"Meditate on This!"

"The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy." (Psalms 145:8)

  Just so you know, this verse is circled in my Bible, and the title above is written below it. There is more to this than just knowing how compassionate God is towards us; His love for us proves that, so it is not even a question that we need to consider. If anything, this needs to show us that He is deeply concerned about us, individually and personally; something that most people that do not know Him don't even think about when they consider who God is and what His love actual means. Yes, we might be able to say this represents the world in general, but if you left it at that, you would be missing a very special point that David is trying to make. Besides, he continues this thought in the next verse by including all; this one here is more about something you need to think as personal and specific to you! How can we be assured of this? and why is this so important? Matthew Henry has a little thing that he mentions, summing this up, as he says, "He is ready to give, and ready to forgive, more ready than we are to ask, than we are to repent." We should never ever think that God is not willing to forgive us, because He is all about forgiveness and showing mercy towards us. If you are looking for a reason to celebrate, then having received a personal pardon from the One that matters most of all, is the thing that should be something to get excited about. As a matter of fact, this is the reason that we can rejoice during any trial or persecution, because we know the reason is not punishment from God, not if we know that we are forgiven! 1 John 1:9 tells us this, as John says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." It really does not get more personal than that! I cannot ask God to forgive your sins, and we cannot ask God to forgive the sins of a nation, a community, or even of a church. This is something that takes each and every individual to do on their own, between them and the One that is the Judge of their soul. Besides, if He knows the very number of the hairs on your head, He also knows the complete list of all your sins, every single one of them! That makes this that much more inviting, just knowing how much He is willing and ready to forgive, personally and individually...

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:4-9)