Isaiah 17-19
God is a God of vengeance when it comes to the enemies of His children. God calls His children the apple of His eyes, so anyone who messes with them will be accountable to God. In Isaiah 17-19 we see God venting His anger and spelling out how He was going to punish three heathen nations that had troubled Israel. God is declaring what He would do to Damascus, Cush and Egypt. This is why as Children of God the same principle remains today God expects us to leave vengeance to Him as He says in Deuteronomy 32:35(NKJV) – “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time ;For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them” This is because as the scriptures also says in 2Thessalonians1:6(NIV) “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you” This gives me assurance that God has my back, I can wade through life knowing with assurance that God will protect me from evil as He fights and wins battles against the enemy on my behalf that I may never even be aware of.
Psalm 62
I love this scripture as it gives hope to them who seem hopeless. It starts off in Psalm 62:1(NIV) “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.” “Rest” is a place where turmoil ceases, a place of calmness and serenity and the reason why rest comes is because God is the source of our salvation, our very help in the time of trouble, we can rest in His arms of safety were He protects and shields us from calamity and danger. God to the Psalmist and also to us is a fortress, a rock of safety were the enemy can’t reach us. We must let this scripture bring assurance and hope when the stresses of life seem to want to overwhelm us…let it bring calmness to our souls.
1Corinthians 1
I love the assurance God gives us in 1 Corinthians 1:8 (NIV)”He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This paints the picture of a God who wills us to win..who passionately watches over us and because of His love for us would do what He can within His mighty power to present us as a winner, blameless on the day of judgement…this brings joy to my heart and confidence that “….If God is for us,who can be against us?” Romans 8:31(NIV). 1 Corinthians 1 also brings our focus back to God who chose the foolish things to bring forth His glory taking the focus off those things and putting the focus on His wisdom, His strength and His splendour. This is why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:27-28 (NIV) “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,”
So in 1 Corinthians 1:25 (NIV) “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” Hence God chose the Cross as a place of salvation, a place of deliverance, the beginning of a new relationship with God and a transformation of our lives…this the world sees as “foolish” but God’s “foolishness” is wiser than man’s “wisdom”. The reason for this is “so that no one may boast before him.” -1 Corinthians 1:29 (NIV) and also that “Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:31 (NIV)
In Christ
BM
Sixty-six books in a year 