The Inseparable Love of God (1) [ Romans 8:38-39 ] Why can nothing separate us from the love of God? 1. Because God’s love is eternal. Romans 8:29a says: “For those whom He foreknew…” The word “foreknew” refers to before eternity began —before the creation of heaven and earth . The phrase “those whom He foreknew” does not simply mean knowing about someone intellectually, but rather loving them. In other words, it refers to “those whom God loved from eternity past.” Amos 3:2a says: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” If “known” merely meant intellectual knowledge, that would imply that God only knew Israel and did not know the other nations—which cannot be true, because the all-knowing God lacks knowledge of nothing. Therefore, “I have known you only” means “I have loved you only.” God loved Israel among all the nations of the earth. Hosea 13:5 says: “I knew you in the wilderness , in the land of great drought.” The “wilderness” was where the Israelite...
When God's calling and God's will
conflict with human will
and commands ...
The
people who sought to accuse Daniel went in groups to Daniel's house
and
saw him praying three times a day, as he had always done,
kneeling
down and praying to God.
They
went to King Darius and said, 'Daniel, who is from Judah
and
has been exiled, disregards your decree, O king,
and
still prays three times a day.'
Eventually,
the people who sought to accuse Daniel found no fault in him
because
'Daniel was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.'
They
realized that 'if it were not for matters related to his religion,
they
would not find any grounds to accuse him.'
Therefore,
they persuaded King Darius to issue a decree
that
'for the next 30 days, anyone who prays to any god or human being
other
than the king will be thrown into the lion's den'
(Daniel
6:10-13).
This
was done to trap Daniel into breaking the law.
As I
reflect on this passage, I consider from Daniel's perspective
that
when God's law—'to kneel and pray to God three times a day,
as he
had always done before' (v. 10)—conflicted with King Darius' decree—
'that
for the next 30 days, anyone who prays to any god or human
other
than the king will be thrown into the lion's den' (v. 7)—
Daniel
chose to obey God's law, even though it meant breaking the king's decree.
This
reminds me of something I told my dear daughter Yeri
after
meeting with the senior pastor of our church last evening:
'When
God's calling and God's will conflict with human will and commands,
we
must obey God's calling and God's will.
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