AS YOU ARE

MEMORY VERSE: With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward. Psalm 18:25-27

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 9-10

There are certain basic things you need to know about God. One of them is He is love. 1 John 4:8 says, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” He is so loved the world that He gave Jesus, His only begotten Son, to us. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus, Himself, said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13)”. God is love. Another one is He is full of mercy. Psalm 103:11 says, “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.” According to Psalm 145:8, “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.” Thank God for His mercies. Lamentations 3:22 says, “It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” I don’t need to tell you that He is kind. Another thing you need to know – in case you don’t know – is that God is never late. How can the One who owns time and controls seasons be late (Daniel 2:21)? One important thing you need to know about God is that is He is holy. In heaven, the angels are always singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of the Heavenly Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!” Because He is Holy, He wants everyone associated with Him to also be holy. 1 Peter 1:16 says, “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

God is not a respecter of persons. Romans 2:11 says, “For there is no respect of persons with God.” He is a respecter of principles not a respecter of persons. As such, He deals with people individually. Revelations 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Jesus addresses Himself to individuals not multitude. He said, if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. He didn’t say if any group hear my voice. The Psalmist says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life ( Psalm 23:6), not goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives. Jesus addresses Himself to individuals. Not only that, He deals with people as they are not as they claim to be. According to 1 Samuel 16:7, He sees the heart and He knows who people really are. Psalm 18:25-27 says, “With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.” This is why He is always blessing those billionaires who spend a lot on charity. Although, most of them are not believers, because they are generous to the poor, the Lord is generous to them. And to those who are wicked to the poor, especially dictators and tyrants, He deals with them the way they are. The good news is you can change the way He deals with you. If only you will become more kind, He will be kind to you. If only you become more patient with people, He will become more patient with you. 

NOTE: Matthew 6:15 says, “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” If you are not willing to forgive those who have offended you, the Lord is also not willing to forgive you. Actually, don’t bother to ask Him for forgiveness if you have not forgiven those who have offended you. If God does not forgive you, how do you expect Him to grant your petitions? It is impossible. Why not forgive today, and let Him forgive you and grant your petitions

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world