MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/26/2026
8:07 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“The Repenters
Renounce Ancestry”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
3:8b
Message of the verse: “and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We
have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is
able to raise up children to Abraham.”
It seems to me that I have heard
that people have said that they had a free ticket to heaven because they were a part of some organization
and now we see here that the Jews thought that they also had a free ticket into
heaven because they were children of Abraham.
Both are not true for God has no grandchildren, He only has children as
each person who comes to the Lord for salvation is a child of God. This includes all the Jewish people too. Now I am not saying that the Jewish people
are not special people for it is them who God used for many wonderful things
including having the bloodline of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. These Jews said to Jesus in John 8:33 “We are
Abraham’s descendants” and then again in verse 39 “Abraham is our father.” One has to be a spiritual child of Abraham
and not a physical child of Abraham to be a believer in Jesus Christ for
salvation.
John MacArthur writes “But salvation
is individual, not corporate. Jesus
challenged those who claimed to be Abraham’s children, ‘If you are Abraham’s
children, do the deeds of Abraham’ (John 8:39).
‘For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly,’ Paul wrote, ‘but he is a Jew
who is one inwardly’ (Rom. 2:28-29).
Later in the epistle he added, ‘For they are not all Israel who are
descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s
descendants, but ‘Through Isaac your descendants will be named’’’(Rom 9:6-7). To the Galatians he wrote, ‘Therefore, be
sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham…And if you
belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to
promise (Gal. 3:7, 29). Being a
descendant of Abraham is no defense against divine judgment, Jesus warned:
24 “Strive to enter through the
narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.25 Once
the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin standing
outside and knocking on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ and He then
will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’26 Then
you will begin saying, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in
our streets!’27 And yet He will say, ‘I do not know where you are
from; leave Me, all you evildoers.’28 In that place there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the
prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out”
“Nor was
the rich man in the story of the rich man and Lazarus delivered from hell by
claiming Abraham as his father (Luke 16:24-26).
“In keeping with that biblical
truth, John cautioned his hears not to begin to say to
themselves, We have Abraham for our father. Then John pointed out that from these
stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. His caustic statement was a severe blow
to their over-weening pride. There was
nothing worthy or deserving about them; God from repentance and salvation,
their hearts were hearts of stone anyway (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26).”
(Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26)
“19 And I will give them one heart, and a new
spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their
flesh and give them a heart of flesh,”
“26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new
spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your
flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
“John’s
harsh tone, reminiscent of his earlier denunciation of them as snakes (v. 7),
was warranted by the seriousness of the situation. Those who trust in their ethnic or religious
heritage for salvation are deceived and headed for the fire of eternal judgment.”
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life Today: I am thankful that the Lord Jesus
Christ saved me on the 26th, of January, 1974, after listening to several
sermons by the late Hal Lindsey as he spoke about how the world was going to
end which was a fear of mine, and then the Holy Spirit of God brought me to
faith In Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord as this week may be
the key to find out if better treatment can be given to my wife for her cancer.
4/26/2026
8:37 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment