The Subtle Encouragement From the Bible

Today was another sad day for the United States of America. The past several years have not been a walk in the park quite frankly. The New York Senate made a state constitutional change to allow full term abortions and to do away with the law that had protected a baby that had survived an abortion attempt. This post is not about this topic so I will not jump too far off track. With the news, and the Facebook posts and arguments for and against I just needed a break so first I hit my knees in prayer to my God and Savior pleading for this country and for the remnant that still love and serve Him to not be brought down with the godless heathens. Next, I got in His Word to look up verses that I wanted to talk about in this post. I've been mulling over this topic for a couple weeks but this is the first chance to put it in type. It's a fitting time because I know that I needed encouragement from my Bible today and I am sure that other readers do too. 

Of course, we have the promises  for us in God's Word but to me there are many spots and thoughts where I receive encouragement that are not necessarily promises to us. You have to look at these in a deeper way. 

None of these are in anyway taken lightly or justification for sin in our lives but God's mercy and grace is so encouraging when you look at where God extended it in the Bible. These will not be in any particular order...just as they come to me. 

First of all, Abraham, with whom God made His covenant, was a liar. Yet, the promise extended to Abraham was never revoked. His son Isaac was also a liar in the same lie his father told. (In case it's slipped your mind, they both lied in a new city about who their wife was) Isaac was in the lineage of Christ. His son Jacob was a deceiver--more than once! Yet he was the father of the twelve tribes of Israel from whom the tribe of Judah comes which brings the Savior. 

Rahab the harlot who helped save the spies, is also in the lineage of Christ. She was the mother of Boaz who married Ruth, a non-Jew, who is a grandmother of King David. 

God could have kept the lineage of Christ completely pure but He did not. I've often pondered why that is. We will never know this side of heaven but we can speculate. Maybe it is for the encouragement that I'm speaking about. That God can use anybody and that there was room for others besides the Jews! Mistakes can be forgiven, especially when you repent and turn to Him. One of the reasons I believe David is called "a man after God's own heart" is because of his humbleness after sin. He was an adulterer, and a murderer and yet a promise is made to him because of his willingness to humble himself and turn back to God. 

In the New Testament Paul is used mightily even though at first he wanted nothing to do with Christ and he persecuted Christians. Peter got to preach at Pentecost even though 50 or so days prior he denied the Lord publicly. Mary Magdalene was a harlot prior to Jesus healing her of possession. She was one of the first to which Christ revealed himself after His resurrection.

All of these examples can and should give us encouragement that we are loved, forgiven and can still be used as long as we allow God to do so. 

There's more!...
Psalm 103:13-14 - Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. 
14-For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

Psalm 78:38-39 - But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. 
39- For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. 

In this passage the psalmist is remembering God's compassion on the Israelites thus far.

The part that jumped out at me one time was the "he remembered that they were flesh" and "that we are dust". In other words, God knows we are frail. He gives us a break at times. It is because of His mercies and longsuffering that we are not consumed by His wrath. 

I'm sooo thankful and grateful for His mercies! 

I hope this post was an encouraging reminder to you about God's love and mercy.