Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Does God love everybody? If you believe what John 3:16 says, you have to answer YES.
But does God admire and respect everybody for what he or she is? Is it possible for God to love someone and at the same time "abhor" him/her? Yes! If God "abhors" someone it doesn't mean He doesn't love that person, but only that God is disgusted with the pride, arrogance, selfishness, willful rebellion, of that person. Yes, God loves and pities a fool, but according to very clear teaching in the Bible He must have a very hard time respecting a fool. And there is nothing in the Bible that even faintly suggests that even though He is "longsuffering," that God's patience with fools is everlasting.
For example: "The great God that formed all things ... rewardeth the fool" (Prov. 26:10). How? "Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools" (19:29, the "stripes" are an evidence of God's love for the fool).
The Bible does not picture God as delighting in hurling lightning bolts at fools: those who "hate knowledge" and "despise" all of God's reproof shall simply "eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools ["it's the economy!" say those who don't care about decency or uprightness in national leadership] shall destroy them" (1:29-32).
And there is this insightful gem of divine wisdom: "The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit; he who is abhorred of the Lord will fall therein" (Prov. 22:14). In the eyes of heaven such a person does not have any respect. But let's not forget: God still loves a fool. David was one--he walked right into the "pit" with his eyes wide open. But oh, how he repented! In dust and ashes forever after! It's a great prayer to pray, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" but maybe it's an even greater one to pray, "God be merciful to me a fool!" The Good News? God hears that prayer.
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 8, 1999.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" Web site resides at: http://1888message.org/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to: dailybread@1888message.org
------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
Does God love everybody? If you believe what John 3:16 says, you have to answer YES.
But does God admire and respect everybody for what he or she is? Is it possible for God to love someone and at the same time "abhor" him/her? Yes! If God "abhors" someone it doesn't mean He doesn't love that person, but only that God is disgusted with the pride, arrogance, selfishness, willful rebellion, of that person. Yes, God loves and pities a fool, but according to very clear teaching in the Bible He must have a very hard time respecting a fool. And there is nothing in the Bible that even faintly suggests that even though He is "longsuffering," that God's patience with fools is everlasting.
For example: "The great God that formed all things ... rewardeth the fool" (Prov. 26:10). How? "Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools" (19:29, the "stripes" are an evidence of God's love for the fool).
The Bible does not picture God as delighting in hurling lightning bolts at fools: those who "hate knowledge" and "despise" all of God's reproof shall simply "eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools ["it's the economy!" say those who don't care about decency or uprightness in national leadership] shall destroy them" (1:29-32).
And there is this insightful gem of divine wisdom: "The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit; he who is abhorred of the Lord will fall therein" (Prov. 22:14). In the eyes of heaven such a person does not have any respect. But let's not forget: God still loves a fool. David was one--he walked right into the "pit" with his eyes wide open. But oh, how he repented! In dust and ashes forever after! It's a great prayer to pray, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" but maybe it's an even greater one to pray, "God be merciful to me a fool!" The Good News? God hears that prayer.
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 8, 1999.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------
Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" Web site resides at: http://1888message.org/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to: dailybread@1888message.org
------------------------------
Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
