We are so quick to judge people and judge God when things don't go how we think they should, and we are usually wrong in our assessments. When tragedy strikes, we question God's love easily because when all is good, it's easy to praise, but when our faith is tested, we see how strongly we really hold our faith. What comes out of us when we are pressed? If we have the wrong idea of God's character, we can't trust what He says, so this series is meant to rebuild our faith foundation. God judges sin because all sin eventually leads to destruction. He is giving us an opportunity to clean up our mess, but if we don't accept it, any consequences are our fault. He cannot be righteous without judgment and He loves us enough to want us to remove what is poison in our lives. God loves us so He gave us free will and He can't violate the system He put in place. People question the difference between the Old and New Testament and the culture and time they were written. We can't just excuse things because of these. We must realize we have the answer in the New Testament, so it's easier to understand the questions in the Old Testament. God is patient and gives us many opportunities to choose righteousness. If we don't choose it, a door is opened for Satan to come in because the absence of God (good) leaves room for evil. As we read the Bible, we should do so with a Christ-bias - meaning, we should look at everything through the lens of Christ, who was the embodiment of God. He is the cure to the incurable, the new medicine to bring us relief!

Amen!

Reference verses: Proverbs 24:10; 1 Peter 3:15; Romans 6:23; Deuteronomy 20:17-18; Romans 1:18-20, 24; Ezekiel 18:23; 1 Samuel 16:14; 2 Corinthians 6:14-15; James 1:13-15; John 10:10; 1 Samuel 18:10-11; 1 Samuel 19:9-10; Exodus 30:12; 2 Samuel 24:1; 1 Chronicles 21:1; Ephesians 4:27; Psalm 51:1,4; Exodus 21:22-27; Hebrews 10:1-2, 11-14; Matthew 5:38-42; John 15:5

Matthew 15:32