PRAY OVER THIS
For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
Romans 9:17-18
PONDER THIS
God does not create people in order to damn them. God does not create people in order to destroy them. God is a God of love. Now, if you think that God wants some to go to Hell, consider this Scripture, 1 Timothy 2:4. It speaks of God, “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
But you can harden your heart. The Bible warns against people being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Quoting Psalm 95:7-8, Hebrews 3:15 says, “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” If you harden your heart against God, you will crystallize in your sin, and God’s judgment upon you will harden your heart even more. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart after Pharaoh first hardened his own heart against the Lord, and God destroyed Pharaoh. In the long suffering of God and the warnings God sent to Pharaoh, Pharaoh would not accept those warnings. And he was made an example of God’s wrath. Remember this: God is going to get glory with those in Heaven, and God is going to get glory by judgment in those who go to Hell.
How might you discern if you have hardened your heart against God?
Is this hardening always total or can it happen in various aspects of our lives?
PRACTICE THIS
Read through Romans 9 today, asking God to open your eyes to see anywhere you might have hardened your heart against Him. Ask Him to help you repent and draw near to Him.
LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers
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