Slow to Anger and Abounding in Love!
"Even now, declares the LORD, return to me with all your heart with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. .... "Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations...." - Joel 2:12-17
I read this tonight and was completely overwhelmed by the fact that God knows exactly where I am... He knows exactly what I am... and He knows exactly who He wants me to be. I've been so ... I don't know the word... confounded... of who I am in Christ. I KNOW that I am a child of the King. I do know that - but I forget so often who I am in Him. I forget my position in the Kingdom and instead tend to focus on - and live in - my condition. My God has staked a claim on me - one that can never be "undone" and I am His daughter. No power can overthrow that! Why is it that so often I approach the throne room of Christ as Esther did her king - with fear and trembling?! As though my Heavenly Daddy will say, "Away from me you moron! You've dropped the ball one too many times and I'm sick of it. I'm done with you!" It's because my view of Him is so completely warped. We think we have to accomplish good works - do good things (Granted, we know that good works does not equal salvation, but we do feel a need please God by doing good things..."If I just do this, God will be happy with me. If I just get this right, He will forgive me") and when we mess up, we think God's mad at us and is going to scorn us. So therefore we become so scared to approach the throne room - that we don't even go in anymore. We're so scared of God not extending to us the royal scepter - that we don't even go in. We sit and let our people perish. We live life in fear - or worse - without care. God simply says... COME TO ME!! RENDER YOUR HEARTS! God doesn't want our actions or our words. He just wants our hearts. My God is gracious and compassionate, abounding in love and slow to anger! Even as I type these words I cannot wrap my brain around the previous sentence. My God is so patient with me and I PRAISE HIM for that!
I am His and He is mine. He persists even when I'm tired and even when I fall. He's always there to pick me up! When life is hard and when I want to give up - God is there! I just have to let go of myself to see that! One day at a time I have to decide to let myself go... and cling to my Savior, my God! My God is gracious and compassionate and abounding in love...
I read this tonight and was completely overwhelmed by the fact that God knows exactly where I am... He knows exactly what I am... and He knows exactly who He wants me to be. I've been so ... I don't know the word... confounded... of who I am in Christ. I KNOW that I am a child of the King. I do know that - but I forget so often who I am in Him. I forget my position in the Kingdom and instead tend to focus on - and live in - my condition. My God has staked a claim on me - one that can never be "undone" and I am His daughter. No power can overthrow that! Why is it that so often I approach the throne room of Christ as Esther did her king - with fear and trembling?! As though my Heavenly Daddy will say, "Away from me you moron! You've dropped the ball one too many times and I'm sick of it. I'm done with you!" It's because my view of Him is so completely warped. We think we have to accomplish good works - do good things (Granted, we know that good works does not equal salvation, but we do feel a need please God by doing good things..."If I just do this, God will be happy with me. If I just get this right, He will forgive me") and when we mess up, we think God's mad at us and is going to scorn us. So therefore we become so scared to approach the throne room - that we don't even go in anymore. We're so scared of God not extending to us the royal scepter - that we don't even go in. We sit and let our people perish. We live life in fear - or worse - without care. God simply says... COME TO ME!! RENDER YOUR HEARTS! God doesn't want our actions or our words. He just wants our hearts. My God is gracious and compassionate, abounding in love and slow to anger! Even as I type these words I cannot wrap my brain around the previous sentence. My God is so patient with me and I PRAISE HIM for that!
I am His and He is mine. He persists even when I'm tired and even when I fall. He's always there to pick me up! When life is hard and when I want to give up - God is there! I just have to let go of myself to see that! One day at a time I have to decide to let myself go... and cling to my Savior, my God! My God is gracious and compassionate and abounding in love...
Comments
Post a Comment