Thursday, September 10, 2009

Thurs.'s Devo - Jesus Rocks

Read Ro. 9: 25-32
Paul quotes from Hosea in verse 26. God told Hosea to go marry a prostitute to show how his bride, Israel had become a prostitute. He prophesies Israel's fall then her return. When she returns he will once again call her "my people". When we see God's people, the Jews, coming to know Jesus as their Messiah, we know the end will soon be here. There has always been a remnant of Jews that have believed in Jesus, but most of them have stumbled over the law. God placed a stumbling stone, Jesus, and made him offensive to our natural man. He offended his followers when he said, "You have to eat my body and drink my blood if you want to be part of me". He lost a big group then. He offended the religious leaders when he called them blind guides and hypocrites. Jesus always offends our mind to speak to our spirit. He tells us to befriend a person that we wouldn't enjoy being around naturally. He disquises himself as homeless people, hard-to-deal-with children, and strangers in the check-out line. He is seeing if we will stumble over the rock or stand on it.
There was a rock that followed the children of Israel through the wilderness and the New Testament says that that rock was Jesus. I wonder if that was the same rock that Moses hit when he should have spoken to it. I bet so. It cost Moses the promised land. We all have our rock that follows us around seeing if we will get mad and hit it, or just speak to it and see the salvation of the Lord. That rock is truth. It offends religious people when their truth is challenged. We dress the truth up and call it doctrine but I wonder if it is the real rock or just a rolling stone that needs to keep on rolling out of sight.
Jesus asked Peter who he was and Peter answered, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus blessed Peter because he understood that revelation and upon that rock of truth Jesus was going to build His church and the gates of hell would not be able to prevail against it.
Lord, give us a revelation of who you are and help us to stand upon your truth and not be offended by you.