Inception: Working with Refugees, Stage Four: "On Your Marks"

Introduction

Five articles about faith-based ministry to refugees precede this one. The article Titles are The Warp and Weft of Life[1], Conception: Empowering to Serve Refugees[2], Inception: Working with Refugees, Stage One: Getting to Know Refugees[3], Inception: Working with Refugees, Stage Two: Founding a Faith-based Ministry to Refugees[4], and Inception: Working with Refugees, Stage Three: Connecting[5]. Besides these, others of my refugee articles relay stories directly from refugees about their lives. These articles begin with the title In Their Words[6][7][8]. One other article on working with refugees teaches about the importance of letting the person tell his or her story. The title of this article is Just Listen[9].

In earlier articles of the refugee ministry series, you learned who refugees are, how many refugees are in the world as of the end of 2016, and that refugees come from many countries in the world. For faith-based refugee work, you must receive God’s vision, pray continually, and depend on God for strength. Further, you must become acquainted with the refugees by talking with them, and then determine their needs based on those conversations with them and from your own inspection of their lives. Another part of working with refugees is setting up a refugee ministry organization with a clear mission statement, and clear goals and objectives. These will keep the ministry focused. They will allow people working with you to help refugees and people outside the organization to understand God’s vision for you and your goals for the refugee ministry as you received it from Him.

This fourth article in the Inception part of the series will look at those tasks immediately preceding the start of the refugee ministry, hence the title, “On Your Mark.”. These tasks are the necessities of your particular ministry. Whether you plan to teach English, give food or rent help, offer counseling services, give legal aid, offer medical aid with clinics, or whatever the vision God gave you, certain practical necessities are needed to begin the ministry. Besides the practical, you must consider other things. These other considerations comprise finding a venue, advertising, submitting funding requests, getting volunteers, more advocacy, and most importantly, continued prayer.

Prayer

Again, as stated before, prayer must enwrap every part of a ministry for the vision which God gives. God is the One who gives the vision and He must empower the work, so the workers will not grow weary, heavy-hearted, and give up on the work to which He calls them. Prayer must weave throughout each part of the refugee ministry to understand God about to whom or to which organization to meet with to get volunteers and funding. Prayer will help you decide when to change or adapt the work and when to enlarge the ministry. It will help you realize your need for added expertise. Added to this, prayer opens people’s hearts as you and the refugee organization advocate and seek ministry funding for refugees and the ministry to them. Without prayer throughout the entire process, the ministry weakens because it rests upon the limited wisdom, knowledge, and strength of people instead of on all-knowing and all-mighty God.

A Venue

One of the most important parts to any ministry is having a place from which to minister. A venue provides a place in which to keep an office and supplies, and becomes the place from which ministry to refugees occurs. A site can cost nothing, or it can require rent payment. It can be associated with a church or business, or can be independent of another organization.

How do you find a venue, a place, from which to minister to refugees? You must compose a priority list of what is most important for that ministry. Does the ministry venue need to be near a main transportation center, like a train station or taxi rank? Does it need to cost the ministry program nothing or can the program pay rent, and how much can it pay? Does the site need to be child-safe, as in will the refugees bring children with them? Do you need a site large enough, so the ministry can grow, or will you be a roving ministry?

After considering the priorities for a ministry site, the ministry team can begin the search for a venue. Often just driving around the area in which the refugees of interest live and praying asking God to show you a place works well. When God shows you a site, contact the manager, pastor, or owner and make an appointment to talk to him or her about using his or her building.

Another way to find a place in which to minister to refugees is by joining another ministry or organization. Consider the other ministries/churches or organizations in the area in which the ministry could best serve the refugee population you want to minister. Determine if one or more of these have the same Christian ethos as the ministry you want to offer for refugees. After that, approach the ministry/church or organization through a meeting telling them of your vision from God for the ministry, and asking them if you can use a room, hall, or any other place they have available.

Most importantly, before you seek an interview with a person, ministry, organization, or business from whom to borrow space, you must pray to seek God’s will about working with them. Some places God will shut the door to you seeking to work with them. He knows best what the underlying ethos is of that person, organization, or business. Even though you might not understand why God tells you not to seek a venue from them, trust He knows the heart of the property owner or manager. Look elsewhere once God closes a door for that site.

Resources

Funding

Resources are a necessity for any organization or ministry. Without them, people and tools would be unavailable for use or to help in the ministry to refugees. No organization could operate without people, pens, paper, pencils, etc.

Before you can do anything else, though, you must find resources and a way to pay for them. How will the ministry get funding? How will it get people to help? Connect with the people, churches, businesses, and organizations you visited in stage three. Determine if they give funds to ministries in the community. Ask how a person gets the funds from the person, church, business, or organization. Obtain the documents needed to submit a funding or grant request. Ask how soon you will hear about your application. If you have not received a reply from the people, businesses, churches, or organizations by the time they said they would decide, email or call them asking when you will know the result of your funding application.

Funding is a key challenge for organizations, profit and non-profit. Often you will need to get funding from several organizations to make sure you obtain all needs for the ministry. When considering refugee ministry, remember to approach the United Nations High Council on Refugees (UNHCR), USAID, and the department of social development or social services. Do not give up if you do not get funding immediately. God gave you the vision: He knows from where the funding can come. Keep praying asking His help and guidance on where to seek funding and to soften the hearts of the people or organizations so they will join you in ministry to refugees.

Supplies

Another part of getting resources is buying physical supplies. What is the program you will start first in the refugee ministry? What supplies will you need for that program? Paper, pens, pencils, and folders are a staple supply in every ministry and organization. Printing costs will occur for handouts for classes or other programs. Will you buy a printer or pay a local print shop? How will you manage that? Will your ministry distribute food, clothes, or blankets? You will need to buy the basic items you will distribute to refugees. For each ministry, places to sit and write will be necessary. These sorts of costs will need consideration in the funding or grant request you submit.

Besides tangible supplies, a ministry will often need people to help with the work. Maybe, you will work on your own at the start of the program. As the number of refugees helped increases, more personnel will need to be on the ministry team. Initially, the team members will be volunteers. After a ministry grows and funding is not as large of a concern because funding is steady, the ministry program can become an employer. Until that time, you will need to solicit and train volunteers.

While working with the refugees, leaders emerge among them. Approach these leaders to tell them of the need for volunteers on the team. Find out their gifting and training. Many refugees have extensive training. They graduated from a university in their home countries. With the refugee leaders as part of the ministry team, the refugee community begins to trust and respect the ministry. They then seek to bring more people needing help while often offering their own services to the ministry.

Besides ministry volunteers from the refugee community, you should consider and solicit volunteers from surrounding communities of the host city and country and city. Return to the organizations with which you made connection at the start of planning for this ministry. See if they would consider telling their employees about the refugee ministry and encourage them to offer their time to help refugees. Churches could put a notice in their Sunday bulletin or on their bulletin board. Employers could hold a monthly corporate employee community day and offer their manpower to the refugee ministry. Small business owners could offer their help by training refugees to work for them. The ways to get volunteers is endless. Talking to the volunteers before and after a volunteer day is also important. Teach them how to do the work for the day. At the end, ask them how the day went for them. What was a highlight for them? What did they find difficult? Debrief the volunteers and answer any questions or concerns. Remember, before soliciting volunteers, get your prayer supporters for the refugee ministry to pray that God would open the hearts of people to care for refugees and join their hands and heart to the ministry.

Advertise

Why you need to advertise? How will the refugee community you want to help realize help is available to them without the ministry being advertised somehow? Until refugees in the community learn about a new ministry and it takes root, it cannot make a big dent in the needs of the community.

How would you advertise to reach refugees? Contact other non-profit and non-governmental organizations telling them about the ministry you will soon offer and ask if you can place a flier in their offices. Tell local pastors and churches about the ministry soon to be operating. Make fliers and put them in the mail boxes in areas in which refugees live. Put fliers up on public notice boards at grocery stores, pharmacies, and other community stores. Put these fliers up in doctors’ offices, libraries, and schools. Go into the community where refugees live and talk to people on the street. Take a refugee leader with you who can talk about the ministry and about you as a person who cares about the refugees’ problems.

Paul wrote something like this. Getting your news out to the community in need requires going to them is similar to Paul’s writing when he said, Christians are to go to the people in need and tell them about God’s salvation made available to them. As a Christian ministry to refugees, the program did not come to you from God, so you can feel good about yourself because you are doing something for refugees. God’s vision came so the people He loves, which includes refugees, can experience His love. How will the refugees recognize God’s love if you do not get into their community and tell them about the refugee ministry, and why it’s available to help them? Ultimately, the refugee ministry is to tell the people God loves them so much that he provided a way to save them from their sins and give them eternal life with Him. That love is for eternity and for now. God’s love isn’t just for the future; God’s love is for now, too. Paul said in Romans 10:1, 10-14, 

¹ “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. ¹⁰ For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him. ¹³ For ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ ¹⁴ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

The ministry from God’s heart to you as a vision to help the refugees comes because of God’s love for them. He loves them with a saving love for now and eternity. Just as the people cannot hear about God’s saving love without someone going to tell them, the refugees cannot hear about the refugee ministry without someone going into their communities to tell them it exists to help them because of God’s love for them. All who seek to minister must go where the people are to help them.

Advocacy

In the refugee ministry article titled Connecting, you understood many reasons exist for finding other organizations serving the refugee community. Connecting with the other organizations helps you network to meet more needs of refugees. It helps you find funding for the programs. Connecting aids you in knowing how to find funding or volunteers.

Besides advocating with other organizations, you must advocate for refugee ministry within the community and city, so people will accept refugees. Why is this necessary? Many times, people within a community, city, or nation protest out of fear about refugees entering their sphere. They are afraid refugees will take jobs away from them. Refugees willingly take lower paying jobs than nationals. Because of this, employers often choose refugees over nationals. Nationals fear the culture from which refugees come will bleed into their city or nation. They do not want genocide, war, or “strange” religions to affect their way of life. People-land owners or property managers-within the host city or country are prejudiced against refugees and asylum-seekers. They show it by charging refugees and asylum-seekers higher rent prices. Often, they will rent one room of a flat/apartment for half the price of the full price of the whole apartment. Often, they will build shacks in a back yard that do not have access to running water or sewerage. These landlords will then charge exorbitant rents so they pay their own mortgage for the property from the rents.

Ultimately, advocacy within the host community, city, and nation should aim to help the people know the plight of the refugees and why they had to flee their homes. It aims to touch the hearts of people, so they will care for the refugees instead of seeing them as a threat. You can advocate for refugees by speaking at churches, businesses, in councils, in neighborhoods schools and sports clubs, and with local government leaders. You cannot be the only one in a community to care for refugees and asylum-seekers. The task is a very large. It takes a community united to care for its aliens, orphans, and widows. God understood this and told the Israelites to care for their poor and powerless within their own communities.

Consider these verses from the Bible:

At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year and shall deposit it in your town. The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do. (Deuteronomy 14:28-29 [NASB])

“You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.” (Leviticus 19:15 [NASB]) 

For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. He executes justice for the orphan and the widow and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. So, show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:17-19 [NASB])

Other verses of direct teaching from Yahweh in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament, as well as teaching from prophets and New Testament writers, teach these lessons and more.

Conclusion

What is most important to know is God loves everyone. He is not prejudiced. God wants all people to come to a saving relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. At this point and throughout the ministry to refugees, prayer is paramount. God giving you His ministry vision for refugees shows His love for refugees. It also shows His love of you. He knows your heart and trusts you will follow His guidance to care for refugees. God knows you love Him in return by obeying His calling on your life.

By obeying God’s calling on your life, you show love to the refugees in the community, city, and nation. Love for anyone, including displaced people, occurs in several ways. It includes prayers for them, introducing them to God by telling them the gospel, listening to their stories, and seeking to minister to them by providing tangibly for their needs. Jesus modeled social ministry sandwiched by the gospel with His life. He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, lifted the lame, restored hearing to the deaf, encouraged the fainthearted, and brought the good news of God’s saving grace to all people.

Jesus is your example of how to minister to refugees and the powerless. He began by Himself and began calling people to follow Him. Jesus trained His followers as to whom God loves and how to minister to the. He taught them to pray. God provided all things needed for the people Jesus and His followers encountered. You, also, at this starting stage of ministry to refugees, must pray, find a venue, get funding, buy resources, request volunteers, tell refugees about the ministry, advocate for the refugees, and pray more. The task is daunting at times. You will grow weary. People may misunderstand your intentions. Others may spread lies about your intentions or the ministry. Funding may not always come when you decide you need it. God may not seem to be listening to you. Jesus experienced many of these things and He said His followers would experience them, too. We are not greater than the Master. I encourage you at all time to keep the Lord before you. Pray continually. Seek God’s will constantly. Rest regularly. Learn when to stop for the day. Get help from friends when needed.

      The LORD bless you, and keep you;      The LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you;
      The LORD lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.                            

       (Numbers 6:24-26 [NASB])

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[1] http://tcmhome.blogspot.com/2018/04/warp-and-weft-of-life.html

[2] http://tcmhome.blogspot.com/2018/05/conception-empowering-to-serve-refugees.html

[3] http://tcmhome.blogspot.com/2018/07/inception-working-with-refugees-stage.html

[4] http://tcmhome.blogspot.com/2018/07/inception-working-with-refugees-stage_27.html

[5] http://tcmhome.blogspot.com/2018/08/inception-working-with-refugees-stage.html

[6] http://tcmhome.blogspot.com/2018/05/in-their-words.html

[7] http://tcmhome.blogspot.com/2018/05/in-their-words-mataas-story.html

[8] http://tcmhome.blogspot.com/2018/06/in-their-words-petras-and-fabrices.html

[9] http://tcmhome.blogspot.com/2018/05/just-listen.html

The Word is Near You

Romans 10 (NASB)

In Romans 10, Paul is speaking to the Roman believers about Israel. His first statement in verse one of this chapter reflects his heart, “Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation” (NASB). Paul, though Christ called him to preach to the Gentiles had a heart for the Israelites. He loved them because he had been one of them. He even tells the Romans that the Jews have a zeal for God, a fervor of spirit for God, but it is with head knowledge. They still believed they must follow the Laws and so their fervor for God took place as a command of their religion to take these steps to be securely in God’s mercy and graces. Their knowledge of God was a works-based knowledge. They did not yet recognize Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, nor did they realize that He was the fulfillment of the Law; they did not have to “keep” the Law requirements any more. They were seeking righteousness by actions/works and hoping to be in God’s graces through works. They did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God (vs. 3). This is how Saul lived before Christ encountered him with a blinding light and audible voice. Paul knows first-hand the futility of a works based righteousness and salvation.

What is this righteousness of God about which Paul spoke to the Romans? Righteousness means that one is in a state of being with God where He approves of the person. This state of righteousness is seen by the fruits that a person displays such as integrity, purity of life, virtue, and correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting. It is a state of being in which one is so close to God and in such a relationship with Him, that God’s character is seen within the person and his or her actions and attitudes. In Romans 1:17, Paul states, “The righteous shall live by faith” (NASB). Habakkuk 2:4 also says this, "Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith” (NASB). This Old Testament belief and teaching from God is also seen in Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38. This idea, teaching, and belief are not new to Paul or any of the Jews; therefore, they would not be rebelling against the idea of righteousness. What Paul and others find is that the Jews were being stubborn about believing in righteousness through faith alone, without works. They did not want to submit themselves to God by doing it His way provided through Jesus Christ, but chose to do it in the way they felt comfortable and were familiar with, through works. By doing a works based righteousness, they could choose which action to do and which attitude was right. From this, some people lorded over others because they felt they were doing more than others were and were, therefore, worthy of more praise and prominence within the community. This was self-centeredness, arrogance, and envy playing out, not true righteousness that only can be attained through God’s grace and mercy supplied by the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. The Jews knew that when the Messiah did come, the Law would have no more power or sway over their lives. They knew the Messiah would be the fulfillment of the Law (vs. 4-5). Not only did they not want their own grandiose and public works of the Law to be taken away from them, they did not want a common man from Nazareth, a lowborn person, to be the awaited Messiah. That would allow another to be placed in a position higher than them. Works based righteousness was held on to for sheer human desire, not Godly salvation. They supported the works based righteousness upon what Moses spoke in Leviticus 18:5. This was a part of the religion of the Jews; works were required. We must remember though, God only gave Moses 10 laws/commandments; humans created the other 622 laws by which a Jew was supposed to live and become righteous. Through time, God saw that they were unable to keep even the laws they made for themselves. He knew from the beginning of time that humanity would be unable to be righteous without His intervention and plan to make all who believe in Him become righteous.

Paul makes it clear for all now when he says,

The righteousness based on faith speaks as follows…THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, in your mouth and in your heart "-that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:6-10)

“The Word is near you” is not something Paul made up. It was also stated in Deuteronomy 30:14, "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it. Moses spoke these words to the Israelites. This teaching was common knowledge to any Jewish boy and man. This word of God is in the mouths and hearts of the children of God. He reiterated it in Jeremiah 31:33 when He said He would put His Law within them and write it upon their hearts. He said He would be their God and they would be His people. Having a believing faith that instilled righteousness is not new to the Jews during and after Jesus’ life on earth. God spoke of His faith being on their hearts and minds all the way back in Deuteronomy. Righteousness by faith in the Creator, Redeeming God has been God’s plan from the beginning of time. Paul goes on to make it plainly clear; the Word of God that they are preaching, that Word is near. The word that was placed in their hearts is near to them now, again as always. He is near now being preached to them so that they can believe and receive the righteousness that comes from belief. This belief is one that comes from absolute trust in Christ as the Savior and Redeemer come from God, Yahweh. Paul makes it perfectly clear all anyone must do to be saved, to have righteousness, which is what the Jews originally strived to do. In verses 9 and 10, Paul tells the readers and hearers of this letter to the Romans that if they confess that Jesus is Lord/Master (a hard thing to do when one is working to be the best they can be from their own strength) and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead (the only religious leader to ever come back to life after death), then they will be saved. This requires acquiescence by a person’s mind to use one’s mouth to declare someone else as Lord of their life and it requires absolute faith to believe that He is the Messiah and was resurrected by the Yahweh all Jews recognize as God. The heart belief brings righteousness and the mouth confession brings salvation into the human life. In verse 11 and in Isaiah 28:16, Paul and Isaiah both say that he who believes will not be disappointed/disturbed, will not be put to shame or disgraced. Are we ever put to shame by our inadequate acts to save our reputation, our wherewithal, and ourselves? We are inadequate to provide our own salvation because we are not perfect. Only One who has lived on earth, been tempted, remained sinless, and made to be our sacrifice, from which He was resurrected, is able to be the perfect sacrifice and means for our righteousness.

Paul continues from verse 12 and says for all Romans and people who hear or read this letter that this righteousness is for everyone; no one will be disappointed. It is for Jew and non-Jew, rich and poor, slave and free person. There is no one who is beyond righteousness that is provided by God through His Son, Jesus Christ. He says, “The same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him. Whoever will call upon Him will be saved” from their sin, themselves, and the resultant eternal separation from God. “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord, will be saved” (Romans 10:13 NASB). It does not say, if you are a sinner that you cannot call upon the Lord. It does not say if you are rich or poor you cannot be saved. It says that everyone can be saved. The book of Joel in chapter 2 verses 32 says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be delivered.” Even back in the Old Testament times, God knew and spoke through His prophet Joel about His desire to have His people whom He created and into whom He blew His breath come back to Him and provided the way. No one is beyond righteousness; it is just not possible by our own human strength, ability, or actions. None of us has ever been perfect, so we cannot ever attain the righteousness that is necessary to be in God’s presence. God, though, because He loves us and wants us to be with Him forever in heaven made a plan, provided a way. He provided His Son to live upon the earth as a man and to be tempted and able to avoid sin. This Son is Jesus who is perfect and never sinned, Who died at the hands of sinful man. God, however, is greater than anything that we can ever do and brought His Son back from the dead to be alive again. Jesus walked upon the earth for 40 days after His resurrection. Many people saw Him, touched Him, and spoke to Him. He was real. He was alive. He is God.

Verses 14-16 offer up the challenge to God’s called men and women to go out and tell others about Him for people must hear to know and believe in Jesus Christ. IT is not that people do not know there is a God, for He can be seen in His handiwork, the skies, earth, and people. These are general revelations. God has a special revelation though that He wants proclaimed to all people, Jesus is the Savior, the Son of God. All people know there is a God out there but may not know specifically about Him. Therefore, people must hear for “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ” (vs. 17). This faith comes by the hearing the word of faith and hearing by the word of God, which brings faith. These two are interwoven, hearing and faith. The beginning and progress of faith comes from hearing. All people must hear; therefore, he encourages people to tell other people. Paul goes on to say in verses 18-21 that Israel surely knows Yahweh and the Savior since they have been the chosen ones of God. He uses a question in the Greek manner when he asks have they never heard; it implies an affirmative answer. Paul is about to indict the Jews for their denial so that they will be encouraged to believe with their hearts and confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord. In verse 18, Paul says, “But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; "THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD." Paul is saying without doubt that the Israelites have heard and known about the Father and the Savior, His Son, Jesus. They have experienced His protection and provision. David, from whom Paul quotes, said in Psalm 19:4, “Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun.” The story of them and their God, Yahweh, has spread throughout the nations so that all know of Yahweh, so how can they not know Him and His Son? Paul asks again in the Greek form in verses 19-21, “But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, ‘I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS BY THAT WHICH IS NOT A NATION, BY A NATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WILL I ANGER.’ And Isaiah is very bold and says, ‘I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.’ But as for Israel He says, ‘ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.’" Paul uses this form of questioning well in indicting the Jews. He provides the answer to this question with quotes from two of their prominent leaders. Both Moses and Israel spoke in the past against Israel with God’s word. Moses said that because they had turned their backs on Yahweh, He would pass His grace onto a non-Hebrew nation and make them jealous (Deuteronomy 32:21). Isaiah spoke God’s word to the Jews and explained that He was accepted by those who did not seek Him; the non-Jews accepted him. God says, too, that He stretched out His hands for these obstinate Jews to provide for and protect them yet those chose to be disobedient to Yahweh even though they were receiving His grace. Paul is making the point in Romans 12 that He made Himself known to the Israelites and poured mercy and grace upon them yet they repeatedly chose their own way. This is seen by their obstinance in not accepting the righteousness that comes from faith in Jesus Christ as Lord instead of their works based righteousness they have manufactured for themselves.

The lives of the Jews do not show that they are the sole rebellious people among God’s creation. All nations of people have been and are willful and fall short of God’s standard of righteousness. That is why Paul states, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Roman 3:23 NASB). This is why we all must “call upon the name of the Lord” (vs. 13). We all must seek Him, individually, confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead (vs.9). This belief is made possible as a gift from God received when we believe, which comes from hearing the Word of God. God gives us the faith to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Getting ahead in this life really is not about doing the right thing or saying the right thing. It is about believing in the right Person, Jesus, the righteous Son of God. It is not about what I have done, but Who He is and what He has done. Just as the Israelites were chosen, God is choosing us. We can choose as the Israelites did to be rebellious and ignore God and His Son’s perfect righteousness bought for us with His death and resurrection. The Word is out there. Most of those who read this have heard of Jesus Christ and His Father. Since you know of Him, when you choose to go your own way, you are being rebellious and are not choosing righteousness, faith, and salvation. We each must come to the point of our own of choosing to hear the Word and believe the Word so that we can confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. It is our choice. God chose you, but you must choose Him to receive righteousness and a relationship with Him that leads to eternal life with Him. We can leave it with Joshua’s quote from Joshua 24:15b, “Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” You will not be disappointed. Jesus died for all people because He loves all; God is the maker of all and has a plan of salvation for all His beloved people. Will you be rebellious, too? Who will you choose?