Friday 30 Aug 2013

Friday Reading: Psalm 9:17-20

Key Verse: Psalm 9:18
For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.

Devotion:
We must never forget that God is just. He will continue to carry out the judgements that He has said that He will and continue to lift up those that He has promised. These verses remind us that the evil people and the unbelievers (even if we do not see them as evil) have no place with God and they will have to face the punishment that they have chosen for themselves in unbelief – an eternal place in hell.

But that does not mean that they are going to have to live in hell whilst on earth. Far from it; they may well be given to a long life of luxury instead. We do not know the reasons behind why God allows certain things into other people’s lives while they live here on earth but we do know what we have been promised when we leave this earth. We may well be poor and need for many things on earth, but as long as we stay focused on Christ then we can continue to be encouraged about our future place in heaven. These rough and tough times on earth will not last forever.

They may well seem like they are lasting forever if we continue to live for a long time, but each day our Lord will be faithful and just and will give us our needs. Those needs may well be very different from our wants and desires, but they will be met by God. We may think that we need things right now and God may want us to wait on Him so that we can be sure that it is He that is supplying our needs – so be patient…

We have to remember also that it is not up to us to judge people and their positions because we do not know how the Lord is working in their own lives. We just need to remember that we are all just humans and that God is the one who has everything in the balance of life. Others may well be following evil ways and being encouraged all along the way by the evil one, but we must stay focused on God and continue to promote His ways instead. Without us lifting up the name of our Lord and Saviour, others may not get to hear of His name in a manner that they can easily understand. They may well be fools until they accept Christ into their lives, but we were fools before too! Lift up God and allow Him to show them the truth!

Points to Ponder:
Do you feel poor and rejected?

Are you focusing on what God has promised you?