Healing Rays of Righteousness

Has it ever occurred to you to thank God for things he has not done?  We usually thank God for the things he has done. And we should do that.  But the Bible also tells us about four wonderful things God has not done for which I’m fairly certain we are all very grateful.

FIRST – God has not rewarded us according to our iniquities.  (Psalm 103:10) – “he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” 

In the Exodus experience, the Israelites along with the Egyptians should have lost their firstborn child to the angel of death.  But God provided a substitute in the Passover lamb.  Therefore, he did not deal with his people according to their sins.  This is wonderful in David’s eyes and he meditates upon the mercy that had saved them.  Read verses 7-14.

By what right do we dare stand before God today?  We have no inherent right.  If he gave us what we deserved, we would all perish; for the Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:23, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  But God makes possible that right for us in Jesus, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  (John 1:29).  Thank you, God!

SECOND – God has not failed to carry out even one of his promises.  Having completed his lengthy prayer, Solomon stood to bless the people.  The inspired man of prayer looked back on Israel’s long road from Mount Sinai and summed up the entire history of Israel in one sentence;  “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised.  Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.”  (1 Kings 8:56).

Also, Joshua, the aged hero affirms God’s faithfulness; “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth.  You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed.  Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”  (Joshua 23:14).

Today the record of God’s faithfulness still stands.  He has not failed his word.  When God speaks, it is as good as done.  This means we can trust God.  He will never disappoint us in regard to his promises.  What God promises, he both can and will perform.  Thank you, God!

THIRD – God has not given us the spirit of fear.  “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid (fearful), but gives us power, love, and self-discipline (a sound mind).”  (2 Timothy 1:7).

Listen to the prophetic message regarding Jesus’ birth that we often hear read at Christmas; “say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.’” (Isaiah 35:4)

Jesus comes to free us from fear.  Fear is one of the most controlling emotions of our modern life.  Fear causes weakness and failure.  Fear saps strength, paralyzes initiative, and poisons the atmosphere.  When fear is evident in our lives, we can be assured that it is not of God.

John writes, “There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”  (1 John 4:18).  Thank you, God!

FOURTH – God has not appointed us to wrath.  “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

The Scriptures repeatedly remind us of God’s coming wrath on the day of judgment.  And Jesus confirms both God’s gift of salvation and his righteous judgment in saying, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” (John 3:36).

Earlier in that same chapter, we read, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  (John 3:16-17).

We cannot earn salvation or deliverance from God’s wrath, but because of God’s great love and mercy, we can receive eternal salvation by coming to Jesus Christ in repentance and trust.  This is the basis of our hope.  Thank you, God!

Thanking God for these four things that he has not done is a good way to begin every new day.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – February 27, 2019