The Garden of Eden was the setting for the first recorded words from GOD to man, dealing
with, His love, grace, and mercy towards humanity. In Genesis 3:9, we find these
words, "AND THE LORD GOD CALLED UNTO ADAM, AND SAID UNTO HIM, WHERE ART THOU?"
Let us keep in mind, that man had disobeyed GOD, thusly, he had sinned against his
Creator with full knowledge of his transgression; and yet, The LORD's utterance unto
Adam, has been repeated often times since then, as He has spoken to Israel
, to the Church,
and specifically, to you and me,
namely, 'RETURN UNTO ME', even after we have disobeyed Him!
How marvelous is His great love towards His children. It's no wonder that we read
in Lamentations 3:22-23, "It is of The LORD's mercies that we are not consumed,
because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS."
My own experience with The LORD, covers a period of over forty-nine (49) years, since
I became a believer in The LORD Jesus Christ; and I know of individuals that have
been walking with our MESSIAH for many more years and yet, I have never met or even
heard of anyone that would exceed ninety
or ninety-five years
of relationship with our LORD while walking upon this life's journey. Not so, with
THE NATION OF ISRAEL!
Israel 'as a people'
have been in covenant relationship with our LORD and GOD for over, three thousand
five hundred (3,500) years.
That's a long, long relationship and walk with GOD! As I said before, in one's lifetime,
the longest that an individual could ever be in living relationship to our LORD would
be a mere 90 to 95 years, and yet Israel (The Jewish People), have had a living covenant relationship with The LORD almost forty times that much. So you see, Israel
is a beautiful example for our premise, found in Isaiah 44:22 "...RETURN UNTO ME".
How often the Lord pleaded with Israel, that she might return unto GOD, again and
again!
Can you understand by this, the very love of GOD for his people? To 'Return Unto GOD', simply means that, if it were not for the love of GOD,
this great invitation would never be there. Secondly, there must be an acceptance
of wrong doing, and an understanding that The LORD desires to correct the wrong and
extend His redemption to cover and do away with the problem of disobedience and wrong doing!
Thirdly, we must humbly come to The Creator of the heavens and earth, recognizing
that He and He alone has the power to sustain us through the times of trials in ones
life, for He is our HELPER and COMFORTER. Lastly, we should accept the great assurance
of forgiveness that is ours, as well as the security of our relationship with Him
for time and for eternity! How about you? Do you need to 'Return Unto The LORD',
because of your own sins? In Lamentations 3:39-40 we read, "Wherefore doth a living man
complain, a man for the punishment of 'his' sins? Let us search and try our ways,
and turn again to the LORD".
When the children of Israel had 'good' leadership, that is, a 'good' King, they would
be led to GOD, and remain there until a new King would arise that would not follow
after the precepts of The LORD. The whole process would start all over once again.
How patient the LORD is in His dealings with not only Israel, but even you and me. Just
think for a moment, how you and I would act or even react with a fellow human being
that consistently continues to hurt us, again and again. Probably, most of us would
be willing to forgive the first offense, and even with much hesitation the second one
also. But wait a minute, after the first and second violation, how many of us would
be ready to forgive a third offense perpetrated against us? How many of us would
demonstrate patience, kindness, understanding, and forgiveness? How about being willing to
invite them back to your house or office even though you already know that they will
once again offend, hurt, and even put you to open shame?
The answer is clear and plain. The only one willing to forbear and forgive and extend
an invitation to all who are confirmed and incurable offenders, is The GOD Man, The
LORD Jesus Christ! Thank you LORD Jesus, that you will receive us, just as we are, either needing SALVATION
from sin or extending mercy to a believer that has fallen into sin! I believe that
we also need to return unto GOD in the area of recognizing the fact that Christianity is a branch of 'the good olive tree', which is the Jewish Nation. (see: Romans chapter
11).
This branch called 'Christianity' not only proceeds from 'The Nation of Israel, but
it also is maintained by a Jewish book, namely The Word of GOD. This branch of Christianity
is inseparable to the JERUSALEM OF GOD
that is, the Jewish people, the Jewish land, and essentially The Jewish Messiah,
The LORD Jesus Christ! Therefore, today we are witnessing an innumerable host of
people seeking and searching for their FAITH roots. Some are going to The Land of
Israel; others are discovering in one form or another, 'the Jewishness' of The Word of GOD.
Over the years The LORD has allowed me the privilege of preaching to countless numbers
of people, and I always stand amazed at the Gentile Christians that begin to become
exposed to the 'Jewishness' of The Scriptures, how they 'LOVE' any and all things
that are Jewish! You see, what amazes me, is the fact, that for a Gentile individual,
some of which, have never even met a Jewish person in their lifetime, to become,
almost overnight a zealous ZIONIST
which means a true 'lover of Israel';
the land, the people, etc., indeed, this is a miracle of GOD. I say a miracle, when
the wild olive branch (the Gentiles) recognize where they are grafted in, that is,
the good olive tree (the Jews)
and then return unto that position, and respond properly in " Praying for the peace
of Jerusalem", and loving the ones from whom SALVATION came. Jesus our LORD said
in John 4:22, "...Salvation is of the Jews". Our Lord was stating a fact that should
always be remembered and observed. To remember it by way of meditating on it, as well
as speaking to others about, SALVATION coming through the Jewish people. To observe
it by way of showing mercy to the very people through whom SALVATION has been brought
into this world (see: Romans 11:30-31) RETURN UNTO ME,
The LORD says!
Dear readers, if you today can honestly admit that you do not know what it is to be
a child of GOD, whose sins are forgiven, then I would invite you to bow your heart
to THE MESSIAH Jesus. Return the very life that He has given to you, unto Him, in
FAITH. Confess with your mouth that you have sinned against GOD, and believe in your heart
that He has raised Jesus from the dead, and thou shalt be saved. Return unto me says
The LORD. Perhaps, you are already a child of GOD, by grace through faith in The
LORD Jesus Christ, but need to return unto The LORD, in respect of your attitude and behaviour
towards the people and Land of Israel. You can start by recognizing that there is
no such Scriptural place as 'PALESTINE',
but there is a place loved of GOD called ISRAEL.
Also, you can begin taking a positive attitude in presenting The Gospel of Jesus
our LORD, exactly the way The Apostle Paul told us to, as well as the fact that he
practiced it, that is, "...To the Jew first, and also to the Gentile". (see: Romans
1:16) Remember it's one thing to love ISRAEL, and why not, if it falls along with ones prophetical
schemes, that is, the coming of Jesus, etc., while on the other hand it's quite another
thing to love an individual Jewish person, that for all practical purposes has nothing to do with a believers life, program, and so on. It is not only necessary
to keep a proper perspective in regards to ISRAEL as a nation in relationship to
our prophetical schemes, but most important is our attitude and behaviour towards
an individual Jewish person. To love him or her is to find out what hurts them, also what
they love, what they like, what they dislike, etc.
The LORD reminds us in Genesis 12:3, "...I will bless them that bless thee.", is a
promise for all who will practice blessing the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
that is, the Jewish people. No matter what category you fall into, one thing is sure,
we 'all' need to 'Return Unto Him'.
As a child of God, we daily experience and recognize our need of The Holy One of Israel,
Who is our Heavenly Father. As GOD is always available and willing to accept us unto
Himself, so we should be willing to "Return Unto The LORD".
JERUSALEM OF GOD,
our expectation of Messiah Jesus, and our love for ISRAEL will become more and more
a reality, as we see within ourselves a change, little by little, in attitude, behaviour, consistency, determination,
and exhilaration
in returning unto The LORD GOD. AMEN!!!
