God's judgment has never been a problem for me. In fact, it always seemed right. Lightening bolts on Sodom. Fire on Gomorrah, Good job God! Egyptians swallowed in the Red Sea, they had it coming. Forty years of wandering to loosen the stiff necks of the Israelites? Yep, would have done it myself.
Discipline is easy for me to swallow. Logical to assimilate. Manageable and appropriate.
But God's grace? Anything but.
Examples? How much time do you have?
David the Psalmist becomes David the voyeur, but by God's grace becomes David the psalmist again.
Zacchaeus, the crook. The cleanest part of his life was the money he laundered, but Jesus still had time for him.
The thief on the cross: hell bent and hung out to die one minute, heaven bound and smiling the next.
Story after story. Prayer after prayer. Surprise after surprise. If God can tolerate my mistake, can't I tolerate the mistakes of others? If God can overlook my errors, can't I overlook the errors of others? If God allows me with all my sin and failures to call Him Father, shouldn't I extend the same grace to others?
(Thoughts from The Devotional Bible)
Rick
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