God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. – Nahum 1:2 KJV.
549-Know The God You Serve_2_13102021
Please click the link above to download the full text of this Ministration.
The Devotional for today is the second part of the Devotional with the same title where the Christian was advised to know more about the character of the God that he/she has chosen to serve. It is simply impossible to work with someone whose character one does not know and not have regular frictions. Same applies to the Christian who decides to worship Jehovah but does not have any knowledge or may be has partial knowledge of his person. This insufficient or complete lack of knowledge probably accounts for the manner in which Christians relate with Jehovah, especially when in His presence and end up getting hurt.
That Christians lack respect for Jehovah when in His presence is no longer news as Christians can be seen, even during worship sessions getting involved with activities that they dare not get involved with, when they are before smaller gods or worse still, human gods like their bosses at work or their human benefactors.
No wonder Jehovah too decides to inflict His anger on them, an action which accounts for most of the many misfortunes that Christians in particular experience but choose to blame unseen enemies for. If only they knew the god that Jehovah is, they will have started their inquests into the cause of their situation from Him. The notion that Jehovah does not inflict pain is so rife amongst Christians but nothing can be farther from the truth. He will indeed consciously inflict pain on anyone who has gone out of the way to act in a manner that is deserving of His anger and wrath.
However, the Prophet did not stop at revealing only the negative characteristics of Jehovah as He was quick to identify some attributes that many will want to relate with about Him which are listed below;
- Jehovah is a good god – Nahum 1:7a. Despite all the above character traits of Jehovah, He still remains a god to be desired as He has the natural tendency to always do positive things and associating with Him in a right manner is an experience that anyone will never regret. God is indeed good all the time as most Christians say but only to all those who are obedient to all His instructions – 2Cor. 9:6-8; Psa. 145:9.
- Jehovah is a strong tower in the day of trouble – Nahum 1:7b. Being in good stead with Jehovah is as much an assurance of victory in times of trouble. The wise author of the biblical book of Proverbs says the name of Jehovah is a strong tower which the righteous runs into and is assured of safety – Prov. 18:10. All towers are built with the intention that they will provide a platform for victory in times of battle but not all can provide the assurance of victory over all kinds of challenges like Jehovah will do.
- Jehovah is able to recognise those that trust Him – Nahum 1:7c. It may be possible to deceive men that one is a believer in Jehovah but it is simply impossible to deceive Jehovah since He has the ability through His Word to discern the thoughts of men. The one who claims to be a Christian must be seen not only by men, but more importantly by Jehovah, to believe and have absolute trust in Him. Anything different will just be a waste of time as He cannot be deceived.
Although these identified character traits of Jehovah are in no way exhaustive of his personality as He is a god whose personality is beyond what any human being can comprehend (Job 11:7-12), they should be sufficient to steer anyone away from His anger and wrath and into the path of His goodness and mercy. To continue in those acts that incur His wrath and remain in expectation of His continued mercy is to be living in a world of self deceit and that seems to be the world that the Christian today is living in, in relation to godly matters – Rom. 6:1-2.
Christians seem to believe that all they need do is to come back to Jehovah with the act of remorse and in submission, and they will receive forgiveness without having to pay for the damage caused. What a complete falsehood as the sinner may be forgiven but there will always be the need for restitution. More so, it will be wrong to think that one can continue with that cycle and in the process continue to abuse the goodness and mercy of God – Rom. 6:1-2. Nothing can be farther from the truth than this. The thought that led to the act may be forgiven but the effect of the act will not go unrewarded. Just as Moses aspired to do (Exo. 33:12-23), learn more about this God as there are new things to know about Him on a daily basis. That is the way that your relationship with Him can bring you that expected joy in this world and in the life after life. May He grant us the Grace to know Him more and more in Jesus name. Amen.
