Are you enjoying God's riches?

Ephesians 2:4

How rich is God?  A question like that seems absurd to foster any response, but let me attempt to answer from the Scriptures on the riches of God’s mercy.  A young girl in her teens got a lot of ink in the Bible because she was a virgin who became pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and this is her statement on God’s mercy; “For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.  And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” (Luke 1: 48-50) Micah a prophet during the reign of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, had this to say about God; “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.” (Micah 7: 18)  The apostle Paul writes this in a letter to Titus, whom Paul address as his true child in a common faith; “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)

If you have entered into Christ by faith, and received grace, and mercy, then you are justified by His grace, and the blood of Christ covers all your offences before God, and He sees you as if you have not sinned.  King David, the man after God’s own heart has this to say; “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:2-5)

Our Father is merciful and it is a wise man that seeks Him, abides in Him and obeys His Commandments.  A wise man will desire not the gods that he has fashioned like himself, but the only true God who fashioned man after His own likeness.  I need mercy, and I also desire and need to be renewed like the eagle.  Isaiah the prophet tells us that the eternal God, the Creator of all that is, does not faint or grow weary, and He will give power to the weak.  We are living in such troubled times, we have many antichrists; our only hope is prayer and waiting on the Lord.  “But they who wait for 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.” (Isaiah 40:31)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice