Goodness

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“To fear and not be afraid, that is the paradox of faith.”
A. W. Tozer

This morning after I studied the Word of God I read a chapter from A. W. Tozer’s book The Knowledge Of the Holy. The chapter I read is titled The Goodness of God. God truly is a good and loving God, but my concept of God has not always been one of a good God. As a child I can recall thinking of God as One who punishes more than One who commends us for our good deeds. Last night at an AA meeting I heard someone say that they were turned around when they realized that God was not a “Gonna gets ya” kind of God, but a good and loving God. Much of God’s goodness I don’t understand, and this morning Tozer has shed some light on the subject. Please share with me this excerpt from his book……………..JRE

“Repentance, though necessary, is not meritorious but a condition for receiving the gracious gift of pardon which God gives of His goodness………….

“The whole outlook of mankind might be changed if we could all believe that we dwell under a friendly sky and that the God of heaven, though exalted in power and majesty, is eager to be friends with us.

“But sin has made us timid and self-conscious, as well it might. Years of rebellion against God have bred in us a fear that cannot be overcome in a day. The captured rebel does not enter willingly into the presence of the king he has so long fought unsuccessfully to overthrow. But if he is truly penitent he may come, trusting only in the loving-kindness of his Lord, and the past will not be held against him. Meister Eckhart encourages us to remember that, when we return to God, even if our sins were as great in number as all mankind’s put together, still God would not count them against us, but would have as much confidence in us as if we had never sinned.

“Now someone who in spite of his past sins honestly wants to become reconciled to God may cautiously inquire, ‘If I come to God, how will He act toward me? What kind of disposition has He? What will I find Him to be like?’

“The answer is that He will be found to be exactly like Jesus. ‘He that hath seen me,’ Jesus said, ‘hath seen the Father.’ Christ walked with men on earth that He might show them what God is like and make known the true nature of God to a race that had wrong ideas about Him. This was only one of the things He did while here in the flesh, but this he did with beautiful perfection.

“From Him we learn how God acts toward people. The hypocritical, the basically insincere, will find Him cold and aloof, as they once found Jesus; but the penitent will find Him merciful; the self-condemned will find Him generous and kind. To the frightened He is friendly, to the poor in spirit He is forgiving, to the ignorant, considerate; to the weak, gentle; to the stranger hospitable.”

A. W. TOZER…………The Knowledge Of The Holy, page 83-84

[cmc]

Wow... He gives us such a gift of repentence. He calls us to Himself, allows us to apologize to Him for our sins, and graciously forgives every insult of our sinfulness.
Thank You Lord that just as I am, I may freely come to You.
Amen, toad.

[gimmeid]

"The captured rebel..."
...

[gimmeid]

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

"Is Aslan quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"That you will dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver. "If there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or just plain silly."

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."



From The Silver Chair

"Will you promise not to do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.

"I make no promise," said the Lion...

"Do you eat girls?" she asked.

"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

"I dare not come and drink," said Jill.

"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.

"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."

"There is no other stream," said the Lion.

--C.S. Lewis