What is your image of God? God is a heavenly Father who comforts us and is merciful.
Corinthians 1:3 states “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort”
God is your heavenly Father when you accept Jesus as your Savior. What is His nature? The Word says God’s nature is gracious (not judgmental, not fault-finding, not holding a grudge). He has great mercy- not just occasionally, but all the time.
God is merciful. He is as tender as a grandfather. He is loving and longing to give good things to you. Your natural father may not have been perfect. But God is a perfect father.
God is the father of mercies (plural). There are two mercies I want to address today. The first is forgiveness and the second is healing.
God is merciful to forgive you when you fail or sin.
He promised us in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We often emphasize the confession side. But equally important is the “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” side. God forgives and forgets. Period. He doesn’t hold a grudge or bad impression of you. So God’s total forgiveness is a huge mercy. It is undeserved because Jesus paid the total debt.
A second mercy we sometimes forget is the mercy of healing.
If you are reading this today you have been healed of childhood diseases and perhaps more serious issues. Daily we are being healed because healing is wired into our bodies. But many of us have also experienced a divine physical healing that came because of God’s mercy. God has healed me of so many issues throughout my life and I thank Him for this mercy.
Today take a minute to thank our wonderful Heavenly Father for His mercies and comfort.
