God Is Not Angry At You.

God is not angry at you.

Whenever I see Street Preachers screaming at the top of their lungs, proclaiming that every single person around them is going to Hell, I cannot stand it! These “preachers” attempt to scare people into the Kingdom of God. They make God out to be an angry, abusive, and distant Father that is waiting to punish every slight act of disobedience with eternal fire, offering no mercy.

I want to share a powerful verse with you from the Psalms that I read today.

“For You, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive
rich in faithful love to all who call on You.” – Psalm 86:5

I want to draw three applications from this verse.

1. All of us are sinful and in need of God’s forgiveness.
Don’t get me wrong. When I say that God is not angry at you, I do not mean He will not punish sin. Scripture teaches that Hell is hot and eternity is a LONG time and all those who reject Jesus Christ will suffer for all eternity.

With that being said, God desires ALL to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the Gospel (That’s why Jesus lived a PERFECT life and died a BRUTAL death so you don’t have to!). He does NOT delight in the death of the wicked.

All of us NEED forgiveness – from the pastor to the prostitute; we all stand condemned apart from Jesus.

2. God is ready RIGHT NOW to forgive your sin.
You do not have to wait until you “have your life together” before you ask for forgiveness. We see all throughout Scripture that God stands ready to forgive us of ALL our sin. Our sin can ONLY be forgiven by putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Brennan Manning, in his book Ruthless Trust, helps us understand God’s love:

“With a strong affirmation of our goodness and a gentle understanding of our weakness, God is loving us – you and me – this moment, just as we are and not as we should be. There is nothing any of us can do to increase His love for us and nothing we can do to diminish it.”

3. In order to be forgiven, you need to CALL on God!
There is a condition attached to this verse. Yes, God stands ready to forgive your sin but YOU have to do something. James teaches, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. (James 4:8)”

You absolutely cannot afford to stand distant from God!

He promises if you draw near to Him (regardless of the junk and sin your life) He will draw near to you. Then, if you confess your sin (which means agreeing with God about it) and repent by the power of the Holy Spirit (turning FROM your sin and TO Jesus) you will be forgiven.

I want to invite you today to confess your sin, turn to Jesus, and know that the Father stands READY to forgive you of ALL sin (see 1 John 1:9)!