(Psalm 129:1-8)
1 “Many times they have attacked me from my youth up,”
Let Israel say,
2 “Many times they have attacked me from my youth up;
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back;
They lengthened their furrows.”
4 The Lord is righteous;
He has cut up the ropes of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
Be put to shame and turned backward;
6 May they be like grass upon the housetops,
Which withers before it grows up;
7 With which the harvester does not fill his hand,
Or the binder of sheaves his arms;
8 Nor do those who pass by say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Let Israel say,
2 “Many times they have attacked me from my youth up;
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back;
They lengthened their furrows.”
4 The Lord is righteous;
He has cut up the ropes of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
Be put to shame and turned backward;
6 May they be like grass upon the housetops,
Which withers before it grows up;
7 With which the harvester does not fill his hand,
Or the binder of sheaves his arms;
8 Nor do those who pass by say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
I hear many people say that because God is love, and everyone is essentially good, everyone will go to heaven... and that there is no hell. But how can one not see that if someone hates God's way (which is to humble one's heart, repent, believe and accept the salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ), then why would they expect or even want to go to heaven where everyone will be worshipping, serving and praising the Lord Jesus Christ, forever?! If one does not want their sins forgiven, but would be allowed into heaven, then heaven would not be a perfect place. And how entitled it is to think that if one rejects God as their personal heavenly Father, they should still be allowed to live in His home and share in the family's inheritance?
Verse 4 points out that the Lord is righteous. Because God is holy, He cannot have a relationship with sin. Because He does love everyone and desires that all come to know Him personally, He came in flesh to pay the price for all sin, for everyone, of all time, so that He could redeem anyone who chooses to love Him back.
True love never forces anyone to return that love. But, good news, once one has become a believer, because of God's grace, love and righteousness, He protects us for all eternity. We cannot lose our salvation. Back in Israel's law, parents could disown a natural child, but if anyone adopted, it was illegal to disown that child. Just so, when God adopts us into His family, He will never disown us.
There are many prophecies about "harvest time", where God separates believers from the unbelievers. Since we have a personal relationship with our Lord God and Savior, He knows His children! And since God is all-knowing, He knows the exact time when all those who are to become believers will be believers in those given time frames - and then these events will happen. There are actually three moments in the future, where God will separate believers from the unbelievers:
- at the Rapture when He gathers up all believers from all time
- at the end of the Tribulation when He takes all believers from those seven years into the Millennium
- and at the end of the Millennium when He takes all believers to heaven to be with Him forever.
It bears repeating! Because God loves everyone, and desires that all come to know Him personally, He gives everyone a very fair chance to make a decision. And in His love, He gives everyone a free will, with choices and freedom to act upon their choices... even if these choices are bad. Understand that the Lord is still sovereign, and nothing happens unless He allows it. God does intervene and prevent certain things from happening, but again, He is fair and just. And one day, everyone will stand before Him as their judge. For unbelievers, they will be judged and punished according to their sins.
For believers, because all our sins have been forgiven and "forgotten", we will be judged and rewarded according to our good deeds done with righteous motives. And for this time period, right here, right now, while there are bad things that happen around us, and/or to us, God does protect us, guide us and gives us comfort, peace, hope and joy.
Another part of the good news message, is that the Lord doesn't want us to do anything in our own strength and wisdom, but desires that we ask Him to fill us, change us from the inside out, equip us and strengthen us, and that we allow Him to fight all our battles! So then, while allowing us to go through struggles, as we trust in the Lord, we will grow in our faith and trust in Him, and He does bless us.
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