss today, Our Lord hears us. And then He asks his children to consider what “truly satisfies”. And the short answer? The only answer...! God our Savior!

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55:1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God says “come to the waters” that satisfy your thirst and that refresh your souls. It’s free to you. You don't need any money. It’s grace to you, to us.

By the way, did you notice that the invitation of God was given to “every one who thirsts.” Let us listen to Jesus give the same invitation. “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”

‭‭John‬ ‭7:37‬

Anyone come? No, not just anyone. Just anyone who was thirsty in their souls for God and His great salvation. God was saying to the Judeans “I will be your satisfaction”. He says...“I know that you're disappointed”...you are going into an uncertain future without your husband...you are feeling like I have abandoned you...“But your Maker is your husband, (Pause/repeat)...don't forget it...even if you're married, your husband cant do for you what Jesus can...remember and trust me.

The Lord of Angel Armies is his name; The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, (so don't worry about being without a life partner right now) The God of the whole earth will be your loving and protective spouse.”

Isaiah. 54:5

I know that you have disappointed desires and dreams now. “you feel like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off,” For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion, I will gather you says the Lord, your Redeemer.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭54:5-8‬

God says to Judah...I will be who and what you need. Come to the waters all of you who are thirsty for me. All of you who believe. All of you who want to believe better.

Isaiah says to the hurting Judeans. Those who were disappointed and dissatisfied with their lives. Those who were asking why is God doing this to us...“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55:8-9‬ ‭

God says I don't think like you do. And I don't act like you do. My thoughts and my ways are far higher than yours. Heaven and earth difference between you and Me. “Just trust Me,” he says. I will make it clear in time...just trust me now...drink from me.

Wow, the same thing is happening to God’s faith family today. Let’s listen to Jesus as we close...Jesus said to the woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

‭‭John‬ ‭4:13-14‬ ‭

Jesus...the water that satisfies our lives’ now and eternally.

Have a great day.

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July 29th

The bible reading today is in Isaiah chapters 49-53.

Our reading is God using Isaiah to prophesy about the coming Savior...the Messiah...Jesus Christ.

I agree with CH Spurgeon when he said, “There is no greater declaration of the gospel of Christ in the Old Testament than what we find in Isaiah’s writings...especially Isaiah 53.” But before we get there, let’s look in chapter 49 and learn of Christ’s mission, from heaven to earth and back.

“Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver, he hid me away.

Then the Father says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭49

Coastlands, land of the Gentile, Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah’s mission would include Jew and Gentile.

The Lord called me from the womb and gave me a name...” remember your new testament reading. The angel to Mary...you will bear a son and you will call his name Jesus...because he will save his people from their sins.” and I will make you a light to the nations that my salvation may reach around the world.

The Virgin Mary, Jesus conceived in the virgin’s womb, and the announcing angel would give Mary the child’s name. Jesus, He would be the Savior of all who believed Him, including people of every tongue and nation in the world.

Now to Isaiah 53 Messiah Savior through suffering...

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53:3‬ ‭

Isaiah said that the Messiah Savior God would walk the earth, be despised and rejected by men (who claimed to know the scriptures ). They should have recognized Him but instead, they called Him a liar, a lunatic, a blasphemer, and worthy of death. That was Jesus.

Isaiah said that the Messiah would be a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. That too was Jesus. After all the miracles he performed. After all the lives he changed for good. His own people esteemed him not, but rather cried out, “Crucify him...Crucify him.” Jesus knew sorrow “from people” and “for people” and his grief was so real that he sweat drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane the night before he was crucified.

Isaiah was speaking of our Jesus 800 years before he was born in Bethlehem and before he died on Golgatha’s hill outside the gates of Jerusalem.

One more piece of Isaiah’s prophesy of the coming Savior God...“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53:5‬ ‭

So many Jews have missed this very clear word picture of the gospel of God. The good news of the Messiah.

So many just couldn't believe that death to the Messiah could be good news to them. The Messiah would be the conquering king, not the suffering servant.

But suffering servant he was, at his first coming. With His wounds, we were healed of our sin condition and given new life. The chastisement for our sins that we rightly deserved was placed on Jesus instead. And by Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice, we could have peace with God forever.

Isaiah said that the Messiah would be pierced snd crushed for our sin, not his own. Remember the spear thrust into his defenseless side while He hung by nails on the cross? Jesus was pierced. And crushed like a worm from the beatings and the suffocating that crucifixion applied to the body. Jesus strained for every breath until his last one...”It is finished!”

Jesus did the work that the Father sent him to do. A saving work. By his death for you and me fellow follower. Praise the Lord...be inspired by the rest of the story now...

Have a great day

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July 28th

The bible reading today is in 2 Kings 18 & 19 and Psalm 46, 80, 135.

The 2 Kings passages reveal the history of God dealing with rebellious Judah. The Psalms reflect a faith in God that Judah would need in turbulent times that would come upon them.

To me, the teaching in the biblical texts, especially in the songs, compel us to faith in God our Savior for every situation and circumstance. Some have called Ps 46 a “song of confidence in the midst of war”. They tie it to the days of Hezekiah when Assyria was seeking to run over Judah like they did Syria and the ten tribes of Israel.

Perhaps this would be a song sung by Judah even 8 years later when Babylon captured Jerusalem and took a half a million Judeans into exile for 70 years.

People were suffering from the loss of loved ones, loss of their homes, the loss of their lands, and the loss of their Temple. To some, it felt like the loss of God Himself.

And then, most possibly, the sons of Korah. Temple servants of the Lord who were apart of the mass exodus from Jerusalem. Perhaps they began to sing their faith out loud to encourage the broken and the fearful and the lonely as they left for slavery in Babylon.

Let’s listen to the song...“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭46:1‬ ‭

Judah, not our armies, not our walls, but “God” is our refuge and our strength to endure and overcome. O Soldiers of the Cross sing it out loud, believe it with all of your heart repeat it in the midst of the battles of life. “Our God” is our safety and “Our God” is our strength to fight on until the fight is won or we are carried home in the arms of our Lord.

Back to the text...“God is our refuge and strength, “a very present help in trouble.” 46:1

The Temple servers and singers must have watched their own people and their captors as they marched and sang out of the city of David. Especially as the verse was taken up by more and more people and the sound reverberated against the mountains surrounding Jerusalem and her Kidron Valley.

Judah...Our God is our help...not just in the future...but now in this sad present-tense experience. Disciples of Jesus Christ that’s the truth that we sing, because it is the truth that we believe. Jesus is our “very” help, meaning effectual and constant help.

Let us listen to the verse Jesus spoke out loud to his disciples who were about to go through a great loss of their own, with Jesus’s death on the cross and eventual ascension to the throne room of heaven.

“But the Helper (the Comforter, the Advocate, the Intercessor—the Counselor, the Strengthener, the Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14:26‬ ‭AMP‬‬

O Judah we sing your songs from God, because we too need to be compelled to faith. Faith in the Lord who is indeed our very present help in times of trouble.

Thank you, Jesus...Holy Spirit...heavenly Father.

Have a great day

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July 27th

The Bible reading today is in Isaiah 44-48.

My personal Bible reading includes a habit created from the first week of my conversion to Christ, 50 years ago. It is the habit of taking a pen or pencil or colored marker with me to my quiet place for reading.

As I read, I'm expecting the Holy Spirit to speak to me from the Word of God. And when He does, I circle, underline, or color those particular verses that stand out to me, particular phrases, and particular words. And if there is particular meaning and application to my life seen in the text, Ill note it in the margin or in the note app on my phone or laptop.

For instance...Isaiah. 44:1,2 “But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.”

‭‭

“O Jacob, Israel whom I have chosen...Hear Me...”This is God speaking to His chosen ones...” Listen to Me...stop what you're doing...stop other conversations that you're involved in...Pay attention to Me. This is important”.

All of a sudden, I'm reminded just how central to my life with Christ is my ability and availability to hear God’s voice. He speaks to us, Christian from His Word, the still small voice of His Spirit, and even from the life and words of fellow believers. Let us listen for God’s voice.

I immediately see the names Jacob and Israel. I think of how Jacob was a deceiver and then I think of how many times that I have lied to God, lied to others, and to myself. And then I think of how Jacob ran from God and his family because of his lies, and then I am immediately convicted that I too have been a liar running from God, and sorrow mounts in my heart and mind over such sin in my life. Forgive me, Lord.

But then I read the name, Israel. Which means “prince with God”. It reminds me of the time when God wrestled with Jacob and humbled him, saved him spiritually, changed his life, and broke his hip, to remind him to trust God no matter what. Especially telling the truth even if that truth condemns you.

God changed Jacob from liar to Prince of God. And so God changed his name from Jacob to Israel. Then I remember my own wrestling with God moment. Recognizing my need to change and admitting to myself and to God that I was powerless to quit sinning. Powerless to bring about that change. I needed a new heart and a new life. I needed forgiveness and love for eternity. I needed heaven as my home so that I wouldn't be scared of death. I needed Him. Jacob got a new life and a new name from God.

50 years ago, in an athletic dorm room, Jesus gave me a new life and a new name His, Christian, little Christ one. Praise His Name.

I read the word “chosen” as related to the children of promise referred to as Jacob and Israel. God “chose” on purpose. the nation of Israel. He saved them from Egyptian bondage, guided them through the wilderness. He taught them through prophets, priests, and the Tabernacle to walk with Him, and worship Him, and be the bold image-bearers of Him to the other nations that they might believe and be saved unto eternal life.

Wow Little Christ ones, our new testament reading teaches us that God “chose us” to be His own. We didn't choose Him until He chose us. He saved us from the bondage of sin and death and hell through Christ’s death burial and resurrection, and God has used preachers and teachers and churches of the gospel of Christ to help us walk with the Lord our Savior, worship Him, work with Him and to be witnesses of Him to the nations. Sound familiar!!

Reading the bible with you is fun. God meets us here. Speaks to us and calls His own. His chosen ones for his glory.

Have a great day