The Lord is merciful, and the Lord is full of compassion. I am dwelling on these words today, musing over them, gleaning more of my Lord. So much on this subject for me to draw from, and receive of Him! It's almost more than my heart can stand as I look into it just getting a small glimpse. And what faith it brings to my heart for His answer to my need as I cry out to Him. I have no doubt about His mercy, His compassion, His love, His perfect care of my life as I do. My faith is built up on Who He is, and that will never fail. It will not fail all He has planned for those who love Him and trust in His full redemption. It will not fail those who trust in His righteousness, the blood that compassion and mercy drove Him to shed for us. It's enough to look at that cross and see such unspeakable love there, but when one looks deeper into His mercy, His compassion, and sees this is the attributes of this God Who IS love itself, and He could do nothing other than go to that cross, suffer, and shed His blood for me, a sinner, in no way deserving of that, my heart is so overwhelmed with gratefulness that I cannot even express it.
The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. (Exodus 34:5-8)
What is His glory? It is Who He is revealed. When His glory is revealed we receive it and live. We are given life from Him. The more He is glorified to us, the more we receive of that marvelous life and glory into our being and partake of His divine nature. What glory He shares with us of Himself through His Word and how sad when we neglect it and don't receive it!! What true and pure worship springs from our innermost being as we take in that glory!! How sad when it is hidden from us through men's perverted teachings and religions, drawing men to their own glory which is none at all, keeping them from receiving the mercy and compassion of the Lord and from receiving His true life in themselves and so to be saved from the selfishness and the corruption of this world and have eternal life sharing His glory. How very sad indeed!! No wonder satan seeks to pervert His glory, His love, His mercy, His grace, and His compassion and turn it into a lie. They exchange His truth for a lie, His love for lust, His grace for licentiousness. How very sad to clutch onto these things and miss His true salvation full of His very being as our portion in this life, learning of Him, growing in true knowledge of Him, being filled with Him. How sad when His own children look for sensationalism and a counterfeit experience rather than or in place of true knowledge of His compassions, His mercies, His truth, and His Word of life.
How is God's glory manifest? It is manifest through His living Word in His children through His attributes being formed in them as they are feeding on Him, and being conformed to His image. It is manifest in and through them as they are filled with His Spirit, and His fruit fills their lives overflowing to others. If it does not resemble the fruit of the Spirit, the character or attributes of God, it does not come from God. If it leads to His glory rather than the glory of man, or the selfishness and sensationalism of the flesh, only then can it be from Him. If we don't know His Word we won't know His glory or see it when it is right before us.
I came before the Lord recently crying out to Him for a need. Through my persevering in seeking His face, He is giving me so much more than I asked for! Sometimes we need to persevere because if we don't immediately receive an answer, it could just be there is more He has for us in the asking and the seeking. He has told us "ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you." (Matt. 7:7) We fear to believe it or trust it! It's too great a promise!
What if I don't receive, and what if I don't find, and what if the door is still closed after I ask, seek, and knock with all my strength? What if nothing happens? I think we hide in unbelief at times because this is what we fear. We fear that if He does not answer we'll have to somehow in our minds justify God to ourselves so we can somehow go on. He tells us to ask. We must ask.
"ye have not, because ye ask not" (James 4:2b)
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
It's much easier to hide in our unbelief and pretend it's actually faith in "whatever He wills." I do believe we must trust whatever He wills, of course, and to seek nothing but His will, but we must also seek to know His will, to ask, in faith in Who God is, and in the process, if we don't get an answer rather than overlook it and pass on, to ask ourselves and God why, and then to seek Him until we find Him, and to persevere in knocking until He opens the door of His heart to us and draws us in and teaches us of Himself. In the process our hearts are humbled and we come to examine our hearts before Him. Truth in our inner being is exposed and we are forced to let His light in to reveal our heart of hearts before Him, and to reveal His heart to us. In the process of the asking, seeking, and knocking, we are filled with an earnest desire to truly know Him, and we won't settle then for anything else. We MUST know Him. We MUST know His will, and we bow ourselves before Him. "Lord, I must know You in this thing I bring before You! Don't hide Yourself from me!"
We have a choice when God seems to not answer our prayers. Especially when it is the earnest most desperate prayer of our heart and soul. Why won't You answer Lord? We fear to ask Him why? David cried out to God many times in the Psalms and asked why. Our choice? We can fall into unbelief and bitterness, and become distant from God and others. Or we can humble ourselves under His mighty hand and wait on Him, persevering in faith in all He is. We can say, "You are God, You are righteous, You are compassion, love, mercy, and You alone are MY God and I will praise You and give You glory. You are not limited to my understanding but I am limited oh God, and I ask You now to give me understanding and faith and courage. No matter what I will praise You." When He does not immediately answer it does not mean we should quit praying, or that He is saying no. It means to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking. What wondrous things about Himself He may reveal to you along the way. Perhaps in the waiting on Him, He may also purify your heart, your motives, clarifying your path, strengthening your faith, and preparing you for the very answer you are asking for. In His time...all is in His time, which is perfect. His compassions never fail.
"God of compassion, thank You for Who You are and the more of that which You reveal to me through every trial I go through!" In each hardship, suffering, loss, or trial if we ask Him to help us to know Him more in it, and through it, and to reveal His compassions and mercies to us, He will. That is the heart of the whole matter! Don't miss that opportunity when you are going through a trial. Don't think the only purpose is to get through it and come out of it. It's to come through it and out of it different than you were when you went in...with His life more revealed to you, and in you and now living through you - to know Him (John 17:3). With God, we get way more than what we ask for. Because there is just too much of Him for us to know all at once, and too much He desires for us to have to just give us a small answer. There is not just the "thing" we requested, but He Himself He desires to give us.
Be my portion Oh Lord. Let Your compassion, Your mercy, Your truth, Your love, Your justice and righteousness be seen in Your answers to my prayers. You came to destroy the works of the enemy. Destroy them in me, and let Your glory shine. In Jesus name, amen.
If you are not sure you have eternal life, if you want to know more about salvation through Jesus Christ, and how you can be sure, you can read more about it here.
This is absolutely beautiful. I once read a book by Paul Billheimer called Don't Waste Your Sorrows which addressed this very thing. Very encouraging. Thank you for sharing.
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Thanks for the feedback and encouragement Megan! God is good! :)
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