8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
Often in life people wonder what others think about them. Sometimes we wonder what God thinks about me. Well, if we are honest, we struggle with ourselves and think if I cannot love myself then how in the world could God love me? We feel ashamed for the things we have done and also the things we have not done, either! Not surprisingly, there are moments and times in our lives when we do not “feel” like praying, reading the Bible much less going to worship because of our feelings.
All of our hope for the new year and beyond lies in the cross of Jesus Christ. What we believe, what we do, who we are can be found in the cross of Christ! So when you are feeling down about yourself and life seems so discouraging take heart and remember what that little boy said to the patrolman, “…take me to the cross and I can find my way home.”
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