You know, you never take a chance when trusting in God.  His faithfulness, His grace, His love…is the original Never Ending Story!  (That movie was such a rip off anyway, I mean IT ENDED!)  What I’m saying is that God is ultimately trust worthy.  You’ll never hear God say or display, “come unto Me, trust in Me, choose to follow Me…and it just might work out…”  Not going to happen.  The promise is given, the delivery is sure…that if we come to Him, we will find rest for our souls, peace in our hearts, and purpose for our lives.  Its not will God work it out, it’s will we allow Him to lead?

So often I don’t.  I just have to figure it out for myself…sometimes even “help God out.”  But I’m just like a kid.  In fact, I’m His kid.  Until I let Him lead, even the help that I give Him, the effort that I exert, is really just…in His way.  Friday, we received a piece of furniture that April ordered from Target.com.  And guess what, it came with, “some assembly required.”  And so I gathered the required tools and cracked the box.

Then around the corner comes guess who?  Link!  My three year old and immediately he grabbed the hammer and as I would secure each screw, he would come behind me and just tap in those screws.  Each one.  And he wanted me to watch so I’d have to pause between screws and hype him up, you know let him know I saw him and that he was doing well before I could move on to progress.  But here’s the cool part.  When it came to attaching the doors, I literally needed a second set of hands and so I asked Link to hold the door in position.  Guess what?  He didn’t get it!

So I tried again.  And then again, and then finally I just put him in position and said “stop!  Stay right here.  Hold this.”  And he did it and together, we secured the doors.  It was cool…and then wisdom slapped me in the face like it has to do to get my attention so often…that is exactly how I am with God.  I don’t know how to help until I let Him show me and most often He has to just say, “Stop!  Stay right there…hold this.”  And when I trust Him to lead and just rest in His grace, beautiful things are built in my life and in the lives of those around me!

That’s precisely how Paul wrapped up Chapter 8.  All things are working together for the good to them that love God and are called according to His purposes.  Why?   Because nothing can separate us from His powerful love!  That is not a Bible verse that you take a chance on, that’s biblical proof…experiential reality man.  But it’s tough sometimes to rest in that, right?  When times are tough.  Situations are straining and patience is seemingly powerless.  We all see those times, even Paul…and if that’s you then Romans 9 – 11 should encourage you. 

Because after proclaiming the wonderful Biblical reality of Romans 8:28, Paul pauses and inserts the nation of Israel as a historical, spiritual and factual illustration that He is faithful even when His people are fitful!  You can take that to the bank.  There’s no “chance” there.  No matter where you’re at, what you’re going through, God will be, and is being, utterly, 100%, perfectly…faithful to you. 

I like what Gandhi said.  “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it, always.”  How can I be sure?  Look at God’s relationship with Israel…

In Chapter 9, Paul points to God’s past dealings with Israel in terms of His sovereignty, His perfect and complete knowledge.  In Chapter 10, Paul deals with God’s present dealings with Israel and what stands out is His divine equity…His impartiality…His fairness in that whether Jew or gentile, all are invited to be saved.  Here in Chapter 11, we come to God’s future dealings with Israel, which puts on display God’s immutable integrity.  What does that mean?

Look God made certain promises to Israel which He will fulfill.  Even though they’ve blown it badly, God has promised to see them through…and get this, not based upon their righteousness but based on His own.  The same is true for you.  God has promised that He started the work in my heart, He’ll see it through (Philippians 1:6) and so whether I blast off or break down, wisdom tells me He’s not through.  You never take a chance on Jesus.  He’s the only decision you can make moment to moment that will continually, always, without fail or fluctuation…be the right decision.  Whether we see it now or not.  And in that, we find rest for our souls.

Romans Chapter 11 Verse 1

• Last two chapters, pleading with the Jew on how they’ve sought to establish themselves as worthy which was never the intention of the law in the first place and now Paul says, so what does that mean…has God now rejected them as a people…has He “moved on?” Paul’s answer is clear…No!  In fact, “certainly not!”  In other words, “not in the least!”
• You who seek to understand Biblical prophecy, what’s coming, what’s going to happen, take note of this because many groups and people teach that God is finished with Israel and that teaching leads you to a very confused prophetic picture. This whole false doctrine of Replacement Theology…that the church is now the recipients of the blessings that were promised to Israel.  Not so, the church has simply been grafted in man but let me tell you, my main issue with this is that God made a promise…and we don’t take a chance on him. 
• So exhibit A. God made a promise to Israel, that promise stands.  Exhibit B.  Paul states clearly for us, the Word of God is explicit; God has not cast away His people.  And then exhibit C.  Paul himself happens to be a Jew…helloooooo!

Romans Chapter 11 Verses 2 – 4

• The early, the original church, who started it all man? The whole world being flipped on its head for righteousness sake, the entire world being informed, enlightened, illuminated by the truth of Jesus Christ…the Savior of the world, God in the flesh, the fulfillment of all scripture…the original church was comprised of whom?  You got it!  Jews! 
• And here Paul debates, discusses, discloses to us that broad brushing the Jew as OT theology is bad doctrine…why? The church is instituted where?  The NT!
• So Paul here points to Elijah and says to his fellow Jew, “don’t lose heart man. Remember that Elijah caved himself in with complaining and disbelief…don’t do that!” He’s speaking to the Jew but we do this all the time.  (Paul will invoke Elijah for the sake of the remnant, just as there is a remnant of the Jews who will accept salvation by grace through faith…precisely what the law originally taught!  But before we get into that, there’s a mighty point here…Elijah caved himself in man…with complaints…specifically complaints against his own people.  We do the same thing, man…)
• We pray against people, we plead with God for Him to “get ‘em” but here’s the thing…Elijah didn’t know the whole story and neither do you. There are things about them you just don’t know, qualities of living behind their eyes that you just can’t see and know this…this is fact…this is wisdom…God sees people in a whole different light than we do.
• Yes God see’s their failures and their frailties, but He also sees His plan, what He’s doing…He see’s their tears and troubles that we care nothing about! We miss it…why?  We judge folks by what we think they should be while God looks at them and sees what they would have been without Him.
• And so what do we do then when one is falling, flaking out…fakin’ man…we correct, rebuke, exhort and teach in love, we serve, we pray for them…not against them, and we encourage the remnant within them! Just as Paul is bringing to mind to the Jew right now that even though it seemed that all have turned from him, little did Elijah know, there was a remnant in the valley praying for him…  

Romans Chapter 11 Verse 5

• Think of “election of grace” like this, God’s sovereignty. People get all bent out of shape when they run into a Biblical word like “election” so let’s bring it one level down on the book shelf so that we all can reach it…think of it this way, “God is perfect, and his knowledge is perfect.”

Romans Chapter 11 Verse 6

• You ever notice how a blurred picture, blurs your eyes? You look at a picture and it was taken by a 5 year old and the person has like six eyes that are all joined together by a smudge of colors?  And you squint your eyes a little bit and for some it even gives you a little eye ache.  Then you look up…and for a moment, everything is still blurred…
• Paul says to the Jews, to us…look up and let your eyes adjust…you’ve been looking at a blurred picture…thinking you need to present yourself good enough to receive God’s love…that’s Jesus’ job…
• This remnant that Paul speaks of is not a remnant according to the law. Rather it’s a remnant comprised of those who are saved by grace.  And what’s true for them is true for us…you and I were saved by grace, if you don’t know the Lord today you can be saved…not by doing this or paying that or reciting this but simply by receiving the grace of God through Jesus Christ!  And if we were saved by grace, let’s continue in it man…
• That’s not a blank check for sin…come on man PLEASE! Read Romans Chapter 1 again!  To continue in God’s grace is to give Him the praise continually!  Because it’s all His doing.  His creation, His love, His compassion, His Son, His blood, His righteousness…and so we, you and I, I am…His!
• But so many start to mix in works saying, “Lord, look at how hard I’m working for you, surely the blessing is a-coming…” and ultimately that morphs into, “God, You owe me!” That happens in our marriages when we serve to get, in our jobs when we serve to get, in our families, kids…as you serve your parents to get the BIG present at Christmas…ultimately and indefinitely it turns you bitter man…locks you in poisonous prison…why?  “Man, you owe me dad!”  Dad don’t owe you nothing!  And neither does God.  He’s done it all and if you wanna work hard for Him then run with me man but let’s do it for His glory and not our own!
• I am convinced that the Lord is looking for people, families, employees, kiddos, churches that He can just light up with blessings who will truly say, believe and live out the fact that it is only by God’s grace that we’ve been blessed. This church, this family, this job, this and that and this-and-a…is not because God has done something WITH us, it’s because He has done something FOR us…all of it man!  Every good and perfect gift…simply because He so loves each one of us and because of grace…because of Jesus, He can freely know us and we can freely draw near to Him.
• And I’m convinced that the church, the family, the dad, the mom, the employer that believes for real that God’s blessings and love and provision is not because of our powerful prayer, our diligent devotions or our endless energy…that God’s love and blessing and provision is simply, purely, utterly and solely according to His grace…the person that is for real about that…will know Him as He desires to be known…in Spirit and in Truth…in freedom and in joy…and will ignite a movement so powerful that the entire world will be turned on its head as folks come alive…in Jesus name.
• That is Paul’s desire for the Jew. No more of this lawful, self righteousness…no more of this religious elite and religious condemnation…just freedom man…just life and life abundant…just walking with Jesus man…the Garden (of Eden) restored in the regenerate heart of His beloved child…
• And then the taping of the screws stops, the beautiful work begins…