God Is Rich In Mercy

EPHESIANS 2:4 NKJ
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

The devil promotes the lie that God is mad at people and anxious to condemn them, but the Bible says that God is rich in mercy.

Mercy means not getting what we deserve.
Rich means an abundant supply -- more than enough.

The Bible says 41 times of the Lord that "his mercy endures forever." Psalm 136 makes this statement in every verse.

PSALM 136:1 NKJ
1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

We may look at people and think they don't deserve another chance. They may have blown it again and again and they may seem hopeless to us. But God looks at people differently. He looks at them through eyes of Love and sees their potential and so shows mercy.

Yes, God is against sin. But it's because He loves us, and knows how harmful sin is.

Destroyed For Lack Of Knowledge

Hosea 4:6 KJV 

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge . . . .
Are people's lives destroyed because God does not love them? Do people come to ruin and live in misery because God is callous and uncaring?

NO!

People are destroyed for lack of knowledge -- even God's people. What kind of knowledge? Knowledge that is available in the Bible: how to walk in faith, how to overcome, how to get prayers answered, how to resist the devil, etc.

God is not to blame for our troubles. God has already made provision for us. But we must avail ourselves of what God has provided.

How can we benefit from God's great provision if we don't even know about it? So, we should seek the knowledge of God on our own, and receive teaching from others, also.
There is not one among us who does not have much to learn. No one yet is walking in the absolute fullness of what God has provided.

This must be one of the saddest verses in the Bible. To think that God's people are destroyed simply because of a lack of knowledge. As God's children, they are our brothers and sisters. It is our relatives being destroyed, and we should do what we can to stop it.

Let's quit giving place to the devil by our lack of knowledge of God's Word. And, as we learn from God's Word we should share our knowledge with others, so they can walk in freedom and victory, too.

God's Way Is Perfect

PSALM 18:30 NIV
30 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

People blame God for many things. But they are wrong. God is perfect in all He does. When we have full information and see the complete picture, we will not be able to find any fault in God.

1 CORINTHIANS 13:12 NLT
12 Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.

All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Yes, there may be things that now seem as if God is at fault. But, in time, we will know the full truth. Then we will realize that God has done everything in the best way. Do children comprehend everything?

Neither do we. No matter how smart we think we are, compared to God, we still have much to learn.
At this time, we are like children who may think they know better than their parents, but who will, later on, realize their parents were right.

When you are tempted to think God is not doing what He should be doing, look around you at what God has created. (Although we live in a fallen world where the devil's forces are intent on stealing, killing, and destroying, the genius of God still shines brightly in all He created.

Remember that death is an enemy, and storms are something that Jesus rebuked.) Look at the precision and beauty in all God created. Then realize that God never changes, and the precise way He perfectly created things is the same way He is working now to create your future.

God loves you. God knows more than you do. God is perfect. So trust Him!

Believe!

JOHN 20:31 NKJ
31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

"But how can I believe in an invisible God?"
The same way you believe in the wind. No one has ever seen the wind. But we all see the effects of the wind.

You may not see God, but open your eyes and look around and you will see God in action. In His marvelous creation, in people's testimonies of God's provision and deliverance, in miracles happening all over the earth, in answered prayer.

It is not necessary to see God, or feel God, to believe in Him!

JOHN 20:29 NKJ
29 Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

If it was always easy to believe, there would be no reward offered for believing. No one offers a reward or bonus for doing something easy.

HEBREWS 11:6 NKJ
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

The Bible speaks of the fight of faith. That means you will have a struggle with believing. Don't be surprised. Expect it.

1 TIMOTHY 6:12 NKJ
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
JOHN 6:28-29 NKJ

28 Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"
29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."

Selfishness

The only thing necessary to change heaven into hell -- if God were to allow it -- is selfishness.

Selfishness is mankind's fundamental defect. Selfish means: self-centered, self-serving, self-important.

At the root of every problem is selfishness.

JAMES 3:16 TEV
16 Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is also disorder and every kind of evil.

Every selfish person is potentially your enemy.

All sin is selfish. No one ever sins for someone else -- we do it for selfish reasons.

Divine love is the opposite of selfishness. Giving is the opposite of acting selfishly.

We are products of a corrupt culture that teaches selfishness, so it's not unusual for us to think it's not so bad.

But you must die to selfishness -- or self-destruct. However, you're unable to change by yourself. You can't change the fruit without changing the root. That's why you must be born again! Only by receiving Jesus Christ and letting Him change you inwardly can you become a truly unselfish person.

No other "religion" teaches putting others first even to the point of loving your enemies. Only Christianity teaches you can be totally changed and become a person with a new nature. There is no cure apart from Jesus!

Faith Pleases God

HEBREWS 11:6 NKJ 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Our experience does not always agree with what the Bible says.

For example, the Bible says that God will supply all your needs in Phillipians 4:19, but it may seem like your needs are not being met.

The Bible says that God always leads us in triumph, but it may seem like you are losing.

When our experience does not agree with the Bible, it is an opportunity to keep our faith in what God said, or to give up on that faith.

Circumstances are subject to change. But God will never change what He has said. When we hold on to our faith in God's Word, circumstances will change.

Believing what the Bible says when the circumstances disagree can be very difficult. It's a great temptation to give in and forget what God said.

But what greater purpose could your life have than to please God?

Many people strain and sacrifice to please other humans. How much greater of a goal it is to please God!

Resist unbelief! Keep your faith in God! You will be rewarded!

Rejoice In Trouble

Whatever your struggle is, look to God. Rejoice in Him

Life can be hard.

Maybe you have been forsaken by your spouse. Or are struggling with the death of a loved one. Or facing the constant pain of disease. Or the loss of a job or business. Or, maybe just the daily grind of life.

What can you do? You always have choices. You choose how you respond. With God's help, you don't have to let the problems of life defeat you.

A prophet named Habakkuk had the attitude we all need:

HABAKKUK 3:17-18 NIV
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Even if everything seems to go wrong, you can rejoice in the Lord, for He is good and His mercy endures forever!

There is no darkness so dark that Jesus cannot overcome. There is no situation that is hopeless. There is no problem too big for God to fix.

When you face trouble in life, will you whine and complain, or will you rejoice in God?

Maybe I should ask, "Would you prefer to get better or to get worse?"

As you rejoice in the Lord, you will find strength to go on and face life. God will give you strength to overcome.

We all face struggles in life. Focusing on God -- who has the solution to every problem -- is a way out of the jaws of defeat into glorious victory.

Whatever your struggle is, look to God. Rejoice in Him!
Don't let the devil steal your joy. Rejoice in the Lord!
PHILIPPIANS 4:4 NIV
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Healing Is A Process

MARK 16:17-18 NKJ
17 "And these signs will follow those who believe . . .
18 . . . they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

A major problem has been thinking that all healing must be instantaneous.

The truth is that healing is a process involving time. Sometimes it is speeded up, but not usually.

If you have ever cut your finger or skinned your knee, then you know how healing normally works.

God made the human body to always heal itself. Unless there is some lack of nutrition or some hindering force, the human body will always heal. And God's power can always bring healing, regardless of any lack or hindrance.

JAMES 5:15 NKJ
15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

James does not say the sick will always be raised up instantly. Just that they will be raised. "They will recover."

All healing is a process that happens through time as you continually improve in health. With God, healing can sometimes be so speeded up that to us it seems almost instant, but this is not the normal way God’s healing works.

Jesus taught us that God’s kingdom works like a seed planted in the ground which grows and produces over time (Matthew 13:31).

The important thing, and what God’s Word promises, is the end result, not how long it takes.

Many people who have not understood that healing from God is a process involving time, have given up their faith when they did not have an instant miracle recovery.

Don’t let the devil steal from you, through this wrong thinking, what Jesus paid for you to have!

The Bible tells us that healing is ours, because Jesus paid for it (1 Peter 2:24). But the Bible never says we will all receive healing instantly. Sometimes it can be very quick — and we know it is a miracle. Other times it can take awhile, but no matter how long it takes, we have the promise of God that healing is ours, giving us divine assurance that we will be healthy and whole!

All the healings of Jesus during His ministry on earth were not instantaneous, either. Mark 8:22-25 is an account of Jesus ministering to a blind man. After Jesus laid hands on the blind man he could "see men like trees, walking." In other words, he could see, but not very well. Only when Jesus laid hands on him again did his sight become clear. Although a long period of time was not involved, it does show a healing that was a process — not instantaneous.

MARK 8:25 NKJ
25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.

Luke 17:12-19 tells of ten lepers who were healed "as they went." Healing was not manifest while they were in Jesus’ presence, but only after they left Him.

LUKE 17:14 NKJ
14 So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

John 9:6-7 tells of another healing involving some time. And John 4:52 mentions a time "when he began to get better" indicating a process of recovery.

JOHN 4:52 ESV
52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."

So never accept that healing is not God's will just because it does not happen instantaneously.

Who Can Be Against Us?

ROMANS 8:31 NKJ 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

We all face opposition. No one likes it. But opposition is a fact of life on earth.

But here's a more important fact: with God for us, opposition doesn't really matter.

With God on our side, what does it matter who opposes us? The worst anyone can do is kill us -- which would be doing us a favor. (Being a martyr for Christ and going to be with Him in Heaven is not bad!)

And never forget: God IS for you!

PSALM 56:9 KJV 9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.

PSALM 118:6-7 LB 6 He is for me! How can I be afraid? What can mere man do to me? 7 The Lord is on my side; he will help me. Let those who hate me beware.

Faith Is The Victory

1 JOHN 5:4 NKJ
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our faith.

We all love to win.

Victory is sweet. One reason it's so sweet is that it's usually not easy. Victory takes effort -- often great effort.

Effort is also required in the spiritual battle of good against evil we are all engaged in. But the effort required of us is to maintain our attitude of faith in God and His Word.

We cannot overcome the strategies of the devil by our willpower, or by our own strength. We must use the spiritual weapons God has provided for us.

As a child of God -- you are a winner! The victory is already yours through what Jesus Christ did on your behalf. Don't let the enemy steal the victory away from you.

Your enemy comes to steal your faith. Don't let it happen.

SAY THIS: I overcome and walk in victory by my faith in God.