God's Not Mad

I remember the day I was reading my Bible and the truth that God is never angry at me jumped off the page.  I felt a bolt of energy fill my body.  I had to move and sing and wonder and talk to God.  Were my feet even touching the floor?  I no longer carried weight.  My life was transformed!

I don't remember the specific scripture that I read that day.  I looked for it later and found that the Bible is replete with scriptures that speak of God's unconditional love.  Here's an example in Isaiah 54:9-10:

9 For this is like the days of Noah to Me; as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.
10 For though the mountains should depart and the hills be shaken or removed, yet My love and kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace and completeness be removed, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you.

I had been in church all of my life.  How did I not know this?  I got some insight from raising teenagers.  I wanted them to have fear of consequences.  I wanted to instill some dread of me as their disciplinarian mother into their psyche.  I loved my kids and hoped that being aware of the consequences of bad behavior would encourage their good behavior.  That's the way I was raised.  I could see why pastors, who love their flock, would want to encourage good behavior in their followers the same way. 

Attempts to control behavior from the outside in may work to some extent.  Knowing the unconditional, effusive love of God that transforms behavior from the inside out is better!  That's how God raises His kids and leads His church. 

I'm so glad God isn't mad at me!  He just loves me!

I love this life!

5-25-12  Here's another one:
Isaiah 43:25

New Living Translation (NLT)

²⁵ “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake
    and will never think of them again.