R3TURN to Me

I always hear this or something like it said;

"God was a tyrant/unloving/unmerciful in the

Old Testament, and yet He was full of Grace/Love/Mercy in the New."

This, and statements like it, is nothing more then biblical ignorance. First and foremost God doesn't change..

"And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent." 

[-1 Samuel 15:29-]

"For I am the LORD, I do not change"

[-Malachi 3:6-]

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

[-Hebrews 13:8-]

God not being full of love and grace in the "old" is absolutely false. This statement that He has changed or was any different then He has always been can be proven false in so many different ways. For instances, do you think God was oblivious to the fact that the Israelites would backslide? Do you think He was surprised when they started worshipping idols and false gods?

Do you think He was like: "…hmmm…I did not think they would turn from me, I totally didn't see this coming."

If you think so, well you are wrong..check out Deuteronomy 31

And the LORD said to Moses: "Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go [to be] among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.

"Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, 'Have not these evils come upon us because our God [is] not among us?'

"And I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.

"Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel. "When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant.

"Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore [to give them]."

Deuteronomy 31:16-21

"For I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land which I swore to give them." hmm..doesn't sound like God is oblivious to the fact that the Israelites would turn away from Him.

God knew before they even set foot in the land He promised them, that they would eventually turn away.

Yet God still fulfilled His promise to His chosen people, and knowing they would turn away still showed mercy and forgiveness. In Deuteronomy 30 The LORD says;

"Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call [them] to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you,

"and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you.

Deuteronomy 30:1-3

Return to ME, God was willing and is willing to forgive because He is loving and merciful. Look at Jeremiah chapter 3

"They say, 'If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man's, May he return to her again?' Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me," says the LORD.

Jeremiah 3:1

If a man divorces his wife and she becomes another man's, there is no returning back to the first man,

She is considered unclean. Israel had turned to so many different idols and gods, she had many "lovers"…like a whore….YET God being as loving and merciful as He is simply says "Return to Me"

The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: "Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.

"And I said, after she had done all these [things], 'Return to Me.'

Jeremiah 3:6-7

Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: 'Return, backsliding Israel,' says the LORD; 'I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I [am] merciful,' says the LORD; 'I will not remain angry forever.

Only acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against the LORD your God, And have scattered your charms To alien deities under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,' says the LORD.

"Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; "for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

Jeremiah 3:12-14

What a tyrant God is…so unmerciful He is, to forgive an adulterous nation who turned their backs to Him, but not their faces. God had and absolutely has mercy, he asks you to return to Him, even after all of Israel's backsliding, all their abominations and idolatry God wanted them back! and He still does! Even after all your backsliding all your abominations and idolatry and sinfulness God still wants you, Yeshua Hamashiach-Jesus Christ the son, God in the flesh coming and taking the wrath we deserve is the ultimate proof of that.

Thank God for the breath of life in your otherwise dead lungs, each day amongst this completely wicked world He holds back the return of the SON is a testament of His mercy. Each day we wake is a chance of repentance, every time a non-believer wakes God is showing His mercy! seeking repentance He simply says "Return to me!" 

"We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.

"Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, '[If] you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations;

'but [if] you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, [yet] I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.'

Nehemiah 1:7-9

A Gentile asks Forgiveness

You know what I find interesting….Acts 28:28,

now you may be asking yourself why is that interesting?

or actually probably not, because I mean it does state that the salvation of God(keywords salvation of God)

has been sent to the gentiles and they will hear it!

Amen..right? Gentile of course meaning anyone not jewish. But this is not why I bring up the verse, you see Paul being the apostle of the gentiles(a jew himself) is speaking about salvation to the gentiles has come, and he is saying this to jewish leaders in Rome. I want you to go read Acts 28, the whole chapter, I want you to notice this, these jewish leaders listened to Paul, some agreed with what he was saying about Jesus, and others disagreed but they all departed after Paul said one thing.

Now they had a disagreement amongst themselves about this Jesus Paul was speaking of but they didn't all leave until Paul said "Salvation of God has been sent to the gentiles" that was pretty much the straw that broke the camels back. You see back in that time the jews didn't understand how or why God would want to give salvation to gentiles, to them, they were very unclean ungodly people..heck they were not even circumcised. This is even a dispute in Acts where certain gentile believers are troubled by certain jewish believers telling them they must be circumcised and keep the law:

Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law"*—to whom we gave no such commandment—

Acts 15:24

My point is this, certain jewish believers were disgusted with the thought of Gentiles being brought into God's good graces, they would force their laws and traditions on a converted gentile believer, or at least try to. It seems today however, things have flipped…I mean obviously back then the majority of real believers in Yeshua(Jesus) were Jewish, all the apostles were. But now in 2012…would you say that's true? of course not…the majority of believers in Christ are gentiles, and I'm not saying anything is wrong with that. But you see, like the certain jewish people who were trying to force gentiles into being jewish to earn salvation, now we as gentiles have forced ourselves on the jew's saying they must become like us for salvation. Don't get it twisted…YES

a jewish person(or gentile for that matter) must recognize Jesus Christ(Yeshua Hamashiach) as LORD and savior to be saved..

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Romans 1:16

HOWEVER, we don't then say they must become as gentiles too. Just like a believing jew doesn't tell a believing gentile he must adopt his customs. What we as gentiles have done through the years is curse the natural branches..

And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

Romans 11:17-18

Us being the unnatural branches(gentiles) we have taken promises that God has given to His chosen people, we even dare say things like we are the real Israel or we are the real chosen, like God has taken His hand away from those He promised to bless and, His chosen, and He has cast them aside all for our glory.

We get puffed up against jewish believers and we ridicule them, some even going as far as despising and cursing them. Then we wonder why they refuse to hear about Yeshua(Jesus)? 

I wrote the following a month ago after reading

"Our Hands are stained with blood" by Michael Brown.

It has everything to do with this subject.

Abba forgive me, I apologize for what has been

done against your chosen people in your Holy

name. Those who claim to follow Yeshua(Jesus)

The Son, have risen up to destroy your first love…

As gentiles you grafted us into the tree, like a poison

we have decided to destroy the roots of the seed.

Gentiles stealing your promises for your chosen,

and making it all about them. As if Israel and your Jewish people you no longer love, in the name of Christ we've trampled them down, instead of asking for your love in them to abound.

From people like Luther who wanted to see Jews burn, to Christians today claiming to be your new chosen. So much injustice we have brought into the church.

In your Holy name we reject them, say that you yourself have rejected them, and not even Jesus can save them.

in effect we curse the natural branches, the ones to whom you have made promises! Lord forgive us of this treason, and let us instead proclaim Yeshua to them our roots of our faith, our brothers and sisters who were never taken from the covenant to never return again.

O LORD fulfill the promises you made them, bring them into Your glorious Kingdom recognizing Yeshua Hamashiach for who He is, and as gentiles and jews let us stand together as your sons and daughters.

Do..YOU..Love God?

Quick question for you, Do you LOVE God?

Now for those who are brothers in sisters in Christ,

I'm sure you are thinking "Sure do!", even unbelievers

might even say "Sure, why not". This might, at first glance,

seem like an easy question, HOWEVER, if this question

is so easy and if every self professing brother and sister in

Christ would answer "Yes, I sure do" without hesitation,

Then why may I ask do we not ACT like it?

Maybe we don't know what LOVE really is? Just maybe

we have a inadequate view of the meaning of LOVE?

Perhaps we have a "World View" of what love is.

Now if we want to know what true Love is, the easiest place to look

is Jesus Christ. John 15:13 says:

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's

life for his friends."

Jesus Christ took the wrath we deserved, loving what didn't deserve to be loved, forgiving what didn't deserved to be forgiven.

I think this is, as it says, a stumbling block for most…because you see a lot of us don't think we are underserving,( some of us do

and that also can create a problem of not accepting what Christ's

has done. ) A lot of people treat God as if

He has some obligation to love us, as if He had to forgive our sins.

So they miss the big picture, and they don't see how evil they are,

and they don't truly see God's LOVE because they just blow it off

like He is required to.

We tend to look at love like "What's in it for us" but that's not love at all. Love is a surrendering of SELF, of doing something

for someone else not out of requirement or to GET something in

return. I'm going to type that out again:

Love…IS…NOT doing something for someone else out of requirement! Are we not saved by THE GRACE of God?

God didn't have to create the human race…wasn't required too..

God didn't have to forgive our WICKEDNESS…wasn't required too

But God did create the human race and He did forgive our sins!

AMEN! glory be to Him alone!

Now this brings me to this overall point, Why don't

we LIVE and Act like we LOVE God? sin is conquered,

let it go MOVE FORWARD in Christ! Jesus says in John

14:15

"If you love me, keep My commandments."

Then why is it many claim to Love Christ, but yet not want to listen

to what He said? I'm not talking about works, I'm not talking about people falling in sin as it will always(while on earth) be

something we have to continually make war against, DAILY

we have to Die to our Flesh! Many say they love Christ,

but refuse to die daily! many say they love Christ and say

they have no need for His commandments or at least they act

like they don't need to be changed by Him.

The fact of the matter is, if you TRULY and honestly LOVE Christ

then you will surrender yourself. AND AGAIN Love is not doing something out of requirement, if you love Christ you wouldn't want to do anything else but FOLLOW and hang on His every word.

"For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to

silence the ignorance of foolish men- as free, yet not

using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God."

1 Peter 2:15-16

This my brothers and sisters goes hand in hand! We see Gods

grace His overwhelming mercy and forgiveness and how we

are free from sin,(NOT Free to sin…Free FROM sin)

but we don't take our freedom lightly…

we know how evil we are without Christ and we know the price!

we don't use our freedom as a means to sin MORE..NO!

we see our freedom and we hold it tightly we see our forgiveness

and we see how undeserving we are of it, we see Gods power and love and we surrender as servants looking for Him to work through

US! looking to please God and follow His commands not for

our Glory…but HIS GLORY the only place Glory can be placed!

Blessed [is] the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly [are] not so, But [are] like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Psalms 1:1-6

I want to share something with you, ready? I'm not the best

example of a follower of Christ, each day I must remember

to die to this selfish-flesh of mine. I seek to be that shinning light,

not for my glory but Gods, and I know He needs to shine through

me, it's not me working for God and me taking credit, it's

God working through me and giving Him all glory for it.

There's no good in me, I can't create good, I can't save myself..

if I rely on me i'll only disappoint. God's love is amazing the more we realize how undeserving we are of it, His love should bring us to the point of surrender, it should bring peace and faithfulness.

Sometimes we lose sight of what's important, and we claim

we love God but our actions say otherwise…we must

be convicted of our weakness and we must give it to GOD,

because only He can bring the change needed.

What we can not do is get to a point where we think change

can not come, that the new creation that we are suppose to be

can not come. We can't say we love God and then live a life

of blatant contradiction. It's like saying you love your wife

but then you continue to sleep with someone else on the side.

Listen, I know we all struggle in certain areas of our walk,

and we fall down BUT

1. we can't stay down

2. we can't expect to change if we rely on ourselves to

do the changing.

Here's the overall point i'm getting at; We will be tempted,

but it's what we do in times of temptation that matter.

If you think that you can stay strong, if you think that you

can ever change you, then you are going to end up in a never

ending cycle of failing yourself. The only way you will ever change

is through Jesus Christ, giving up and surrendering to Him

is the only way change can come. Are all things possible with God?

Then look to Him not yourself! the only thing possible with you is

FAILURE

Be thankful that God doesn't give up on you, that you are

indeed forgiven and through HIM you can be remade new.

If we love God, then we must surrender to Him, we must

repent and ask Him to bring the change we can't bring ourselves..

the more you try to save you with your own power the more

you will fail.

This doesn't mean a life of surrendering to our sinfulness,

This is about living like we truly love God and surrendering

to Him to save us from ourselves, it's the only way we can be saved.

Don't say "Oh well, this is who I am…I'm a sinner..I cant change

who I am" that's actually true, but that should drive

you to Christ not into stagnation.

I write this to all those who read, but not just to you, but to myself…

for I know I am no better and need to place all hope for change

in Christ not myself, and I need this change of living a life of sin

to living a life of Holiness. I need to surrender who I am, surrender

this body and let the Holy spirit guide and work through me…

there is no other way.

I pray God would work in you, reveal Himself and renew you..

that when temptations come whatever it may be that you

would run from temptations to Christ and rest in His Holiness.

That He wold bring the change that needs to come,

Ezekiel 36:27 says:

"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them."

This is what I ask for, and this is what God can and WILL do!

take our lusts our pride our selfishness our hard hearts and

change them to do YOUR will oh God! too walk in your statutes..

to love you as we claim we do! We don't need to defend

ourselves or attack others back who physically or verbally assault

us, you will vindicate us LORD, our strength lies not in our flesh

but in you God!

1 Peter 2:19-21 says;

"For this [is] commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.

For what credit [is it] if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this [is] commendable before God.

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: Amen..

Open Arms

About a month or two ago I read a letter from Open Arms.

Open Arms is a place in North Idaho that helps

women who are pregnant and looking for help.

They also help those who may be experiencing post abortion stress.

Open Arms offers counseling for women with unplanned pregnancy,

along with an ultrasound and pregnancy tests among other things

all free of charge. You can go to Openarms.info for more information

or email nancy@openarms.info

Anyways I was reading a letter from them, and in it they talked about

a young woman who was so tormented by the abortion she went

through with 2 years ago that she believed God could never forgive her.

She believed all this depression and sadness she was carrying

she deserved and that God was punishing her for what she has done.

This young woman was dealing with this all on her own, and didn't

want anyone else to know this terrible secret she was hiding.

Open Arms counseled with her and obviously tried to speak

truth to her but fear she did not hear them.

This isn't just one random woman dealing with this kind of depression.

The truth is, there are a lot of woman who have had abortions who

down the road regret their decision and struggle with guilt and

depression. Which obviously... could lead down a road of

alcohol abuse or drugs or anything to take

away the pain/depression they are feeling.

I mean what do you even say to someone struggling with post abortion?

What would you say to that young woman who believes God could

never forgive her? Somehow I don't think "Aw..of course he forgives you"

and a pat on the back is going to help.

I mean this woman is in a state of mind where the enemy

has her seeing nothing but pain and suffering.

All the excuses to abort have come turning around against her

and now haunt her. The enemy will just keep whispering

lie after lie because she is in a place of self hate, and thinks she deserves

this punishment of herself and more because of her past

decision.

That little voice inside telling her it was wrong to abort,

her "conscious" is her spirit crying out for forgiveness, realizing

her faults and wanting to pay the price for said faults.(even though

someone already has for her)

The problem is in her vulnerability and distress the enemy

came running in and has become the only voice she can hear.

He'll take that kernel of truth that she has done wrong and turn

it against her until she becomes so lost in her distress she'll

believe not even God could forgive or love her.

It's a big step to realize what you have done is wrong,

and she is at the point where she knows it and it is killing her.

She can not carry the burden on her own and

will not find peace until she gives it to God.

This is why we are called to love...God can use us and places

like Open Arms to help unload each-others burdens and give them

to God. We can not physically save anyone...only Jesus Christ saves,

but we can be there with "Open Arms" to help those who need it.

TO love on those who don't even love or respect themselves...

I ask for your prayers for women who are in a situation like this,

I ask you to pray for Open Arms and to pray if God wants you

to help in any way that you can.

If you are looking for some help/prayer support

hit me up at Admin@rev22-12.com and I'll

do whatever I can.

(Repenting)Out of The Wreck(Accepting)

Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ?

Romans 8:35

I've talked plenty of times about how we shouldn't

care what others think. How we should stand for Christ,

and not let anyone get in the way, always

putting Christ first. How when trouble comes

we should remain faithful, and we should praise God..

we shouldn't falter or waver when bad things happen.

I.e like it says in Romans

Shall tribulation, or distress,

or persecution separate us from the Love of Christ?

I've come to the realization that most of the time, for me...

It's not persecution, it's not tribulation per-say, that separates me

from Christ. I don't say this to sound holy or pure,

I've just come to the realization that it isn't trouble or

pain any more that separates me from the love of Christ,

IT'S MYSELF. Don't get it twisted either...I know Christ loves...

and I know NOTHING can separate his love from us,

there's nothing we can do that will make him hate us and

turn his back on us, he died for our sins...period end of story.

What I'm trying to say is this, I get in the way of Christ's love.

When i've sinned whether it be in a judgmental spirit or

hateful speech or lusting/having my eyes wander where they shouldn't

or whatever sins i've committed acknowledged and asked for forgiveness

for, I would sometimes then fall to the point of saying:

"You can't forgive me for this..."

Not so much in those words mind you, but I don't fight...I don't

rise from the point of repenting. I repent...and I repent...

and I repent some more, but I don't allow myself

the acceptance of Gods forgiveness. I don't

allow forgiveness for myself because I do not

forgive myself for whatever it was that I did.

I would allow what I've done to overwhelm me with guilt and shame.

Sure I would confess to God what I've done, and I would ask

for His forgiveness, but In essence I would deny his love

and forgiveness.... because I would be so obsessed with

repenting over and over again, deep down I'm saying;

"You can't forgive me for what I've done"

I've denied Christ, I've denied the power, I've denied his love...

I'm essentially saying:

"You dying on the cross for me, wasn't enough"

That is blasphemous, and it's exactly where the enemy wants you.

It's like he has his foot on the back of your neck and your face in the

dirt saying

"Your worthless your God doesn't love or forgive you, and you

deserve to be in overwhelming guilt"

and all you are doing is saying "I agree.."

Listen we all deserve hell (I seem to say that every blog)

and it's good to realize that, because then you

realize just how much Christ did for us, just

how much GOD loves us, it is truly amazing.

You realize Christ died on that cross to save us from

damnation.

But to fall so far down and remain in the state

of... I deserve this guilt/shame, I deserve pain and suffering..

and to not accept that God loves you and forgives you, is just as

damaging as not repenting and turning from your sins.

OUT OF THE WRECK I RISE!

The Remnant of Israel

Paul in Romans chapter eleven talks about

the Jewish faith and the remnant of Israel,

and yesterday I came across a verse

that just jumped out at me.

Lets go over the whole Chapter though so we can

grasp the whole concept of what Paul

was talking about.

I ask then: Did God reject his people?(Israel/Jews)

By no means! I am an Israelite my-self,

a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

God did not reject his people, whom he fore-knew.

Don't you know what the scripture says in the passage

about Elijah- how he appealed to God against Israel:

"Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down

your altars; I am the only one left, and they are

trying to kill me."

and what was God's answer to him?

"I have reserved for myself seven thousand

who have not bowed the knee to Baal."

So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen

by grace. and if by grace, then it is no longer works;

if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

Romans 11:1-6

Paul was saying, Look! God didn't give up on

the Israelites! he didn't give up on them in Elijah's

time and he sure is not going to now.

By Gods grace, the same grace he had upon all of us

for all our sins, there is a remnant, there are israelites

that will come to know Christ! God will open

there eyes and ears to receive everything they were

promised. Romans eleven continues with..

What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it

did not obtain, but the elect did. The others

were hardened, as it is written:

"God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes so that they could not see

and ears so that they could not hear,

to this very day."

and David says:

"May their table become a snare and a trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them.

May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,

and their backs be bent forever."

Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to

fall beyond recovery? Not at all!

Rather, because of their transgression, salvation

has come to the Gentiles(non jews) to make Israel envious.

But if their transgression means riches for the world,

and their loss means riches for the Gentiles,

how much greater riches will their fullness bring!

I am talking to you Gentiles.

In as much as I am the apostle

to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry

in the hope that I may somehow arouse my

own people to envy and save some of them.

For if their rejection is the reconciliation of

the world, what will their acceptance be but life

from the dead?

If the part of the dough offered as first-

fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy;

if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Romans 11:7-16

Paul was preaching to the Gentiles

because God revealed to him in a vision

that Jesus didn't just die for the Jews(which all the apostles were)

Jesus brought everyone salvation, making the Gentiles

no different from an Israelite/Jew. Paul

wanted the Jewish people and leaders to realize how

loving and merciful God was if he can bring salvation

to those who didn't even know him.

If some of the branches have been broken off,

and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been

grafted in among the others and now share

in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do

not boast over those branches. If you do,

consider this: You do not support the root,

but the root supports you. You will say then,

"Branches were broken off so that I could

be grafted in."

Granted. But they were broken off because of

unbelief, and you stand by FAITH. Do not

be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God

did not spare the natural branches,

he will not spare you either.

Romans 11:17-21

Paul is obviously warning the Gentiles not

to boast about the grace that has been given

to them FREELY because just as

God poured out his wrath upon

the "Natural Branches" aka his chosen people

the Israelites, he will do the same to the

Gentile.

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness

of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness

to you, provided that you continue in his kindness.

Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And If they do

not persist in unbelief , they will be grafted in,

for God is able to graft them in again.

After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree

that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature

were grafted into a cultivated olive tree,

how much more readily will these,

the natural branches, be grafted into their own

olive tree!

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery,

brothers, so that you may not be conceited:

Israel has experienced a hardening in part

until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

"The deliverer will come from Zion;

he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.

And this is my covenant with them when

I take away their sins."

As far as the gospel is concerned,

they are enemies on your account;

but as far as election is concerned,

they are loved on account of the patriarchs,

for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.

Just as you who were at one time

disobedient to God have now

received mercy as a result of their

disobedience,

so they too have now become disobedient

in order that they too may now receive

mercy as a result of God's mercy to you.

For God has bound all men over to disobedience

so that he may have mercy on them all.

Romans 11:22-32

Those last verses are the ones that jumped out

to me. Gentiles didn't worship God, they

worshipped other Gods/false Gods...

but they didn't worship the ONE God and only God,

so in their nature to their very core they were nothing

but disobedient, and yet God had mercy...

We have been given the gift of grace,

and how undeserving we are of it.

Jesus Christ has brought the non-jews

and the Jewish together as one...

nobody is any less or more deserving then

the other for we all have fallen short,

but through Jesus Christ we are one.