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Eva Conner | Transformation From the Inside Out

You are in me, and I am in you. John 14:20

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Romans 9:1-5 – The Blessings for the Israelites

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7-Fold Blessings for Israel

A Seven-Fold Blessing for the Nation of Israel

With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. 2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. 4 They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. 5 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

Romans 9:1-5

The Nation of Israel was and always will be God’s chosen people.

It grieves Paul’s heart that his fellow Jewish brothers and sisters could not open their eyes to see Jesus Christ as their Messiah.  Let’s look back in the book of Exodus where we’ll see that the same thing also grieved Moses’ heart. Paul and Moses were both willing to sacrifice their own eternity with God for their Israel. What deep love, deep pain, deep sorrow they each had for the Nation that they loved.

31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!”

Exodus 32:31-32

In this first part of Romans Chapter 9 (verses 4 and 5), we see a seven fold blessing with Israel.  Let’s take a closer look at these last two verses above.

They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. (Blessing #1) God revealed his glory to them. (Blessing #2) He made covenants with them and (Blessing #3) gave them his law. (Blessing #4) He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and (Blessing #5) receiving his wonderful promises. (Blessing #6) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and (Blessing #7) Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen

Romans 9:4-5 (emphasis mine)

Blessing #1 -God revealed His glory to the Israelites.

God revealed His very glory to the Israelites unlike He’s ever done with any other nation. One example is in Exodus 19, we see God’s glory descend on Mt. Sinai in the form of smoke.  There are many other examples in the Old Testament of God’s glory becoming manifest in smoke, fire, and clouds.  The glory of God filled the Temple that King Solomon built.

Blessing #2 – God made covenants with them.

God gave the Nation of Israel His promises. The first promise was given to Abraham. God promised Abraham that He would make a great nation out of him (Genesis 12:1-3). In Genesis 15, we see another promise to Abraham. God told Abraham that he would have as many descendants as there were stars in the sky. God gave Abraham many other promises as well as promises to other patriarchs in the Old Testament.

Blessing #3 – God gave the Israelites the Law.

The Law was only given to Israel. As we’ve seen in prior lessons in Romans, the Law itself was not bad. In fact, it was given to Moses from God so it is holy and pure. But the Law was unable to do anything other than point out a man’s sin. It was incapable of offering human salvation. It was unable to change the penalty for man’s sin. For more information on the Law refer to my prior lessons on Romans 7:1-6 and  Romans 7:7-13.

Blessing #4 – God gave the Israelites the privilege of worshiping Him.

This is something that we need to grasp. When we go to church, we need to go with the understanding that it IS a privilege to worship God. We should not go with the attitude “what am I going to get out of this?”  Instead, we need to go with the attitude “it is a privilege to worship God today!” The Israelites had this privilege long before us.  They were given the priesthood. They were given  first the Tabernacle and then the Temple.  These people were given the Feasts.

Blessing #5 – Israel was given the promises.

All of the prophecy in the Old Testament are promises written for Israel. These are the prophetic promises. Some have come to pass and others are in the future. And they were all given to Israel.

Blessing #6 – The Israelites’ forefathers were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In God’s Word, we know that heritage and lineage are important. The people of Israel are of the lineage including the Old Testament patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Blessing #7 – The Messiah is from the Israelite lineage.

The Messiah was promised to come from the Nation of Israel. And we know that He did come from Joseph and Mary who were both of the line of King David.  This is a big promise. Christ is the Creator of all. He is our Lord and Savior. We see this lineage in the first chapter of Matthew.

What powerful verses. God’s Word never fails to amaze me. It has so many depths and levels. We can (and should) spend a lifetime studying the Word and we would see something new each and every time we open the Book.  There is no way that man could create such a living and breathing Word. Only God is capable of this masterpiece.

And Christ is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva

Holy Spirit E-Book Free Offer
If you’d like to learn more about the Holy Spirit, get my e-book all about Him. It is available for free when you sign up to receive emails from my blog by visiting http://evaconner.com/free-ebook-holy-spirit/ and entering your email address in the subscription form at the left of the page. You’ll receive an email asking you to verify that you are not a robot. After you do that, you will receive an email with a link to the free PDF e-book.

SOURCE: I used teaching notes from www.lesfeldick.org for some of the information in today’s Bible Lesson study.

Romans 8:35-39 – Can Anything Separate Us from Christ?

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Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ

Can anything separate us from Christ?

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39

Finishing up chapter 8, Paul shows us promises that are hard to grasp. Promises such as eternity. Nothing will ever separate us from Christ’s love. He loves us regardless of who we are, where we are or what we’re doing. Nothing that we do can ever make Him love us less. And nothing that we do can ever make Him love us more. Our love for Him does not affect His love for us.

God is love.

Paul didn’t say that life is going to be easy.  Jesus didn’t say that life is going to be easy. But they did give us reassurances and promises that we can set as our foundation. We are victorious in trouble, calamity, persecution, hunger, destitution, danger and, yes, even death. The victory is ours because we belong to Jesus Christ and He loves us.

Verse 38 is one that we should put in our heart and keep there. Nothing (nothing means nothing) can ever separate us from God’s love. God is love and love is God. Therefore, nothing can ever separate us from God – not even death.  There is no power that is stronger than God.  Not the powers of hell or the power in the sky above or the power in the earth below – nothing is more powerful than God’s love.

Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What is the key that we need to focus on?

Being in Christ Jesus.  We need to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We need to believe in Him and believe Him. It is our faith alone that makes this possible. For a more in depth discussion on salvation. visit this link from our lesson on Romans 7:1-6.

Romans 8 is a foundational chapter in all of Scripture.  It is a book that comes to life each and every time we read it. God will reveal layer after layer each time we come to Him.

Be persuaded that absolutely nothing can separate you from Jesus. Help others come to the knowledge of this truth. Allow this truth to lead you into a deeper walk with Jesus.

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva

It Just Takes One

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It just takes one

It just takes one.

Abraham.

Paul.

Recently, as I was praying for the Body of Christ (the Church), God showed me people – many, many people. They were lined up in military fashion marching forward line after line. They were marching quickly going nowhere and they all were faceless. I knew these people are living in darkness. God desires for the Church to set these people free.  But many in the Church cannot get to these lost people because they themselves are in bondage and trappings of the enemy.

Let me clarify one thing. When I say that people in the Church are in bondage of the enemy, I’m not implying that these people are not saved. Once a person believes that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior, that He was crucified, dead and buried, that He rose from the grave and ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, that person is saved forever.  BUT, that person can remain in bondage here on earth with things like insecurities, lack, fear, jealousies, worry, stress, anxiety. It can also be family issues, marital issues, financial issues.

It can be anything that takes and KEEPS your eyes off of Jesus.

28 Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”

29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said.  So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.  31 Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”

Matthew 14:28-31

In the Scripture above, we see the amazing storm that hit the disciples when they were at sea.  Jesus comes walking to them on top of the water. At first they were frightened but Jesus calmed their fears. Peter asks Jesus if it is really Him to let him also walk on water. Peter gets out of the boat, eyes on Jesus and walks on water! But then… Peter takes his eyes off Jesus, sees the storm, gets fearful and sinks.  Friends, this is what happens to us as well.

When we take our eyes off Jesus, for one minute, we sink.

If we don’t refocus our eyes pretty quickly, we can easily fall into the enemy’s snare. When our focus is off Jesus, we are unable to look around us at those in need. We’re unable to see those in darkness with no hope. This is not the life that God desires for His children. The life He desires for us is to walk free and to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ to all who have ears.  He desires for us to be the vessels that He works through here on earth. He desires for us to be His ambassadors to this world.

I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.

Ephesians 6:20

Paul knew full well what his mission was. Even in chains in prison, Paul was still preaching the good news to anyone who would hear. He was setting people free all around him, including the Roman soldiers who were chained to him!  This is the power of God at work in Paul.

We have that same power in us.  The precious and powerful Holy Spirit.

Getting back to the vision that the Lord gave me in prayer, I saw this massive body of people marching aimlessly and advancing quickly to nowhere. Then the Lord showed me one person. He used me as an example but it is a word for all of us. He positioned me in front of the people facing them.  He lifted my arms and I heard myself speak “Stop.”  And the people stopped.

He told me it just takes one.

In the Old Testament, let’s look at Abram (later named Abraham).  Abram was a pagan and an idol worshiper along with all of his family. God spoke to Abram and called him out of his family, his home, his land. Abram went. Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, not because of anything Abram did but because of his faith. Faith alone is what God is looking for in all of us. Faith in the unseen.  Abram obeyed God and left his family, his home and his land. He became the father of the nation of Israel as well as the father of the Gentiles and God renamed him Abraham.  Abraham had a new life, a new name and a new purpose!

One man obeyed God and now, centuries later, we are heirs to the promises given to him.

29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

Galatians 3:29

Let’s talk about another man – Saul of Tarsus (later named Paul). Saul was passionate about his mission which was to stop those who were following after Jesus Christ. He uttered threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers (Acts 9:1). That is what I call passionate!

But God.

Then God came along with His beautiful wrecking ball and wrecked Saul’s life.  Let’s look at it in the Word:

3 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.

And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7 The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! 8 Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. 9 He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.

Acts 9:3-9

There is so much good in these six verses. I love how God will come in like a lion to change a person’s life. Saul was one man. He received the Word that we still live by today, centuries later. That Word is Grace! He was given the message to take to the gentiles – us!  Paul had a new life, a new name and a new purpose!

You.

Me.

We could be the one to make a difference. God wants to use each of us to advance His kingdom. He wants to use us to set the captives free. Ask Him today to place you where He wants you. He will take you out of your comfort zone but He will make it comfortable as He’s doing it. His ways are amazing!

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva

Romans 8:26-34 – God is for us – all the time!!

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God is for us.God is for us!  Keep this tucked away in your heart.

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Romans 8:26-34

We have an Intercessor in us and in Heaven!

These verses give us hope and are so inspirational.  Who dares accuse us? No one!  Who will condemn us? No one!  Let’s go line by line and take an indepth look at these verses.

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

Romans 8:26

The weightiness of the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us can overwhelm me at times  – in a good way.  The God of the Universe. The God who created everything out of nothing. This God lives inside of us! And then take it one step further and not only does He live in us, but we live in Him. It is one of those things that can never be explained fully yet it is truth.

The Holy Spirit knows our weaknesses and helps us.

He intercedes on our behalf with groanings that cannot be expressed in words, in a beautiful Heavenly language. When we don’t know how to pray, when we are in so much turmoil and agony, the Holy Spirit prays through us straight to the Father before His throne. We never have to worry about being unable to pray because there are prayers going through us. The Father’s great love for us is reflected in all that He does.

And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

Romans 8:27

Our Father knows ALL hearts.

He knows what the Spirit is saying. They are in perfect synchronization at all times. The Spirit pleads for us in harmony with God’s own will.  He supports us and lifts us to the Father at all times. We are His and He is ours.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Romans 8:28

This is such a favorite verse of many. God causes EVERYTHING to work together for the good of those who love Him. Everything means just want it says. It includes death, illness, divorce, injustices. Our faith in God and in His Word gives us the ability to trudge through the valley. In Psalm 23:4, focus on the word through because it is such a lifeline to us when we are in despair.

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close behind me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

Psalm 23:4 (emphasis mine)

He never wants us to STAY in the valley.

We are to go through the valley knowing He is with us every step. It’s when we allow Him to be with us through these dark times that we can find peace and joy in our mourning.  Whatever the darkness may be, God promises that He will work it for our good. And His promises are always yes and amen!

29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

Romans 8:29-30

God chose us to become like His Son.

The next time you think you are not worthy enough, remember this verse. God sees His Son when He looks at you. So if you say you are not worthy, you are saying that His Son is not worthy. Jesus is the firstborn of the new race of people. When we become a Christian, we become a new creation (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). We are no longer of Adam’s lineage. That lineage was severed at the Cross for those of us who believe in Jesus Christ.  We are declared righteous as if we never sinned. He also gave us His glory. He is so amazing.

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Romans 8:31-34

Our Father desires wonderful things for us.

He is our advocate, our supporter and our biggest fan. He loves to see His children succeed and do well. And He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for US ALL.  If He did that, what else will He do for us? Everything! We need to help one another turn our thinking around. He wants us to walk in victory as His prized possessions. He will not allow anyone to condemn us because that would be condemning His Son. So we need to stop condemning ourselves.

Christ Jesus died for us. He was raised to life for us. And He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

If God is for us, who can be against us?

If you’d like to learn more about the Holy Spirit, get my e-book all about Him. It is available for free when you sign up to receive emails from my blog by visiting http://evaconner.com/free-ebook-holy-spirit/ and entering your email address in the subscription form at the left of the page. You’ll receive an email asking you to verify that you are not a robot. After you do that, you will receive an email with a link to the free PDF e-book.

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva

 

Romans 8:18-25 – Waiting in Eager Expectation

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Hope in Jesus with eager expectationWe wait in eager expectation that what is said will be done.

18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

Romans 8:18-25

To share in God’s glory, we must also share in His suffering.

Jesus never promised us life without turmoil. He did promise us that He would be with us always.  We see in verse 18 above that our suffering is nothing compared to the glory He has in store for us.  And Paul does not say this lightly.  He knew suffering probably more than most. Hopefully more than you and I will ever know. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul shares with us some of the suffering he faced (verses 24-27).

All of creation (everything that was created including man, nature, animals ,etc.) is awaiting with eager hope.  I want to define that word hope because our world has done a pretty good of job of twisting hope to have a different meaning.  God defines hope as desiring the expectation of obtainment. The thing that is hoped for is expected to manifest.  The world has twisted the word to mean “wish.” Wish means to feel or express a strong desire or hope for something that is not easily attainable.  Do you see the difference?  Wishing is sometimes just to daydream whereas hope is solid and has a foundation in Christ. We hope for His return. we KNOW it is going to happen.  We look forward with expectation to it happening.  We don’t wish for His return, not knowing if it will ever happen.  There’s a difference.

Hope also does not lead to disappointment.

5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Romans 5:5

All of creation is awaiting with eager hope to see all of God’s children revealed.

Paul goes on to say that we are all subjected to the curse, against our will.  We didn’t ask for it.  We were just born into the curse because we are descendants of Adam. While we are new creations today in Christ Jesus, one day our bodies will be new creations as well.  Right now, the part of us who are new creations is that unseen part.  The part that makes us who we are.  Our emotions, our personality, our will are all invisible. Just like God. We were made in His image:) One day the shells that we each have as bodies will be made new to never die again.

Verses 22 and 23 give us hope. While the whole world is groaning as in childbirth because of falling under the curse, we as believers have been given something truly special.  The Holy Spirit. Don’t underestimate His Presence and His Power in your life. He is fully God. Divine. Holy. Sacred. And He dwells in me and in you! In fact, it is the Holy Spirit who gives us hope of the glorious future.

When the world is dragging through life lost and in darkness, we have focus, purpose and light through the Holy Spirit’s guiding.

To conclude the lesson on these verses, let’s read verse 24 and 25 again.

24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

Romans 8:24-25

We already have this hope. A few chapters back, Paul gives us a great verse that we should all commit to memory.

This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

Romans 4:17

We have a God who creates new things out of nothing.

He calls things into being that are nothing.  The KJV states the last part of that verse “and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.”  This one line covers the verses in Romans 8 above. This hope of Christ’s return is as good as done.  We can count on it.  And hope in Christ does not disappoint. This is what enables me to not fear tomorrow. It is encouraging good news that we need to share with others.

All believers make up the Body of Christ and it is our job to co-labor with God to save this lost world. Yesterday as I was praying for the Body of Christ, I saw a fishing net full of people who are in the Body. These people are caught in fear and pain and suffering. They are not able to shake free from that net.  In that net, they are of no use to the Body of Christ – which is exactly what Satan wants.

We need to help our fellow brothers and sisters shake free from these things that bind us up. Marital problems, financial problems, children issues, addictions, insecurity, offenses, jealousies, and the list goes on and on. Jesus came to give us hope and freedom. And hope does not disappoint. Let’s share that with all.

If you’d like to learn more about the Holy Spirit, read my ebook all about Him.

It is available for free when you sign up to receive emails from my blog by visiting www.evaconner.com and entering your email address in the orange bar at the top of the screen. You’ll receive an email asking you to verify that you are not a robot. After you do that, you will receive an email with a link to the free ebook which is a PDF.

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva