Numbers 14:18 ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’

If you have got someone trying to convince you that God is full of love and grace and has abundant mercy and we can get away with anything… get them to read this verse!

Yes God is full or grace and mercy, but He is also just. That means He will not turn His back on the law. If something is wrong, it is wrong!

If we go off and do something wrong in front of Him just because we know He can forgive us we are being evil by not just testing God but also telling lies to Him and everyone around us.

Don’t test God because you will come off second best!

Psalm 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.

Just as precious as a child is to their parent, so we are to God. He cares for us with tender loving compassion.

We can describe His mercy toward us as being rich and plentiful because there seems to be no end to it and it is refreshed every day.

When we do go astray He will try to persuade us back time and time again just as a true friend would do.

This is all so because God has chosen it to be this way!

Exodus 20:5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Would you dare tell a policeman that you are innocent if they have just caught you read-handed breaking the law?

Sadly we live in a world where that sort of thing is encouraged by lawyers who work to get guilty people set free – sounds a bit like Jerusalem during Christ’s captivity!

God is a jealous God. He knows when we do wrong. He knows when we lie. He knows when we follow others instead of Him.

Don’t try and cover up things before God. He already knows the truth. Admit it to Him.