August 7, 2006 - Psalms 72-73 and Romans 9:1-15
One day Jesus will reign from Jerusalem as the king of the universe. I believe psalm 72 is telling us about that 1,000 year reign of Christ. It will be a much different time on earth than it is now. The nations of the world will acknowledge Christ as the Lord and go up to Jerusalem to worship. However, that does not mean that they will all believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. At the end of the 1,000 years Satan will lead a rebellion and most of the people will follow Satan after worshiping Christ for so long. How can that be? Their hearts were never right. It is the heart that is the determining factor. Christ gives them every opportunity to turn to Him, but they will not submit to Him and have a change of heart. That is what repentance means. If a person will not repent and put his faith in Christ, He will not save him from his sins. I pray that you know Christ and you are ready for the end of this world as we know it, because those who know Christ will reign with Him. What a glorious truth!
Psalm 73 shows how believers can become disoriented to the truth. The psalmist is lamenting that the wicked are rich and happy, while he is righteous, but afflicted with troubles. He thinks that it is not worth trusting the Lord, if all he gets is trouble while the wicked prosper. However, then he goes to the Temple for worship, and God opens his eyes. He sees the final judgment of the wicked. He realizes it is much better to be a child of God. He repents of his foolish thoughts. Have you become disoriented like this before? I think all of us have from time to time. We need to stop and listen for God's soothing truth to calm us in His love and direct us in His wisdom.
Romans 9 begins a discourse on the spiritual state of Israel. It is sad to think that many of God's covenant people from the Old Covenant did not receive Christ when He came to earth to die and rise again. Because of their unbelief in the Way, the Truth, and the Life, they are lost in sin. Paul laments that fact. He says that it is not because God's Word is of no effect. They heard the truth, but again it was a matter of the heart. They would not repent and believe. If they had turned to Christ, He would have saved them, too. However, their hard hearts kept them from salvation. I pray that we will not have hard hearts that keep us from hearing God and responding to Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 74-76 and Romans 9:16-33.
Psalm 73 shows how believers can become disoriented to the truth. The psalmist is lamenting that the wicked are rich and happy, while he is righteous, but afflicted with troubles. He thinks that it is not worth trusting the Lord, if all he gets is trouble while the wicked prosper. However, then he goes to the Temple for worship, and God opens his eyes. He sees the final judgment of the wicked. He realizes it is much better to be a child of God. He repents of his foolish thoughts. Have you become disoriented like this before? I think all of us have from time to time. We need to stop and listen for God's soothing truth to calm us in His love and direct us in His wisdom.
Romans 9 begins a discourse on the spiritual state of Israel. It is sad to think that many of God's covenant people from the Old Covenant did not receive Christ when He came to earth to die and rise again. Because of their unbelief in the Way, the Truth, and the Life, they are lost in sin. Paul laments that fact. He says that it is not because God's Word is of no effect. They heard the truth, but again it was a matter of the heart. They would not repent and believe. If they had turned to Christ, He would have saved them, too. However, their hard hearts kept them from salvation. I pray that we will not have hard hearts that keep us from hearing God and responding to Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 74-76 and Romans 9:16-33.