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StartUp – Tuesday August 16, Romans 9:14-18
Hi Passionate Youth Reaching Out, today is Tuesday, August 16, My name is Grant and this is StartUp, helping you start your day with an upward focus. Today we see how Paul builds a case for God choosing to show mercy to whoever he wants to.
Romans 9:14–18 (HCSB)
14 What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 15 For He tells Moses: I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture tells Pharaoh: I raised you up for this reason so that I may display My power in you and that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 18 So then, He shows mercy to those He wants to, and He hardens those He wants to harden.
You might think that it is unfair that God chooses to show his mercy to one person, and not to another. What Paul is showing us in Romans is that God is God, and we are his creation. God has absolute freedom in this area to show his love, mercy and compassion wherever he wants to. We are simply God’s creation and He is not bound in the slightest by human will or effort, we cannot manipulate God.
Does it make it fair to us that God has absolute freedom to show mercy to whomever he wants to show mercy to? Of course it is fair, everything that God does is good and right, for he is Holy. Our problem is that we don’t have God’s omniscience. We can’t know everything about every situation, and so we are left to come to our own conclusions.
As you come to your conclusions, keep all of these dynamics in mind. God is holy and righteous, he has to account for sin. God is all knowing, He understands the inner workings of each persons heart. God is working for the good of those who love him. Its an opportunity to trust God in every situation, and to continue to pray for the people that we love. Tomorrow, Paul will give us some more insight to this topic.
Challenge
My challenge for you this week is to find a practical way to show God’s love to somebody. It might be helping out a neighbour with a task, writing an encouraging note or whatever else you could think of. Just reach out to someone with the love of God.
Invitation
The next event that we have to look forward to is a night that is for our whole church. We have rented a picnic site at Edworthy Park on Tuesday, August 30. Plan to be there, and bring along everything that you need for supper, fun and relaxation.
Thanks for listening to today’s StartUp, you can find all of the details about our youth group online at hbcyouth.ca. We are also on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, all of the social media links are available at hbcyouth.ca .
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By Grant van BoeschotenHi Passionate Youth Reaching Out, today is Tuesday, August 16, My name is Grant and this is StartUp, helping you start your day with an upward focus. Today we see how Paul builds a case for God choosing to show mercy to whoever he wants to.
Romans 9:14–18 (HCSB)
14 What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 15 For He tells Moses: I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture tells Pharaoh: I raised you up for this reason so that I may display My power in you and that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 18 So then, He shows mercy to those He wants to, and He hardens those He wants to harden.
You might think that it is unfair that God chooses to show his mercy to one person, and not to another. What Paul is showing us in Romans is that God is God, and we are his creation. God has absolute freedom in this area to show his love, mercy and compassion wherever he wants to. We are simply God’s creation and He is not bound in the slightest by human will or effort, we cannot manipulate God.
Does it make it fair to us that God has absolute freedom to show mercy to whomever he wants to show mercy to? Of course it is fair, everything that God does is good and right, for he is Holy. Our problem is that we don’t have God’s omniscience. We can’t know everything about every situation, and so we are left to come to our own conclusions.
As you come to your conclusions, keep all of these dynamics in mind. God is holy and righteous, he has to account for sin. God is all knowing, He understands the inner workings of each persons heart. God is working for the good of those who love him. Its an opportunity to trust God in every situation, and to continue to pray for the people that we love. Tomorrow, Paul will give us some more insight to this topic.
Challenge
My challenge for you this week is to find a practical way to show God’s love to somebody. It might be helping out a neighbour with a task, writing an encouraging note or whatever else you could think of. Just reach out to someone with the love of God.
Invitation
The next event that we have to look forward to is a night that is for our whole church. We have rented a picnic site at Edworthy Park on Tuesday, August 30. Plan to be there, and bring along everything that you need for supper, fun and relaxation.
Thanks for listening to today’s StartUp, you can find all of the details about our youth group online at hbcyouth.ca. We are also on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, all of the social media links are available at hbcyouth.ca .