And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Job 42:10.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me. There is more than enough room in My Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. John 14:1-3.
And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 182: The Prince of Peace, Sar Shalom. Isaiah 9:6: For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. And, John 16:33: These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.
At what point will we realize all that God is longing for, for all of us? That we are children of the same Father? And Jesus came to show us the Father in real time then and now. He opened up salvation for all of His children. And our salvation is in Him. And there were many then who could not accept that salvation was open to the Gentiles, but why not open to them? What are we missing today in our own blindness of exclusion? We who think we alone know God and because of that believe we alone are righteous, do we sin by not trusting all that God is doing in any age? He brings change always because our understanding of Him needs to change until that blessed time when we will all of us stand before Him! Imagine what Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, faced as he was teaching the truth as Christ Jesus revealed it to him. If the Jews believed that they alone held the truth of the Oneness of God and His requirements for living honoring Him only; and the Gentiles were to come out of the very idolatry God hated, can we appreciate the seismic shift that brought to both groups? But the Jews didn’t follow God blamelessly and the pull of the way of idolatry was not easy to abandon. I think the greatest challenge Paul faced was helping them and all of us see that we all sin and fall far short of the glory of God. Jew and Gentile, which includes all of us. Until we truly realize in the depths of our being that we sin, we can’t appreciate how much we need a Savior. It’s individual, us and God, before it can ever be all of us because our own hearts need to see our deep need for Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit and experience the healing He brings that enables us to love Him and love one another.
***Authentic transformation is possible if we are willing to do one thing, and that is to arrange our lives around the kind of practices and life Jesus led to be constantly receiving power and love from the Father. Dallas Willard (1935-2013).***
