God's Tenderness

The tenderness and mercy of God is one of the things I might talk about when I meet with my mentees tonight. This is from the Mike Bickle book I've been studying--

God knows we can bring nothing to the bargaining table to motivate him to deal kindly with us. He is fully motivated within himself to be merciful. But this is an extremely difficult message for people to receive. We are often too hard on ourselves, thinking that condemning ourselves will somehow make it all better or will help God to love us.

When sincere lovers of Christ stumble due to weakness or immaturity they often hold it against themselves for months or even years. The truth is, when we ask for forgiveness, the Lord forgives us instantly. His tenderness toward us far surpasses our own. We fashion our sins into a cat-o’-nine-tails and flay our backs, thinking this pleases God when all it does it grieve him further.

The enemy works overtime against this revelation of God’s mercy so we won’t accept the full wonder of the Bridegroom’s tenderness toward us. Mercy is the foundation of a powerful lifestyle that would rip Satan’s kingdom to shreds. But most of the body of Christ is not established in even the most elementary understanding of God’s mercy; millions of believers are trapped in a flat-out false view of God. They see him as unreasonably fierce in his determination to get the job done, a demanding CEO, a hard-driving boss. And so, when we blow it, mess up, or stumble, we respond to God as we would to an angry taskmaster.

The only reason we are shocked when we stumble is because of our own religious pride. God is never surprised, disillusioned, or confused by our failings.

God knew we would mess up. He saw it way in advance and made provision for it from the very beginning. David said, “For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 103:14). He knows our frailty, both physical and emotional. I say this not to make an excuse for compromise or to give license for sin, but to emphasize a God who recognizes and looks for our determination toward obedience over and above human frailty. He sees the YES in the hearts of his people and says, “I understand your weakness, and yet I recognize your willingness to be wholly mine.”

He has intense affections filled with tenderness. He doesn’t wield a big hammer, hoping he can find good reason to smash us flat. Even while we grow and falter on our way to full maturity, he enjoys us, and his heart flows with extravagant compassion.

GOD IS FULL OF TENDER MERCY TOWARDS US, BLOGGERBUDDIES!