1)
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience
also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
2)
That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in
my heart.
3)
For I could wish that myself were accursed from
Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
4)
Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth
the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and
the service of God, and the promises;
5)
Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the
flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6)
Not as though the word of God hath taken none
effect. For they are not all
7)
Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be
called.
8)
That is, They which are the
children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of
the promise are counted for the seed.
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t
can be difficult to get Man to understand that his natural birth into this world
is of no spiritual benefit. The truth is that one's natural life is beneficial
only in that it gives us the opportunity to be born again.
Scripture
makes it quite clear to us that one without the "promise" cannot
understand spiritual things. The only thing that will change this is that one become filled with the Holy Spirit. If this problem were
isolated to the unenlightened, it would be understandable. What is inexcusable
is that too many with the Holy Spirit are without understanding, also. This
seems to be primarily because of non-submission to the leading of the Spirit. When
one refuses to accept His direction, he will be unable to acquire His
understanding.
One
of the problems with winning those who think themselves to be intelligent is just
that—they think they are intelligent! This is also a problem keeping those who
are already saved from flourishing in the Lord. You see, most who think they "know something," also think this should be
able to "get" them something. But, you see, the reality of the world
of the Spirit (the world of the "saint") is that it is spiritual. Therefore,
to really "see" the World as it is, one must be able to see
spiritually.
Those
of us who understand our reality know that all one's spiritual success hinges
upon the above. We must hunger and thirst to see others with this
enlightenment—the already saved, as well as the unsaved. So, to be able to win
others to our reality, we must be able to gain their confidence.
"The
children of the promise," (that is those who have received the Holy Ghost)
can know the truth only by measuring situations against the Word of God. One
would think that it would be hard to argue with the Word, wouldn't one? However,
just because one is saved does not mean that he has spiritual understanding. Yes,
the capacity is conferred with the Holy Ghost, but in order to operate in it,
one must give up his own understanding.
There
is such a skewed view in this world, today, of what "help" really is.
While we know that in order for one to receive help, he must receive
instruction and correction; the world view is that I am "helped" when
you "validate" me (agree with me). Unfortunately, this view has
infiltrated the Church and now, we have become intimidated by those who are
offended by help. Those with the heart of a servant cannot allow this to stop
them. We must be willing to be truthful—with others as well as with ourselves. Only
in this way will we and others be able to say that if anything should happen,
we know we would go to heaven. This is our ultimate goal.
One
of the greatest concerns voiced by many saints is the salvation of their
families. Yet, how can we accomplish this when we often won't submit ourselves
to the Lord? People (whether family, friends or mere acquaintances, are won to
God through our witness. If we are unable or unwilling to endure anything who
will we win? How many of us ever stop to think that if we would do all that God requires, maybe we could get what we want so
badly?
Perhaps
through the example of the children of
We
must realize how blessed we are to be "children of the promise." Though
not part of the "natural" line of Jesus Christ, we can now have all
of the advantages of a natural heir - and more.
For others to become part of this promise we must get them to see their need of salvation: #1) acknowledge they are lost and #2) to recognize their need for help, and be willing to accept it. The sooner we accept that we have not been saved just to be happy, but to help others, the more successful we will be. In order to do this we must also accept that one never knows what will really help him until he learns to put his situation into the hands of the Lord. There is nothing more liberating than learning to accept God's will and gaining the joy to praise Him in all situations.
Knowing
who you are in the Lord is part of survival. When we know that we belong to the
Lord and conduct ourselves as a "family member" and one of the
"children of the promise," then we will know that we can freely
glorify, magnify and praise Him. In that the "promise" is the Holy
Ghost, anyone belonging to the Lord can rejoice in the fact that no one can
take what God has promised. One can and will take physical things away from us,
but no one can take what God has purchased.
For
one with integrity, "a promise is a promise," and one thing is certain,
as "children of the promise," we can believe everything that our
Father has said.