Justice, Light & Heat

Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
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Isaiah 30:26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
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Isaiah 30:33 For a burning place [7] has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.
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It seems that the justice of God, like a furnace, has different effects on differing materials. Whatever parts have been submitted to Him and redeemed, are turned to Gold and made part of an eternal reward. Whatever parts are horded away, whether physical resources or natural abilities, will be lost if not invested/redeemed. The same holy heat that purifies and sanctifies our lives is the heat that judges us for misusing and selfishly squandering our means. Where, under this light is there a place to hide? There is only one place to hide from you, and it is in you. The only protection from the heat of your justice is the shelter of your grace.

A Good God & Sea Glass

Psalm 5:3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you [5] and watch. 4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.
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Most of us, if asked, would say that we would prefer a good God over an evil God. Plenty of people have openly worshipped evil gods, but that is not really very practical. Logic would follow then that most of us would also prefer a God that delights in goodness rather than evil. However, most of us also do a lot of things that aren't good and hope that God will let us get away with it . So can we have it both ways? We know, deep inside, that a good God is better than a bad god, and yet we often live our lives as though ruled by a bad god. Assuming that God exists and that our desires have no control over that fact, we have to contend with the difficult reality that we are not always calibrated to worship God in his goodness. In fact, as we draw close to His goodness, we often shy away, like those attempting to look directly into the sun. His glory and righteousness are too bright... and yet... we were created in his image, from the beginning intended to shine like stars, or like lamps on a stand. How is that possible when the goodness of God terrifies me? His goodness is so good that it almost seems bad to me by comparison. And this is what one might call the fear of God which leads to wisdom. But we know that perfect love casts out fear and that God, in his goodness, is the essence of Love. His Love is able to overcome the danger of death. He has so much Love for me that His goodness can shine through my dim sea glass of a life and make it bright.
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My life is in fact like sea glass. Esther loves sea glass.