December 18, 2012
“This is the brand new covenant that I will make with Israel when the time comes. I will put my law within them — write it on their hearts! –and be their God. And they will be my people. They will no longer go around setting up schools to teach each other about God. They’ll know me firsthand, the dull and the bright, the smart and the slow. I’ll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I’ll forget they ever sinned!” God’s Decree.” Jeremiah 31:33-34 The Message
The promise is so old that you can hardly envision it having any power today. How do words proclaimed by an ancient God-voice messenger hold any influence today? They do. God has made promises to a nomadic-sheepherding-promise-land people who are still under His warranty. It doesn’t matter if they have abandoned Him. Not all of them have. You just can’t see them or hear them for all the “instant-news” chatter that fills the air. When they stepped outside of His promise, He stepped inside the outsider’s worlds (your world) to open the door of your heart and welcome you back. God’s long-range Message is for you to know him firsthand .. personally .. indwelling in your life. The same God who has wiped the jews slate clean is the same God who wipes your slate clean. The same Jew did it for both of us. God has written this promise upon your heart. Nothing is hidden from him. Everyone of us starts on the outside because of sin. And you are welcomed home by The Sinless One .. wiped clean .. forgotten .. welcomed .. “under full warranty”. The world you live in smears the name “jew” in every corner of life. But the God who called them calls them his redeemed .. his own .. his royal priesthood .. and a holy nation. And the miracle of that Message is that what happens in your heart is written in the jewish blood of Jesus. In Christ your life is “never cancelled and never rescinded”. That means today is in His grip … and it only takes a moment …
“From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Message, it looks like the Jews are God’s enemies. But looked at from the long-range perspective of God’s overall purpose, they remain God’s oldest friends. God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty — never canceled, never rescinded. … God makes sure that we all experience what it means to be outside so that he can personally open the door and welcome us back in. ” Romans 11:28-29,32 The Message
Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Outsiders welcomed home following Jesus and friends of Priority One (ken@priorityone.org)
