Read:
Isaiah 55:5-9
“May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in your
faith, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, your whole life and outlook may be
radiant with hope.” -Romans 15:13
Some of my
friends and family are afraid to rely on God for their needs, because they see
Him as an angry Being ready to pounce on our smallest mistake. I understand how
they feel, because I used to view God as a wrathful ruler, extracting a great
price from His followers. I imagined him like the perceived Wizard of Oz…with smoke and
fire and angry words and faces. What I did not understand at that time is that
God’s people fear Him, not because of His fury, but because of His love.
During my first year of college, God revealed to me that He is not a punisher, but a provider for those who trust in Him. He is not wrathful, but graceful. He is not hateful, but loving. He does not extort, but gives liberally to all who will ask of Him. God constantly reaches out to those who do not know Him. And when we take the chance and trust Him with our life, we feel His divine forgiveness pouring over our soul like a waterfall (Psalm 130:4). We can readily forgive the harm others inflict upon us, because we have been forgiven much as well (Luke 12:48).
Another
reason people do not trust in God as their Savior is because of Satanic lies
that they believe. They worship the creature rather than the creator (Romans
1:25). They follow humanistic reasoning and worldly perceptions rather than asking
God for true wisdom from above (James 3:17). They allow science and history
revisionists to overrule the principles they learned at their mother’s knee.
They reject the Gospel and cling to fables instead of to the Truth (2 Timothy 4:4; John 14:6).
Unbelievers
say that we are misinformed, brainwashed, deceived, unenlightened, narrow
minded, misled and bigoted. They cling to the flotsam and jetsam of their shipwrecked lives, not realizing that they are inches away from sinking
into eternal damnation. All it takes for them to be saved is for them to
surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to allow Him to lead them by His
Spirit into all truth (John 16:13).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus,
shower those who do not know You with Your loving kindness. Cause them to desire
the fullness of a life found in You. Give them a vision of Your mercy and
grace. Open the eyes of their understanding and trouble their dreams until they
reach out and allow You to enfold them in Your sacred heart.
Thought for
the Day:
God
is not constantly watching out for you to sin, but He is always watching out for you.
