Gracious God of life, share with this dear reader exactly what is needed in her or his life today. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our reading comes from Romans 11:25-36: 25 So that you may not claim to be wiser than you are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, "Out of Zion will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob." 27 "And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins." 28 As regards the gospel they are enemies of God for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved, for the sake of their ancestors; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all. 33 O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" 35 "Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?" 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen
There's nothing like an incomplete family during special days. Most of us know when our children grow and marry they enter into a second family. Unless you live blocks from the other new family, the loyalties of your children split and they have to honor time with new family members during special days along with time with their parents. Most parents understand this. Not all like it. Paul is sharing his longing for having all of his "family," the Jews, under the umbrella of those who know and love Jesus as Lord and Savior. He's also encouraging those who know Jesus to share Him with others, so that they can be a blessing that brings the blessing of salvation to the unsaved.
Yesterday in our sermon that concluded a series called "Deliver," and it featured a pizza motif, the sermon was "Delivered to Deliver" and it was the story of Paul and how he was converted to being a Christian so that he might deliver others. I made that into a call into ministry for all believers whether it's a call from God to go all across the globe or just across the room, to bring a blessing to someone in need. I shared the sad story of two men who retired from working together for almost 50 years who discovered during their retirement party that they were both United Methodists. While they may have felt joy about that discovery, the unsaid thing was, how can you work alongside someone for that long and never bring up faith? Yes, some feel faith is a personal thing and we don't want to make others uncomfortable, but how can it not come up as a topic of importance? I suggested all we have to say is, "I had a great time in church yesterday" or "My pastor shared an interesting story about two coworkers who didn't know they were from the same denomination; sure hope that's not our case too!" And that may open a door of ministry to that person when they may just say, "You go to church? I need you to pray for my spouse and me" or something along those lines. God will use you to bring His blessings to their lives.
May we be a part of those who bring glory to the Name of God today and all days.
PRAYER: Loving God of all people, may I this day serve You like never before. Give me the wisdom, courage and opportunity to share my faith with someone in need. I pray this in Christ Jesus' name,amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
Personal reflection: Last night after Nellie and I attended a funeral prayer service we stopped at an HEB grocery store in McAllen. The cashier was super friendly and I suppose because we were still in our "Sunday go to meetin'" clothes she said, "You two are so adorable!" I replied, "That's because we just came from church!" We just chit chatted a bit about that, but we did share our need to be in worship at every opportunity we get.
Please continue to pray for the family of Carlos Martinez. His funeral is today at 10 a.m. Carlos had four daughters, sons-in-law, and several grandkids. His wife is Beatrice. We praise God because Facundo is home recovering from his stay in the hospital. He suffered what doctors at first thought was a stroke, but determined it was an irregular heartbeat and treatment for that through meds has been successful.
