PRACTICES OF THE DIVINE

SATURDAY 25 JUNE 2022

Today, we are going to consider three important qualities or features regarded as the inherent part of God's divine nature.

Reference: Jeremiah 9:24 English Standard Version (ESV) "But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

Steadfast love, justice and righteousness are the essential principles of God's character. There can be no divine expression in your Christian life when these principles are wanting. In other words, this is how you know that God is at work. In the referenced verse, God Himself declares, "For in these things I delight", meaning that He enjoys practising them. Now we are going to look at these three constant practices observed by God in the earth and how He exercises them, because, the manifestations are the only way we can understand and know God.

As steadfast love practitioner, God's love is stable, consistent, and unconditional. It is unlike the love many experience in a world where giving and receiving is often conditional and fleeting. When the love of God is demonstrated in your life, you'll continually experience the imprint of divine joy in your soul. So when God, through the Prophet Jeremiah, declares that we should boast in His steadfast love, it means that we need to always remind ourselves that God's love never fails and cannot be compared to human, relational love which is dependent on condition or subject to change or decline. Therefore, the best lesson you can grasp from today's topic is that God practises an unfailing love and by His gracious love, we are sustained.

As the God of justice, firstly we must understand that all authority of divine justice resides in God. When His justice is taken out of the picture, wickedness, darkness, chaos and corrupting influences of this world become widespread or pervasive. Although every reasonable human being prefers to see justice reign and prevail in any given society, we don't always see that happen because of the forces of darkness present in this world. However, it is a virtue consistent with God's character and it promises rectitude and equity when exercised. For instance, Psalm 82:1-4 reads, "God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods. How long will you judge unjustly...Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; free them from the hand of the wicked" (NKJV). In other words, true justice comes from the hand of the Lord.

Moreso, universal justice started with God sending Christ to die for the sins of mankind. Due to His overflowing kindness and mercy, God gave His only begotten Son to the world so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 NIV). This is the greatest justice ever expressed by God and this justice is designed for all and sundry, in the sense that those who would ever confess and believe in Christ at any point in time, automatically receives it and are delivered from eternal damnation. So God's justice is sacrificial and beyond any human understanding.

God as a 'righteousness' practitioner, is a God that is perfect in exercising righteousness and this specific practice continues on earth and will endure throughout eternity. The righteousness of God is His divine attribute which describes Him as acting in the right way only. He can never be wrong; He cannot make mistakes, and He can never walk in error because His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. God is the genuine source of righteousness and His righteous activities are unleashed in the world through His children. No wonder the Bible says, 'For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed - a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith"' (Romans 1:17 NIV). So God unleashes the power of His righteousness in an active way, through the saints.

Furthermore, God practises His righteousness through us to effect His transforming power. 2 Corinthians 5:19 confirms that God's righteousness is also carried out or exercised through the saving power of the gospel given to us as the ministry of reconciliation. It reads, "For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation" (NLT). Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 10:14-18; Ephesians 2:4-7; Psalm 119:137.

Guided Prayer: Heavenly Father, you are the rock of ages and the ancient of days. You are the unfailing source of true love and righteousness. You remain upright forever and all your ways are perfect and pure, because you are a faithful and righteous God without any atom of injustice. Thank you for the audible voice of your Word which has strong inward impression in me and always illuminates my spirit, thereby enlightening my mind to know who you are and to trust in your unfailing character in Jesus' Name, Amen!