Month: January 2024

Daniel 9:9                                                         God Is Merciful

“The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him (NIV).

 

I might say, “When have I rebelled against you, God?  I have never supported satan and rejected you.  I love you, Lord.”

His answer may well be, “I know that you love me.  Have you ever done something that you know is wrong?  Have you ever not believed in my healing?  Have you ever thought, ‘I can handle this my way.  I don’t need God’s help with this’?  Have you ever doubted my love for you?  These may seem like small inconsequential things to you, but each one is rebellious in that they each question or even deny my statement of love for you.  I love you unconditionally.  When you accepted me as Savior and Lord, I put all of your sins, past, present, and future away.  Do you know that that is an inaccurate statement?  I haven’t put all of your sins away.  If I merely put them away, I could look at them again.  I didn’t do that—I destroyed all memory of your sins, never to be remembered again-–at least not by me.  So, believe me, I love you.  I will always love you.  You are my favorite.  I am very pleased that you love me.  Because you are human, you will continue to sin—rebel against me—but my mercy, my forgetfulness when it comes to your sin, is new every morning.”

You may think that I took too much liberty in putting words in God’s mouth.  Maybe I shouldn’t have used quotation marks.  You may be right about the quotation marks, but when we study the Word, we find each of these thoughts I attributed to Him.  His love for us is well beyond our understanding.  The most important thing we can do is accept His love and thank Him for it.

His mercy abounds to us.  It is God’s desire that we be forgiven, and He went to great lengths to provide that forgiveness.  Let’s live in His mercy and love and extend it to those we meet.  In that way we will honor Him, and we will be doing our part to further the Kingdom of God.

Psalm 102:25-27                                               God Is Immutable

“In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.  They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment.  Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded.  But you remain the same, and your years will never end” (NIV).

 

In the verse above, the Psalmist tells us that God will remain the same even though the earth and the heavens will perish.  God made the earth and heavens, and He will discard them and make new ones.  That is good news for us because that gives us a solid and firm foundation that is always the same, God.  As God was, God is, and God will be.  He doesn’t change His mind about us.  During creation, God created the heavens and the earth, and then He created mankind.  First, He prepared the universe for us, for our use, and then He created us, and He loved us.  He placed mankind in a perfect garden that He prepared, a garden that provided for our need for food, our need for water, and our need for oxygen, and even our need for beauty.  God gave Adam and Eve the freedom of choice.  There was only one law: “Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”  So, there was only one way to sin, and we did it, we sinned.  (I say we because I’m sure I would have done the same as Adam and Eve did.)  We lost our privilege to live in the perfect garden, and we could no longer fellowship closely with God.  We were removed from  a close personal relationship with Him.  We couldn’t walk in the garden with Him.  God still loved us, and He provided a temporary way for us to have our sins covered; animals were sacrificed, and their blood was used to cover our sins for blood was needed to cover sin.  God later replaced the animal sacrifices with the ultimate sacrifice, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus.  Jesus paid for all our sins, past, present, and future with His blood on the cross of Calvary.  The human blood shed by Jesus was holy blood that didn’t cover over sins, but erased them.  Now that the sin had been erased, we became free to again fellowship personally with God.  He hadn’t changed.  He still loved us, and He still wanted to fellowship with us, to walk through the garden with us.  As there was one choice in the Garden of Eden, there is now one choice that will either gain for us fellowship with God or lose that privilege of fellowship with Him forever.  That choice—accept or reject Jesus as Savior and Lord.  Adam and Eve had one life altering choice to make and so do we.  But our choice is for eternity.  It doesn’t end at death.

Not only is God immutable, He is the only God, and there is only one way to Him, and that way is through His Only Begotten Son, Jesus.  Isaiah 43:10 tells us that our God is the only god, “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.  Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me” (NIV).  And in John 14:6, Jesus tells us, “…”I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” (NIV).  Our God has always been the only true god, and He always will be.  I’m so glad that our God, Jehovah, is not like the gods of the Greeks and Romans.  The Greeks and Romans had to be concerned that their gods were asleep or upset or on vacation, or just not available.  Our God, Jehovah, and His Only Begotten Son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the three persons of the Triune God, have never changed, and they are never on vacation.  They are available all the time and are eager to talk with us at any time.  I’m so glad that our God never changes and that He will always love us.

Twenty Adjectives That Describe God  Day 5

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” Revelation 22:13 (NIV).

 

Day five of Twenty Adjectives That Describe God includes these adjectives: faithful, holy, gracious, and BIG.  Have you thought of how you would use these adjectives to describe God?

 

God is faithful—This adjective can be applied to God all the time.  We can apply it all the time because He is always “there for us.”  He will NEVER forsake us.  We can count on Him and His support all the time.  In Lamentations 3:22,23 we are told, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (NIV).  How  comforting it is to know that God’s compassion for us is new every morning.  That’s right, EVERY morning.  Check it out at Psalm 31:3-5.

 

God is holy—It seems to me that God is the description of holy.  No one else approaches Him in being perfect and acting in a perfect manner.  And He never changes—He is holy every day.  First Samuel 2:2 says, “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no rock like our God” (NIV).  Check it out at Psalm 99:5.

 

God is gracious—He has often given us grace just as He has given us mercy, mercy to forgive us and grace to enable us.  With His grace, He has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us through our earthly lives.  He has given us gifts (abilities) to use in the furtherance of His kingdom.  Through His grace, He has given us friends, relatives, and pastors so that we may be blessed.  Check it out at Isaiah 30:18.

 

God is BIG—If you haven’t come to this conclusion by this time, you haven’t been paying attention.  To name a few: God is big in love.  God is big in grace.  God is big in compassion.  God is big in wisdom.  God is big in power.  God is big in mercy.  God is big in faithfulness, and God is big in spirit.  Psalm 95:3-7 gives us good advice:  “For the Lord is the great God, the great king above all gods.  In his hand are the ends of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.  The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.  Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (NIV).  After He has done all that, it is proper for us to worship Him.  Check it out at Isaiah 55:8,9.

 

This concludes the introductory short adjectival descriptions of God.  God is certainly deserving of all twenty of these adjectives and many more.  Come back Monday for the first of the expanded descriptions using these adjectives.

Twenty Adjectives That Describe God Day 4

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” Revelation 22:13 (NIV).

 

Day four of Twenty Adjectives That Describe God includes these adjectives: wise, soverign, good, and spiritual.  Have you thought of how you would use these adjectives to describe God?

 

God is wise—Solomon is known as the wisest man who ever lived.  Where do you think he got his wisdom?  He asked God for it.  In 1 Kings 3:12, God answered Solomon: “I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be” (NIV).  Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs, a book noted to contain some of the most profound wisdom ever written.  If God gave all this wisdom to Solomon, He must have been very wise—the embodiment of “wise.”  Wisdom for us is to know the will of the Lord and follow that as closely as possible.  Check it out at Isaiah 40:28.

 

God is sovereign—The dictionary defines “sovereign” as having the supreme power, rank, or authority.  God created all the universe and set it to work according to the laws and principles He created.  He is certainly in charge of the universe.  He created us and has supreme authority over us as our creator, but because He is also loving, He gave us freedom of choice, so He does not force his authority on us.  Having said that, I also say that God is ultimately in charge.  He will not have sin in His house, so He made provision to have our sins erased so We can dwell with Him if we will accept it.  Check it out at Colossians 1:16.

 

God is good—The word “God” is contained within the word “good.”  There’s just an extra “o” in there.  Actually, good is contained in God.  All good comes from Him.  We learned that as children with the meal blessing, “God is great.  God is good.  Let us thank Him for our food.”  We each have stories in our lives that show the goodness of God—how He has been good to us many times.  Check it out at Psalm 27:13.

 

God is spiritual—Certainly God is spiritual.  One part of the Godhead is called the Holy Spirit.  God has said, and Jesus has said that we would not be left alone—without a helper or a comforter, so when Jesus ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit came here to lead, guide, and direct us, again, if we will accept His help.  Check it out at John 14:16,17.

 

Tomorrow’s four adjectives are faithful, holy, gracious, and big.  These four should provide lots of thought as to how they could be used to describe God.  See you tomorrow.

Twenty Adjectives That Describe God Day 3

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” Revelation  22:13 (NIV).

 

Day three of Twenty Adjectives That Describe God includes these adjectives: glorious, peaceful, merciful, and infinite.  Have you thought of how you would use these adjectives to describe God?

 

God is Glorious—Moses asked God if he could see God’s face.  He got quite an answer.  God told him that he couldn’t see the face of God and live.  So God put him in a crevice, covered him with His hand, and let His glory pass by.  Only after His glory had passed was Moses permitted to see His back.  Moses spent forty days on the mountain speaking with God.  When he came down, his face shone so brightly that he wore a veil until the glory faded.  Such is the glory of God.  Check it out at 1 Chronicles 6:20.

 

God is peaceful—One main reason many of us grow closer to God is to find peace in the midst of turmoil.  In numerous Scriptures,  God promises peace to those who will draw near to  Him.  But, He does tell us in one Scripture, Romans 12:18:  “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (NIV).  So peace is something that God is willing to provide for us, but He also wants us to make an effort to cause peace to come into our lives.  Check it out at John 14:27.

 

God is merciful—Judges in courtrooms are merciful when they hand down a lesser sentence than might be expected, fewer years in prison.  Because of God’s love, He can hand down to us the most merciful judgment ever.  He didn’t give us what we deserve.  Anyone convicted of sinning is condemned to hell, but by God’s mercy, we can, instead, spend eternity in heaven with Him.  Check in out at Deuteronomy 4:31.

 

God is infinite—The Bible begins with the words, “In the beginning.”  They are followed by the words, “God created.”  So God must have been here from before the beginning in order to create all that we know.  The Word tells us that we will live with Him in eternity.  So He has no end, and neither do we.  As to size, God is also infinite in size.  He created the universe for us by His hands, so He must be bigger than the universe, and how big is that?  Check it out at Revelation 1:8.

 

Tomorrow’s four adjectives are sovereign, wise, good, and spiritual.  Think about what thoughts of God these four adjectives bring to your mind.  See you tomorrow.

Twenty Adjectives That Describe God Day 2

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” Revelations 22:13 (NIV).

 

Day two of Twenty Adjectives That Describe God includes these adjectives: just, self-sufficient, compassionate, and omnipotent.  Have you thought of how you would use these adjectives to describe God?

 

God is just—Not only did God create the physical universe for us, He also created the moral code by which we live or should live.  He spells it all out in a book called the Bible.  God is love, but the Word does say that He hates seven things: haughty eyes, lying tongues, hands that shed innocent blood, hearts that devise wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, false witnesses who put out lies, and people who stir up conflict within the community.  God calls these seven things unjust—against His moral code.  He hates these seven things, but He will forgive them if He is asked.  The only sin He will not forgive is the sin of refusing to accept Jesus as Lord.  Check it out at Job 34:12.

 

God is self-sufficient—Since God is the creator of the universe, He must have had whatever He needed to create it.  And if He did the creating, who created Him?  Who created Him?  Nobody, that’s who.  God always had everything He needed, but there was something He wanted—fellowship, so He created it all—from the furthest star to me and you.  He doesn’t need anybody to fix His problems.  He didn’t need anybody to give Him anything, but His desire to have fellowship with us led Him to send Jesus as a sacrifice so that He could fellowship with us for eternity.  If that doesn’t make you feel loved, then nothing will.  Check it out at Job 41:11.

 

God is compassionate—God cares about each one of us.  He showed that most by the sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary.  But that is not the end-all and be-all of His compassion.  He has compassion upon us here in this life.  He cares about our problems, our illnesses, our questions, and our concerns.  His compassion extends to everyone.  Some will not accept it, but His heart still yearns for them.  It is difficult to separate compassion, mercy, love, and grace, for they are all combined in the Love of God for His people.  Check it out at Psalm 103:8.

 

God is omnipotent—Certainly God is all powerful.  Who would dare to challenge God to an arm-wrestling match?  Who can lift more weight that the one who created the earth?  He is strong enough to make all of us do exactly what He wants us to do all the time, except for one thing.  He gave us freedom of choice.  We can choose to obey Him or not, and He will not force us to “do it His way.”  He is strong enough to give us freedom of choice and not worry about it.  Check it out at Isaiah 43:13.

 

Tomorrow’s four adjectives are glorious, peaceful, merciful, and infinite.  Think about what thoughts of God these four adjectives bring to your mind.  See you tomorrow.

Twenty Adjectives that Describe God

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” Revelation 22:13 (NIV).

 

I have chosen twenty adjectives to use in the description of God.  It is an impossible task no matter how many adjectives we use.  I chose these twenty because they were used by several on-line Christian writers.  This has been an amazing study that led to many personal thoughts about what God means to me.  I encourage you to do the same thing with however many adjectives you care to use.  What you write may be somewhat surprising but revealing of your relationship with our mighty God.

The twenty adjectives are divided into five groups of four with short descriptions given the first five days.  After this five-day introduction, each adjectival description of God will be developed in somewhat more detail.

Today’s four adjectives are: loving, omniscient, immutable, and generous.

God is Loving—He loves us enough to have created the universe for our benefit.  He doesn’t need a physical universe for His being.  After He created the universe, He, the creator of the universe, came down to earth and lived as a human being subject to all the physical, spiritual, and emotional aspects of this environment.  He even let His created beings pass judgment on Him so we could escape the horrors of hell and spend eternity with Him.  He spent time in hell so that we wouldn’t have to ever spend even one minute there.  Check it out in John 3:16.

 

God is Omniscient—Well, He created it all, so He must know it all.  We often think of His creation to be the physical world that we see, but He also created all the laws that govern the interaction of all the parts of the physical world.  Our emotions are also the result of His creative ability.  If it exists, God created it.  There is no question that He can’t answer.  He is the source of all wisdom, and He has shared it in His Word.  If we don’t see it there, He is willing to talk with us regarding any problems and even perform miracles on our behalf.  A miracle is an act that occurs outside the physical laws of the universe.  Check it out in Isaiah 40:28.

 

God is Immutable—That’s right, God never, never changes.  He is the same today as He was eight million years before we were born.  His wisdom is the same today as it was then and as it will be eight million years from now.  He is, as we say, “like a rock .”  But that is not even close to being accurate.  Rocks are eventually broken down and washed away, and God will never be lessened by any means.  He is more solid that any rock.  After all, He created them.  Check it out in Psalm 102:25-27.

 

God is Generous—He was certainly generous when He created all the beauty we enjoy as we look at, listen to, touch, taste, and smell the great abundance of creation.  I just read that there are about 150 species of roses, 750 species   of butterflies, and 22,000 species of fish.  Imagine how many different plants and animals He created.  That is certainly more than any of us will ever get to experience, but God gave us all that, giving us limitless opportunity to experience His creation.  His generosity didn’t stop after creation.  He continues today in His generosity in the friends He gives us, the variety of foods we eat, and in the gifts He gives through His ministers and the Holy Spirit.  Check it out in 1 Timothy 6:17.

 

Tomorrow’s four adjectives are: just, self-sufficient, compassionate, and omnipotent.  Think about what thoughts of God these four adjectives bring to your mind.  See you tomorrow.

Hebrews 4:16                                             Thank God for His Mercy

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy, and find grace to help us in our time of need” (NIV).

 

Have you ever made a mistake?  Yep, me too.  Have you ever felt that you disappointed God?  Yep, me too.  It’s okay that I have made mistakes.  It’s okay that I have disappointed God.  Really, it’s okay to disappoint God?  When we disappoint Him, we can approach His throne of grace with confidence.  When we disappoint Him, we can approach the throne of God, most high, the creator of the universe, with confidence?  Yes, we can because He is a forgiving God, a merciful God, who loves us much more than we can imagine.  The Word tells us in Daniel 9:9: “The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;…” NIV).  That tells us that God is both merciful and forgiving, but the real clincher is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (NKJV).  God is so full of mercy that He sent Jesus, part of the Godhead, to earth as a human so He could take on Himself ALL the sins of the world, pay the penalty for them, and gain heavenly eternity for us.  God shows mercy on us and forgives us for our mistakes, even our rebellion.  But what of us?  How do we feel when we disappoint God?

Knowing that I have disappointed God makes me feel sad.  No, it doesn’t make me feel sad; it makes me angry with myself; it makes me feel unworthy to be called a child of God.  Sadness and disappointment are appropriate feelings for one who knows he has disappointed God.  But feeling unworthy is not appropriate; in fact, feeling unworthy is a sin itself.  When Jesus died for our sins, He died for ALL our sins–past, present, and future.  If we feel unworthy, we are denying the sacrifice Jesus made for our sins.  Jesus died for ALL of our sins, that’s right, every single one of them.  In 2 Corinthians 5:21, the Word says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (NKJV).

So look up and rejoice in the finished work of Jesus Christ.  Because of Him we have become the righteousness of God.  God the Father is well-pleased with Jesus, and because of Jesus, God the Father is well-pleased with us!