Today’s Encouragement is Psalm 103:10-12 NLT He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. [11] For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. [12] He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
He does not punish-
Facing a terrible tragedy, the loss of his son, the father, a new believer in Christ cried out, “Why did God do this to me?” He might have asked, why did God let this happen? Or couldn’t God have stopped this?
We can’t address the huge challenge of ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’ in a few sentences… yet this passage makes clear…
God Does NOT punish us for all our sins!
God does NOT deal harshly with us (as we deserve)
NO! We falsely accuse God! He, the Almighty One who provided Jesus as the perfect eternal cleansing of all our sins past, present, and future! Would this God of Grace, now set about to now punish us for our sins, no matter how great or small? He would Himself be ignoring, erasing the once-for-all-time, perfect atonement of Jesus!
We live in a fallen world my friends, and death, destruction, decay is evident everywhere. This world is, and our lives within this world are, passing away; tragedy will come!
But no tragedy, no suffering, no punishment comes into the life of a believer by the hand of God!
In Jesus’ own words…John 16:33 NLT “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Father God, forgive us when we have falsely accused You of punishing us for our sin. Help us to clearly focus on Your unfailing Love, and to recognize that all our sins are perfectly erased by the perfect work of Jesus! Thank You, our Loving Father!
How Great is the Love
Elevation Worship (Heather Headley)
Today’s Encouragement 