<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Romans 11;15&amp;16<div><br></div><div><b>15. &nbsp;For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?</b></div><div><b>16. &nbsp;If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>God’s divine selection of Abram and his descendants for the purpose of bringing forth His Promise, <i>“the Seed of the woman” </i>has meant tremendous suffering for the Jews over the generations, even down to this day, suffering which God intends that we share in too.</div><div><br></div><div>We must not think that God has forever rejected the entire posterity of Israel, (the descendants of Jacob).</div><div>In every generation there is a remnant of&nbsp;Jews who receive the gifts of repentance and faith in Christ Jesus,</div><div>just as we have.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>However,</div><div>in general, as a nation, the Jews, (trusting in their own powers of reason) have rejected Jesus as their long promised Messiah. &nbsp;Jesus did not satisfy their definition of ‘the son of David.’&nbsp; His claim as God’s Son was and remains an offense to them. &nbsp;&nbsp;They were, and are still, looking for only&nbsp;a political, earthly king who will establish God’s kingdom on earth. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>They want&nbsp;a victorious king, <u>but</u>&nbsp;ONLY a man. &nbsp;They want a king who rules from an earthly throne. &nbsp;They desire their enemies to be either&nbsp;utterly&nbsp;<span>destroyed, or surrendered in service to God’s earthly carnal kingdom, ruled by a human king, whose rule and power never ends.</span></div><div><br></div><div>Even after Jesus was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, the apostles were still asking Jesus, <i>“Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” &nbsp;</i>(Acts 1;6)</div><div><br></div><div>They failed to grasp that the real enemies of God (and us His children)&nbsp;are sin and death. <i>“Our warfare is not with flesh and blood…” &nbsp;</i>not human beings, but the spiritual forces of wickedness. &nbsp;Our first battle ground is within ourselves, our first enemy is our old corrupted nature,&nbsp;self. &nbsp;Praise God for our Baptism into Christ!</div><div>It gives us Christ’s own death to sin. &nbsp;In Christ, we use the enemies’ own&nbsp;weapon against him.</div><div><br></div><div>Only after Pentecost, did the reception of the Holy Spirit open their minds and hearts&nbsp;to the true meaning of the Rule of the Messiah in&nbsp;God’s children, (the obedience of faith). &nbsp;The Kingdom of God had already come! &nbsp;It/He was in the Apostles, and It/He is in us!</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>The descendants of Jacob, the children of ‘The Promised Blessing’ are the first-fruits’ dough offered to God. Selected by God, ‘set apart’ (separated, holy) chosen&nbsp;to bring forth <i>“The Woman’s Seed, the Promised Blessing.”</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>We Gentile Believers are the whole <i>“lump” </i>(the loaf, indwelt by the Bread of Life, Jesus). &nbsp;We too now&nbsp;are <i>“holy”</i>, ‘set apart,’&nbsp;<i>“destined and appointed to&nbsp;</i><i>live for the praise of His glory” </i>(Ephesians 1;12). We now are the new, true Israel. &nbsp;We are the true sons of Jacob, children of The Promise.</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>“ But it is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel, belong to Israel, and not all our children of Abraham because they are his descendants; but ‘Through Isaac shall your descendants be named.’ &nbsp;This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants.” &nbsp;</i>(Romans 9;6-8)</div><div><br></div><div>We draw our true&nbsp;<span>life, our spiritual existence, our faith and fruitfulness&nbsp;from ‘The Promise’&nbsp;made to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, Isaac,&nbsp;Jacob, and David. &nbsp;Our spiritual roots grow deeply in&nbsp;the Old Testament. &nbsp;From the prophetic Word, we&nbsp;draw our existence as the&nbsp;Children of God. &nbsp;We are “</span><i>A&nbsp;tree planted by streams of water, we&nbsp;yield&nbsp;our&nbsp;fruit in season, our leaves do not wither. In all we do we prosper.” &nbsp;</i><span>(Psalm 1;3)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, bless us to partake of Christ’s&nbsp;joy in&nbsp;our born-anew nature, dead to sin and alive to You in Christ Jesus. &nbsp;Our new&nbsp;nature delights to draw Living Water</span><span>&nbsp;from the </span><i>“wells of our salvation” </i><span>(Isaiah 12;3), which are&nbsp;Your most holy living Words.</span></div><div><span>Teach our hearts that, hearing, reading, marking, learning, and meditating on the Living Word is <i>“not burdensome.” &nbsp;&nbsp;</i>This yoke of Christ we bear is joyous and light! &nbsp;Teach our hearts that walking by the Spirit makes our time with You,&nbsp;through Your Word, wondrous, beautiful, and&nbsp;exciting. &nbsp;By The Spirit and the Word, we behold Your glory, and You dear Father cause our face to shine! &nbsp;&nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><i><br></i></span></div><div><span><i><br></i></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric/Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we, broken-hearted, contrite, forgiven, believing children, are His.”</span></div><div><span><i></i></span></div><div><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Romans 11;15&16
15.  For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?16.  If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
God’s divine selection of Abram and his descendants for the purpose of bringing forth His Promise, “the Seed of the woman” has meant tremendous suffering for the Jews over the generations, even down to this day, suffering which God intends that we share in too.
We must not think that God has forever rejected the entire posterity of Israel, (the descendants of Jacob).In every generation there is a remnant of Jews who receive the gifts of repentance and faith in Christ Jesus,just as we have. However,in general, as a nation, the Jews, (trusting in their own powers of reason) have rejected Jesus as their long promised Messiah.  Jesus did not satisfy their definition of ‘the son of David.’  His claim as God’s Son was and remains an offense to them.   They were, and are still, looking for only a political, earthly king who will establish God’s kingdom on earth.  
They want a victorious king, but ONLY a man.  They want a king who rules from an earthly throne.  They desire their enemies to be either utterly destroyed, or surrendered in service to God’s earthly carnal kingdom, ruled by a human king, whose rule and power never ends.
Even after Jesus was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, the apostles were still asking Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”  (Acts 1;6)
They failed to grasp that the real enemies of God (and us His children) are sin and death. “Our warfare is not with flesh and blood…”  not human beings, but the spiritual forces of wickedness.  Our first battle ground is within ourselves, our first enemy is our old corrupted nature, self.  Praise God for our Baptism into Christ!It gives us Christ’s own death to sin.  In Christ, we use the enemies’ own weapon against him.
Only after Pentecost, did the reception of the Holy Spirit open their minds and hearts to the true meaning of the Rule of the Messiah in God’s children, (the obedience of faith).  The Kingdom of God had already come!  It/He was in the Apostles, and It/He is in us! The descendants of Jacob, the children of ‘The Promised Blessing’ are the first-fruits’ dough offered to God. Selected by God, ‘set apart’ (separated, holy) chosen to bring forth “The Woman’s Seed, the Promised Blessing.”
We Gentile Believers are the whole “lump” (the loaf, indwelt by the Bread of Life, Jesus).  We too now are “holy”, ‘set apart,’ “destined and appointed to live for the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1;12). We now are the new, true Israel.  We are the true sons of Jacob, children of The Promise.
  “ But it is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel, belong to Israel, and not all our children of Abraham because they are his descendants; but ‘Through Isaac shall your descendants be named.’  This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants.”  (Romans 9;6-8)
We draw our true life, our spiritual existence, our faith and fruitfulness from ‘The Promise’ made to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David.  Our spiritual roots grow deeply in the Old Testament.  From the prophetic Word, we draw our existence as the Children of God.  We are “A tree planted by streams of water, we yield our fruit in season, our leaves do not wither. In all we do we prosper.”  (Psalm 1;3)
Prayer:  Merciful Father, bless us to partake of Christ’s joy in our born-anew nature, dead to sin and alive to You in Christ Jesus.  Our new nature delights to draw Living Water from the “wells of our salvation” (Isaiah 12;3), which are Your most holy living Words.Teach our hearts that, hearing, reading, marking, learning, and meditating on the Living Word is “not burdensome.”   This yoke of Christ we bear is joyous and light!  Teach our hearts that walking by the Spirit makes our time with You, through Your Word, wondrous, beautiful, and exciting.  By The Spirit and the Word, we behold Your glory, and You dear Father cause our face to shine!   In Jesus we pray, Amen.

Love,Dad/Baba/Eric/Grandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we, broken-hearted, contrite, forgiven, believing children, are His.”
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