“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness, and tolerance, and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to His deed: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”
I have experienced the truth of God’s kindness bringing me to repentance. I was desperately seeking the truth about the Bible and God. I wanted to know if it was true. He promises those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled. He also promises us He will reveal Himself to us if we seek Him with all our heart. I did this for some time before I had a full revelation of knowledge that Jesus was sent from my Heavenly Father to be my Saviour; me, Teresa Roberts! This encounter was just between God and me. Even though someone was praying for me, and present, I was only aware of a Presence I had never felt before. I know this was the moment I was baptised in the Holy Spirit. I knew a new Presence had taken up residence inside of me, and I would never be alone again.
I was brought up in church, and I wanted to believe there was a God, but I didn’t know Him. I actually talked to Him as long as I can remember, but deep down, I doubted because I only knew about Him. How amazing that the God of the universe revealed Himself to a little nobody like me! When He began to reveal His love for me, I fell deeply in love with this Godhead of a Trinity including His Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. We began to develop a very personal, intimate relationship which has only deepened with time.
God shows no partiality. He doesn’t have the same value system as this world, thankfully! He cares for the lowly, the humble, the afflicted; He cares for all. It is not His will that any should perish. We will never know love till we allow Him to reveal and define our value according to Him and His Word.
However God is righteous and holy. He hates evil, and we should too. God has given each one of us a free will to choose good or evil, God or satan. There is no neutral ground in God’s Word. It doesn’t exist. Reality is if you aren’t living for the One true God, you are living for satan, the master deceiver, and liar. As we look at our scripture reading today we see that because of stubborness and unrepentant hearts we are storing up wrath for ourselves on the day of judgement and wrath from Almighty God.
I am so thankful the love of God precedes the wrath of God. He is a God of wrath. It is true. His wrath burns against evil. We need to know this truth. We need to be sharing these truths with those we love and care about. We don’t need to worry about judging anyone or seeking vengeance, because God said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” Every wrong will be made right by the only righteous judge there is: God Himself. Only He can judge each man righteously, because only He knows the heart of man. I hope you are comforted as I am by these truths.
It takes humility to become a child of God. We must humble ourselves in the sight of God and His Word. Humility is a forgotten word not only in the world, but in the church also. Yet God demands humility. In Philippians 2:8 we read:
“Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
God’s Word tells us,
“He who humbles himself will be exalted, and he who exalts himself will be humbled”.
(Matthew 23:12)
James 4:6 tells us,
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
1 Peter 5:6 states:
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on Him, because He cares for you.
These are only a few verses out of many. May we be intentional about humbling ourselves before our Lord before we pray. We need to come back to this basic truth for being a true follower of our Saviour whose life was the epitome of Him humbling Himself. Remember how He humbled Himself at the last supper, and took a towel and washed the disciple’s feet?
(John 13:1-5)
Let us consider the last verses of today’s scriptures, and strive for deeds to do good, seeking His glory, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life He longs to give each one of us. Let us heed the warning for choosing selfish ambition and disobeying the truth, obeying unrighteousness, therefore, receiving wrath and indignation. We are promised distress and tribulation for the man who does evil, but glory, honor, and peace to the one who chooses righteousness.
It seems like a “no brainer” to me. Please allow Him to reveal how much He loves you. Know your value was defined by Him at the cross. That is how much Jesus wanted to reconcile you to His Father through His spilled blood at the cross. It is all true, but only He can make it real and personal to you. He longs to reveal His love for you before the day of wrath comes, and it is coming as sure as the birth, crucifixion, and resurrection came in His timing. It is His kindness that leads us to repentance. Allow Him to reveal kindness as you have never known! Then our lives will be lived out doing good simply for the love of God. It will be our constant motive as we strive to return the love He keeps us immersed in daily if we allow Him too.
In His love.
Teresa Roberts
Masterpiece Fitness
276-237-6680
I was blessed to participate in the Cloudsplitter 25k in Norton, Virginia this weekend, and was delightfully shocked to be the 3rd woman to finish! But honestly the true reward was the journey to the destination. I was swallowed up in the spectacular beauty of this fall! I shall be eternally grateful to my Father for His creation!! It is a daily reward living in my mountains ❣️
