"If God be for us, who can be against us?"
Romans 8:31
 
Have you ever felt as if you were on a losing team? Not football etc. but to the game of life in which the penalties for being offside or out of bounds can really set us back. What makes this game so discouraging, though, is that we often lose ground because of our own foolish mistakes, sins that we could have avoided.
 
Many Jews must have felt that way about their plight after mighty Babylon had taken Israel captive. The land lay desolate and people were left in the rubble and lived in poverty. They were reaping the bitter fruits of wickedness and idolatry. Yet God had not abandoned His people. The LORD told His servant Ezekiel to prophesy to the mountains of Israel,"behold, I am for you, and I will . . .

"If God be for us, who can be against us?"
Romans 8:31
 
Have you ever felt as if you were on a losing team? Not football etc. but to the game of life in which the penalties for being offside or out of bounds can really set us back. What makes this game so discouraging, though, is that we often lose ground because of our own foolish mistakes, sins that we could have avoided.
 
Many Jews must have felt that way about their plight after mighty Babylon had taken Israel captive. The land lay desolate and people were left in the rubble and lived in poverty. They were reaping the bitter fruits of wickedness and idolatry. Yet God had not abandoned His people. The LORD told His servant Ezekiel to prophesy to the mountains of Israel,"behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you." To a despairing Jew, those words must have kindled hope.
 
Christian friends, we too have a message from the LORD that can keep us on the winning side. Paul stated it in Romans 8:31. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" When dark consequences of our sin and failure engulf us, this truth can renew within our hearts a hope that is steadfast and sure. God is for us, that's a thought equal to life's most discouraging times.
 
Blessed thought, "If God be for us,"
Inner power His grace supplies,
Help for every time of weakness,
Understanding all our cries.
 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - No one is hopeless whose hope is in God.