BELIEF - UCOA Message for October 15th, 2008

I don't know how many of you read the old testament of the Bible, or know that all of mankind is connected to the Jewish race in a very unusual way, but God says that He will bless whomever blesses the Jews, and He will curse whomever curses the Jews. That is a pretty strange thing for Him to say, but He does. The Jews were clearly very special to God. Does that mean that the Jews always did things that God likes? Well, no, in fact God himself threatened to destroy them completely because of disobedience to His laws. So, why are the Jews so special to God? Well, I believe that God chose them to be an example to the rest of us. The Jews are an example of what to do right, and what not to do wrong. To do right, is to believe God. Not just to believe IN God, but to believe that what He says is true. To do wrong is to ignore what God says and to do whatever seems right to me. That is the very definition of Faith, simply to believe God. In the old testament, the Jews had a contract with God that said; If they would obey God, they would be blessed physically, and financially, with big families, good crops and winning wars. Our contract with God, if we chose to accept Jesus as our saviour is a little different. He primarily promises he will take care of our needs, and that He will be here to help us through the difficult times. Some people say that he also promises wealth and prosperity, but I for one am having a hard time finding that promise in my bible. So, where are we, well God is always sufficient, to carry us though every part of this life, whether it is a world wide financial crisis, or a motorcycle accident that lands me in the hospital with several broken bones, He is always right here to remind me, that it will be ok. He can heal my bones, and He can heal the world, if we will only believe him. Lord, help me to believe you, as the father of a sick child in the bible said "Lord, remove my unbelief".  ¶ 6:39 AM