Category Archives: God’s character

To, but not past!

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July 31: Isaiah 63-64; John 2

Scripture: Isaiah 64: 9 Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us we pray, for we are all your people.

Observation: The prophet is not saying that God should not be angry. In previous verses he clearly states that God has a reason to be angry with them. They have sinned! They have turned away!

The prophet is asking God to put limits on his anger. He requests that God not be angry “beyond measure.” And he is asking God to put limits on His memory, not to remember their sins forever.

Application: I have come to understand that God’s wrath on my sin is abandoned when I come to the cross and accept the death of Jesus as the payment for my sins. And when my sins are forgiven, there is no need to remember them! God remembers them to the cross but not past the cross!

Prayer: Lord, Praise you, O Lord, for your great mercy in not holding against me what you have forgiven! Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

Promise Keepers

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July 24: Isaiah 40-42; 1Peter 3

Scripture: Isaiah 40:27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Observation: For those whose hope is in the Lord, there is a wonderful promise in verse 31. But what makes it such a wonderful promise is the revelation of the character of God found in the previous verses! A promise (from God, from a spouse, a parent, a boss, a politician) is no better than the character of the one who made it.

Application: The better I know God, the better I can trust His promises.

Prayer: Lord, may others be able to rely on my promises as I rely on Yours! Amen.

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!

The kind of God I need!

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Scripture: Micah 7: 18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

Hebrews 7: 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

Observation: Micah says that God does not stay angry forever, but even DELIGHTS to show mercy! That is the kind of God I need! Years later the writer to the Hebrews speaks of Jesus as a high priest who “truly meets our needs.”

Application: If I am going to have any meaningful relationship with God, He will have to meet my need for mercy. I need Him to be forgiving. I then need His strength to provide for my weakness. I need His standard of holiness and the strength of His presence to protect me from my bent to sin.

Prayer: Lord, you are the kind of God I need. I need your provision for my past, your presence for my now, and your promise for my future. Amen.

Leon Hiebert
Making friends for time and eternity!

He has already been there!

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Scripture: Hebrews 6:19 (NIV) We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Observation: The King James Version of the Bible uses the word “forerunner” to describe Jesus in verse 20. Here it is used in reference to Jesus priestly entrance into heaven with the blood of His sacrifice on the cross. But there are many times in the scripture we see Jesus being a “forerunner.”

Application: Jesus has taken the part of a “forerunner” for me on many occasions. I cannot remember Him ever sending me to a place where when I arrived I did not find that He was already there. He sends me. He accompanies me as I go. And He is waiting there when I arrive.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for going before me. You know what is ahead for me because you have already been where I am going! Amen.