Skip to main content

Saturday... But isn't He mean?


Saturday... But isn't He mean?

I was talking to a person this week and they said, they like to read in the Bible about Jesus but they didn't like to read about the mean God. And so many have that opinion of God.

Now I love the Old Testament. It is not, I believe, the story of a mean God but the story about a loving God who was doing all He could to bring His creation back to Him and to His plan. He showed what it meant to be obedient and the consequences of being disobedient.

I know what it is like as a father and a grandfather when out of love I have to correct my children. Yes correction can hurt them and hurt me but handling disobedience is a loving thing. It will make all the difference.

Now Psalm 118:28-29 (AMP) says, "You are my God, and I give thanks to You; [You are] my God and I extol You. O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness endures forever."

Now the book of Leviticus in the OT is a book of a whole lot of laws that God gave to His people. There are a lot of them that are about what we should and shouldn't eat. Now some have studied those laws and have come to the conclusion that if we would have followed them then there would be no diseases. Those laws were there to protect us not to limit us. They were there not because He was mean but because of His love. He was striving to keep us from the consequences to us at doing and eating what we wanted. And our disobedience brought about the diseases that plague our world. The laws were there for our good not for our harm. God did not bring disease our disobedience did. 

Now over in Matthew 4 it tells of how Jesus before He started His preaching ministry had to go through a time of temptation by Satan. God, His Father allowed it because He loved Him. He allowed it for His good and as an example for us. God is not a mean God He is a loving Father. 

And also out of His love for those who are obedient to Him He must bring consequences and punishment to those who are disobedient. His love gives us a choice.

Psalm 118:1 (NLT) says, "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever." Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning


   



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do

Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT), "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?" Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do. No, not the fact that I can go out my front door and look out at night at the marvels of the sky. I can do that and it is amazing and it takes my breath away each time I see it. Yes, that is a fact but the reality of who did that and the wisdom and the faith that I have to believe that and to marvel that the one who did that cares about me makes such a difference in how I live my life. Yes, God really does. That is so wonderful for us to believe. And that is why faith and wisdom are so important. Now whatever belief you have at how that marvel happened must also be believed through faith. And the sad thing to me is that more and more people have been taught that there is no God and therefore he did not have a h...

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together!

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together! They really do. And this is what caught my attention this morning as I was reading Proverbs 2. Verse 1 (NRSVUE) says, "My child, if you accept my words and treasure my commands within you." Verse 3 (NIV), "Indeed i f you call  out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, Verse 4, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, Verse 5, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." And verses 9-11, " Then you will understand what is right and just and fair - every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you." There will always be some effort we must do, some ifs for the thens to be realized in our lives. So many of us want to understand without the ifs. But the thens are so worth, so very worth the effort. Verses 5-6 in the Ampli...

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless.

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless.  It really can. I have found that unless I give the correct email of my wife then I can't get what I wanted. I put an extra i in her email and I have been working for 5 days to get it changed. Unless has been useless. The writer of Psalm 94 uses this word and shows how important it is. Verses 17-19 (NLT) says, "Unless the Lord had helped me, I would have soon settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out, 'I'm slipping!' but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer." "Unless the Lord had helped me." So many people go on and on and on striving to live their life on their own but they keep slipping and doubting and living without hope and cheer. Yes the Lord has such unfailing love for us, he really does but unless we have a relationship with him and we turn to him and ask him for help then the unless turns in to useless because h...