Daily Bread 5-22-17

Romans 11:18-20

18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

19 Thou wilt say then, the branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.

20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded but fear:

ref. - Ro 12:16 - Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate, be not wise in your own conceits.

Ph 2:12 - Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Many times, when things are going right and God is blessing his people, and even some times when he is not, they get too high-minded and begin to think that they are too important. They begin to think worldly and start thinking that they have rights and are entitled to the things of God. They also start to think that the reason that the Jews fell was because God saw something greater in them and replaced the Jews with them. In truth, the only reason the Jews fell was because they would not believe that Christ was the Son of God and they would not believe that he was sent to lead them. Make no mistake, Christ was a Jew, the Apostles were Jews, and all things of God were created for them. It was not because God found a better replacement for them that they still lay in blindness, it was of their own disobedience and disbelief. There is not one Gentile today that is not a part of the "B-Team". God still has his eyes on his chosen people and he is patiently waiting for them to come back and follow Christ. When they do, we will be seen as who we are. The second choice. This is why we mustn't become high minded. A very wise man once said, "Be careful whose toes you step on, they might lead up to the man you have to answer to some day." Although this is not scripture, it is the same message that Paul was trying to get through to the Romans. Sure they had power on earth, sure God was blessing those who would follow Christ, sure they were living a life thousands of times greater than they had without him. But they often time got too big for their own shoes and tried to step into ones that weren't made for them. They had to be reminded not to get too proud or boastful, as from the rocks God could raise up someone to take their place. They were told not to be consumed with the salvations of others, unless that was their calling, but to mind their own salvations. Today, there are too many that are trying to step into shoes that aren't theirs. They are getting themselves involved in things that they have no business in. Their own salvations and their own callings are miserably going down the drain. Some are ministers with empty Churches, some are deacons who are disobedient to the ministers, others are being led around by the nose by sinners and non-believers. But they seem to be more interested in what is going on with God's chosen people than the fact that what they have can be taken away at any moment. You see, the Gentiles that will follow are many, easily replaceable, but the believing Jews are few. And somehow many Gentiles are thinking that God sees them as above his own. Today, be not mistaken, what we have can be taken away in an instant when we get too big for our own britches. When we look past our own responsibilities and look upon the responsibilities of others who have been placed in authority over us, we will be neglecting the very salvation that has been given us and the very calling that we have been entrusted to. It is high time to work out our own salvations and our own callings with fear and trembling. It is time for each of us to look into our own callings and ask ourselves, are we successful at what we have been called to? Are we focused on being who God created us to be? If you are a Pastor, how is your Church? If you are a teacher, how is your class? If you are a musician, how is your music? Is it orderly and in concordance with the way we are taught in Newton? If you are a deacon, how orderly is your congregation? How clean is the Church? Do you really have the qulaifiacations necessary to be a deacon? If you are an Evangelist, how is your message? If you are a board member are you doing your own job? Or does someone else have to do it for you? If you are in a place of authority over anything, how are those whom you have been put in responsibility over? You see, instead of looking on the things of others and trying to covet after something that is not ours, maybe we should all look into our own selves and make sure that we have what we say we have and have not lost what we once had. Take this to heart, God has not forgotten who he has chosen and who he has put in order, he has also not forgotten the salvation that we are each to possess. We better take care of what we have been borrowed,before God sends the true owners come and take it back. Have a great day!!!