There is only one King of Israel, Jesus the Christ. God loved them so much that Jesus, the third person of the Godhead, came to them. Knowing that most would reject Him it allowed the Gospel of Grace to be preached to mankind through the Apostle Paul. On His return they will see Him as He is…their Messiah and King.
In the Gospel of Grace there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free. Jesus, in His death and resurrection, tore the veil that separated us from the holy of Holies. ALL who believe are now included in the salvation of Jesus Christ.
Hosea 10:1-3
10 Israel empties his vine; He brings forth fruit for himself. According to the multitude of his fruit He has increased the altars; According to the bounty of his land They have embellished his sacred pillars. 2 Their heart is divided; Now they are held guilty. He will break down their altars; He will ruin their sacred pillars. The New King James Version
We believe in Jesus Christ. This is His commandment that we should love God above all and our neighbor as ourselves.
1 John 3:23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
Peter healed the lame man in the name of Jesus. Others were amazed at the power in His name. Most of the Jews had rejected Him but in His name miracles continued to happen.
Acts 3:12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
Jesus is the only way, the truth and life. Whoever believes in Him shall live.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Paul was told by Jesus that he would be sent to the Gentiles to preach the message of the power of the Cross of Jesus Christ to save anyone who places their faith in Him. Paul still went to temple he still was a Jew. The only difference was that He now knew, through the revelation of Jesus’ Gospel of Grace, that salvation was to all who by faith believe. The Jews hated the Gentiles and all their ways which went against the Law that Moses had given them.
Acts 22:17 “Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”
And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!”
Faith and it alone would judge mankind. Faith in the righteousness of Jesus places us in right standing with God. He did what we could not.
Romans 17:2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
Romans 2:16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
We are saved by Grace. Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures. In Him, faith in Him alone, is the salvation of the world. John 3:16-18
Romans 16:25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Carla
Israel’s prosperity only inspired further idolatry. We have no King foreshadows the end of the northern kingdom. Faithlife Study Bible
Israel empties his vine refers to God’s blessings upon the nation, which contrast with the nation’s ingratitude and idolatry. This verb, divided, refers to Israel’s deceitful and hypocritical ways. This verse anticipates the people’s response when God’s judgment came to destroy Israel’s political stability and independence. The NKJV Study Bible
A vine is only valuable for its fruit; but Israel now brought no fruit to perfection. Their hearts were divided. God is the Sovereign of the heart; he will have all, or none. Were the stream of the heart wholly after God, it would run strongly, and bear down all before it. Their pretences to covenant with God were false. Even the proceeding of justice was as poisonous hemlock. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
1 Kings 18:21And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.
1 Kings 14:23 For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree.
Adam and Eve, and every human born after them, experienced both physical and spiritual exile from God's presence.However, from the very beginning, God always had a plan to send His Son, Jesus, to defeat sin and Satan and destroy these barriers. In Genesis 3:15, we see the first announcement of the gospel of Jesus, known as the protoevangelium: God prophesied that Satan would "strike [the] heel" of Eve's offspring (humankind), but our Savior would "strike [the] head" of Satan, ultimately crushing evil underfoot (CSB).
Though our sins create barriers of shame, fear, pain and distance between us and God, as believers in Jesus, we have hope. Because of God's love and grace, we don't experience eternal exile.
What a blessing it is to know that Jesus breaks the barriers caused by sin and that through Him, we experience redemption, renewed fellowship and eternal life with God (1 John 1:6-7; Colossians 1:13-14; John 3:16). First5
I love the simplicity of the metaphor.
If life is to be lived, and not merely managed, get in.
If life is to pour out from the heart (and to spill to the world around us), and not be solely analyzed from the head, get in.
If life is not just about answers, but about asking the right questions, get in.
Holocaust Survivor. Grandma. Diva. Sonia is unabashed, “If I reach one heart, I will accomplish something.”
91-year-old Sonia Warshawski is a Holocaust-surviving, public speaking, gefilte fish-cooking grandmother and great-grandmother, who runs the tailor shop she’s owned for more than 30 years. The stories she tells about the Holocaust will chill you. But sporting her leopard print clothing, Big Sonia can be laugh-out-loud-funny. This is a portrait of the power of love to triumph over bigotry, and the power of truth-telling to heal us all. And to inspire each of us to want what we already hold. We see Sonia interact with family members, young students and prisoners and witness the spiritual impression that she makes.
I love this... “I want to reach their hearts and take out the hate,” Sonia says.
And to those of us listening, she adds, “Don’t close your eyes when something is not right.”
Yes. Get in... We do make a difference. One heart and one life at a time. Sabbath Moments
If you listen,
not to the pages or preachers
but to the smallest flower
growing from a crack
in your heart,
you will hear a great song
moving across a wide ocean
whose water is the music
connecting all the islands
of the universe together,
and touching all
you will feel it
touching you
around you...
embracing you
with light.
It is in that Light
that everything lives
and will always be alive.
That is all there is.
John Squadra
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