It's so important to harmonize all the Word of God.

It gives us a firm understanding of His true character.

Most of us don't really understand the love,
.............mercy and
......................compassion God has for us.

Not knowing this keeps us distant from Him.

It's clear in the Word of God that it never was God's desire to have to deal with man so firmly.

That never was His real nature and character.

Because we haven't known this, we have a mixed impression of God.

In the Old Testament,
.........God had to deal with man and sin
......................in a certain way.

When Jesus came,
..........He brought the true and full revelation
..................of the Father to man
...........................and He operated it another.

The problem that many Christians have is that we are seeing God throught the Old Testament instead of through Jesus.

....................That is why we are confused and we misundertand who God really is and the relationship He wants with us.

Jesus is the walking,
.........living Word
..................and when we see Him,
....................................we see the Father.

In the beginning was the Word

and the Word was with God

and the Word was God

John 1:1

The Old Testament cannot give us a total revelation
of God by itself.

.............We need the New Testament
.........to understand the fullness of God.

Love is God's REAL NATURE!

He doesn't just have love or operate in love.

...................HE IS LOVE. . . . .

......Love is the true character of God.

God's nature is not judgment.

.....That cannot be found in the Word of God.

God does judge and He is just and holy;
.......but the Bible reveals to us in
.............1 John 4:8 that "God is Love."

When we don't look at the whole Word of God, checking the Old Testament with the New Testament, we usually get an Old Testament picture of God as a God of wrath, judgment and punishment.

.................That is a truth about God,
and those who don't accept the love and forgiveness
of the Lord Jesus Christ will experience a day of God's judgment.

.................But wrath, judgment and punishment
..................are not the primary character of God.

Many people are really afraid to come before God
because they have been taught or have the idea
that He is going to hurt them in some way.

.........So they believe and feel they have to bow or
..................duck when they come to God.

That's not the relationship God wants with us
......................................or that His Word teaches.

Religious ideas from misunderstanding the Word,

block people from a close relationship with God.

It is important that we know who God really is.

If we don't know God, His nature and His character
........or really understand Him, then we'll never effectively walk in
............His blessings or power.

All God did through Joshua was not a true or complete

representation of His character or who He revealed

Himself to be in the New Testament.

In the Old Testament, God sent Joshua into the Promised Land and commanded him to kill everybody in all the cities.

...................................................Neither women, child or man, anything that could breathe was not to be left alive.

.......................If Jesus had lived in His human form in the Old Testament, He wouldn't have done things the way Joshua did.

Joshua wasn't wrong. He obeyed God and God was operating in the manner He had to during that time.

In the Old Testament the picture of God is incomplete.

...Those who create their understanding of God based
......only on the Old Testament get only a partial not a
.........perfect representation of Him.

Unless we understand the New Testament and are able
to relate it with the Old Testament, we are going to end
up misunderstanding the love and the whole character
...................................of God.

The Word of God doesn't contradict itself.

........There is perfect harmony to it all.

..................................What is in the Bible
harmonizes the Old and New Testaments
to give a better and more complete understanding
of God's character.

In one scripture, God commands death by stoning for picking up sticks on the Sabbath.
Numbers 15:32-35

................................Then in another, He forgives and doesn't condemn a woman caught in adultery.
John 8:3-11

............................... Examples like that have given people a rather strange impression of who God is.

Some Christians read and study God's Word fairly regular.

But even then, to them a lot of passages in the Bible appear to give a strange revelation of God.

Of course, God is not strange!

Most Christians don't read God's Word regularly.

.........Just a little here and a little there.
.........a little on television,
.........a little in church on Sundays.

But that's not enough to make a real difference or
to understand God and His nature.

The only way we can truly know anything about God

is throught the Bible!

It's the only thing He gave us to be able to know Him
and the only source that is truly reliable. . .

His written Word!

One reason God can be so easily discredited

is because we don't really know Him

by His Word!

God wants us to be sure to know
that we can trust Him to act in our best interest
no matter what the situation.

And that's what a relationship with Him is all about:
getting to know Him so well
that no one can talk us out of His goodness for us.

We may know some things about God,
......but if we really KNEW God's love for us,
............we wouldn't doubt Him so easily or
..................question His willingness to help us

If only we could understand how much He cares for us!

If God loves us enough to send His only Son to die for us,
then doesn't He love us enough to bring about His will
in our lives!

If we become fearful,
..........wondering if God's will for our lives
......................is actually going to come to pass,
....then we don't really understand and know God
.......................................or His love.

If we really understood the perfect love of God for us,
fear would be totally cast out of our thinking.

1 John 4:18 says that "perfect love casteth out fear."

Understanding that God is a good God

and that He loves us takes away the

effectiveness of Satan's weapons against our faith.