God is Always Merciful to Those Who Truly Repent!

Have you ever loved someone that “continually” broke your heart over and over again? Have you had them continue to seek you out for help after they’ve “repeatedly” cheated on you, and they hit their rock bottom, their place of misery? Were you willing to take them back and just keep blessing them time and time again? A healthy person has clear boundaries and even a cut off point, especially when there is NO REPENTANCE. If you’ve not experienced this personally, you are blessed. It’s the most painful experience a person can go through, and yet this is exactly what God’s people do to Him. Our God has deep rivers of emotions and feelings. He hurts over our sin, our inability to “commit,” and our tendency to wander. And even though He often allows us to experience the natural consequences of our bad choices, He also has deep compassion for us when He sees that our sin has brought us to a place of misery. He rescues us when we are willing to abandon it all, repent, and return to Him. All through the Old Testament you will find the “unfaithfulness of man,” and the “faithfulness of God.” Here is just one example: Judges 10:6-16 (AMP)

6 Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; they served the Baals, the Ashtaroth (female deities), the gods of Aram (Syria), the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. They abandoned the Lord and did not serve Him.

7 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He sold (allowed) them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, 8 and they oppressed and crushed Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9 The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was greatly distressed.

10 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord [for help], saying, “We have sinned against You, because we have abandoned (rejected) our God and have served the Baals.”

-Notice, they acknowledged their sin, yet they had not turned from it.

-They still had “idols” in their possession.

-They wanted God’s help, but they didn’t care about His heart.

-They were hurting in their flesh, but their hearts were still devoted to what was causing the oppression and distress!

11 The Lord said to the Israelites, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines? 12 Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed and crushed you, you cried out to Me, and I rescued you from their hands. 13 Yet you have abandoned (rejected) Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer rescue you. 14 Go, cry out to the gods you have chosen; let them rescue you in your time of distress.”

-God knew they had not fully repented, and he decided to stop rescuing them until they had a full heart change. This boundary forced the heart change that they needed, and God’s compassion was evident. He helped them AGAIN!

15 The Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only please rescue us this day.” 16 So they removed the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer. My beloved, whether it is you personally, or someone you are praying for that is in a place of misery over their sin, just know this: GOD IS ALWAYS MERCIFUL TO THOSE WHO TRULY REPENT!

1 John 1:9 (ERV)

9 But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done. If it’s you, get rid of what is causing you to stumble. Lay aside the sin that so “easily” trips you up and return to Him.

Hebrews 12:1 (ERV)

12 We have all these great people around us as examples. Their lives tell us what faith means. So we, too, should run the race that is before us and never quit. We should remove from our lives anything that would slow us down and the sin that so often makes us fall.

Don’t simply acknowledge your sin, leave it! He doesn’t want to see you in great distress or misery. He loves you and will rescue you!

I love you all! PV