The Kindness of the Lord

I'd just like to offer a brief thought about a Scripture that the Lord really impressed upon me recently as I was reading through the Psalms. I came across the following:"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.... He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities..." (Psalm 103:8,10)It's amazing the mercy and kindness of our God. As the apostle Paul once said, it is God's kindness that leads us to repentance. Think about that for a moment. As Jonathan Edwards rightly pointed out in his famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," the only thing that keeps us from falling alive into hell right this moment is God's grace. There is nothing between us and hell right now but air. And it is God who keeps us from falling alive into it at any moment. The Psalmist said that He has not dealt with us according to our sins. God has not rewarded us according to our iniquities. Because God is gracious, and is willing that none should perish, but that all would come to eternal life, He holds us from what we the punishment we justly deserve for our sins.How are you living your life? I believe many of us live condemned, for we know we ought to be living better than we actually are. I believe if we were to honestly search our hearts, we would not have to look too far before we found compromise in our lives. I'm not talking about geniunely struggling to overcome some sort of frequent sin. Rather, I'm talking about those areas we are not struggling in. The areas where we know we are doing wrong, yet simply don't care. Areas we don't even bother to confess before God, for we have no intention of giving those things up.Like Jonathan Edwards said, we are like spiders hanging on a single strand of web ready to fall into everlasting torment at any moment. But because of God's kindness, He gives us more time to get right with Him. Because He is gracious, He puts up with our sins for another moment. Because He is gracious, He allows our heart to beat once more and allows us to see another day, though we have no promise of tomorrow. Because He is gracious He keeps us from falling into hell alive, right now. God has not dealt with us as we deserve. He is just, but He is also merciful.

Like Jonathan Edwards said, we are like spiders hanging on a single strand of web ready to fall into everlasting torment at any moment. But because of God's kindness, He gives us more time to get right with Him. Because He is gracious, He puts up with our sins for another moment. Because He is gracious, He allows our heart to beat once more and allows us to see another day, though we have no promise of tomorrow. Because He is gracious He keeps us from falling into hell alive, right now. God has not dealt with us as we deserve. He is just, but He is also merciful.Yes. But could we also say that God is gracious to relent to allow and faciliate the act of repentance. We need to Give God all those things that hinder and beset us. WE need to continually confess all sin. God is gracious to give us that time to repent and give up to Him.You are right we do serve a gracious merciful loving God. It is great to experience His love shed abroad from the Holy Ghost. But in some ways the best love God can show to sinners is remedial judgement on their sin. If you do not correct a child, the child will grow up rebellious and lawless. It is important to show the child their are laws. And I believe that God will prevent his children from hurting themselves in paticular sins, habitual sins. But sure we have free will so we can if we want to go the way of cain and kick against the goads but it is not a easy path, and thank God a merciful God makes it so.