King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: God's Hope
Date: Monday November 21, 2011
Chapters: Romans 8-10
Click Here to Read Them or Go to: http://imfollowingjesus.com/bible-november-21
All Scripture quoted comes from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” - Romans 8:16-25.

The word hope means, a desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. Hope differs from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired, or the possibility of possessing it. Hope therefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire may produce or be accompanied with pain and anxiety. The second a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior their hope, their joy and pleasure, is getting to heaven, and that they will get to live with Jesus and see Him face to face one day. Or at least that is what we should have hope in, after all, it is only through Jesus Christ that we can get to heaven. However, circumstances, lifestyles, and a devil that loves to hatch up old sins often changes that hope into something of a desire, which does come with much unnecessary pain. If you are saved, you are a child of God, whether you just got saved right now or have been saved for forty years, whether you allow Christ to be in your life or you have walked away from Him, you are still a child of God, not by mans hope are we save, but by God's hope are we saved.

Paul had one desire in life after he got saved and dedicated his life to Christ, to preach the Gospel to all and see them receive Christ, whether they were a Jew or a Gentile. His dilemma, he was a Jew, perhaps he thought that his miraculous conversion from persecuting those who would preach the Gospel to being one that preached the Gospel would convince them to be converted as well. He soon discovered that many of his fellow Jewish brothers and sisters would not only reject Christ, but bring persecution upon him themselves. Why? The Jews, since they were the chosen people that God used to represent Him, had the false assumption that they were children of God from birth. Some very sincere Jews are putting their hope in their race to get them to heaven, this is mans hope. God's hope is not narrowed down by a certain race, it is by a certain faith, which Paul explains.

“For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: 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; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 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.” - Romans 9:3-8.

The children of Israel were the seed that God promised to Abraham, and of which Jesus would come to our world in the flesh. Except for Jesus, they were not children of God automatically, they were children of Abraham. Until we receive Christ we are children of the flesh, once we receive Christ we spiritually become children of God. How? By our belief and faith in Christ, God is the Spirit not the flesh. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” - John 4:24.

God's promise to all who receive His Son is that they become heirs with Him. People all the time, and even I have said this before I knew the truth, “We are all children of God.” The truth is, we are all a creation of God, we become children of God through Jesus Christ. It's all about Jesus and Him alone, if you don't know Jesus, He doesn't know you. Is that fair? In the eyes of the flesh, in mans hope it is not fair, but in God's hope it is. Paul explains this further.

“Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.” - Romans 9:19-26.

Being a child of God is not determined by what family of the flesh we came from, it is determined by God. In fact, the flesh family that we came from is determined by God. People make the mistake of thinking that they are here by chance, this is false, I do not care if a person was conceived willingly or unwillingly, it was determined by God. While the debate goes on and on about abortion, do you think that God did not know that the child He planed in a woman would be aborted or given to another? Nothing is by chance, it is all determined by God. Does He want everyone to go to hell? No. He does not want any person He created to end up in hell, but He will never interfere in a persons life unless they come to Him. Paul's desire was that all of Israel be saved, but he knew not all would believe.

“Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth...That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” - Romans 10:1-4,9-13.

Many sincere people, who do love God, serve Him every day in hopes that they will get to heaven one day. The way to God is not by what we do for Him, although He loves us to live a morally, spiritually stable life, it is by what we believe, rather Who we believe. Without Jesus, serving God is mans hope, which can be quite distressing, because deep down they fear what exactly would happen to them when they die. With Jesus, serving God is God's hope, which is quite pleasurable, even during times of distress, because they know exactly where they are going when they die. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Praise God!

Today's Prayer:
Dear God,
Lord, I truly think that we all have hope in the glorious day that we get so see You in heaven, but some of us have been taught the wrong message or aren't quite sure what salvation is. Lord, open every heart, give those who serve You in truth boldness to preach the Gospel to all they see, give those who aren't quite sure of their salvation understanding of just what that is, and give those sincerely have a zeal for You the knowledge they need to receive Your Son as their Savior. As we serve You remind us that we are doing this because we love You, not because we are required to, and Lord, thank You for Your mercy and grace to save a sinner like me. In Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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