Who we believe God is will be reflected in how we believe He is working in the earth realm. If you see God as a vengeful angry violent destroyer who is out to punish wickedness, destroy people who do evil and whack us when we go astray, then you will preach judgment, gloom and doom, all the while calling it God’s discipline. Much of how we view God is how we treat ourselves. If you are hard on yourself you will be hard on others and your words will be harsh, strong, full of a God who is mad at us because we are such sinners.

The Pharisees were such rule followers, they were angry with anyone who broke one of the rules they followed. Jesus healed on a Sabbath and they were so in love with their Sabbath rules they sought to kill Him for healing a man on a day they said no work was to be done on. We can get so locked into our rules, our beliefs, our culture, our upbringing, we miss Jesus when He is working miracles right in front of us. The man was healed right before their eyes and all they cared about what He healed on the Sabbath so now Jesus was their enemy. This is a sickness that is hard to cure.

Most would not consider themselves Pharisees, whether they believe in Jesus in name only or believe they are following Him, however, more people than we realize are Pharisees. They have a set of beliefs about who God is, what God does, how God speaks and what God wants that they get mad when anyone celebrates a healing on the Sabbath, because the man was crippled from birth, but now can walk. When our rules trump the healing we just saw we are acting like a Pharisee.

Friends, God is a healer, deliverer, restorer, redeemer, rebuilder, reviver, gap stander, miracle worker, nation saver, world savior, idol crusher, and Psalm 69 says, “You heavens, praise him; praise him, earth; Also ocean and all things that swim in it. For God is out to help Zion, Rebuilding the wrecked towns of Judah.” God is building people, families, cities, nations, and He is not destroying right now, He is building and rebuilding everything, this is the good news of the gospel. He is a builder of lives and the building project is taking shape daily in ways we all will see very soon.