God Let Them and He Let's Us

S-Romans 1:24-25

S-"Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." Romans 5:1

A-Pure Faith

L-God Let Them Choose

     I wish we could all pull up a chair, grab our coffee and go through this face to face. I know the fellowship would be wonderful, and the coffee would be great too. I REALLY enjoy sharing God's Word with you. Thanks for joining me everyday. :)

   ***"So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies. Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen" Romans 1:24-25

These two passages bring about a sadness, shame, and even a little bit of anger and frustration, and not just because of their ignorance but because of ours too.

Let's look at a couple of things to help us grasp these passages a little better. It will be lengthy so we will do this over the next two days.

 1. Verse 24-"God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies." 

            -Who is Paul referring to? The Israelites.
            - Let's back up and take a deeper look into this. This is where it gets long, but good, so stick with me.

                        **Exodus 32-I recommend you read all of 32, because we are only going to look at a section.

                               -"Then the Lord told Moses, "Quick! Go down the mountain! The people you brought from Egypt have defiled themselves. They have already turned from the way I commanded them to live. They have made an idol shaped like a calf, and they have worshiped and sacrificed to it. They are saying, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of Egypt." Exodus 32:7-8

                              -Now, lets flip over to Psalm 81:8-12

                                       "Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen! You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down before a false god. For it was I, the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things. But no, my people wouldn't listen. Israel did not want me around, So I let them follow their blind and stubborn way, living according to their own desires."


                                  Let's break this down and apply it.

      A). From the time the Lord rescued the Israelites from Egypt all the way to the Promise Land, He made Himself known. Through the plagues, the escape in itself, the Pillar of Fire and the Pillar of cloud (Exodus 13:21) parting the Red Sea, every battle, bringing down the walls of Jericho, raining down manna, etc. God reveled Himself to them.

                         And yet, they still turned away from Him. We do the same thing. God reveals Himself to us in so many ways, yet in our ignorance we too turn away, ignoring all He has done. We turn to our selfish wants and desires just as they did.

                     How are we similar to the Israelites?
                             1. We both put idols before the Lord
                             2. We both doubt His protection
                             3. We doubt His power and strength to deliver us
                             4. We make God be someone we want Him to be
                             5. We are stubborn and live according to our own desires
                             6. We do vile and degrading things with our bodies and other's bodies
                             7. We believe and even listen to the lies.

This all seems so harsh to say doesn't it, but it is true. At some point, we have done 1 or 2 or all of these things.

          And just as God allowed them, He allows us. But take note, in due time we will all have to answer to Him, and we will reap the consequences of our choices.

         What do we need to take from this? What can we learn from this particular passage, Romans 1:24?

We can learn many things, one, we need to understand God allows us to make the choices we make. He gives each of us free will. He didn't force the Israelites to love Him. He didn't force them to do anything. He gave them the choice in hopes they would choose Him, worship Him and love Him.

 The Lord promised to deliver them and lead them to a place flowing with milk and honey, and all they had to do was give themselves completely to Him. He wanted their trust, their love, and their obedience.

He wants the same for us today. God wants to lavish us with the greatest and best. Which is His greatest and best, not what we think it should be. His is far more wonderful than ours ever will be. He wants all of us!

Do you have areas in your life that you need to surrender to the Lord? Do you know His promises, yet doubt? If so, climb up to the mountain. Spend some time with Him and let His love shine upon you.

Get in the Word and cover yourselves with it.

S-Go tell someone three things God has done for you.