Thursday, June 29, 2023 Some material taken from “Mistaken Identity,” by John Strappazon
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him… Psalm 103:11-13
What God Is Really Like
Moses was a man who knew what God was really like. He knew Him personally. He led the Children of Israel through the wilderness for 40 years, and he was completely dependent on God for every twist and turn on their journey. Through his relationship with God, Moses learned about His ways. And through the words Moses spoke and were recorded about God, David learned about God’s ways and expresses it in Psalm 103. Yesterday we learned about three of God’s ways: He has a long fuse, He has a short memory but not a bad one, and He has a thick skin. Today we will talk about two more of God’s ways.
He has a soft heart, but not a soft touch - God is compassionate and slow to anger, but He is serious about His commands and about our relationship with Him. He is not indifferent to the choices we make, and He does not indulge us to the point of allowing us to sin and get away with it. He is not out to “make us pay,” but he does not want us to live in sin. He loves us and knows that the wages of sin is death and if we choose to live in a life of sin instead of repentance and walking with Him, we will pay a horrible price. That breaks His heart.
God chooses to be kind to us. He is God - He doesn’t need us to love Him, He wants a relationship with us. He showers us with love and kindness expressed through forgiveness and understanding. He understands how hard it is to be us.
The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children - with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. Psalm 103:15-18
He has a Faithful Love - God is different than us. He is loyal, faithful, committed and true and He never tires of being any of those things. We are mortals and He is eternal. The scripture above says that for those who fear Him, His love for us is from everlasting to everlasting, never fading or ending. It is a gift that is not through any work of our own. His faithful love is for us, His children, and does not change if we stray from His side. He has always loved us and always will. No matter what we do or what we don’t do, His love for us remains.
Our God is not a critical and mean authority figure in our lives. He is a devoted Heavenly Father who has so much patience with us; who chooses to forget our sin after we confess - not because He has to but because He chooses to forget; He has a thick skin; and he has a soft heart. We don’t have to be afraid of Him. He welcomes us with open arms every time. He never turns us away and no one is ever too far gone to be saved or reconciled to Him.
This kind of relationship with Him is open to all who want to make Him their Lord and Savior. You can ask Him into your heart right now. You can pray with a family member or friend and on Sundays we have prayer advocates located in the back of the worship center or out in the foyer that can pray with you.
