Teaching (no posting) Reflections of Love, Mercy, and Grace

[SpiritPsalmist]

Reflections of God
and His Love, Mercy, and Grace,
as recorded in His Word

The purpose of this thread is to reflect on God's nature. It is not intended to be just one reflection but many reflections of the One God who loves and adores us and sent His son to die for our sins so that we may live eternally with Him. He gives many names to Himself and each reflect a different aspect of who He is. This is kinda like a daily reflection maybe, although one is free to read them all at once. ​

Peanut Gallery

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

27 People of Jacob, why do you complain? People of Israel, why do you say, “The Lord does not see what happens to me. He does not care if I am treated fairly”? 28 Surely you know. Surely you have heard. The Lord is the God who lives forever. He created all the world. He does not become tired or need to rest. No one can understand how great his wisdom is. 29 The Lord gives strength to those who are tired. He gives more power to those who are weak. 30 Even boys become tired and need to rest. Even young men trip and fall. 31 But the people who trust the Lord will become strong again. They will be able to rise up as an eagle in the sky. They will run without needing rest. They will walk without becoming tired.

THE ONE WHO RAISES ME UP LIKE AN EAGLE

Why do we complain? Why do we say "the Lord does not care what happens to me"?

The Lord is the God who lives forever. He created the world. He does not become tired or need rest. He gives strength to those who are tired. He gives power to those who are weak.

The verse I want to focus on is verse 31. The New King James puts it this way: "But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

I love this verse.

First let's consider what it means to wait.

1. 1. One definition is: to continue as one is in expectation of.
   2. an act or instance of waiting or awaiting; delay; halt

Right after the statements of

• The Lord is the God who lives forever,
• He created all the world,
• He does not become tired or need rest,
• No one can understand how great His wisdom is,
• The Lord gives strength to those who are tired,
• He gives more power to those who are weak,

He says "those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength". Waiting...trusting the Lord to act on our behalf. Why? Because He's told us He will. When? When we wait. What do we do during this waiting time? We reflect on Him. If you can think of nothing else to say say, "The Lord is the God who lives forever, He created all the world, He does not become tired or need rest, no one can understand how great His wisdom is, the Lord gives strength to whose who are tired, and boy am I tired, and I'm weak but as I wait on the Lord for His power and His strength I will mount up with wings like eagles".

Bald eagles fly like other birds by gaining lift from their wing surface. The wing has a concave underside and convex outerside such that wind passing over it creates upward lift. If the lift is greater than the mass they will rise. ~The Center for Conservation Biology~​

So what is it that God is telling us?

As we wait, and praise, and worship Him, and spend time with Him, the wind of the Holy Spirit will lift us up above those things that weigh us down. We will have the strength to continue our walk with Him, we will run and not be weary and we will walk and not faint.

​

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Joy in God's Faithfulness

14 Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart (Phil 4:4), O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The Lord has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You shall see disaster no more.


16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak. 17 The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

THE ONE WHO SINGS OVER ME WITH LOVE AND JOY

Sing, Shout, Be glad with all your heart. If you are trusting in Jesus for your salvation The Lord has taken away your judgments. Do not fear, don't let your hands be weak. The Lord is there with you. The Mighty One who saves. He will rejoice enthusiastically over you with Joy! He will rest in His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

Can you see it? The King of the universe delivering you from the things that so easily draw you away then He's enthusiastically dancing with joy over YOU! He loves YOU! His love is there to quiet you from your fears and frustrations. He's gazing into your eyes with intense love and He's singing over you.

Such a merciful God He is.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Satan Accuses Joshua

1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. 4 He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and clothe you with festal robes.” 5 Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by.

THE ONE WHO DELIVERS ME FROM THE ENEMY

This is another one of my favorites. The nature of the God we serve, full of love, mercy, and grace is seen first hand, not only here but in all of the Old Testament. I know these references given are not talking specifically to us as the body of Christ but yet true to HIS nature the lessons shown reach out to us as well. He is God and He loves us with an everlasting love.

Here we see Zechariah, a prophet, being shown a vision of Joshua the High Priest and he's standing before the angel of the LORD. Satan is also there so that he can accuse him. The Lord rebukes satan, identifying Joshua (who represented Israel) as a brand plucked from the fire. The fire was God's judgment and the brand was a wooden poker that was used to stir the fire. Joshua's garments were filthy. The angel of the Lord commands that the filthy garments be removed from Joshua then HE says "look, I have taken your iniquity away from you and I have put party clothes on you". Then it is said, "Let them put a clean hat on his head."

In the reaping of any bad we've sown (Galations 6:7-9) we find ourselves very much like the brand that was used to stir the fire. When we came to God though, He removed us from the fire that was waiting for us. He raises His hand against our accuser who wants to rip us apart. Our accuser stands before God telling Him all the wrong things we have done and how it's our own fault and we have no right to be pulled out of the fire. But God rebukes Him. Why? Because at HIS right hand, stands Jesus, our High Priest showing the place where the nails went into His hands and His feet and declaring how His blood was shed for us and is covering our sins. We are no longer wearing filthy garments, our sins have been washed away and Jesus is planning a big celebration for us.

Here we see a God full of love, mercy, and grace who, like in the vision of Joshua did not leave us to die but came to our rescue. His promise is "I will never, not ever, no never, leave you or forsake you." Thank you God.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

God is infinite. God is knowable. He reveals Himself to us by the things He does and by His names.

After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

SHIELD AND EXCEEDING GREAT REWARD

What are we to understand about God from this description?

First off, He's our shield. When we put our faith in Him, He is standing in front of us, behind us, He's surrounding us, in order to ward off any evil that is attacking us. Nothing can get by Him on accident.

Second, He's our exceeding great reward.

• Nothing besides God can be a great reward. The world has nothing to offer us. The world busies us but it does not fill us. Heaven itself is not a saint's reward. Psalm 73:25, "Whom have I in heaven but You?"
• How is God His peoples reward? He bestows Himself upon us. The great blessing of the covenant is, "I am your God." The Lord told Abraham that kings should come out of his loins, and He would give the land of Canaan to him and his seed, Genesis 17:6. But all this did not amount to blessedness. That which made up the portion was, "I will be their God," verse 8. God will not only see that the saints shall be rewarded—but He Himself will be their reward. A king may reward his subjects with gratuities—but he bestows himself upon his queen. God said to every believer, as He did to Aaron, "I am your part and your inheritance," Numbers 18:20, and as the king of Israel said to Benhadad, "I am yours, and all that I have," 1 Kings 20:4. What more has God to give than Himself? What greater dowry is there than God Himself? He's not only our rewarder but our reward. The portion of the saints, lies in God. (Psalm 16:5)
• How does God give Himself to His people? The saints will have all in God, which may be for their comfort. They will partake so much of God's likeness, His love, His influence, and the illumination of His glory (1 John 3:2; John 17:26) as astonishes and fills the vessels of mercy, that they run over with joy.
• How does God come to be His peoples reward? Through Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). With His blood He purchased us. (Acts 20:28) How precious He should be to us. Had He not died, the exceeding great portion would never have come into our hands!

God is a satisfying reward. God is a suitable reward. God is a pleasant reward. God is an infinite reward. God is an honorable reward. God is an everlasting reward.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

1. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2. looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH

Jesus, the author of our faith. Every author who writes a good book includes the following:

• Main characters and supporting characters
• Setting(s) where the story takes place.
• Conflicts that arise
• How each conflict is resolved
• Lessons learned by the characters and how these lessons help to mold each of their lives
• An author is one who originates, composes, or creates a thing

As the Author of our faith, Jesus says, “Let there be….”, and He orchestrates situations in our lives that are opportunities for our faith to grow. As Author Jesus also takes the lead, setting the example with His own life of what a life of faith should be.

Jesus, the Finisher of our faith. When a job is finished, the one who finishes makes sure that every detail of the original plan is revealed in the finished product. In our walk with God, Jesus is there at the beginning and He's there at the end. What a wonderful and great God that we serve.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

HE is our All in All

Eph 4:6 "one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all".

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Wall of Fire
Zech 2:1-5

2 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 So I said, “Where are you going?”

And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”


3 And there was the angel who talked with me, going out; and another angel was coming out to meet him, 4 who said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying: ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it. 5 For I,’ says the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

In this verse we read about one of many visions that God gave to Zechariah. Zechariah see's a young man who is measuring Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is. The angel talking with Zechariah was met by another angel and the second angel told the first angel to run and tell the young man doing the measuring that measuring Jerusalem was not necessary because Jerusalem would be towns without walls. There would be no walls because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. God said, "I will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst".

Wow, what a picture. In that day, cities were always built with walls. This was for protection against invasion. Jerusalem was known for it's walls. However, God is saying that sometime in the future there will be so many people that walls would be of no value. However, the people will not be defenseless. Why? God will be their wall and it will be a wall of fire. Also, that HE will be the light in her midst.

God is describing Himself as a WALL OF FIRE! A protector, a light that lights up the whole city that is too big to have man-made walls. What an awesome God we serve who is a wall of fire, our protector, and our light that lights our way in the darkness.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The God Who Sees
Gen 16:13 and Prov 5:21

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He ponders all his paths.

The Genesis acct of this verse is telling about the relationship between Sarai, Abrahams wife and her servant girl Hagar. Because Sarai gave up hope of ever bearing a child to Abraham she took matters into her own hand and offered her servant Hagar to Abraham to have relations with her and as was customary in that day, Sarai could claim the child as her own. However, when Hager conceived she treated Sarai with contempt. Sarai became angry and complained to Abraham, he told Sarai to do what she wanted to with Hagar so Sarai began to mistreat her and Hagar ran away.

Next we find the Angel of the Lord visiting Hagar beside a spring in the desert. He (The Lord, as Hagar identifies Him) tells her to go back to Sarai and submit to her then He tells her about her son who is not born yet. Hagar gave a name to the Lord who spoke to her, "You-Are-The-God-Who-Sees"

God sees us in our need. He sees the daily stuff that we have to deal with. He sees how we struggle with our friends, our spouses, our parents, our children, our employers, everyone. He sees everything. He is not oblivious to any of it. The God Who Sees. As in the account of this struggle that Hagar had He did not just stand by and watch and say nothing either. He went to her, where she was at. A stream in the desert. We don't know how big this stream was, only that it was there. She was likely hot and thirsty and tired and feeling sorry for herself. God saw her though. And He spoke to her and he comforted her, even though what He told her to do was probably not what she wanted to hear. He told her about her soon to be born son who she would name Ishmael which means "God will hear".

God sees. He may lead us to do things that we don't like, but He sees. He will not leave us to die. He sees. Call out to Him. He sees.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Father of Lights

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

The Father of Lights, He created the sun, the moon, and the stars. Without the light of the sun, the world would be dark. Worse, everything would die. All light, heat, and life depend on the sun.

There are many kinds of light in the Bible. Scripture is light, the Gospel is a light, Yeshua, the light of the world. All these lights are from God.

He gives us good and perfect gifts. Here on earth we have homes, health, parents, children, etc., and various talents.

Heavenly gifts include the gift of His Son, the gift of His Spirit, grace, forgiveness, etc.

Also, He does not change. He is the same forever. We can trust Him with every fiber of our being. There is no darkness in Him, no swaying from His promises, no shadows.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The One in Whom I Take Refuge
Ps 144:2

My lovingkindness and my fortress,
My high tower and my deliverer,
My shield and the One in whom I take refuge,
Who subdues my people under me.

There are several wonderful attributes applied to God here but I would like to focus this study on "The One in Whom I Take Refuge". So many times HE has been my refuge. A refuge is a shelter or protection from danger. A place of safety. One to whom we have recourse for aid, relief, or escape.

From a very young age I learned this place of refuge. I've spent many a hour in it. I can't say that it always changed the circumstances, although they eventually did change, but it changed me. From that constant running to Him I learned to dwell in His presence and take refuge in it.

As we've already seen He is The God Who Sees and as already pointed out He sees everything. He arrives on the scene, wherever it may be, and He calls out to us. He's not looking for us because He does not know where we are, but I believe He wants us to know where He is and He wants us to come running to Him and allow Him to be our refuge. It reminds me of a Marmaduke comic I saw years ago of Marmaduke sitting up on his haunches and his little boy standing inside between Marmadukes body and his front legs. The boy is looking out at another boy who looks angry and the caption says, "come in here and say that".

There is such peace in that place of refuge. The more you run to it, the more it will be your first place to run. The more you stay there. His refuge is a wonderful place to live.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

God with Everlasting Arms
Deut 33:27

The eternal God is your refuge,
And underneath are the everlasting arms;
He will thrust out the enemy from before you,
And will say, ‘Destroy!’

Here we see again, The eternal God is our refuge, our dwelling place. Added to that dwelling place we see that inside the dwelling place are His everlasting arms. Arms of protection, arms that chase our enemy not only away but will destroy our enemy so that he cannot come back. Arms that hold us tightly so that nothing can get past them and hurt us, yet soft and gentle. Arms that hold us close and love on us. Arms that lift us up and set our feet on steady ground. Arms that are everlasting. Strong arms, steady arms, warm arms, everlasting arms.

An old song but still true

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

A God Near at Hand
Jer 23:23 - 24

“Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord,
“And not a God afar off?
24 Can anyone hide himself in secret places,
So I shall not see him?” says the Lord;
“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.

Is there anywhere we can hide that He is not able to see us? No! He is unavoidable. He is inescapable, the immanent, transcendent, ubiquitous, omnipotent, omnipresent, and eternal God

Just a call away. He's already anticipated our call before we even think it. He's right there, near at hand and not far away. He's there for anyone who calls, for the righteous and even those who think they are far away from Him. It's impossible to be too far away for Him to reach. He's near.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Jehovah-Nissi: The Lord Is My Banner

15 And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner;

Jehovah-nissi. HE is our banner and He's flying His flag over us. We are under it's protection. We fight the enemy with that flag flying over us and it is the mark of victory. Victory that is already come. We're not waiting for victory, we already have it. HE has gone ahead of us, it's done, it's finished. Our flesh gets in the way though and has us thinking otherwise. His banner over us is a flag of victory flying over our heads. No matter what it looks like, what it feels like, or what others may say it is, HE HAS WON THE VICTORY OVER US. No need to moan and groan and cry, etc.. Rejoice! Again, I say Rejoice!

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

My Beloved

I am my beloved’s,
And my beloved is mine.

Hebrew: אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי
Pronunciation: Ani l'dodi, v'dodi li. Ah nee l' doh dee, v' doh dee lee.

God is my beloved. I am my beloved's. My beloved. I am His.

Can I fully comprehend that? As a believer in Him as my God and Father and His Son Yeshua is Messiah, and I am walking with HIM, then I am HIS. I don't belong to myself to do what I want but I am His to do what He wants. He loves with an everlasting love. He is mine. He's always with me, He will never forsake me. He gave His life so that I could live, not just any living mind you but an abundant living. I have access to peace that passes all understanding. Because of the limits of my flesh I will have struggles while here on earth, but He's there to light my path and to guide me in all of my ways. My Beloved is mine, and I am His. What a wonderful and awesome God that would call Himself my beloved.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Father of Mercies

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies

Mercies...the plural noun of mercy. Compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm. Synonyms: leniencey, clemency, compassion, grace, pity, charity, forgiveness, forbearance.

My Father God is merciful. He has no desire to punish me at all in regards to my disobedience to Him. He's ever waiting for me to bring myself to His mercy. He's compassionate toward me. He reaches out with forgiveness. When I run to His mercy and not away from Him, I find myself wrapped in His arms of protection. There is no safer place to be.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

He Is My Dwelling Place

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

My dwelling place is the place I live. The place I spend the most time in. The place I rest, eat, read, sleep. He is my dwelling place. How is He my dwelling place? My life and emotions are in such turmoil sometimes, how do I dwell in Him so that those emotions don't take over me?

When I was younger I remember spending a lot of time talking with God. I remember pouring out my frustration over the things going on at home between my mother and I. I remember asking God to help me to not make her angry. I don't know how I understood that HE would help me but somehow I did. My fraternal grandparents were lovers of God and from birth to early tweens I spent a lot of time with them. I think I learned it from them.

So, how does He become our dwelling place? I think spending more time with God and in the things that are of God is a beginning. Stir up His presence in us and crowd out and away the things that work against Him. There is a saying about "being so heavenly minded that one is no earthly good". I believe that to be a false statement. When one is heavenly minded they can be nothing but earthly good. Yeshua was so heavenly minded that He left heaven to come to earth to die for our sins so that we could live eternally with Him. That's pretty heavenly minded. Extreme in fact.

We may have to do some extreme things (according to the worlds ways) to get to that place where He is our dwelling place. We may have to give up some things that we enjoy because those things draw us away from His presence. We must remember to inwardly run to Him first for help, even if it's something we believe we can handle. Getting to the place where we can hear Him speak to us in the most minutest things is the place to be. I can remember one day arriving home from work and there were some children whom I did not know playing right in front of my apartment building. I got out of the car and started toward my apartment when one of the children, a little girl around 3 yrs old threw her arms around my legs and was clinging to me. My initial response was to carefully remove her from me. In my spirit though, I heard the spirit shout at me to put my arms in the air. I immediately did so. I felt rather foolish standing in the parking lot with my arms in the air and this little girl clinging to me. Then, I heard someone shout to her and she let go and ran off. I looked over and saw a woman on one of the balconies with a camera in her hand. I can only guess what her plans were and how it would have looked in a picture with my hands on that child. Thank you Yeshua that I heard His voice and obeyed.

We live in a physical realm but also there is a spiritual realm. It is the desire of The Father to make His presence our dwelling place, and stay there, encamped with Him. As we remain in Him, we will be irrigated with His living water. Then in this encampment, we can reach out to others and share His presence with them and perform our duties and obligations and when we get thirsty we can easily get a drink from Him because we are encamped in Him.

His hearts cry is for us to be with Him. He wants to commune with us in mutual and loving fellowship. From that place we will journey with Him, leading us and providing for our every need.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Faithful God

9 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

In this day and time mankind is wallowing in unfaithfulness. Husbands and wives cheat on each other, parents lie to their children, a business partner steals from the other, bosses don't back their employees up, etc.. We live in a world of unfaithfulness. God however, is totally faithful. Every promise He has made He will follow through with. He loves us with an everlasting love. There is nothing we can do that will separate us from His love. Even when we have gotten ourselves into the deepest and darkest place He is with us. He's always there to pull us out of wherever we are. He's always there to envelope us with His presence. When we call His name, He is there.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

El Erekh Apayim Avi-Tanchumin- God of Patience and Comfort

5 Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,

God's patience with mankind can be seen all throughout the scriptures. He is so patient when it comes to our errors and even downright disobedience toward Him. Over and over He forgives us and washes us clean. We should never take His patience toward us for granted though by putting off the things in our lives that need to be dealt with, things that are not just displeasing to Him but a great hindrance in our relationship with Him.

There is such pleasure in the spirit in being at the receiving end of His patience and comfort then moving forward in walking in His will and His ways.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Lifter of My Head

But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.

At one of the lowest times in Davids life he wrote this psalm. He wrote it when he was fleeing from Absalom, his son. This is described as a morning prayer and it's full of David praising God. He makes some complaints too, but he does not JUST complain. His song to the Lord is full of praise and acknowledgement of WHO God is and the place that HE has in Davids life. The Lord is his shield, his glory, and the One who lifts up Davids head.

To lift up is to "take and lift upwards". It is in God that we are lifted up. When we set our minds and thoughts on Him, HE takes us and lifts us up, our minds and our spirits, to His level. He does not come down to our level of gloom, despair, and agony, He lifts us up to HIS level of happiness, hope, and pleasure in HIM. Happiness, hope, and pleasure in the Lord comes only by letting HIM lift up your head. He's there, waiting and ready to hear your voice call on Him and to take you and lift you upwards.

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