The God of the Bible

When God says something, we should listen to what He says. When God says it twice, we should really listen. When God says it three times, we need to stop and listen carefully.

Exodus 34:6

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”

Psalm 86:15

But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Psalm 103:8

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

God says the same thing in each of these three verses. They declare who God is.

God is compassionate.

Compassion is an awareness of others’ distress and a desire to alleviate it.

God is totally aware of everything going on in your life. He knows the joys and sorrows of your life. He knows when you are going through difficult times.

He is not only aware of it but He also wants to alleviate the distress you are feeling.

Some distress comes because of poor choices you are making.

Some distress comes because we live a fallen world.

God is willing and able to give you relief from distress coming from either or both of these sources. 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living trusting God’s compassion.

God is gracious.

Grace is the fact that God loves you no matter what. It is God’s unmerited favor for you.

In the movie The Shack, God say that he is particularly fond of everybody that is mentioned to Him.

God’s love for you and me is based on His character, not our behavior. He pours out His grace so that we can experience it and be drawn into a relationship with Him. Grace is never earned because it can’t be; it is simply given.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing God’s grace and then living in gratitude to God for it.

God is slow to anger.

God’s first response to us is never anger.

God hates sin.

God will pour out His wrath on sin.

God loves us.

God pours out His love on us.

When we sin, God does not get angry with us. It breaks His heart when we sin.

Anger is God’s very, very, very last response when it comes to us.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is not living in fear of God but in a loving relationship with God.

God is abounding in love.

God is love. He is not a God of love. He is love.

God’s nature is love.

God’s desire is to love.

God’s actions show love.

The world tries to picture God as harsh, mean, apathic, and angry.

God abounds in love. God is overflowing with love.

While our first thought might be fear or anger or hurt, God’s first reaction is love.

When God says that He loves you, it is not a sentimental feeling. It is a willing choice to show you favor and work in your life for your best.   

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living relying on God’s love and then passing it on to others.

God is abounding in faithfulness.

God is faithful.

God will always follow through on what He promises.

He will never say things just to impress us.

He will never say things just to make us feel good.

He will never say things to manipulate us.

God always speaks truth in love.

God always follows through with what He says.

God’s faithfulness is not predicated on our faithfulness. Even when we are not faithful, God is.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is depending on the truth that God will always fulfill what He says.

God is not like us. We cannot view God through our human eyes. We have to view God through the lens of what the Bible says about Him.

The Bible says that God is:

Compassionate

Gracious

Slow to Anger

Abounding in Love

Abounding in faithfulness

Let us let God produce those characteristics in us.

Joining the God of Scripture Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                    Joe