Study Desk

Old David even talked about it long ago when he spoke of the happiness of the cowboys who God had chosen, not because they were Top Hands, but because they had top faith. They got all of this without toeing a stirrup. He said,

So is David saying these gifts only belong to those who've had their pickles clipped? Absolutely not! It belongs to anyone with faith and pickles don't have nothing to do with it. We've already said, "Abraham trusted God, and because of this faith, God saw him as righteous."

Yes, he did have his pickle clipped to show a sign of his faith and that God had accepted him because of the trust. We might say Abraham is the ramrod of all who are accepted by God through faith, regardless of pickles.

That's what the Good Book means when it says, "I have made you the sire of my people, the first of many that will come." Abraham received this blessing because he believed in God who could bring the dead back to life and whose word brings something from nothing.

Because of this confidence, God looked at him as righteous.

Hope in God doesn't disappoint. We can be sure he loves us because he sent the Holy Ghost as our guide to his love.

God has accepted us because of his Son's blood, we no longer have to fear God's anger.

When Adam sinned, he doomed us all. Adam's sin brought death and no one escapes it because everyone sins.

One person disobeyed God and we all become sinners. Another cowboy obeyed God and many will be made right with God because of it.

Yes, sin ruled people's lives and it brought death, but now God's grace rules instead. We can stand with God now instead of against him. We now have eternal life because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

I'm using cowboy lingo because I don't want you to say fancy words tripped you up. At one point, we were all hands in sin's outfit. But now, we ride for the Lord and are slaves of his for his good purposes.

Thanks to God that the answer is Jesus Christ. In summary, I want to follow God's code, but because of my human nature I am a slave to sin.

Because you ride with him, the power of life he offers trumps the power of death sin offers.

No one could follow the code of Moses. The Code couldn't save us because we are sinners by nature and unable to follow the Code no matter how hard we try. God did for us what the Code could not. He sent his son to live a perfect life for us and then be sacrificed as the last and final sin offering.

When you ride for Jesus, your body will die, but your spirit will live because you've been made right with God.

Listen cowboys, just because you think about sin doesn't mean you have to follow those sinful urges.

We long to be given our inheritance as children of God. We will have new bodies and a new life free of pain and suffering. Those who ride for him hold onto this hope since it was given to us when we saddled up for him. We need this hope because we don't have what God promised us yet.

because of my kin, the Jews. I'd ride right through the gates of hell and spend eternity there away from Christ if it meant they would be saved.

But just because all the Jews won't be saved doesn't mean God has crawfished on his promise to his kids.

You wonder why? Because they wanted rules instead of faith. They tripped over the great rock in the trail.