Our Merciful God Loves His Children

When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more they were called,
the more they went away;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals
and burning offerings to idols.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up by their arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of kindness,
with the bands of love,
and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,

and I bent down to them and fed them.

-Hosea 11:1-4 (ESV)  

God speaks of Israel as a loving parent speaks of his beloved child.  He speaks of a time when Israel was a child and the love that He had for His chosen people.  God speaks from the perspective of a loving and caring father.  In fact, God points out that He loved Israel so much that He truly went out of His way to extend His love to the nation of people.

Isn't Hosea the perfect book of Bible for such love to be stated and shown? I asked it in another blog: Who is your Gomer? Could you love like Hosea loved Gomer? Could you love like God loved Israel? Could you love like the Lord loved the world and gave His only begotten Son for all who would believe on Him to have everlasting life? The Lord is trying to teach us to be more like the Father, to be merciful, forgiving and loving.

Take a clue from the Father.  Love despite the response.  Love in spite of the lack of gratitude or praise.  Love without any conditions or hang-ups.  Love.  Love like Jesus.  Love like the Father.  In a word, love.  Just love and just keep on loving.

The Price of Salvation

"I remember two things: that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior."
-John Newton (1725–1807)

Salvation is free.

You don't buy it.  You cannot earn it.

Salvation is free, but it comes at a cost.

Truthfully, salvation comes at a steep cost.  While salvation is a free offer from God to those who will believe, it cost God the Father His only begotten Son- Jesus Christ.

For you were bought at a price... - 1 Corinthians 6:20 (NKJV)

The Lord offers us salvation as the "gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).  He showed us mercy, not giving us what we deserved for our sins, and showed us grace by offering what we did not deserve.  Salvation is the ultimate gift of God to the world through His Son's atoning sacrifice as the Lamb of God.

Let us truly believe and accept God's gift with all thankfulness.  Open your eyes to the riches and treasures of everlasting life offered through the sacrifice of the Savior.  Let us who believe open mouths to speak freely about the freedom that we have gained through Christ just as we have opened our hearts to gain such freedom to live in Christ.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,


-Psalm 107:2-3 (NKJV)

From Eden to Egypt- Day 54

 ¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ¹⁷ ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. 18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
- Genesis 50:15-21 (NIV)

Joseph's brothers feared him.  In fact, they believed that Joseph would take revenge on them and seek payback for all that they had done to him.  They even discussed it and sent word to Joseph via messenger.

When their message came to him, Joseph wept. (v. 17, NIV).

Joseph wept based upon their message.  He reassured them and spoke kindly to them, according to verse 21.  Joseph had said to them that he was in the place of God.  He stated that he did not seek to harm them, even though they had harmed him.  He shared that God used their evil intentions to accomplish His perfect will.

Joseph showed mercy.  In fact, Joseph showed his brothers mercy on more than one occasion.  He said that he was in the place of God, in a position to either harm them or help them.  He chose to help them instead of seeking revenge upon them and exercising his authority as an Egyptian governmental official.

Take a moment today and see about ways to show mercy towards others.  Do you have an opportunity to show mercy at work or home? Pray to the Lord for discernment in dealing with those who wrong you.  Do all that you can to do like the Lord.

From Eden to Egypt Day 45

But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.- Genesis 39:21 (KJV)

Down times can the very times where we need to know that the Lord is a "very present help."  Illness, unemployment, family strife, divorce and a slew of other issues can plague us day by day.  At times, we can feel abandoned. 

That's not what God wants us to feel.  He does not desire for us to be His forsaken children.  He redeemed us for the price of His only begotten Son.  Let us not live like those who are without hope as Paul shared with fellow believers through his epistles.  We are children of God as promised through His Son.

Joseph was in the pit, then in Potiphar's house, and then in prison.  God never left him alone and forsaken.  He showed him mercy.  He even gave him favor in the sight of others.  God could have left it at mercy and that would have been a big deal, but He even gave the young man favor.

The next time that you feel down.  Look around and see what God has provided for you.  Think clearly about what God has taken you through, ups and downs, valleys and mountains.  Let your heart be content with all that God has already done for you.