The last sentence you read, Paul many times was a slave in prison, but he is without blame, for he is always under the protection of the care of the Lord. Can we say; thank you Jesus for obeying the Lord? Then Sunday the hurricane Katrina struck, leaving millions of people with a decision, do we leave or do we stay. Now we know the rest of the story for maybe thousands have perished and who know how many will suffer for life. Only God is holding our world together when we are seeing ourselves out of balance. Then in Iraq a thousand people perish over someone yelling something about a suicide bomber, and people throw themselves into the Tigris River killing themselves. Thank the Lord He is still in control if we let Him. Out of disaster we find people coming together in order to survive. We are so smart what can’t we make and do? We have all the understanding and knowledge, but what do we lack wisdom? Wisdom is the ability to take the understanding and knowledge we have and putting it into common sense. Who do we blame for what we see in Katrina’s path, the government, the local officials, and even God, when all we need to do is look at how smart we are? Where do we build and how high do we build, is it able to withstand nature? God want us to obey who? The devastation we are seeing requires we all work together, regardless of race, religion, or color, to bring order as we accept God best for the area and our world. Could God be sending us a message he is coming soon and what we do must be done with the full knowledge of a heaven to gain and a hell to shun? God has given us so much and many times it is destroyed in a split second. Lord help isd my cry, for we are at your mercy, may we appreciate your blessing. Now lets get back to the blessing and we see in verse 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Can it get any better than this? He’s given us grace and peace, the greatest of all blessing, as we abide in Him. He has chosen us, so we do not have to be blamed for the troubles of the world, or of the past. He wants us all to enjoy His blessing and here we see it was predestinated, I have eternal life beginning now, as we are in His family. God wants man to enjoy life abundantly, He never wanted man to choose the tree of good and evil in the garden. I wonder what are we choosing life, or death? Isn’t it hard to understand until we die out to sin, we do not begin to become adopted into His family, even through He predestinated us. God loves the whole world, but does the world love Him? Matthew Henry Unabridged says, Predestination has respect to the blessings they are designed for; particularly the adoption of children, it being the purpose of God that in due time we should become his adopted children, and so have a right to all the privileges and to the inheritance of children. We have here the date of this act of love: it was before the foundation of the world; not only before God’s people had a being, but before the world had a beginning; for they were chosen in the counsel of God from all eternity. It magnifies these blessings to a high degree that they are the products of eternal counsel. Who created the trees in the Bible and said, there is one that I do not want you to eat? Yet, just as sure as there is a God, who wants to bless, there is a Satan and He is out to kill, destroy and give us a lesson in bondage. Again ask yourself what am I seeing? What do I desire? What do I taste? What am I giving? Do I have to hide, or is all will with my soul? God wants a tested and tried people, or He would never have created evil in the garden. God provided us the protection we need through out the ages if only we could understand His love and mercy as one who loves us for He created us after His image, having the ability to make decisions. Lets make sure we accept His adoption and abide in the Vine, bearing fruits of the Spirit. So we can reach out showing the world we care by our performance then we can really be that blessing we were predestined to be. |