Dec. 26, 2019

God is both pro-choice and pro-life.

Psalm 145 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Lord Extolled for His Goodness. A Psalm of Praise, of David.

I will extol You, my God, O King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
And I will tell of Your greatness.
They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness
And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
The Lord is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works.
10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,
And Your godly ones shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power;
12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

14 The Lord sustains all who fall
And raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to You,
And You give them their food in due time.
16 You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry and will save them.
20 The Lord keeps all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

 

The psalmist says:  The Lord is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.  The Lord is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works… The Lord is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds.
 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.  The Lord keeps all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy.   In Exodus 3:14 it says:  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"   In Revelation 1:9 it says “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”  It can be difficult for us who are subject to the finite limitations of this natural realm to fully comprehend the infinite God. We tend to view God from the perspective of earth, wrongly applying the limitations of what we know and understand to the limitless God. We have a difficult time accepting that one who is gracious and merciful; the one who is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds, would also destroy the wicked.  Many people ask, “how could a loving God…?”  The psalmist says:  The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.  In John 3:16 Jesus says:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”   If we call upon God in truth, we believe in Jesus His Son.  In John 14:6 Jesus says:  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  God’s grace, His mercy and His love are given to us in Christ, through His sacrifice on the cross. For the righteous God to provide one way for all to come to Him is the ultimate justice. Ephesians 2:8-9 says:  By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.    We are all on a level playing field. No one has an advantage over another. All that we need to do to receive the love, grace and mercy of God; to be saved and not perish, is to believe.

2 Peter 3:9 says:  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.   God’s grace is also given to us in patience and time. He allows each person time to choose, so that if they go to judgment and destruction it is by their own choice, not His. God’s desire is that all would come to repentance; that none would perish.  Still in His righteousness, He gave us a free will, so that each one could choose.  In John 3:17-21 Jesus says:  God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”   One of the buzz words that divide our culture and society today is pro-choice. This term is balanced against the word pro-life.   God is both pro-choice and pro-life. In His love, compassion; grace, mercy; righteousness and justice, He allows each one to choose life or death for themselves.

The psalmist says:   I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever.  Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, And I will tell of Your greatness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness… My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.
   Amen. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit.  Amen.