One of the things I love thinking about is that Almighty God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is my personal heavenly Father. Every moment of the day, even if I fall short at times, God loves me, He is with me, and He wants to take care of me and help me live a victorious life. Our God is a compassionate Father, and He is concerned with every aspect of our lives. To live abundantly, attaining our goals and overcoming obstacles, we must be convinced of and accept our heavenly Father’s abundant love, mercy, and grace in our lives.
Having children of my own has helped me to better comprehend my heavenly Father’s unconditional love for me. As a parent, I have great care and concern for my children, and throughout their lives, it has blessed me to see them abounding in all that they do.
Several years ago, when one of our sons was in college and responsible for his own personal expenses, the cost of an unexpected car repair put a real squeeze on his finances. He called us and asked us to pray and believe with him because after paying this large repair bill, it looked like he would not have enough money to cover his car insurance bill at the end of the month. With his classes at school and final exams fast approaching, his work, and his other daily responsibilities, I knew that this was adding pressure to his life. Our son had always been responsible with his finances. But now he was in a very unusual situation, and he was in need.
Having great love for my son, I had compassion on him and wanted to help relieve this burden from his life. I had recently received a sum of money, which was mine to spend however I chose. That gave me the resources to help him, and I was thrilled. Nothing I could have purchased with that money would have brought me the joy that I experienced in being able to pay the car insurance for our son. Our son expressed his thanks to me, letting me know that it meant more to him than I could ever imagine.
Love, mercy, and grace abound in my heart as a parent toward my children. With all that is in my power, I want to help them. How much more does our heavenly Father extend His love, mercy, and grace toward us? And how much greater are His resources to help and meet our needs, whatever they may be?
Let’s see what we can learn about God’s love, mercy, and grace toward us. We are going to see how loving, merciful, and gracious our heavenly Father is and look at examples in the Bible of men who achieved great things for God because they understood and believed this. As we are convinced of God’s love, mercy, and grace in our lives, we can achieve great things for God and live victoriously as well.
First, let’s look at how loving, merciful, and gracious our heavenly Father is. The nature of our heavenly Father is love. God lovingly watches over His own, looking to see what He can do to help them.
Deuteronomy 7:8:
But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Psalms 105:43 adds that God “brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness.” God not only rescued them with joy, but He brought them out with a mighty hand, abundantly meeting their every need. God gave His best to the children of Israel, even though He knew that they would soon murmur and be unthankful and reject Him for other gods. That is the unconditional love of our merciful heavenly Father.
The Book of Isaiah furthers our understanding of His love with the tender illustration of a mother. As a mother, I know the bond between a mother and her child is amazing, yet God tells us in His Word that His concern and compassion for us are even stronger.
Isaiah 49:15:
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
God even emphasizes His remarkable remembrance, compassion, and love for us by using the figure of speech condescensio, where the human attribute of “not forget” is ascribed to Him. Also, “compassion” is a tender affection toward the needy and helpless. The words “sucking child” are speaking of an infant. What mother would not have compassion on her infant? Would she forget or ignore her baby, knowing that he is helpless to take care of himself? As unlikely as this seems, it is possible. But God is telling us that it is impossible for Him to forget us. Our heavenly Father’s desire to meet our need is ever constant….
This is an excerpt from the March/April 2012 issue of The Way Magazine.
Copyright© 2012 by The Way International. All rights reserved.
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