Good & Bad News

The Word of God often brings good news and bad news within a few verses. Psalm 52 is a good example. Verse one sets the tone for this short Psalm.  

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.

Look at the contrast as David asks an evil man why he boasts but affirms that God’s love is steadfast. We are told that this guy is evil primarily because he is lying, plotting evil, and verbally cutting down people. But that’s not all, he trusts in his riches instead of God. But David reminds him of God in verse five.

But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch and tear you from your tent;
He will uproot you from the land of the living.

Judgment will come for evil people. They die and they are gone. But there is still eternity and where will they be then? Let’s just put it this way, it is better if you don’t go there. It is better to do as David says in verse eight, “I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.” He brings us back to the good news that those who trust in the Lord for their salvation will be wrapped up in His love for eternity.

If you want to accept the good news and escape the bad by trusting in the Lord, watch my video on the Gospel on YouTube or read on this Gospel link.

God Loves and Hates

You know, we hear so much about God’s love, but people don’t want to talk about what He hates. In Psalm 45:6 and 7 we learn one thing God loves and one thing He hates.

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

 Before we can talk about what God loves and hates, we must remember that He is sovereign. He rules forever and that will never change. Setting us up for this, the Psalm tells us that His Kingdom is all about what is right. Since He rules, then we should align our love and hate along with His.

What does God love? He loves righteousness. This means He loves those who exhibit virtue, morality, justice, decency, uprightness, rectitude, honesty and blamelessness.

What does God hate? He hates wickedness. Making it personal, this means He hates those who exhibit evil, badness, iniquity, sin impiety, malice.

Oh, did I just say that God hates some people and loves others? Yeah, I did. Psalm 5:5 says that God hates all who do evil. But we should ask, “Doesn’t God say He loves us while we were sinners and His enemies in Romans 5?”

How do we reconcile these two truths of the Bible? That’s easy. We look to Jesus. Those who are in Jesus are loved and reconciled to God. Those who are not and will never turn to Jesus for salvation will still be His enemies and therefor remain under His wrath.

If you want to know more about transferring from being hated by God to being loved by God, watch my video on the Gospel on YouTube or read on this Gospel link.

How to Be Blessed

Do you want the Lord to bless you in your life? Psalm 41 verse 1 tells us one of the many reasons the Lord blesses people.

How blessed is he who considers the helpless;
The Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble.

The word helpless is also translated as poor or weak. How many people do you know, or you see every day who are helpless, weak, or poor? In today's world, you have to hide in your home and never go outside to avoid people who are weak.

Whether they are in a wheelchair, pushing a grocery cart with all their belongings or cowering in an abusive relationship, they are all around us. We can’t solve all the problems of all the people, but we can usually do something for one person.

The promise of blessings from the Lord should be enough for us to help others. However, He adds that He will deliver us in a day of trouble. Trouble can also be translated evil.

When we come to Jesus, he will deliver us from all evil and trouble in the judgment. We will receive our ultimate reward at that time. If you don’t know Jesus, you will miss out on those rewards. Watch my video on the Gospel on YouTube or read on this Gospel link o learn about knowing Jesus and his blessings.

God bless you.