Daily Devotional with Dr. Duane Brooks
March 24, 2017
Psalm 103:11-14 
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
 As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
 for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
New International Version (NIV)
                My friend who lost his young granddaughter to a drug-dealer's stray bullet heard God's voice clearly.  "If you do not forgive, I cannot help you."  What do we do when we face suffering caused by others?  What does God do?  He forgives.  And why doesn't God pour out his wrath on us as sinners?  David who knew both sin and suffering teaches us about God.

                God's love is bigger than we knew.  As high as the heavens above the earth.  Watching rockets launch when I was young reminded me how massive our world is.  The skies are high above.  Just so God's love for us extends from heaven to our hearts.

                God's forgiveness is completely effective.  On a limitless plane draw a line from east to west.  When will it meet itself?  Just so effectively has God removed our sins from us.  He has dropped them in an ocean and marked the bank, "No fishing."

                God's compassion is based on his knowledge of us.  Just as a father knows his children and has compassion on them, so our Father has compassion on us because he knows how we are formed and remembers we are dust.  This does not make sin OK.  It does mean that we can be forgiven.

                Forgiveness flummoxes us.  We struggle to forgive others so we struggle to trust in God's forgiveness.  But without his forgiveness, God cannot help us and we won't be able to forgive ourselves or others.  Live forgiven today!
Pray with me:  
Father, thank you for your amazing love, forgiveness and kindness.  Help us to believe that your love is infinite and your forgiveness complete.  Empower us today to live in your healing grace.  Make us conduits of mercy we pray.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.   
I want to invite you to join me in memorizing 52 passages this year from the 2017 set of Fighter Verses.  You can find the Fighter Verses App at the App Store on your phones or via this link  http://fighterverses.com/the-verses/fighter-verses/. As we study the Bible this year, let's look at each text and learn what it says about God. 
Joyfully, 
Duane 
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