"It is not because of your
righteousness or your integrity that you are going to take possession of
their land;..Jehovah will accomplish what he swore to your
ancestors...for you are a stiff-necked people (Deuteronomy (9:5-6)."
There are three reasons why God's love and God's promises can be received by us through faith and accepted without condition. To put it another way, there is only one reason we can count on God's unconditional love. God gives us fringe benefits, not based on who we are, how good we are or what we have done, but based on something theologians all "imputed righteousness."
We are beloved, cared for and embraced by the holy, one, all-powerful, all-knowing, sovereign and righteous God because of God's promises, Abraham's faith, Moses prayers and Jesus' life and work.
My ancestors prayed and sang and praised for a better day, even when they were held in slave pens. They prayed from sun up to sun down as they chopped sugar cane, made horseshoes, pots, pans and skillets, picked cotton, made shoes, candles, glass, jewelry and clothing, picked corn, picked and processed tobacco--all without pay--but believing in another day for their children, their grandchildren and their great grandchildren.
None of us has what we have, is who we are, or stands where we stand today by ourselves--and yet the African proverb is true--"We are the reason they ever existed at all." Christ died and rose again for us--ALL OF US. The power, the ability, the future that we have, notwithstanding the seeming overwhelming challenges of our time, is guaranteed to us. We have been washed clean, dressed well and are even now sent forth to live lives of praise, lives that make a difference, lives that have the power to stand and stand tall and succeed and bear witness to love in this most evil time and place.
We did not do it ourselves. We are living on the fringe benefits of those who went before us. We are sure to prosper and overcome by the power of the Christ of God who gave himself and has placed his power for each of us to use and grow and change.
There are three reasons why God's love and God's promises can be received by us through faith and accepted without condition. To put it another way, there is only one reason we can count on God's unconditional love. God gives us fringe benefits, not based on who we are, how good we are or what we have done, but based on something theologians all "imputed righteousness."
We are beloved, cared for and embraced by the holy, one, all-powerful, all-knowing, sovereign and righteous God because of God's promises, Abraham's faith, Moses prayers and Jesus' life and work.
My ancestors prayed and sang and praised for a better day, even when they were held in slave pens. They prayed from sun up to sun down as they chopped sugar cane, made horseshoes, pots, pans and skillets, picked cotton, made shoes, candles, glass, jewelry and clothing, picked corn, picked and processed tobacco--all without pay--but believing in another day for their children, their grandchildren and their great grandchildren.
None of us has what we have, is who we are, or stands where we stand today by ourselves--and yet the African proverb is true--"We are the reason they ever existed at all." Christ died and rose again for us--ALL OF US. The power, the ability, the future that we have, notwithstanding the seeming overwhelming challenges of our time, is guaranteed to us. We have been washed clean, dressed well and are even now sent forth to live lives of praise, lives that make a difference, lives that have the power to stand and stand tall and succeed and bear witness to love in this most evil time and place.
We did not do it ourselves. We are living on the fringe benefits of those who went before us. We are sure to prosper and overcome by the power of the Christ of God who gave himself and has placed his power for each of us to use and grow and change.
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