Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12 AMP.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men…while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11, 13.

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. John 10:28.

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6.

Each of the above verses was in the devotional, Jesus Today by Sarah Young. They helped after reading our psalm, Psalm 78. This is a long psalm, 72 verses retelling the failings of the children of Israel…a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him. v. 8. Reading it is like remembering wounds that were painful. Are we stubborn…rebellious…not loyal to God…not faithful to Him? I loved in the devotional, You Are The Beloved by Henri J. M. Nouwen, for today’s date under the title, Trust Unreservedly That You Are Loved, these words: However, when Jesus talks about faith, He means first of all to trust unreservedly that you are loved, so that you can abandon every false way of obtaining love. That’s why Jesus tells Nicodemus that, through faith in the descending love of God, we will be set free from anxiety and violence and will find eternal life. It’s a question here of trusting in God’s love. The Greek word for faith is pistis, which means, literally, “trust”. Whenever Jesus says to people He has healed: “Your faith has saved you,” He is saying that they have found new life because they have surrendered in complete trust to the love of God revealed in Him.

Scripture tells truth. God doesn’t skimp on the ugly parts of us. We don’t have the right to look down on the children of Israel. We are them. And our Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit – is faithful. Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine. He beat back his enemies; he put them to everlasting shame. Then he rejected the tents of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim; but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved. He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever. He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. v. 65-72.

The Lord is our Shepherd and we are loved. Let God be God and trust Him for all things. He is worthy and He is capable and He is Sovereign. Can you imagine what it will be like when Jesus returns? I think we will all of us be surprised! Surrender to His love. All of the things we are so adamant about today will fall away. Only then will we truly see what matters. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3. New life because we have surrendered in complete trust to the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord. What will new life look like for you? For me it’s knowing the beauty and freshness of clean light illuminating the truth of God’s love all around us and all darkness gone. And when all darkness is gone from our hearts and minds we will see our loving Creator God loving us.