God’s character - Jeremiah's Vow

Lent 2022 | Day 13: Steadfast

²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

The prophet Jeremiah said in his great lament that the steadfast love of the Lord and his mercies are new every morning.

This is an amazing thing to consider. What does this mean in light of the fact that God never changes? It certainly cannot mean that there is something different in God. So we must consider that whatever is new, is new for us.

It is a common mistake made by many followers of Jesus to believe they have “a grasp” of who God is. This is truly poor thinking on our part. But what do I mean? Only that when we assume we have an extensive understanding of Jesus or of God we are setting ourselves up to get something wrong.

So Jeremiah said that the love of the Lord and his mercies, they never cease, they never come to an end, and yet they are new every morning. I take this to mean that as we journey with God we discover new aspects of his mercy and love we had not seen or experienced before. Each of these discoveries reminds us of how great and mysterious God is.

When we assume we have an extensive understanding of Jesus or of God we are setting ourselves up to get something wrong.
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As we continue to grow in our understanding of faith, we should always remember what God is doing in us, around us, and through us is going to expand our understanding of who he is. In a sense, we should be perpetually surprised about what God is able to do. Not because we have called into question his ability. But because we marvel at the fact God could do so much with so little.

This is not meant to diminish us in any way. It’s only to acknowledge the difference that exists between who God is and what we are. When we live our lives with a proper perspective of who God is we will not have to fight against our pride as much. We can lean into a posture of humility before God and with others. We won’t be so concerned with our failures or shortcomings. We will just try to trust God more. To get out of his way so that he could have his way.

The fact God is steadfast should be a source of comfort to us. But I think too often we find that discouraging. And I’m not sure why. It could just be we have a hard time accepting there is anything that is actually unchanging in our lives or in the world around us.

As we continue in this season of Lent I am reminded that I can find comfort in God’s steady and persistent character. May that be something we remember more intentionally in the coming days and weeks. Let us be thankful that God does not change.

Holy Week 2018 | Monday of Holy Week: Salvation

God, as a manifestation of who he is, sought a way to save that which deserved damnation.

God’s glorious grace is seen in the Cross of Calvary. On that instrument of suffering and death, the Son of God purchased the salvation of all who would believe. In a moment of pure love, the blood of Christ dripped and redeemed that which was thought lost for all time.

The remarkable mystery of salvation is that any of us is saved at all. God was not obligated to save. But he was compelled to do it. There is a difference. And obligation is imposed upon us by an outside force. But that is not what God did. God is good. He is gracious. He is loving. In all that he does, he is just. What this means is that God, as a manifestation of who he is, sought a way to save that which deserved damnation. That is a paradox. These two seemingly contradictory realities find their resolution in Jesus.

As we look forward to Resurrection Sunday, I am stunned yet again at the wonderful grace of God. God is so much better than we could ever fathom. He is more glorious than we could ever describe. He is kinder than we could ever deserve. But, I am so thankful that he is who he is in spite of who I am.

Lent 2018 | Day #7: Promise

There are many things to love and appreciate about God. Among them all, there is one attribute that rises to the top for me. It is that God does not change.

There are many things to love and appreciate about God. Among them all, there is one attribute that rises to the top for me. It is that God does not change (Malachi 3:6). Just think about that. God is able to stay true to his nature and never forgets who he is, no matter what happens in the world he created.

He is constant in his character and in the way that he treats the world and the people found in this world. He is constant in his justice and does not arbitrarily decide that some don’t have to pay for their sin. God is constant. It is both a terrifying reality and a comforting one.

It is terrifying because it means that we can never get one over on God. God cannot be fooled and he will not be fooled. God cannot be deceived and he will not be deceived. God sees all and knows all and can do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. There is no escaping his watchful eye or hiding from his penetrating gaze. This is a sobering truth.

But, God’s constant nature and character is also a comfort. It means that God will never abuse us or take advantage of us because he is good. God will never falsely accuse us or punish us for someone else’s transgression. God will be just in all of his ways toward us.

Not only can we trust God do what is right there is a second area in which God’s constant and unchanging nature brings me great joy. God will never leave a promise unfulfilled!

Every word God has ever spoken will come to pass. God will make sure that every promise he has ever made will be accomplished. This is good for those of us who have accepted the call of the Gospel. Who have acknowledged our sin and our need for the forgiveness offered through Jesus’s death on the cross? Every promise that pertains to those called a son or daughter of God I can claim, on this side of my surrender and God’s glorious salvation of my soul.

This is one of the great truths of God’s nature: He is a promise keeper, not just a promise maker. Glory be to the one and true God!

Lauren Daigle | “Trust in You”

This is an interesting song because she speaks about trust in God when God does not do what we want him to do. This is a perspective that many people have lost in our world. God is not a genie. He is the Lord of all the earth and all that is. We should not be putting expectations on God that he has never been under any obligation to satisfy anyway.

Romans Series (Pt. 6) – Romans 2:12-24

God’s Judicial Philosophy (2:12-16)

In these verses, we begin to see how God will perform his judicial responsibility to render justice to all sinners. What is interesting here is that all sinners will be judged according to the “laws” under which they lived. “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law” [v. 12]. One of the objections to God’s goodness has been this: How can God condemn to hell those who have never heard the Gospel of Jesus? I believe that Paul is speaking to this very thing when he tells the Romans that God will be just to all regardless of when they live or what they have or have not heard. He is bringing his understanding of the revelation of God’s character in Creation back to the minds of the Romans by saying that when men see the creation they would be introduced to the Glory of God and would be without excuse [Romans 1:19-20]. Paul wraps up this paragraph by saying, “God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus” [v.16]. Whatever this means, it does mean that God will be just.

The Jews Chastised (2:17-24)

Paul then switches gears and turns to his countrymen in the church and questions them regarding the example they are setting. In one sense the Jews could boast in God. They had been called out from among the nations. God had sent to them the Law and the prophets. But all of this did not appear to have the effect of changing the hearts of the people. The Jews had “in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth,” and still they failed to live according to God’s precepts. Paul understood that the image and example of the Jewish people had not served the purpose of God as it ought to have. As a result, Paul quotes Isaiah 52:5: “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” The purpose for which the children of Israel were to be set apart – to spread the truth of God – had become distorted into a conceited nationalism.

We will look at the source of the distortion next time.