Wednesday, December 20, 2017

A Stay of Divine Execution- PT4

“The LORD will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the LORD to make you his very own people.”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭12:22‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This verse gives us some great insight into the heart of God and His incredible grace for us. If you haven’t read, Part 1 of this series, don’t skip ahead, go back and read it now. 

The irony of God not abandoning us for the glory of His name is that we often fail at bringing glory to God. 

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

A Stay of Divine Execution - PT3

“The LORD will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the LORD to make you his very own people.”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭12:22‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This verse gives us some great insight into the heart of God and His incredible grace for us. If you haven’t read, Part 1 of this series, don’t skip ahead, go back and read it now. 

Did you notice the word “pleased” in this verse?

God finds pleasure in making us His. Let that sink in. Most of my thoughts on God adopting me into His family was centered around the feelings of humility. Evangelicals love humility. I would often think how generous God was to take a rough, disobedient scoundrel like me into His family. I would picture how kind and patient He was to take this sin stained orphan into His house.  While those things are true, it ignores that God loves adopting children! He loves bringing in the rough, the arrogant, the overly humble, the sin soaked disobedient. There is joy in the process for Him. Ignoring His joy robs us from the experience of adoption. Enjoy the enjoyment of our adopting Father!

Sunday, December 3, 2017

A Stay Of Divine Execution - PT1

“The LORD will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the LORD to make you his very own people.”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭12:22‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Why hasn’t God zapped me off the planet yet? 

If we are being honest, I think we all have times in our lives where we fear or wonder if God will suddenly turn his back on us for all of our sins.  We wonder what keeps God from smiting all of us at anytime; why is He so faithful to a people that have proven over and over again for thousands of years that we are evil, selfish, lazy, gluttons, quick to anger, slow to listen, and every other sin you can find?