Hello, hello, happy Friday. Chilly, raining, we've gotten a lot of rain, which is awesome. Probably
still need some more. Good day to stay indoors, I guess.
Just wanted to share some encouraging words, I guess. Essentially, God isn't angry with you.
He's not in a bad mood. He is love. He's compassionate. He's merciful. He's full of joy. He is the
source of joy and comfort and love. It would be outside of his character. He may wish you to be
better. He may long for you to understand more clearly the errors of your ways. But he's
motivated by love in every situation.
In Exodus 34, 6, the Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, "Yahweh the Lord, the God of
compassion and mercy. I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness." That's
who he is. He is full of compassion, full of mercy, full of grace, full of love, full of faithfulness, full
of every good and perfect thing. It's who he is.
Zephaniah 3, 16, "For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will
delight in you with gladness. With his love he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you
with joyful songs." Like he sings over you. He delights in you. You're his prized possession. He
sent his son to die for you so that he could be in relationship with you. There's no greater love
than that.
2 Corinthians 1, 3, "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful
Father and the source of all comfort."
Ephesians 2, 8, "God saved you by his grace when you believed. You can't take credit for it. It's a
gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for good things we've done. So none of us can boast
about it. Amen."
He didn't love us because we were good. He loved us because he created us in his image. He
created us to be in relationship. And he desires for us to be in that perfect place. For we are
God's masterpiece. He created us anew in Christ Jesus so we could do the things he planned for
us long ago. He is in an amazing mood.
Psalm 18, verse 16, "He reached down from heaven and rescued me. He drew me out of deep
waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemies, those who hated me and were too strong
for me. They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress, but the Lord supported me. He
led me to a place of safety. He rescued me because he delights in me."
He's not angry with me. He knows the enemy. He knows his tactics. He knows what deception is
like. He knows what our sinful nature is like. But he loves us unconditionally.
Think of, here I'll just share the story about Saul who became Paul, right? When he had that
encounter on the road approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven
suddenly shone down around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, "Saul,

Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Who are you, Lord? I said, and the voice replied, "I am Jesus
the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting."
The people with me saw the light but didn't understand the voice that was speaking to me. I
asked, "What should I do, Lord?" And the Lord told me, "Get up and go into Damascus and there
you will be told everything you are to do."
Now, this is a person who is hunting down believers of Christ, having them killed, having them
imprisoned. He was totally contrary to everything about the Lord. And the Lord didn't express
anger when he knocked him off his horse, if you will, and blinded him. He got his attention and
he says, "Now you go and get up and go into Damascus and I'll share with you what's next."
Now, he obviously saw God, the Lord got Saul's attention. And here's what Saul says, what Paul
says later in 1 TimothyI thank Jesus Christ, our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work.
He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him. Even though I used to
blaspheme the name of Christ, in my insolence I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on
me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was. He
filled me with faith, the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus. Man, it took a guy who was
totally contrary to him, had compassion on him, filled him with love and faith, allowed him to
change his entire life around by coming into relationship with him. He didn't get what he
deserved. If he got what he deserved, like all of us, we would deserve death. But the gift of God
is eternal life through this son, Jesus.
Romans 5, I'll just read out of this, Romans 5 starting in verse 1. Therefore, since we've been
made right in God's sights by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our
Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved
privilege where we now stand and we can confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's
glory. He's not angry with you. He's not disappointed in you. He's not mad at you. He wants the
best for you. Can we rejoice? We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we
know that they helped us to develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character
and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will never lead to
disappointment, for we know how dearly God loves us because he's given us the Holy Spirit to
fill our hearts with love.
I think about that now. The person of Christ who's in us is the Holy Spirit. The person of the Holy
Spirit produces:
• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Patience
• Kindness
• Goodness
• Faithfulness
• Gentleness
• Self-control
That's what he produces in us. Anger, jealousy, strife, condemnation, unworthiness, all those
things come from the evil one himself and from the world. So the Lord wants us to be convicted
of our righteousness. Amen. Help us to see who we are, how he sees us. When we were utterly
helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not
be willing to die for an upright person, but though someone might perhaps be willing to die for
a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die
for us while we were still sinners. And since we've been made right in God's sight by the blood
of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's condemnation. For since our friendship with God
was restored by the death of his son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved
through the life of his son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God
because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
Oh, dear Lord, thank you for being our friend. Thank you for loving us unconditionally. Thank
you for not giving us what we deserve, but giving us what we don't deserve, which is
undeserved favor. Lord, for your grace and your mercy on us. Thank you for loving us while we
were yet sinners and still loving us when we do. Thank you for your son who was the perfect
sacrifice for us to be able to celebrate the life, the new life that we have in you, that we truly are
your prized possession. Lord, I just am so grateful today that you are for us and not against us,
Lord. Thank you that you would never leave us or forsake us. An overwhelming victory is ours
even through you. Help us to see more clearly your character, God, that we won't have the
wrong impression about who you are as God, that you love us, you are compassionate, you are
all forgiving, you are filled with faithfulness and love. And thank you, God, for producing that in
us through your Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. Amen.
So, have a great day and we'll see you on Sunday, I hope. Otherwise, I'll be back on here. I'm not
sure about Monday morning right now. I know that my daughter Miranda is here from
Tennessee for our son's graduation from college. Elijah graduates from NDSU tomorrow. So, but
she has to go backto the airport on Monday. So, I'm not sure if I will be on here Monday
morning or not. But love you, bless you, and we'll talk soon. See ya.p>Love ya, bless ya, and
we'll talk soon.