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HOW GOD TREATS US
(Aspects of God’s Glory)
Concerning
our sins:
Job
11:1-20; Esd.9:10-15; Ps.103:8-13; Ex.33:18-19; Pr.19:11
Concerning our prayers:
Jean 3:20-22; Marc
11:24-26. We are going to examine
how God treats us concerning, on the one hand our sins and on the other hand our
prayers. It is about two inseparable things and of primordial importance. F i r s t P a r t HOW GOD TREATS US
CONCERNING OUR SINS
A
moralist pretending to know in advance God’s thought and actions A
verse of the Bible that has deeply impressed me is Job 11:6 that says:
“That He would show you the secrets of wisdom! For
they would double your prudence. Know therefore that
God exacts from you less than your
iniquity deserves.”.
It is a word that did not come out of the mouth, neither of God nor of Job – who
was an honest and right man and that feared God and shunned evil – but out of
the mouth of Tsophar of Naama, one of the three “friends” or rather comforters,
whose words were considered by God as vain words. He spoke, nevertheless, like a
moralist, pretending to know in advance God’s actions.
Words,
yet, truthful, confirmed by other scriptures Independently of the
content of their thoughts as well as because they could not really seize the
true problem of Job and that of suffering, it is true that the “counselors” in
question could express themselves in an eloquent way and, at times, quite
truthful. In the beginning, I was
tempted to reject their “statements” but other similar verses that came to my
mind incited me to examine the verse in question in depth. My research drove me
to two other verses that confirmed to me a glorious truth of the Bible:
·
“And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds
and for our great guilt, since You our God have
punished us less than our iniquities deserve,
and have given us such deliverance as this,”
(Ezra 9:13)
·
“He has not dealt with
us according to our sins, nor punished us
according to our iniquities.”
(Ps.103:10) We can notice that the
first verse as well as the two others that I have just quoted express the same
spirit, the same glorious truths: On the one hand, that our sins are numerous
and our mistakes are big and, on the other hand, that God does not treat us
according to our sins and our big mistakes! We have to do, therefore, with
believable words, confirmed by other scriptures. Our value: the cross,
the hell
The Old Testament and the New Testament prove easily that because of our sins,
we deserved death. Then, “Through the LORD’S
mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.”
(Lam.3:22). The cross that Jesus underwent for us reveals that we deserved
death, a death on a cross, and that
our value is only a cross.
Independently of what we want to believe or to accept, to admit or to be able to
support that what we deserved is the cross and the hell! The hell exists because
of sin. May God help us to understand our total guilt: We sinned; we took
abominable actions; we committed bad choices; we are full of imperfections and
we miss our targets. Let us recognize all this! Besides, let us recognize that
sin is a horrible thing! So horrible that Jesus Christ should have died for our
redemption.
Fortunately, our guilt is not the last word, but grace, the grace that blesses
us with things that we do not deserve! God, the Father, by his Son Jesus Christ,
gave us all conceivable blessing! It is for this reason that Paul the apostle
wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ” (Eph.1:3) and that can be
achieved on this earth, as long as some conditions are fulfilled!
The recognition of His grace drives us
to repentance, to forgiveness and to purification.
With regard to the manner in God treats us concerning our sins, it is necessary
to understand that the wealth of His goodness, His patience and His forbearance
push us to repentance, to confession and to rejection of our sins so that the
Lord can pour on us all kinds of blessings. A contrite and broken heart is never
disdained or is never rejected by God (Ps.51:19). If we confess our
transgressions, God is going to erase the punishment of our transgressions (Ps.32:5).
In addition, “If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. (1Jo.1:9)
If we try to understand the dimensions of His grace, if we try to meditate on
God’s grace, our heart will be filled with gratitude! God does not bestow on us
solely the forgiveness of our sins as well as our justification, but He also
purifies us from all sin and passion! There are no guilt and no condemnation,
therefore, any more (Rom.8:1). The spirit of the first Christians was so
impregnated with this truth that they reached the point to wonder if it was not
preferable to stay in sin so that God’s grace may abound in them! But God
forbid! “Shall we continue in sin that grace may
abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
(Rom.6:1-2), was Paul’s answer! Our motivation, therefore, should not be the
exploitation of the grace in order to enjoy sin but the expression of gratitude
and love toward our Savior... God’s grace is at our disposal because God found
the solution to our problem by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is there,
on the cross of Jesus, that, “Mercy and truth have
met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.”
(Ps.85:10). One wonders therefore: WHY DOES GOD TREAT US IN
THIS MANNER? The answer is clear and
without ambiguity:
Because
He is our creator and He has been tempted like us in all things without
sin
Our Heavenly Father wanted to do what His grace operated. The compassion that
God has for us is the product of His perfect knowledge of our nature – because
it is He that has created us – and of His eternal and immense love for the
product of His hands and of His breath: “As a
father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows
our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass;
as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it
is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” (Ps.103:13-16)
There is also another reason: Jesus Christ, God’s Only Begotten Son, who died on
the cross for our account: “15. For we have not an
high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was
in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help
in time of need.” (Heb.4:15-16). However, one asks
oneself the question:
FOR WHOM IS THIS TREATMENT RESERVED? God’s blessings are for
those who fear Him and who obey Him
The Bible, God’s book that is worthy to be accepted with
an absolute confidence, declares to us that God wants that everybody should be
saved. Jesus Christ gave Himself as ransom for all. But, there is a
BUT! God’s goodness and
love are for everybody, but they cannot be enjoyed and manifested but only by
those who keep His covenant, and to those who
remember His commandments to do them
(Ps.103:17-18). Yes, the Lord is the Savior of all
men, especially of those who believe, but
Çå
does not give His Holy Spirit but to those who
obey Him (1Ti.4:10 and Acts 5:32). Yes, to all
those who obey Him through a
sincere repentance, an absolute trust and who do not limit themselves telling
Him, Lord, Lord but who do His will… The
following question can be put: WHAT IS OUR PRESENT
SITUATION?
Our
situation is
deplorable and desperate… Although our situation
is quite deplorable, we ignore it or we do not want to admit it. We have a very
good idea of our own capacities and ourselves! We consider ourselves as the
centre of the earth! The Lord has a difficulty convincing us and to make us see
what is our poor existence and life that we lead in His eyes. Independently,
however, of what we think of ourselves, the truth remains: We did not merely
sin, but we, ourselves, are sinners, sinners by our acts, by our thoughts and by
our own nature: We are children of wrath because we accomplish the will of the
flesh and our thoughts (Eph.2:3). Here are some revealing verses of this great
truth:
·
“But we are all like
an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags; we all fade as
a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
(Isa.64:6)
·
“Though I were
righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; though I were blameless, it would
prove me perverse.”
(Job 9:20)
·
“If I am condemned,
why then do I labor in vain? If I wash myself with snow water, and cleanse my
hands with soap, yet You will plunge me into the pit, and my own clothes will
abhor me.”
(Job 9:29-31)
·
“The heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”
(Jer.17:9)
Because
of their despair, they arrive at the point of being discouraged
What I have just mentioned can lead us to the following conclusion: the moral
situation of man is, indeed, deplorable and desperate! All those who became
aware of themselves and of their inability to react against the evil that acts
in them, wonder if it is necessary to fight for a moral improvement or to try to
justify themselves before God and to please Him. They are ready to abandon the
battle; they consider it useless. They say: “When
one is so corrupted, when he is so perverse, so unable what can one do?”
They succeeded merely in understanding that God tests the sons of the men so
that they might see that they are but beasts... (Eccl.3:18).
Because of their despair, they arrive
at the point of being discouraged! Even the most obedient
believer is a useless servant
Now suppose that we do not have to examine a wicked man but a devout man. Did he
not ever commit a sin in his life? Did he always obey God’s commands? Who among
us can say that he has obeyed all God’s commandments in his life, that he has
accomplished God’s whole will? The best Christian that has done all that he was
asked to do cannot acquire or get a more glorious title than the one of a
“unprofitable servant”, of a “plain servant”:
Even the most obedient believer is an
unprofitable servant: “So likewise you, when you
have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable
servants. We have done what was our duty to do.”
(Lu.17:10). The verses that I have just mentioned are sufficient to put in
evidence what we are, in spite of all we see,
Inexhaustible goodness, ineffable compassion and perfect forgiveness
The prophet Jeremiah, having become aware of himself expresses himself in an
eloquent manner saying: “Through the LORD’S
mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new
every morning; great is Your faithfulness………The LORD is good to those who wait
for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait
quietly for the salvation of the LORD……… For the Lord will not cast off forever.
Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude
of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of
men. » (Lam.3:22-33)
The prophet Micah exclaims! « Who is a God like
You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His
heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He
will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast
all our sins into the depths of the sea. »
(7:18-19)
The prophet Isaiah declares with certainty that the God to Whom we have believed
« …blotted out, like a thick cloud, our
transgressions, and like a cloud, our sins… »
(44:22)
All this grace, all this goodness, our celestial Father has kept it, not for
those that are perfect but
for all those who obey him by sincere
repentance and by trusting in Him! WHERE GOD PUTS HIS GLORY
God puts
His glory in His goodness that forgets transgressions
There is a verse in Proverbs (19:11) about the righteous man that
“The discretion of a man defers his anger;
and it is his glory to pass over a
transgression” (Pr.19:11). And, if this
word is valid for the righteous man, who, in spite of his good intentions and
his forgiving spirit, always remains weak and a sinner, this word is valid and
applicable much more to our God who is merciful and compassionate. This verse
recalls to us a passage of the Bible that is in the book of Exodus and which
tells us what happened when Moses asked God to show him His glory, God answered
him: “…I will make all My goodness pass before
you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have
compassion.” (Ex.33:18-19) Moses asked him to see
His glory, and God, instead of His glory, showed him His goodness...
His goodness is His glory:
His goodness covers all our sins and we
‘come into His
house in the multitude of His mercy’ (Ps.5:7).
At this point, we must make a precision: God takes into account all our sins,
even an idle word, but He justifies us because all our sins have been imputed on
the Lord Jesus Christ,
on the condition
that we repent and we put our trust in Him. It is written in the Bible, that
“The charm (desirableness - YLT) of a man is his
kindness…” (Pr.19:22 DBY). Since this is true for
an imperfect man as we are, it is much truer that what charm us and what attract
us toward God are His goodness and His eternal love! He, it was He, that loved
us the first and that He gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in
him may not perish, but have life eternal.
Yes! He loved us with an everlasting love. Therefore, it is with lovingkindness
that He draws us toward Himself. (Jer.31:3) His love covered all our sins (Pr.10:12).
There is no better example of repentance and faith than the one that the Bible
relates to us concerning the two malefactors crucified on the cross at the same
time with Jesus Christ: “But the other, answering,
rebuked him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds;
but this Man has done nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me
when You come into Your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you,
today you will be with Me in Paradise. » (Lu.23:40-43)
God could cover His sins as well as our sins on the basis of His expiatory work
by Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son. Here is why a devout man of the Bible
said: “But as for me, I will come into Your house
in the multitude of Your mercy… » (Ps.5:7)
Let us
take advantage (profit), therefore, here and now, of God’s glorious promises
Having a God, therefore, as ours, the Creator, the Curator of the universe and
the Savior of our soul, our body and our mind and having glorious promises
concerning the forgiveness of our sins, the deliverance of our spirit from the
domination and the slavery of sin – here and now – as well as the promises
concerning the life beyond, let us, therefore,
come boldly to
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need (Heb.4:16) in order to be rescued in our
spiritual and material needs; and all this, thanks to the sacrifice of our
Savior Jesus Christ, the Lord. How, are we able then to take advantage of God’s
promises? This question brings us to the exam of another side of the same topic,
that is: S
e c o n d
P a r t HOW GOD TREATS US
CONCERNING OUR PRAYERS Link between the two
parts of our study Up to here, I referred
to His glorious plan to save us and to re-establish us to our original glory. I
referred to the fact that the Lord puts all His glory to forget our offences and
that the thing that attracts us toward Him is the eternal love with which He
loved us. Now, I would like to turn toward another glorious truth that is
equally important…
God hears us, accepts us and grants us our requests not
on the basis of what He knows concerning us but on the basis
of the sincerity of our heart and our obedience to the
light that we have received. The apostle John
in his first epistle, chap.3 and verses 20-22 wrote:
“For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our
heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have
confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep
His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”
In these key-verses, we can distinguish another
parallel truth to the
one of which we spoke, but just as important as the first: God wanted, when we
were in the past without strength, sinners and even His enemies, to save us and
to reconcile us with Him! Now that we are saved by His grace, He consents not to
take into account our weak and ignorant heart and our tortuous nature, and not
to take account of everything that we do not see or we do not consider as evil.
He only takes account of what we know and are
conscious that it is evil. God knows all
things: He knows our thoughts, our feelings, our weakness, not only those that
we know ourselves, but all other elements of our life that are not compliant to
His sovereign will and may be those we do not know… In addition, these elements
are numerous, many too numerous, but God does not want to take account of them!
(Rom.8:1 and Nom.23:20-21). The apostle arrives even to the point of saying,
“For what I am doing, I do not understand…”
(Rom.7:15). He knows that we are very often under the power of sin and very
often, we are not conscious of the sin that we commit. Read chapter 7 of the
epistle of the apostle Paul to the Romans and especially verses 14 and 15 and it
will suffice to understand what I am speaking about. In spite of this truth, the
same apostle exclaims: “There is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…”
(Rom.8:1 and Num.23:20-21).
God does not want to take into consideration our weakness and our transgressions
and overlooks our sins and our mistakes. What interests Him is to see that we
try to live with a sincere, humble and devoted heart; a heart that – based on
our knowledge, and not of
HIS knowledge
– does not condemn us. If He should mark
iniquities, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with Him that He may be
feared (Ps.130:2-4). To be afraid of Him and at the same time to be attracted by
Him…
The thing that interests our Lord
Jesus Christ is our sincerity!
To avoid any misunderstanding on this point I would like to mention a very
important statement by Saint Paul: “… I do not
even judge myself. For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by
this; but He who judges me is the Lord.” (1Cor.4:3-4).
The Lord judges all things… What, therefore, counts is that we behave in all
good conscience before God, that is, based on everything that we are conscious
that it is good and acceptable (Ac.23:1). THE GOOD CONSCIENCE
The good conscience is the one that
fears God and
wants to behave well
in all things
It is not necessary to go and look for in dictionaries or in philosophical books
to find what is the good conscience. It is Paul, again, that gives us the
explanation when he says: “… we are confident that
we have a good conscience, in all things desiring
(because
we desire)
to live honorably.” (Heb.13:18) Notice, please, a
word that his faithful servant, Nehemiah, told Him:
“O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the
prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants
who
desire to fear Your name;
and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight
of this man…” (Neh.1:11). And He found,
indeed, favor to the king’s eyes: his request was accepted. But notice well the
expression that He uses: All those that
“desire” to fear Him; these
are them that fear Him in truth to God’s eyes, independently of their
weaknesses... It is our intentions and the
position of our heart that count. This is the reason why God asks us for a life
dominated by a heart given to God: “My son, give
me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.”
(Pr.23:26). We can, then, say without hesitation that
the good conscience is the one that
fears God and wants to behave well in all things.
One
explanation:
The word “desire” or “wish” should not be confused or be considered identical
with the verbs “will” or “decide”.
Briefly, what counts, I repeat, what counts is the position of our heart, of our
will. This is the reason why it is written in the book of the Proverbs ch.23:7:
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…”
(Pr.23:7). Therefore, it is necessary that our heart is perfect before Him,
settled to obey Him in all things and in all circumstances. Now let us examine
how the good conscience acts: The good conscience puts
in order man’s life. To
avoid the risk of a possible misunderstanding, I would like to add a few words:
We cannot have communion with God and hope to be granted our requests but only
if we walk in the light. It is an indispensable condition that the blood of
Jesus Christ may purify us of our sins (1Joh.1:7). God is ready to forgive us if
we repent of our sins, of which the biggest is our incredulity, and if we want
to put our life in order. To walk in the light means to be “transparent” both
before God and to ourselves, to confess what we are and be deeply sorry for
everything that we do and that is not compliant to God’s will. The following
verses 2Cor.7:10 and 11 are very characteristic of what I am telling you:
“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to
salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For
observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it
produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what
vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved
yourselves to be clear in this matter.”
The Christians of Corinth were seized by a
readiness to present
their apologies, full of indignation
for the evil that had been committed, afraid
of the consequences that could follow, anxious
to re-establish the created situation; full of
zeal to do God’s will and decided to put
order in the
Church, their spiritual home… We arrive comfortably to the conclusion that God
attaches great importance to the position that our heart takes towards sin and
His great and glorious truths and promises. Is it possible to have a
good conscience?
Someone could ask me the question:
“But is it possible to have always a good conscience?”
Yes, of course, yes! God does not ask us for impossible things! If there is
something that is impossible for us, He makes it possible by His grace and by
the power of the Holy Spirit. A pure and holy life is desirable, it is required,
and it is possible. “He who
calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”
(1Thes.5:24). Besides, Jesus said “…all things are
possible to him who believes.”! (Mark 9:23)
In practice, the good conscience consists in not living in
known sin The spiritual
relationship with our celestial Father depends on the existence or not of known
sins, of sins that could provoke the interruption of our communion with our
celestial Father. The time does not allow us to examine, in detail, some of the
declarations of Jesus and Paul, which are relevant to the subject we are dealing
with (Mt.6:14; Mt.18:32-35; Mark 11:25-26; Eph.4:32 and Col.3:13).
Anyway, in two words:
“For if our heart
condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our
heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatever we ask,
we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that
are pleasing in his sight.”
(1Jn.3:20-22).
According to the Bible, it is clear that there
is one
basic
type of known sin that hinders our prayers and
does not give the possibility to God to forgive us:
The unforgiving spirit!
It suffices to remind ourselves what our Lord Jesus
Christ has taught us in His prayer “Our Father…”
“…And forgive us
our debts, as we forgive our debtors. ……… For if you forgive men their
trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if you forgive not
men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
(Mat.6:12-16; 18:32-33 and Mrk.25-26) I say
basic known sin because
there are also others that hinder our prayers. An example:
“Likewise, you
husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor to the wife, as
to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life;
that your prayers be not hindered.”
(1Pet.3:7). a) The unforgiving
spirit
Condition, therefore, indispensable for God to forgive our sin and then hear our
prayer is that we have forgiven wholeheartedly the one that has wronged us. If
you want to forgive your neighbor from all your heart, God will also be able to
forgive you. We must, therefore, forgive sins, forget offences and exclude all
bitterness from our heart so that God may forgive us and respond to our prayers!
You forgive the few sins that
your neighbor has committed to you and God, on the other hand, forgives you your
numerous sins and your big mistakes!!! Very interesting exchange… but, although
strange, it is about an indispensable condition…
But the man of God, in whose heart lives God’s Spirit,
forgives in his heart before one does
ask him forgiveness…
If the offender does not ask for forgiveness, he
creates an obstacle, a barrier that simply prevents the
friendly and harmonious restored relations. He
creates an account showing a deficit that testifies against him and that he will
find it always being in deficit when he will have to give account of everything
that he has done… when he will appear before Christ’s Judgment Seat, so that
each receives according to the good or the evil that he will have made, being in
body (2Cor.5:10). b) Various sins known in
our life
There are
other things that prevent us sometimes to lead an agreeable life before God and
that close the door of the Lord’s blessings,
such as:
1.
An oral or written
lie; a false fiscal declaration concerning our income; a false accusation
against someone;
2.
A lack of obedience
and honor towards our parents; a bad behavior against my wife or against your
husband;
3.
A lack of prayer and
study of God’s Word.
An indifferent
and lukewarm spirit towards God and His work;
4.
An
evil eye, an
unjustified or greedy sexual life;
5.
A guilty attachment
to TV, astrology, horoscope, and medium…;
6.
Anger, envy,
divisions and heresies in the church;
7.
Cupidity and
anxieties, which constitute a form of idolatry. A spirit full of daily worries
that kills our spiritual life and renders us fruitless;
8.
Idols in our heart
that make us have a non-stop thinking about them all day long, as if they were
our treasure, such as love for money, material progress in the world for
ourselves or for children, for our health, marriage, etc.;
9.
A broken and not re-established relation.
“Therefore if you
bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something
against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be
reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift…”
(Mt.5:23-25).
Do you believe that our prayer will be heard if you / we do not ask for
forgiveness from the one that has truly and
justifiedly something against us? I do believe
that even the money that we offer at the church on Sunday is included! Does the
Lord accept our offering if there is a known sin in our heart and non-confessed?
10.
A love for our
denomination greater than that for the Bible truths and principles. Cowardice to
tell the truth on behalf of our personal interest or for not to be disturbed;
11.
An arrogant or proud
and especially impenitent spirit, not accepting to be humble and be reconciled ;
lack of spirit to honor our brother, keeping the first place for ourselves;
12.
A tendency to show
yourself more spiritual than you really are, something that constitutes a form
of hypocrisy! It is well to remind ourselves the case of Ananias and Saphira.
(Ac.5:1-10 as well as that of the Scribes and Pharisees: Mat. 5:20);
13.
A tendency to find
always pretexts to excuse ourselves;
14.
A bad example in our
house for our children;
The solution to the problems evoked is to
love God with all our heart and to
become attached to Him. In order to be heard,
we need a heart that does not condemn us, a heart completely oriented toward
Him, a heart that loves truth above everything else, a heart that loves the ways
of the Lord and a heart that hates sin! He who seeks Him with all his heart does
nït
commit iniquity and walks in His ways (Ps.119:2-3). He watches over his ways and
God makes him see His salvation, he finally leads him complete deliverance...
(Ps.50:23)
·
God says: “Because he
has set his love upon Me, therefore I will
deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call
upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver
him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My
salvation.” (Ps.91:14-16);
·
The prophet Jeremiah says:
“… If you return,
then I will bring you back; you shall stand before Me; if you take out the
precious from the vile, you shall be as My
mouth…”
(Jer.15:19);
·
And our Lord promised us:
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
(Lu.11:13). CONCLUSIONS
1.
Let us recognize that
God does not treat us according to our iniquities or in proportion to our
iniquities. Therefore, it is a grace that we are not annihilated.
2.
Let us recognize our
sinful nature and our guilt, let us confess and let us accept as well the
punishment of our sins in view of our correction and edification.
3.
Let us recognize His grace, let us express our gratitude
and let us permit the riches of His goodness to forgive us and to save us.
God’s glory is to be found in His goodness.
4.
Let’s recognize that:
Ø
God is ready to hear
us provided we forgive from the depths of our heart all those that have offended
us. God forgives us our numerous sins and our big mistakes if we accept to
forget the mistakes or sins of others against us. He forgives us as we forgive!
He who really loves Jesus knows how to forgive!
Ø
God is ready to hear
our prayers provided we walk in the light with a sincere and pure heart and with
a good conscience, wanting to obey Him in all things, confessing and abandoning
all known sin.
Let us humble ourselves, therefore, before Him and let us accept the grace that
has been offered us; let us thank God for all His blessings; let us raise and
let us empty the cup of deliverance of God and
‘let us therefore come boldly to the
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need’ (Heb.4:16).
Amen! Jean BALTATZIS
www.sporeas.com
www.sporeas.gr
www.sporeas.eu
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