2020 Daily Devotion - Day 233

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A great many people think of God as someone who is harsh and unsympathetic. They see Him as callous and insensitive. As a result, they keep their distance from Him. Usually, people have come to this opinion about God because of the events of their lives. From having been abused as a child or some other awful experience, people develop a negative outlook concerning God. Sometimes their negative opinion about God comes from a tragic experience with religion. However, in these examples, the ones who should be blamed are the people who broke their hearts.

Our problem is God created all of us with “free will”. He could prevent all of the terrible things which have happened, but then He would have had to create us as robots or machines. In His great love for us, He created us with “free will” and unfortunately, we use it against Him and each other.

But what is God’s opinion about us? How does He view us? Well, here is what God told the Prophet Zephaniah about God’s thoughts toward you and me.

Zephaniah 3:17 NRSV
The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.

God is a warrior who has come as Jesus to do battle with the effects of our “free will”. As a result, He has established the victory we have over sin and death. Can you imagine God loves you so much, He actually sings over you? He loves you so much He breaks out into singing whenever He sees you. Let this inspire your day today.

Pray with me:
Heavenly Father, it is difficult to get our minds around the idea that You sing with joy over us. It is difficult because in the past, we have seen You as somewhat coldhearted. But now, knowing You sing over us, free us to have a different understanding. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Yours because of Him,
Pastor John R. Steward
Senior Pastor
Mount of Olives Church
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