Q3. God's Grace

[linda bass]

God longs to show us grace because He has compassion for His people.

What this says about God's character is, He is a God of justice,but also of mercy.

What prevents God's grace is not confessing our sin and not waiting upon the Lord.

There have been times when I have experienced the kind of guidance Isaiah mentions. However,have to confess that most of the time I get so distracted by the lure of the world and my own problems,that I am not always sensitive to God's voice.

What is necessary in us so that we hear God's voice is,being obedient to His commands and His will for our life.

[wifee]

3a)God is loving and is compassionate,wanting to restore his relationship with us

.b)God is patient, loving,faithful, long-suffering,merciful, always just,kind and compassionate.

c)our sin,pride,rebellioness,and disobedience breaking our covenant of love with God.

d)yes when seeking new church, testing doors that opened, being humble to follow paths even when not intially obvious&needing to step out in faith,resulting clear signs that found place of God’s will at this time.

e)In humility knowing need to keep reading the Word daily,keeping close to Lord,being filled with Spirit,listening as pray to hear God’s voice through His Spirit at work in us.Trusting the Lord&obeying him.

 

[JoanG]

God loves us. he wants to have very strong relationships with all humans. He wants us to belong to him again. However, our sinful nature keeps us from receiving his love and grace. I have been guided by God in many ways. I have now found that the more that I listen to God, my heart becomes a lot lighter. I know that I can walk with more confidence knowing that God has my back. To get to this point, I have had to open my heart and my soul to God. I have tried very hard to walk a better walk. I have given up more control of my life to God and Jesus. I am doing things that I have never felt possible or things that I have thought I would ever do or be willing to do.

[Commissioned]

 

Q3. (Isaiah 30:15-29) Why does God long to show us grace (30:18)? What does that say about God’s character? What prevents his grace? Have you ever experienced the kind of guidance Isaiah mentions in verse 21? What is necessary in us so that we can hear God’s voice? 

 

God long to show us grace (30:18) because He is a compassionate God.  It says that God’s just. God's grace is prevented from being experienced by us when we chose to ignore His sovereign presence and that He is always giving to us good gifts; in many varied forms. I have experienced the kind of guidance Isaiah mentions in verse 21.  It is easy to miss or ignore when God is directing you. To hear God's voice we must be still and at rest in His Presence.  Just knowing that He is always  with us and we can always talk to Him should help us to listen for his voice.

[RebeccaL]

On 8/2/2013 at 6:05 AM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q3. (Isaiah 30:15-29) Why does God long to show us grace (30:18)? What does that say about God’s character? What prevents his grace? Have you ever experienced the kind of guidance Isaiah mentions in verse 21? What is necessary in us so that we can hear God’s voice? 

 

He longs to show us grace because He is a God of justice. He gives mercy to the poor and vulnerable. We prevent his grace by relying on ourselves and not putting our trust in God and by not helping our poor and vulnerable around us. I have heard God’s voice in three different ways: circumstancial (my prayer was answered in a miraculous way), audible (I literally heard a voice say “Do not be afraid”), and through thoughts and realisations I have had that directed me (for example I chose the word “surrender” as my word for 2020, although I didn’t quite understand why, I just immediately clung to it, that was January. Then in April, I had a realisation on easter morning that I would choose to believe that Jesus was resurrected and have faith in that belief rather than trying to prove it or trying to believe in a round about way that it was figurative or something. I then realised what I actually decided in that moment to do was to surrender to Jesus).

[Krissi]

Why does God show us His grace? I'm not sure the passage tells us the answer to this question. It clearly shows that God prefers the humble and needy and disdains the ruthless, mockers, evil-doers and corrupt judges and politicians. It also shows that his unmerited favor is on all who are "wayward in spirit." He is just. 

Why does God long to show us His grace? The Bible says that God Longs to be gracious to us, to show us His compassion, as this is a form of justice. We are to be patient and wait for this justice (when we are in unjust situations). He also says that our enemies will "disappear."

What does God's grace say about God's character? I'm sure different people get different messages from these verses, but I see God balancing the need for justice with that of graciousness, that somehow he measures that balance correctly.

What prevents God's grace?  The biblical text points out four things that prevent His grace: obstinance, making plans that are not His, forming ungodly alliances with other nations, making alliances with powerful nations instead of trusting Him.

Have you ever experienced the kind of guidance Isaiah mentions in v21? No. I have never heard God's audible voice. I have never heard Him say, "Turn this way ..." In this verse, God clearly "talks" -- "your ears will hear a voice behind you saying ..."  I have not had this happen but am begging God for clear guidance like this.

What is necessary in us so we can hear God's voice? This puts the onus on me, doesn't it? If I don't hear God's voice, it must be a sin within me -- but maybe God isn't talking? The previous verse says we are to wait for him. Presumably this includes waiting for his guidance. This I am doing.

[crissy464]

Because he loves us, he shows us compassion. He is a God of Justice

He will hear our cries for help

We need to let the Holy Spirit come in us
 

[Anna Rogers]

Q3. (Isaiah 30:15-29)

Why does God long to show us grace (30:18)?

Because He loves us. 

What does that say about God’s character?

God is merciful, but just 

What prevents his grace?

Our sin. "I love that in verse 18 it says He will wait, that He may be gracious to you." God waits for the sinner to turn back to Him. 

Have you ever experienced the kind of guidance Isaiah mentions in verse 21?

The more time I spend with God, in the Bible, in prayer, in devotion and meditation, praising Him, spending time with His people,  the better the decisions I make seem to work out. 

What is necessary in us so that we can hear God’s voice? 

I believe you have to want to hear it and then do all the things mentioned in last question. 

[Katy]

Q3. The Lord loves us so much that He died on the cross for us, and even when we sin against Him, He longs to be gracious and compassionate towards us. He is always compassionate and full of justice towards us. God’s lovely character is made clear to us through His word and we see it in action in the compassionate and loving way He deals with us. We need to be in communication with Him constantly and wait in eager expectation of what He will do for us. This passage clearly shows up His love, graciousness, patience and justice.  We prevent His grace by sinning, not putting Him first in our lives, not praying and studying his word. 
I have experienced God’s guidance on many occasions. I sometimes don’t realise until afterwards that it was God’s prompting that helped me, or held me back from doing or saying something that would not have been helpful at the time.

Constant communication with God, a humble admission daily of needing His help and guidance. Also an attentive mind and heart to know when God is telling us to walk or not to walk in a certain direction.