God of Comfort

God is our comfort no matter what we are experiencing in life. When we persevere through a trial, we conquer the test and receive the crown of life promised by God to those who love Him (James 1:12).

I am not really motivated by rewards, but I am motivated by the thought of casting our crowns, which God gives us, at the feet of Jesus, our King and Lord (Revelation 4:10-11). After all, He deserves them.

When we lay our life down for the cause of Christ, working tirelessly in the service which He calls us to do, we receive His eternal crown of life - the carnal traded for the eternal (Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 9:25).

When we go through trials, we change our focus from the suffering in this present world, knowing that our tested faith provides us with patience; and patience makes us perfect and complete, lacking in no good thing (James 1:2-4).

Through each test, God comforts us. We are faint, our bones are in agony, our soul is in anguish, we are worn out from groaning, we toss and turn and cry into our pillow all night long, our eyes grow weak with sorrow.

Yet, God hears our cries and accepts our prayers. He gives us mercy, delivers us and showers us with His unfailing love (Psalms 6:2-10). He keeps all of our tears in His bottle and will avenge every one of them (Psalm 56:8).

We simply admit our helplessness to our Helper (Psalm 10:12, 40:17). He guards our life, as we devote it to Him, call on Him and trust Him all day long (Psalm 86:1-4). We lift up our soul to Him and He comforts us.

Prayer:

Father God, You are our refuge and strength. You provide us with an ever-present help in times in life when trials seem to pursue us. They come in waves, one right after the other (Psalm 46:1). We take refuge in the shadow of Your wings and You save us and deliver us (Psalm 7:1, 57:1-3).

You are gracious to us in our loneliness and affliction, even when our troubles, infirmities and distress multiply one upon the other (Psalm 25:16-18). As our soul grows faint, we call on You and You lead us to the Rock of Christ, our firm foundation on which we can stand; our strong tower against any enemy (Psalm 61:1-4; Matthew 7:24-27).

Thought for the Day:

God gives us relief from our misery and shows us mercy as He listens to our prayers. - Psalm 4:1

Heavenly Compassion

Read: Psalm 103: 9-13

God is collecting His anger over the sin of mankind in a cup of wrath (Jeremiah 25:15). He does declare, however, that He will not always strive with mankind or harbor His anger forever (Genesis 6:3). There will come a day, when He will unleash the furry of His wrath over the ravages of sin and He will take vengeance against all of those who caused innocent people to suffer and grieve. God collects all of our tears in His bottle (Psalm 56:8) and He will avenge every one of them (Romans 12:19).

In spite of His justice and holiness, however, once we repent, God does not ever make us pay the consequences we deserve for our sins. He covers us with the blood of Jesus and He casts our sins as far as the east is from the west. How far is the east from the west?

Imagine a plane flying north. Once it reaches the North Pole, and follows the curve of the earth, it will begin to head south. So, if God removed our transgressions from us as far as the north is from the south, there would be a definite limit to His forgiveness.

Now, imagine a plane flying east. When does it start to fly west? At what point does the east meet the west? It never does. There is no pole going east and west as there is going north and south. The plane continues flying east until it lands or runs out of fuel. It never, ever meets the west. That is exactly how far from us God removes our sins. They will never catch up with us. They will never be returned to us or be thrown back up into our face. They are gone forever.

Our Heavenly Father has compassion on those who fear Him. Once we recognize the omniscience, the omnipresence, the omnipotence of God, we realize how truly great He is. Our sin caused Him to pay a debt, which He did not owe. He suffered persecution and crucifixion for sin, which He did not commit.

The benevolence of the perfect Lamb without spot or blemish paid our sin debt for us. Once the enormity of His sacrifice pierces our heart, we fall on our face and repent of our sins. This is when we are humbled by His love, grace and mercy, which we do not deserve. We revere Him as He deserves to be worshipped. At this point, with tears of awe and gratitude spilling down our cheeks, we make up our mind to serve Him with every cell in our body for the remainder of our life.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, you do not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. You do not punish converted Believers for our sins. You do not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. Thank you for Your unfailing love toward those who fear You, it is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. Thank you for removing our sins as far from us as the east is from the west (Psalm 103: 9-13).

Thought for the Day:
The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. – Psalm 103:13