Praise the Lord, all you gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! Psalm 117 NKJV
This exhortation to praise God is the shortest and middle chapter of the bible. Gentiles were non-Jewish people. The word “gentiles” can be used to describe non-believers today. Jesus wants all people to praise Him. That is why the Lord created us! Jewish people did not associate with gentiles. Israel believed they were the soul inheritors of the Kingdom of God. They were wrong. God wanted to use Israel to reveal Himself to the world. God wants all people to live in loving relationship with Him! God tells us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. That does not mean we should discriminate against them. It does not mean we should turn our backs on them. It means we should not be joined together with unbelievers in a way that draws us away from Jesus. Jesus wants us to live differently than unbelievers. He wants us to live for Him. He wants to live through us so unbelievers can see Jesus in us. The witness of our relationship with Christ and Him living through us is how God will draw unsaved people to Jesus. We see the two reasons why so many people have unbelieving hearts in this chapter. Unsaved people are blinded to truth. The devil’s deceptions, the desires of our sinful flesh and the peer pressure of the world system deceive all of us to some extent. Some unsaved people do not believe God’s is merciful and kind. How can anyone believe mercy and kindness exists at all if God is not merciful and kind? Belief that God is a source of evil hardens unbelieving hearts and blinds eyes. It is a lie! God loves all people. He wants everyone to love Him. He is merciful and kind to all people. He is the source of all truth. His truth will prevail! Jesus can pierce the hardest of hearts with His love. He can restore broken lives. He can heal wounded souls. Jesus uses people who love and obey Him to reach people! It can be very difficult to love people with hard hearts. It can be very hard to be merciful and compassionate with people in bondage to sin. Christ calls us to love everyone. How can that be possible? It is not possible for me or you to love everyone. With God all things are possible! Surrender your heart and life to Almighty God. Let Jesus use you to reach people today! www.joyfor2day.com https://twitter.com/JoyFor2day #Joyfor2daydailydevotional
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Louie GarciaJoyfor2day daily devotional goes out over the internet to thousands of people all over the world five days a week
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