Is God All About Controlling People?

The way people talk, you think God was just looking for someone having fun and yelling, "Cut that out, obey my commandments, and just behave nicely." Is that our Heavenly Father?

The Bible actually says:
"The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to everyone, he shows compassion on his creation." Psalm 145:8-9.

MERCY
Mercy is an action. It is the act of showing kindness when it is in your power to do harm. We are all in The Lord's power. He is our creator, and he sustains our existence. He has the power to command storms, earthquakes, nations, and the movement of stars.

We are at His mercy since we have done things that offend him. We are in His power since he is the Holy Sinless One, and He has the right to demand that standard on his creation.

COMPASSION
God is full of compassion; compassion is to act out of mercy but with affection and sympathy. It understands the suffering of the one who is receiving mercy. His understanding of our struggles and hurts leads Him to compassion.

SLOW TO ANGER
Many have the hardest time with this. Those who think God does not get angry are wrong- He does get angry, just very slowly. Our Heavenly Father is slow to anger because He is merciful, compassionate, and loving.

Because He is slow to anger does not mean it won't come someday. Do not gamble on the patience of the Lord.

RICH IN LOVE
To be rich is to have a lot of something by comparison. God has a love that is so abundant over what we have for one another that it is beyond measure. His love is rich because...

     * He loves all people who ever lived or will live.
     * He loves those who do not return His love.
     * He loves those who hate him.
     * He loves the ugliest and evil person.
     * He loves no matter who we are or what we have done.
     * He loves the people who have done nothing to deserve love.

He loves so much that he "gave his only son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16.

GOOD TO EVERYONE
He does good for all people. He gives us air to breathe and food to eat. He gives us shelter and family, and love. He gives the blessings we enjoy every day. The sunshine, spring flowers, and winter snows are his ways of being good to us and more blessings than we could ever list.

He is worth knowing and obeying. If you want to know more about coming to Him who is merciful, compassionate, patient, and love, then click on this link.

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. I sincerely hope this post is helpful and encouraging.  For more like this, see the most popular post in the sidebar, or use the search box above.

(c) Adron 7/31/13