Hold Fast to God!

New Guest: Like this one, most posts are devotional; those related to CAR BIZ can be found by searching for that title.

Saturday, April 4, 2009
Devotions: Ps 42, 43, 137:1-6, 144; Jer 31:27-34; Rom 11:25-36; Jn 12:37-50

Lord God, my soul thirsts for You, like a panting stag in a desert. I long to be with You; I’ve been exiled among scoffers who delight in my struggles. I will hold fast to God in confidence that I will again praise Him, and argue with myself, not with others or with God. There is no good reason to doubt or fear; God is my Stronghold, and I will praise Him. Lord, I take my refuge in You; send me Your light and truth, Lord. Exiles weep when we recall living in God’s city; but let us never forget the good times, and let God take His revenge on our enemies! God trains me for the work of my days. Come forth, mighty Lord, and I will sing Your praise! Rescue me from cruel liars, and sustain my children and grandchildren; happy are the people who worship YHWH!

‘In days to come,’ YHWH said through Jeremiah, ‘I will restore Judah; each person will be accountable for their own sins and blessings; and I will make a new covenant with Israel and Judah: I will write My law on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. Everyone will know Me, from the greatest to the least; I will forgive their iniquities, and remember their sins no more!

Paul explained that God had allowed the hearts of a portion of Israel to be hardened, as a means to the salvation of those among the Gentiles whom God had elected. Paul asserts that ‘all Israel will be saved.’ They are enemies of the gospel, tactically, for the sake of Gentiles; but they are elect because of God’s covenants with the patriarchs for ‘the gifts and call of God are irrevocable.’ All mortals are disobedient, but all are under God’s mercy. God’s ways are inscrutable; let us honor Him: ‘for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory for ever!’ Amen.

Jesus had performed many miraculous deeds, but the understanding of many witnesses was blinded; and others who believed did not confess, because they loved the praise of men, and feared human censure more than they loved and feared God! Jesus affirmed this: ‘Whoever sees and hears Me, has received the Father; whoever receives me has God’s light and may not remain in darkness. Whoever rejects me, also rejects the Father, and My words will be that person’s judge on the last day. I have spoken God’s words; I know His commands are eternal life, and I say exactly what the Father has directed me to say.’