God is not an ogre!
He is not looking for ways to punish you.
He is not seeking to trip you up and keep you from His presence.
He IS the God of mercy.
He seeks constantly
Someone noted that God invites us 365 times in the Bible.
“Come to me, all who are weary and heavily weighed down. I will give you rest.”
“Cast all your cares on Him (G0d), for He cares for you.”
In Exodus 34:6 we find, “God is merciful and gracious. He is slow
to anger, and abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
When God looks at you and me, his eyes are not flashing anger,
revenge or regret over creating us. Oh,
no.
His look is one of great compassion, great tenderness. He realizes that we are like sheep, easily
led off the path into the brambles and thickets of what attracts us. And He seeks for us.
He is the Father in the parable of the prodigal son. He stands on the front porch every day,
looking, hoping, seeing if that might be us trudging our way back home after
our times of wandering.
He is MERCY.
The merciful one.
The forgiving one.
To borrow from Brennan Manning, “God loves us as we are, not as we
should be”. That is mercy overflowing and
abundant.
In my book, The Letters,
I attempt to present God as the God of love and grace and mercy. Many individuals that I meet seem to view God
as harsh, the “gotcha” God. They think
God is just waiting for us to step out of line so he can zap us with His heavenly
walking stick.
I love how Psalm 145:8 phrases this: “The Lord is gracious and
compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.”
Have you met this version of God?
He IS, and He wants to be a part of your life.
Come to the merciful God who has His arms wide open and will
readily receive you.
He is the God of all the people.
The merciful one. Your redeemer
and friend.
Offering Words of
Hope Encouragement
Inspiration
One Word at a Time
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