Morning Musing: Romans 11:30-32

“As you once disobeyed God but now have received mercy through their disobedience, so they too have now disobeyed, resulting in mercy to you, so that they also may now  receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may have mercy on all.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I want to go back with you one more time to Jesus parable of the wedding feast we talked about a few posts ago in Matthew 22. I think that is the primary inspiration for what Paul has been talking about here at the end of this section of the letter. In that parable, the rejection by one people meant opportunity for another to receive what they had missed. But just because the one people missed it, didn’t mean their chance was gone forever. It just meant they were in the same place everyone else had been. At the end of the day, everyone gets in by the same door: grace. Let’s talk about it.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 32:33-35

“The Lord replied to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book. Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about; see, my angel will go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will hold them accountable for their sin.’ And the Lord inflicted a plague on the people for what they did with the calf Aaron had made.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the most incredible aspects of God’s character is that He is a perfect combination of justice and mercy. This mixture is not 50-50 like one we might make. Instead, it’s 100-100. He’s 100% just and 100% merciful. He’s all of both at exactly the same time. We can trust that He will always do the right thing, but He will always do the right thing in the most merciful way possible. We trust that in part because of passages like this one. Let’s talk about what’s going on here.

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Songs of the Season: 1 Peter 2:24

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Sometimes a song is just right. Why it hits that mark is hard to fully explain. And, different songs manage to accomplish this feat for different people. But when it happens, you just can’t forget about it. I don’t mean that it is just permanently stuck in your head. That wouldn’t be much fun at all. But rather, you keep coming back to it. Even when you haven’t actually listened to it for quite some time, you find yourself humming along with it from totally out of the blue. Today’s song of the season is one of these songs for me. This morning, I’d like to share it with you.

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Morning Musing: Zechariah 10:6

“I will strengthen the house of Judah and deliver the house of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them, and they will be as though I had never rejected them. For I am the Lord their God, and I will answer them.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you even seen someone do a project halfway and then quit? Sometime when you want a chuckle, google “that’s not my job memes.” You’ll be treated to a series of pictures of times when someone obviously did exactly what they were asked to do and not a scintilla more, even though the situation clearly required just a bit more to be made truly right. Well, when it comes to God’s restoration of the people of Israel–and us–He never quits until the job is totally complete.

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Morning Musing: Nahum 3:18-19

“King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered across the mountains with no one to gather them together. There is no remedy for your injury; your wound is severe. All who hear the news about you will clap their hands because of you, for who has not experienced your constant cruelty?”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

Last Friday we ended with a question; a haunting question at that. Who would show some sympathy to Assyria? Who would give her any comfort? This morning we get our answer. No one. No one is available or willing. Actually it’s worse than that. Let’s talk about just how bad it is and what we are to do with this little collection of prophecy.

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