God said that he had abandoned Israel for a brief moment, so the nation was like a young wife rejected by her husband. But God still called Israel his own. The God we serve is Holy and he cannot tolerate sin. When his people blatantly sinned, God in his anger chose to punish them. Sin separates us from God and brings us pain and suffering. But if we confess our sin and repent, then God will forgive us. Have you ever been separated from a loved one and then experienced joy when that person returned? That is like the joy God experiences when you repent and return to him. God made a covenant of peace with the people of Israel that the time would come when he would stop pouring out his anger on them, he would teach their citizens and give them prosperity. (reference Isaiah 54:1-13)
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Everyone needs a certain amount of approval from others. Those who look to God for approval won’t need to envy others. Because we are God’s sons and daughters we have His Holy Spirit as the loving guarantee of His approval. Seek to please God, and the approval of others won’t seem so important.
(reference Galatians 5:25–26) No Christian should ever think that he or she is totally independent and doesn’t need help from others, and no one should feel excused from the task of helping others. The body of Christ-the church–functions only when the members work together for the common good. (reference Galatians 6:1-3) In our fallen world, disease and disability are common. What ever the cause of our illness, we can trace its original source to Satan, the author of all the evil in our world. The good news is that Jesus is more powerful then the devil or any disease. He often brings physical healing in this life: and when He returns, He will put an end to all disease and disability. Jesus knew He was on his way to die, but He continued preaching to large crowds. The prospect of death did not deter Jesus from His mission.
Although many people know something about God, only a few have acknowledged their sins and accepted His forgiveness. (reference Luke 13:16-25) In the church of Paul’s day, immersion was the usual form of baptism; that is new Christian’s were completely “buried” in water. They understood baptism to symbolize the death and burial of the old way of life. Coming up out of the water symbolized resurrection to new life with Christ. If we think of our old, sinful life as dead and buried,we have a powerful motive to resist sin. We can choose to treat the desires and temptations of the old nature as if they were dead. Then we can continue to enjoy our wonderful new life with Jesus. (see Gal. 3:27 and Colo. 2:12 and 3;1-4 for more info on this concept).
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November 2022
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