Today's Mental Image:
Huge Rock In The Middle Of The Road
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The church, who pursues a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
The people of the church are not acceptable to God.
Why not?
How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their "God projects" that they didn't notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. [Taken from Romans 9:32 MSG]You Say,
"NOT US!!"
"We're Not Second Guessing God! We Already Know What He Wants."
"WE KNOW WHAT HE MEANS!!"
Now Let's Listen To Paul A Little More Carefully!
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Hosea put it well:
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I'll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I'll call the unloved and make them beloved. In the place where they yelled out, "You're nobody!" they're calling you "God's living children."
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Isaiah maintained this same emphasis: -

Isaiah had looked ahead and spoken the truth:
If our powerful God had not provided us a legacy of living children, We would have ended up like ghost towns, like Sodom and Gomorrah.
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How can we sum this up? All those people who didn't seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their "God projects" that they didn't notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together: 
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If you're looking for me,
you'll find me on the way, not in the way.
[Romans 9:20-33 MSG]
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