Judging people solely by actions can be very inaccurate. Have you ever longed to look inside someone's heart to understand what the person is really like and what his or her motivations and beliefs truly are?
When it comes to really knowing the Lord, we certainly need to be able to see inside His heart. We live in an age of misinformation about who God is. Unfortunately, confusion over His characteristics, forgiveness, and gift of eternal security frequently lead people to disregard Him. But to understand the heart of God, all we need to do is look at the Cross.
The Cross demonstrates both God's justice and His mercy. We never have to worry about the Father being unfair; His righteousness requires that He always does the right thing in every circumstance.
God is perfectly Holy; therefore, His just and appropriate sentence for sin is eternal separation from Him. However, God wants to have fellowship with His creation. How does a Holy, Righteous, and Just God interact with sinful, rebellious human beings?
He prepared a perfect, sinless substitute to bear not only mankind's guilt but also the punishment each one of us deserves. Jesus Christ's death made it possible for us to be declared no longer guilty - our sin debt has been paid in full, and we appropriate that payment on our behalf by receiving Jesus as our Savior. The Lord's justice demanded that His Son undergo the worst possible punishment - separation from the Father - so that God's mercy could be poured out on us.
We thank God for His mercy. Hallelujah!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” John 3:16-21
\0/ Devotion provided by InTouch Ministries (Thanks, D'Ann!)
Welcome to "A Heart of Worship!" This is where I post things that have impacted my life spiritually. When we embrace the concept of worship as a lifestyle, we have an opportunity to see God reveal Himself in ways we'd never dreamed possible! Although this site was initially designed for my sweet "Sisters," my dear "Brothers in Christ," I encourage you all to feel free to respond to any of my posts or to start a new thought too. God's Word applies to all of us! Blessings!
2 comments:
AMEN!
Lucy
I, unfortuantaly, endured a divorce that even my Pastor felt was ethical. Many people asked me then, and still do now, is he saved? My answer was always to say, that is between him and GOD. Judging by his actions, I would be forced to say "no". Truly, though, how do I know? It is not for me to say. It would be far easier on me and my son to be able to emphatically say, "no", but he claims he is, and talks a good talk. What then, is my responsibility in this relationship? If I am not to judge (discern, certainly!) or teach my son not to respect his father (thereby robbing him of his "honor your mother and father" blessing) what is my role? You raise many very good, thoughful subjects!
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