GRACIOUS TO WHOMEVER HE WANTS TO

PROCLAMATION

“And he said, ‘I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.’  And He said, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of The Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.’  And He said, ‘Thou canst not see My face; for there shall no man see Me, and live.’ ”  Exodus 33:18-19 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The Lord God told Moses to lead the people away from Mount Sinai to the land which He had promised to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob.  He said that He would send an angel before them to drive out the current inhabitants, but He would not go with them because they were a stiff-necked people and He might destroy them. (Exodus 33:1-3)  The people mourned when Moses told them what The Lord God had said. (Exodus 33:4-6)  Then Moses pitched the tent which was the tabernacle some distance away from the camp and there he met with The Lord.  Whenever the people saw the cloudy pillar at the entrance to the tabernacle, they knew that The Lord God was present and speaking with Moses.  No man approached the tabernacle, they all worshiped God, every man standing in the doorway of his own tent. (Exodus 33:7-10)  While talking to God, Moses asked Him to show him His glory.  The Lord God told him that no man can see His face and live. (Exodus 33:11-20)  He told Moses that He would be gracious to whomever He wanted to, and He would show mercy to whomever He wanted to show mercy.  Then He told Moses that He would hide him in the cleft of a rock and pass by allowing him to see His back side. (Exodus 33:19-23) 

 

APPLICATION

The Lord God is good all of the time.  He is gracious and merciful, and He shares His grace and mercy with whomever He chooses to share them with.  They are both gifts from God, we have done nothing to merit either one of them.  Because of our limited capacity for understanding, we sometimes we ask The Lord God for things which are not in our best interest.  Since He knows all, He may choose to give us something that is different from what we asked for because it will be better for us.  We need to learn to thank Him for the doors which He closed and protected us from, as well as for the doors of opportunity which He opened for us. 

 

THE LOVING KINDNESS OF THE LORD GOD

THE LOVING KINDNESS OF THE LORD GOD

PROCLAMATION

“I will tell of the kindnesses of The Lord, the deeds for which He is to be praised, according to all The Lord has done for us …”  Isaiah 63:7 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These are the words of The Lord God which were spoken to the people of Israel through the prophet Isaiah.  In the beginning of chapter sixty-three, Isaiah sees, in a vision, The Messiah returning in triumph after a conquest of His enemies proclaiming victory and stating that He alone had crushed His enemies. (Isaiah 63:1-6)  Then He changes his tune and tone and recounts how, in days of old, The Lord God had chosen Israel to be His people, how they had rebelled against Him, were taken into captivity, and how He sent Moses to free them.  He even parted the Red Sea for them. (Isaiah 63:8-12)  But they had fallen on hard times again and urged Him to look down form heaven and see their plight. (Isaiah 63:15-19)

APPLICATION

The Lord God is good, merciful, and His loving kindness knows no limits.  We, His people, have messed up thousands of times and He still loves us.  He has blessed us with His grace and mercy an untold number of times in the past and we seek new mercies every day. (Psalm 51:1)  We have been blessed in so many ways, not to mention our birth, life, and our very existence, (Acts 17:28) there is also our election, redemption, and sanctification.  We have so much to be thankful for until His praise should continually be on our lips.

WHAT IS MAN THAT THE LORD GOD EVEN THINKS ABOUT HIM

Proclamation:

“Lord, what are human beings that You care for them, mere mortals that You think of them?  They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.”  Psalm 144:3-4 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  This psalm begins by praising The Lord God. (Psalm 144:1-2)  Then David asks a rhetorical question, what is man that God cares about him or even thinks about him?  He knows that man is insignificant in comparison to an all-powerful, all-knowing God, who is everywhere all at the same time, who is eternal, and who spoke and created something out of nothing.  Man is like a vapor or a fleeting shadow, insignificant and short lasting. (Psalm 144:4)  David again prays and asks that The Lord God would deliver him and the children of Israel for the hands of foreigners. (Psalm 144:11)  Once that happens, he knows that they will be blessed. (Psalm 144:12-15)

Application:

When we consider all of the things which The Lord God has created, including the vastness of the universe, the planets, the earth and all of the things therein, man is insignificant.  We may be larger than some plants and animals, but we are much smaller than some of them, not to mention the mountains and seas.  We are blessed that The Lord God gives any thought to us.  We ought to be thankful and grateful for all that He has done for us out of His grace and mercy.   We are blessed because He is our God. (Psalm 144:15)

YOU ARE MY STRENGTH MY REFUGE AND MY FORTRESS

Proclamation:

“But I will sing of Your strength, in the morning I will sing of Your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.  You are my strength, I sing praise to You; You, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.”  Psalm 59:16-17 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  The title of this psalm states that it was written when King Saul had sent messengers to watch David’s house and to kill him when he rose in the morning. (1 Samuel 19:11)  David began this psalm asking The Lord God to deliver him from his enemies who wanted to kill him even though he had not done anything to them. (Psalm 59:1-4)  He knew that he could count on The Lord to be his strength and to protect him. (Psalm 59:9-10 and 16-17)  He was willing to publicly sing praises unto The Lord.

Application:

As believers we know that the little strength that we have comes from The Lord God who has all power. (Matthew 28:18)  We are blessed to receive the mercy of God each morning that we wake up.  It is by His goodness and loving kindness that we were protected from all hurt, harm, and danger while we slept.  Our enemies, known and unknown, were kept away from us.  We should praise and thank Him for allowing us to get a peaceful night’s sleep during these troublesome times.  We should put our faith and trust in Him because He is the only one that we can truly rely and count on in times of trouble. (Psalm 118:8-9)

Once Enlightened Always Enlightened

"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in The Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of The Word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying The Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace." Hebrews 6:4-6 (NIV)

The unknown author of the Bible Book of Hebrews made it clear that once a person was saved, they would always be saved.  Their future sins would not cause them to lose their salvation.  Only by willfully renouncing Jesus Christ could they ever be lost, and from that loss there could be no return. 

Once we are held in the palm of His hand, we can never be plucked out.  It is possible to be exposed to the gospel and walk among Christians for a while and not be saved. (Matthew 13:3-24)   Jesus said, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62) A number of people followed Jesus because of what He could do for them, not because they believed in Him.  Those people were not saved.  Once saved, always saved.  We may lose out on some rewards and miss out on some blessings by our behavior, but we can never lose our salvation.

Salvation After Repentance

“ ‘But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from The Lord.’ And The Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” (AND) “ ‘Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from His fierce anger so that we will not perish.’ When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened.” Jonah 2:9-10 & 3:8-10 (NIV)
After the prophet Jonah prayed and repented in the belly of the great fish, God commanded the fish to vomit Jonah up on dry land. Jonah went to Nineveh and told them that God was going to destroy them in forty days because of their sinful ways. (Jonah 3:4) They believed, repented, and turned from their evil ways, and God spared them.

Because of God’s goodness and mercy, we do not always get the punishment that we deserve for our sins. This is especially true when we pray, ask for forgiveness, repent, turn from our sinful ways, and seek His face.

God Has A Place For Each Of Us

"Then Moses said, 'Now show me Your glory.' And The Lord said, 'I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name, The Lord, in your presence ... But,' He said, 'you cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live.' Then The Lord said, 'There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock. When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove My hand and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.' " Exodus 33:18-23 (NIV)

After leading the people out of Egypt, God met with Moses and told him to lead the people to the promised land. Moses asked God to show him His glory. The Lord said "There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock ... I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you ..." God said that Moses could see His back but not His face, for no one could see His face and live. God had a place for Moses. He protected him and hid him in a rock.

Some times we ask God for things that are not in our best interest and He protects us from our wants. God has a special place for each one of us. If we stand where He puts us, He will protect us. He can cleft a rock for us, hide us, cover us with His hand and protect us. We just need to make sure that we are where God wants us to be. We need to stand near Him so that we may experience the glory of God.

Be Patient And Persevere

"Be patient, then, brothers, until The Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because The Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of The Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what The Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy." James 5:7-11 (NIV)

James was encouraging the people to be patient, not just with the trials and tribulations of life, but to be patient with each other. Things will happen in God's due time. Pain and suffering are a part of living. Those who had gone on before them had suffered, persevered, and were blessed. He reminded them of Job and what he went through, and how God blessed him.

Most of us are very impatient people. We want what we want, and we want it right now. We need to develop patience. Some of the things that we go through are part of our preparation and development, so that God can use us. Personal growth takes time. We also need to recognize that others also need time to learn and grow. We need to be patient with, and to pray for, others as they learn and grow. All of us can say, "We are a work in progress, be patient with us, God is not finished with us yet."

We Are Special Protected And Blessed

"I sought The Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and The Lord heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of The Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them. Taste and see that The Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Fear The Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing." Psalms 34:4-9 (NIV)

David again thanks The Lord for saving him from his enemies. He states that those who encounter The Lord are not the same. And as for protection, Christians have a guardian angel with them. He knows that God is good, and that He blesses believers and supplies all their needs.

Once we meet The Lord, we are never the same After we accept Christ, we are given special status. God hears and answers the prayers of His saints when we call upon His name. We are protected and blessed. He will supply all of our needs if we only believe.