{"id":18795,"date":"2014-03-31T00:15:07","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T04:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=18795"},"modified":"2014-03-30T21:38:56","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T01:38:56","slug":"gods-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/03\/31\/gods-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"God’s Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We have now entered the season of Lent. \u00a0For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in light of His Words. \u00a0\u271e \u2665<\/p>\n

During this season, here on the\u00a0Seeking Him<\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0devotional blog, we have chosen to focus our devotionals on Jesus\u2019 instructions and admonition communicated in Matthew chapter 5\u2014the Beatitudes. \u00a0Jesus said, \u201cBlessed are\u2026\u201d and He went on to give instruction as to how to be \u201cblessed<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0To be \u2018blessed\u2019 is to \u2018be happy, or to be envied.\u2019 \u00a0 Truly for the Christian, we ARE blessed\u2014oh, how very blessed we are! \u00a0Those who observe our lives should clearly be able to tell that we ARE blessed\u2014and that we KNOW it! \u271e \u2665<\/p>\n

Please consider Jesus\u2019 instructions along with us. \u00a0We pray that our words will encourage you and spur you on to be prepare your hearts for the joyous celebration of His Resurrection! \u00a0\u271e \u2665<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, <\/span><\/strong>
\nfor they will be satisfied. <\/span><\/strong>
\nMatthew 5:6<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve always been one to want fairness and for justice to come into play. \u00a0Before I got saved, the ideals I held said that, if you did wrong, you should be punished.<\/p>\n

So, imagine how shocked I was when I got saved and actually started reading the Bible for myself. \u00a0A Christian murderer forgiven and used to write most of the New Testament (the Apostle Paul). \u00a0I myself am not surprised that I favored the Old Testament to the New. In the Old Testament people got what they deserved\u2014Sodom and Gomorrah burned to the ground; the Israelites were hard-headed and -hearted and were made to wander around the Promised Land until they got it together; even the man after God’s own heart (David) suffered the consequences of his affair.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, people should have consequences for their actions. But I understood this in an extreme sense. Talk to me about justice, I could give you the Law. Then talk to me about mercy or grace and you would see me struggle to make the connection between the three.<\/p>\n

Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.
\nYou rule with a scepter of justice.
\nYou love justice and hate evil.
\nTherefore God, your God, has anointed you,
\npouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.
\nPsalms 45:6-7<\/p>\n

Mercy, grace and justice…in my mind, there was no way they could mix. \u00a0God is a mighty God, a Sovereign God, a loving, caring, merciful, and just God\u2014and He understands the balance between the three.<\/p>\n

Jesus is what mercy, grace, and justice look like wrapped up into one.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0And now when I see wrong, I don’t excuse it. \u00a0But I don’t try to bring the gavel down so quickly; instead I seek God and ask for His insight. \u00a0Jesus died for me, for you, for all of us! \u00a0One God to perfectly live among us. \u00a0One man to die for the world’s sin.<\/p>\n

Where is the justice in Calvary? \u00a0An innocent man died for all of mankind. \u00a0I am free and I am forgiven and I experience grace because my God said He loved me so much! \u00a0He could not imagine living apart from me and so He came and did what only He could do.<\/p>\n

Justice? \u00a0What we see as just is not often what God sees as just. \u00a0God’s justice is seasoned with grace and mercy. \u00a0And oh! how thankful I am! \u00a0Thankful that Jesus did not stay in the grave. \u00a0Thankful that Jesus was given His throne in heaven. \u00a0Thankful that Jesus will be coming again.<\/p>\n

Justice? \u00a0There is a big picture when it comes to God’s justice. \u00a0Your situation may not seem fair, but our God is a God of justice! \u00a0Seek Him. \u00a0Ask Him to show you! \u00a0And remember…the battle is the Lord’s to fight.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 * \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0~\u00a0\u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0*<\/h4>\n

Thank you, Lord, for Your awesomeness, Your amazingness and Your never-ending love. \u00a0We pray in Jesus\u2019 Name, Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have now entered the season of Lent. \u00a0For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[3146,127,5948,3367,1287,425,5950,5784,1624,5949,3174],"class_list":["post-18795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-ahmee-bronaugh","tag-beatitudes","tag-blessed-are-those-who-hunger-and-thirst-for-righteousness-for-they-shall-be-satisfied","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-god-is-a-god-of-justice","tag-jesus-speaking","tag-matthew-56","tag-psalms-456-7","tag-seeking-him-devotional","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-4T9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18795"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18797,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18795\/revisions\/18797"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}