I heard something a while ago on TV. "The God of the Bible is a God of judgment and punishment." Now I have heard this before in different places and it always bothers me some, but this time it just REALLY got to me.
I've been reading through Jeremiah lately. If a person had access only to that one book in the Bible they might think that my Lord is just a God who likes to punish people. But if they only single out that part of the Bible, they are missing the other parts that stand directly in contrast to this misconception. For example I have found these verses lately that definitely are not describing a God who loves to punish.
"Comfort, yes comfort, My People. Speak tenderly to them...Behold your God!...He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in his arms, He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young." Isaiah 40
Sometimes the Lord must discipline His people. Have you ever seen a child misbehaving and NOT wished that their parents would discipline them in some way to make them behave better? In the same way sometimes the Lord must discipline His people in order to make them better. But even when He disciplines, He still loves His children.
"After I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage, and each to his land." Jeremiah 12:15
But what bothers me the most is when I fail to give voice to this knowledge.
I had a very revealing experience the other week. In my Anatomy class, my teacher was offering extra credit if we students would write up on the board, in front of the class, a list of the different kinds of tissues in the body ect, EXACTLY like he had a few weeks before. I had already tried once before and failed. But I had written down the corrections and had spent an hour the night before class writing and rewriting that list, correcting myself where I got things wrong, forcing myself to recite it perfectly from memory. That morning I tried again. It felt so great because I KNEW I was writing it down perfectly. I had not missed a thing, I just knew it. Well, my teacher had to critique it in front of the class. I stood right in front of him, arms crossed waiting for him to tell me I had done it right. I was experiencing this great amount of emotional turmoil and I remember thinking "If he says I got something wrong I'm gonna break down and cry in front of the whole class." But the great thing was that my whole body was TREMBLING because I KNEW I had done it right and that he could not find any fault with what I had done. It was rather exciting. :)
Anyway, whatever thoughts were passing through my head were not being clearly interpreted through my body language. Because, my teacher looked at me (and I have no idea what kind of look I had on my face) and whatever he saw made him say " I have this feeling...that if I tell you this is wrong..... you will throw something at me." Then he said it again......and again...and finally he said "I feel like I need to leave the room if I don't want to get hurt!" It was rather funny to watch, because that wasn't what I was feeling at all. :)
Anyway, he critiqued my work. It as perfect just like I thought it was. I got the extra credit. I was elated for the rest of the day. Then a thought struck me:
I had knowledge. I had reviewed and studied that knowledge until I knew it backwards and forwards. I knew everything about it. I knew it was trustworthy knowledge. And knowing that I knew it, made me excited, made my body TREMBLE with the assurance that I was right. This assurance filled my body and gave me such a great amount of confidence I was daring the professor in my mind to find anything wrong with my work. This confidence came through in my manner, my stance, my gaze and it literally made my professor cower before me (and by the end of his critique if he had found something wrong he really might have gotten something thrown at him).
The point I want to get across is this: if I can be that confidant about something as ordinary as the tissues of the human body, why can that overwhelming confidence not come through when I am speaking about my Lord Jesus? When I hear someone tearing down my Lord and Saviour, why does my stance not become taller, my arms cross, my body start trembling with the mere thought that I have the Knowledge of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who "is not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance"? The Lord who has loved you with an "everlasting love and has made you with lovingkindness"? The Lord who got so heartbroken over punishing the children He loves so much that He sent His own Son to die for not only His children, but all the people in the world, thereby having their sins forgiven so that they would no longer be punished and be taken away to be with Him in Paradise forever? WHY does this overwhelming, exciting, trembling confidence not come through in my conversation?
Your smile is always shining out,
and they know what its all about :)
It's not hard for them to figure out
the way you show Jesus :)
You know LOVE is what they heard
and you didn't even say a word!
Ain't it funny, that's the way it works
when you know Jesus :)
Oh, it's like flipping on the light switch when you're walking into the room!
You're so undeniable! The way you SHOW HIM!
Jamie Grace, Show Jesus
HERE is a trustworthy saying that deserves to be fully accepted: Jesus Christ came into the world to SAVE sinners- of whom I am the worst! But it is for THAT VERY REASON that I was shown MERCY so that in me, the WORST of sinners, Christ might display His IMMENSE patience as an EXAMPLE for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life! Now to the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the Only God, be honor and glory forever and ever!! Amen! 1 Timothy 1:15-17
