<b>God Is Going to Be Around for a While</b> devotion for 03-MAR-11

&lt;b&gt;God Is Going to Be Around for a While&lt;/b&gt; devotion for 03-MAR-11

Selection Taken From:
A Year with God by R.P. Nettelhorst

Make this the year you let God's Word "dwell in you richly"---and marvel at the results! Each entry in this 365-day devotional features Scripture verses in which God speaks, accompanied by insights and applications to enhance your understanding. Learn what God says about hope and fear; perseverance and quitting; companionship and isolation; and more! 384 pages, softcover from Nelson, Copyright 2010.


God Is Going to Be Around for a While
Indeed the LORD will vindicate his people, have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, neither bond nor free remaining.
Then he will say: Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their libations?
Let them rise up and help you, let them be your protection!
See now that I, even I, am he; there is no god beside me.
I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and no one can deliver from my hand.
For I lift up my hand to heaven, and swear:
As I live forever, when I whet my flashing sword, and my hand takes hold on judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me.
I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh—with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired enemy. - Deuteronomy 32:36-42 NRSV

All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again. God is neither a horse nor a king's man, but if the story were true, he could put Humpty together. Nothing is too hard for God. Just before the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, God repeated that he was the only God and the only one who could help them. The history of the Israelites ever after would largely consist of prophets and circumstances reminding them of what God said just before he gave them everything he'd ever promised.

When you have all the time in the world, you're not in much of a hurry. God is forever. God is all-powerful, so he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. In a contest between God's will and your will, God's will wins every time.

Moses had brought the Israelites to the promised land. Soon, Moses would die and the Israelites would begin fighting the Canaanites. God would make them victorious. But on the cusp of fulfilling their dreams, God warned them that they would quickly desert him. The Israelites would put their trust in other gods. They would devote time and treasure to them. And for what? When troubles came, their other gods wouldn't help. But even in the middle of their unfaithfulness, God would forgive them and rescue the Israelites. Be careful to place your trust in God. You can rely on him.