The Psalmist spoke the truth in regards to who the Lord saves and who He condemns.
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.” [1]
The world may applaud sinners, but the Lord does not.
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah” [2]
God favors those who believe what He says. God says that we are sinners. He says that we will not have peace until we acknowledge our sin and ask Him to forgive us. Like the tax collector in the Bible did. “He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’” Jesus said of him, “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” [3]
Who does the Lord favor? “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.” [4]
Those who harden their heart against God will regret it. The Lord says, “The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot. He who walks with integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will become known. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins. When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation.” [5]
God’s love is about rejecting sin’s temptation to serve evil desires. God’s love is to walk as Jesus walked. Jesus honored God in everything He did. He told people the truth out of love for their eternal soul and out of goodwill towards their shalom or wholeness body, soul and spirit.
The bad news is that whirlwinds (tornados) do knock physical homes off foundations. The good news is, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” [6] The Lord turns the setback of those who trust in Him into a springboard from which more good comes than they experienced before.
God’s servant Paul wanted truth to be told. He did not want the devil to deceive and corrupt people. He wrote to the Corinthians saying, “I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different Gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” [7]
Don’t do the devil any favors by enduring his lies. He wants to shift the weight of saving your soul onto you instead of leaving that burden with Christ. Christ is the Savior. Saving is what Jesus does. Let God be God. Simply trust Him to do what He says. God does not lie. He tells the truth.
There is one middle being between God and people. He is God’s Son Jesus Christ. Any person or organization that convinces you to believe otherwise is lying. Christ alone saves your soul and converts it. Conversion is a miracle of God. Salvation does not originate with you or me. Salvation is a work of Christ from start to finish.
Paul warned the Corinthians, “For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face. To our shame I say that we were too weak for that!” [8]
There are so many scammers. Don’t yield to them. They want to rob you. Paul said he was too weak to do that! He knew that Christ had already paid the price for their salvation on the cross. Now, that Christ had done that, they just needed to warn other lost souls to believe in Christ.
Paul did not use tales of riches, and testimonies of freedom from pain and problems as a platform from which to gain an audience. To the contrary, he gloried in what Jesus had helped him to endure for the sake of bringing people to Christ. He spoke of hard work, floggings, beatings, stoning, incarcerations, shipwrecks, robbers, perils, sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, fasting, coldness, fastings, deep concerns for churches, weaknesses, anger and infirmity. [9]
Let’s tell people the truth rather than leave them susceptible to an eternity without God in hell.
[1] Psalm 34:15-16
[2] Psalm 32:1-5
[3] Luke 18:13-14
[4] Psalm 33:18-19
[5] Proverbs 10:7, 9, 12, 25
[6] Romans 8:28
[7] 2 Corinthians 11:3-4
[8] 2 Corinthians 11:20-21
[9] 2 Corinthians 11:22-30
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