God is Compassionate

Meditations on the attributes of God.

Psalm 103:13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

Compassion is a deep awareness of and sympathy for another’s suffering. It is understanding the suffering and wanting to do something about it.

God is fully aware of our suffering and even that our own doing causes a lot of it. In spite of this, He still feels for us and sent Jesus to die for our sins so that our lives could be changed.

Philip

Sin Makes You Stupid

We have all been there. We’ve done something stupid because of sin. Totally irrational things. Things guaranteed to get us caught and found out.

There used to be a show on TV called America’s Dumbest Criminals. It was all about the stupefying effect of sin. We sit back and wonder what is wrong with these people; what could have been going through their mind. The answer is that sin makes you stupid.

We saw it with Ted Haggard. How could he do something so dumb? How could he have thought his sin was secret? How could he have done this to his family?

What made me think of this is the recent story of the female astronaut, Lisa Nowak. Married, 3 children, apparently very smart but made stupid by sin. According to the stories, it was a “love triangle” and she wanted to eliminate the competition.

People wonder how this could happen. She had to go through all the psychological and other tests to be an astronaut. They should have caught it. Or, maybe it wasn’t there then.

From what we have been told she was either involved physically or emotionally with a man other than her husband. Sin made her stupid.

I have posted the following lines before but I will do it again because it is such a good warning. As we take these words to heart, they will keep us from being stupid.

Sin will take you places where you don't want to go.

Sin will cost you more than you want to pay.

Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay.

Stay off the slippery slope.

Philip

God Reigns

Meditations on the attributes of God.

Psalm 97:1, 2 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

God is the king over all the earth.

Psalm 146:10 The Lord will reign forever, Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 93:5 Your decrees are very trustworthy. The rules God makes are good.

Psalm 99:1 The LORD reigns, let the peoples tremble; He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!
Psalm 98:9 He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity. God will judge those who refuse to bow before Him.

Psalm 97:7 Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images, who boast themselves of idols; worship Him, all you gods. What a waste to make anything an idol. God alone should be worshipped.

Philip

God is My Insurance Policy

Meditations on the attributes of God.

Psalm 91

The cost of the policy:
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!"

3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence.
We are delivered from traps and deadly disease.

4 He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
General protection.

5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day;
Restful sleep and cover by day.

6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
Day and night protection from disease and destruction.

7 A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
Enemies are destroyed before they reach us. We get to see the Lord take care of them by Himself.

9 For you have made the Lord, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place.
A reminder that the condition is complete trust in God as our protection.

10 No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent.
Evil and disease kept away from our home.

11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone.
Angels watch over us. Hebrews 1:14 says: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
Protection from wild animals.

14 "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
The condition is to know God and to love Him.

15 "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
The condition: we have to call on Him. He has to be the one we completely trust.

16 "With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation."
Long life and salvation.

I am completely satisfied with God’s care for me. There is nothing that can come into my life or home unless He allows it. I am well protected.

Philip