We can learn a lot from the things that God has said and promised, but the things that He has adamantly denied saying or doing are equally rich.
In Isaiah 45:19 He says: “I have not spoken in secret, in some hidden place. I did not tell Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain!’ I am the LORD, the one who speaks honestly, who makes reliable announcements.”
It’s often true that no one can say more bitter and condemning things against us than we tell ourselves. How awesome it is to remember that if God has not cut us off from mercy, then there is no room for despair. What God says, we should tremble at! But the fears and doubts of our own minds should never fill us with hopelessness. We might fear that something God has said shuts us out from all hope, but His words are a complete refutation of that fear.
Here are some of the things that God has assured us He did not do or say:
He is not unmerciful
Numbers 25:11 “… I did not consume [my people] in my zeal."
Ezekiel 20:17 "Yet I had pity on them and did not destroy them, so I did not make an end of them in the wilderness."
He does not place demanding burdens
2 Samuel 7:7 "I did not say … “Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?”’
Isaiah 43:23 "…. I did not burden you with offerings; I did not make you weary by demanding incense."
He does not reject sinners
Isaiah 50:6 "I offered my back to those who attacked, my jaws to those who tore out my beard; I did not hide my face from insults and spitting."
Matthew 9:13 "Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
What a blessing it is to know that we have a Friend in Heaven who has accomplished everything needed for our safe entry there. We can join the apostle Paul in his awe-inspiring declaration:
“…so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world,
by holding on to the word of life so that on the day of Christ, I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.” ~ Philippians 2:15-16
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