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From the heart of a Jew to the Gentiles

Words of Faith Final

From the heart of a Jew to the Gentiles
Words of Faith 10-26-2021
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2021
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Romans 11
    [13] I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry [14] in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. [15] For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? [16] If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

To my dear Gentile friends in Christ,
From your Apostle, Paul,
      Nothing in life has meant more to me than to be used to reach you. Who would have imagined that I, Saul of Tarsus, Jew of Jews, of the tribe of Benjamin, and a Pharisee would be chosen to reach YOU, the Gentile church! Isn't God amazing in His choices!  
      But I must share with you my heart, my hope! I have never lost hope for reaching my own people, Israel, and I hope that you will not either! I believe this is the heart of God. As I have watched God pour out His Spirit upon you in mighty ways, I have prayed and prayed for this to turn the head and heart of my people.  
      This great outpouring of the Holy Spirit is part of what my people have longed for through the ages. I pray that this will provoke a spiritual envy in those who have long sought God but for a time have hardened their hearts-- not an earthly carnal envy, but an envy of the purest things of God that lead to salvation.
      I now see that the rejection of Messiah was necessary! Not all rejected Jesus, but many leaders did and turned Jesus over to the hands of sinful men, wicked Gentiles, who killed Him. Jesus knew this and even predicted it. It was indeed part of God's sovereign plan. It was through that rejection and suffering that redemption came!  
      Jesus spoke words of reconciliation and forgiveness even from the cross. That message has reached the Gentile people whose hands actually killed Jesus, and now I pray more than ever that this will reach my own people Israel. Their acceptance of this grace would be a glory like resurrection itself!  I know the power of His resurrection, for I once was lost from Him with a stony heart, but He gave me new life and a heart of flesh alive to His Spirit.
      Do you remember that the firstfruit offering sanctifies the whole harvest? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were the firstfruit, and Israel is the harvest. Israel will be holy just as the whole batch is holy. Or better yet, the Patriarchs are like a root, and Israel is the branches. The root was holy by faith, and so shall the branches be holy. The stumbling of Israel in rejecting Christ is temporary.

      And so I urge you, brothers and sisters in Christ, if there is any hope within you because of the Gospel of Christ that I labored to bring to you, pray with me for my people, Israel. Long for their salvation, even as I have labored and longed for yours.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2021
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2021 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.