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God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah-how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. Romans 11:2-6

Dear Heavenly Father, at least seventeen times a day I need to be reminded of how I got in your story and how I stay in your story. Occasionally I’m like Elijah, assuming I’m special, because I’m one of the few who really “gets” the gospel — no longer bowing the knee to performance-based-spirituality, sacerdotalism or legalism. At other times, I know myself to be an idolater — not worshipping Baal, but almost anything or everything else … wondering how I could possibly be yours.

Then, either like a rebuke or a kiss from heaven (depending on my attitude), I hear the Holy Spirit speak these words to my heart, “I have reserved for myself …” Father, as in the days before Elijah, of Elijah and long after Elijah … you have reserved and you are preserving a much-loved people for yourself. Many of them have Israeli passports, but the staggering news is, there’s not going to be a single people group excluded from the wedding feast of the Lamb — so magnanimously merciful you are …

My only claim to that banquet, from which all banqueting derives its meaning, is the reservation you made for me by grace … That’s why these words both pierce and bring peace to my heart this morning …“And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” Silly man that I am, I even turn “getting the gospel” into a work — as though I was smart enough, hip enough, or spiritual enough to be a member of an elite gospel-club …

Lord Jesus, because of past grace, present grace, and future grace I want to live with bowed knees and palms up towards you … I purpose to worship other things less by loving you more … in light of the Day when every knee will bow — in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue will confess that you, and you alone, are Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9-11). So very Amen, I pray, in your grace-full name.

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