Psalm 30:4 - 5
Sing to the Lord, you saints of His;
praise His Holy Name.
For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favour lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Many of us know this verse, especially the last part. But it is a pity that "familiarity breeds contempt". We become so accustomed to a saying or verse, that it can lose its power. As Christians, we need to be so careful of this unfortunate reality. Take John 3:16 for example, it is one of the most powerful verses in all of Scripture, yet because we know it so well, the power in its truth seems to have less of an impact on us. We need fresh revelation to regain the power in these verses. I believe this is what the Grace Revolution is all about. But that's for another day and another article.
The point is, don't let the power of this verse here be watered down by familiarity. It is a powerful truth! Let's have a look at it...
God's anger only lasts for a moment, but His Favour lasts for a lifetime! Isn't that stunning? Now, put this into the context of God's plan, and we see that this is a clear picture of the Cross. God's anger is not as infinite and eternal as His Love, Grace or Favour. God is by very Nature Loving, Good and Kind.
Now, that is not to water down the danger or severity of sin. But we need to recognise that God's anger and punishment was dealt with because He Himself absorbed all sin and death into the body of His own Son Jesus. (In fact, He absorbed it Himself because He was in Christ at the time of the Crucifixion! 2 Cor. 5:19) Friends, God's anger toward sin has been appeased! He took it upon Himself and dealt with it! Now what remains are eternal days of Favour!
But you may not be living in days of Favour. Well, this is why the next verse is so important; "sorrow lasts for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Friends, sorrow is temporal! We must understand that we will go through trials in this life. It won't be easy. There will be times when life is tough. But the good news is that there will be breakthrough! Joy will come! No matter what we are facing, we can be confident that eternal days of Joy and Favour will come to us! Whether it is in this life or the next, either way, we will enjoy eternal days of Joy! This is what Heaven is all about; JOY!
Friends, with such a hope, it is so much easier to face this life. No matter what we are going through we can face it with an expectant hope that God promises us days of Favour and Joy. This brings such hope to any situation.
I know that many of us face trials over this Christmas holiday period. But be encouraged that God cares for you more than you know. And He wants you to know that any stress or difficulty you may be facing is only temporal, and there is a joy that you can even tap into right now that lasts for eternity!
Sing to the Lord, you saints of His;
praise His Holy Name.
For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favour lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Many of us know this verse, especially the last part. But it is a pity that "familiarity breeds contempt". We become so accustomed to a saying or verse, that it can lose its power. As Christians, we need to be so careful of this unfortunate reality. Take John 3:16 for example, it is one of the most powerful verses in all of Scripture, yet because we know it so well, the power in its truth seems to have less of an impact on us. We need fresh revelation to regain the power in these verses. I believe this is what the Grace Revolution is all about. But that's for another day and another article.
The point is, don't let the power of this verse here be watered down by familiarity. It is a powerful truth! Let's have a look at it...
God's anger only lasts for a moment, but His Favour lasts for a lifetime! Isn't that stunning? Now, put this into the context of God's plan, and we see that this is a clear picture of the Cross. God's anger is not as infinite and eternal as His Love, Grace or Favour. God is by very Nature Loving, Good and Kind.
Now, that is not to water down the danger or severity of sin. But we need to recognise that God's anger and punishment was dealt with because He Himself absorbed all sin and death into the body of His own Son Jesus. (In fact, He absorbed it Himself because He was in Christ at the time of the Crucifixion! 2 Cor. 5:19) Friends, God's anger toward sin has been appeased! He took it upon Himself and dealt with it! Now what remains are eternal days of Favour!
But you may not be living in days of Favour. Well, this is why the next verse is so important; "sorrow lasts for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Friends, sorrow is temporal! We must understand that we will go through trials in this life. It won't be easy. There will be times when life is tough. But the good news is that there will be breakthrough! Joy will come! No matter what we are facing, we can be confident that eternal days of Joy and Favour will come to us! Whether it is in this life or the next, either way, we will enjoy eternal days of Joy! This is what Heaven is all about; JOY!
Friends, with such a hope, it is so much easier to face this life. No matter what we are going through we can face it with an expectant hope that God promises us days of Favour and Joy. This brings such hope to any situation.
I know that many of us face trials over this Christmas holiday period. But be encouraged that God cares for you more than you know. And He wants you to know that any stress or difficulty you may be facing is only temporal, and there is a joy that you can even tap into right now that lasts for eternity!
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