Scripture: Exodus 34:5–7 (KJV) ~ “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”
In yesterday’s devotional, Show Me Your Ways, Lord, Beyond Your Mighty Works! You had to examined the difference between witnessing God’s mighty acts and developing a deeper understanding of His ways. Moses had witnessed extraordinary demonstrations of God’s power, yet his prayer in Exodus 33:13 was, “Shew me now thy way, that I may know thee.” His desire extended beyond another miracle, another provision, or another answer. He wanted to know the God who had called him. Today, we move from Moses’ request to God’s response. Exodus 34 reveals something remarkable about the character of God because the Lord does not merely demonstrate another mighty work; He proclaims who He is.
To understand the significance of this encounter, consider what had happened before it. In Exodus 32, while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving God’s instructions, the Israelites made and worshiped a golden calf. Their actions violated the covenant they had entered into with the Lord and demonstrated how quickly their hearts had turned toward idolatry. The people who had witnessed God’s deliverance from Egypt were now worshiping an image fashioned by human hands. Moses interceded for Israel, and in Exodus 33, he pleaded for God’s Presence to remain with His people. He understood that reaching the Promised Land without the Lord’s Presence was not the same as walking in fellowship with Him. Moses then made another request in Exodus 33:18: “I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.”
God responded by revealing His goodness and proclaiming His name. In Exodus 34:5–7, the Lord descended in the cloud and declared Himself merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving, and just. Notice that God’s revelation of His glory included a declaration of His character. This was especially significant following Israel’s rebellion. The Lord revealed His mercy and willingness to forgive, but He also made clear that sin and guilt were not matters to be treated lightly. His mercy did not cancel His justice, and His holiness did not diminish His compassion. The passage also speaks of the serious consequences of wrongdoing across generations, a reminder of sin’s far-reaching effects rather than permission to assume that children are personally guilty merely because of their parents’ sins, as Ezekiel 18:20 later clarifies.
Psalm 145:8–9 echoes this revelation by describing the Lord as gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and great in mercy. Together, these passages reveal that God’s character is not defined by human assumptions, emotional experiences, or changing circumstances. He has made Himself known through His Word.
There is a difference between knowing God’s name, knowing what He has done, and understanding the character He has revealed. Yesterday, you were challenged to consider whether your relationship with Him had become centered primarily on His works. Today, the examination goes deeper because knowing God’s ways requires learning who He is and allowing that understanding to influence the person you are becoming. Consider how easily people form opinions about God based upon their circumstances. When prayers are answered quickly, His goodness is celebrated. When provision arrives unexpectedly, His faithfulness becomes part of the testimony. But when the answer is delayed, the door remains closed, or life becomes uncomfortable, questions may arise about whether He is still good, merciful, or attentive.
Your circumstances can influence how you feel, but they do not determine God’s character. Numbers 23:19 reminds you that God is not a man that He should lie, while Psalm 86:15 describes Him as compassionate, gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in mercy and truth. The Lord does not become faithful only when you understand His decisions, nor does His goodness disappear because you are experiencing difficulty. This is why developing a deeper understanding of His character matters. Without the foundation of Scripture, it becomes easy to measure God by what you expect Him to do rather than by what He has revealed about Himself.
Exodus 34:6 begins with the declaration that God is merciful and gracious. Mercy speaks to His compassion toward those in need and His willingness to withhold deserved judgment, while grace points toward His undeserved favor and goodness. Consider how many times you have needed both. There have been moments when your decisions were unwise, your attitudes were wrong, or your actions fell short of His instructions. Yet His mercy has provided opportunities for repentance, and His grace has sustained you when your own strength was insufficient. But here is where knowing His character becomes personal. How do you respond when someone else needs the mercy you have received? When another person makes a mistake, disappoints you, or fails to meet your expectations, is your first response compassion or condemnation? Are you willing to acknowledge your own need for grace while refusing to extend patience toward someone who is still growing?
Ephesians 4:31–32 instructs believers to put away bitterness, wrath, anger, and malice and to demonstrate kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness toward one another. The forgiveness you extend does not require pretending wrongdoing never occurred or abandoning healthy boundaries. It does require examining whether resentment and bitterness have been allowed to govern your heart. God also describes Himself as longsuffering. That word deserves careful attention because patience is often easier to appreciate when you are receiving it than when you are being asked to demonstrate it. Think about the times you have prayed for God to be patient with you as you struggled, learned, repented, or attempted to overcome an area of weakness. His longsuffering has given you room to respond to His correction rather than treating every failure as the end of your relationship with Him.
Now consider how quickly impatience can appear in everyday situations. A delayed response, an interrupted schedule, a disagreement, or someone else’s failure to understand your perspective can become an occasion for frustration. The question is not whether you will ever feel irritated or disappointed. The question is whether those feelings are governing your conduct more than the principles of God’s Word. James 1:19–20 instructs you to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath because human anger does not produce the righteousness of God. Learning His patience means becoming willing to listen before reacting, consider before speaking, and exercise self-control when your emotions are demanding an immediate response.
Another attribute God reveals is His abundance in goodness and truth. His goodness is not limited to material provision, and His truth does not change according to personal preference. Psalm 145:9 declares that the Lord is good to all and that His tender mercies are over all His works. His goodness is part of who He is, not simply a description of what you receive from Him. Truth is equally important because a relationship with God cannot be built upon an understanding of His character that ignores His Word. It is possible to embrace scriptures about His love while avoiding those that challenge disobedience, or to celebrate His promises while resisting His instructions. Yet knowing God requires receiving the fullness of what He has revealed rather than selecting only the attributes that make you comfortable. His justice and holiness are essential to that understanding. Exodus 34:7 makes clear that God does not treat guilt as insignificant. First Peter 1:15–16 calls believers to holiness in their conduct because the One who called them is holy. His holiness challenges you to examine what you have accepted, excused, or justified in your own life.
This does not mean you must achieve perfection before approaching God. Salvation is received by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not earned through flawless conduct. However, His grace is not permission to remain indifferent toward sin. A growing relationship with Christ should produce a willingness to repent, receive correction, and pursue a life that increasingly reflects His Word. Consider whether you have become comfortable asking God to correct other people while resisting His correction of you. It is easy to recognize another person’s pride, impatience, dishonesty, or lack of compassion while overlooking those same tendencies in your own responses. Yet Psalm 139:23–24 provides a personal prayer that invites God to search the heart, reveal what needs attention, and lead in the everlasting way. Spiritual maturity begins to develop when you stop using God’s Word only to evaluate everyone else and allow it to examine you.
There is another aspect of His character that deserves your attention; His faithfulness. Throughout Scripture, God demonstrates that He is trustworthy and true to His promises. Lamentations 3:22–23 reminds you that His compassions do not fail and that His mercies are new every morning. These words were written in the context of suffering and devastation, reminding you that acknowledging God’s faithfulness does not require denying the reality of difficult circumstances. Faithfulness is not simply something to celebrate about God; it should also challenge how you honor your own commitments. Are your words dependable? Do you follow through when you have made a promise? Can others trust you to act with integrity even when doing so is inconvenient? God’s faithfulness is perfect, while yours is still developing, but knowing His character should awaken a desire to become more consistent in the way you live.
Jeremiah 9:23–24 declares that the wise should not boast in wisdom, the mighty in strength, or the rich in riches, but in understanding and knowing the Lord, who exercises lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. This passage reminds you that spiritual understanding is not measured by how much information you can repeat about God. It should lead you to recognize what matters to Him. The more deeply you understand His mercy, the more seriously you should examine your willingness to show compassion. Learning about His patience should influence your reactions. Knowing His truth should strengthen your integrity. Recognizing His holiness should challenge what you tolerate in your conduct. Understanding His faithfulness should encourage you to remain dependable in your responsibilities and relationships.
And when you want to see God’s character demonstrated through a human life, look to Jesus Christ. In John 14:9, Jesus told Philip, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Jesus revealed the Father’s character through His life, teachings, compassion, holiness, truth, and obedience. His willingness to show mercy did not mean He avoided confronting sin, and His commitment to truth did not prevent Him from demonstrating love. Ephesians 5:1–2 calls you to become an imitator of God as a beloved child and to walk in love as Christ loved you. Colossians 3:12–14 further instructs believers to put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, forgiveness, and love. These are not merely qualities to admire in Jesus; they are qualities that should increasingly become evident in your own life through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.
Consider what people experience when they interact with you. Do they encounter someone who is willing to listen, extend grace, acknowledge mistakes, and speak truth with love? Or have impatience, defensiveness, pride, or unresolved resentment begun to shape the way you respond? Your spiritual growth is not measured only by the prayers you pray, the scriptures you know, or the ministry work you perform. It also becomes visible through your everyday conduct.
There is no benefit in learning about God’s mercy while refusing to become merciful, or studying His patience while remaining unwilling to address your own impatience. Knowledge that never influences conduct can leave you familiar with biblical language without allowing biblical truth to transform your character. This is why Day Two requires an honest examination of your heart. What attribute of God have you been celebrating without allowing it to challenge the way you live? Have you been asking Him for compassion while showing little compassion to others? Have you been trusting Him to remain faithful while neglecting your own commitments? Are you willing to receive His correction with the same openness that you desire His blessings?
The purpose of these questions is not condemnation. It is transformation. God does not call you to imitate Him through your own strength or to earn His love through good behavior. Through faith in Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, you are invited into a relationship in which His Word continually renews your understanding and shapes your conduct. Micah 6:8 summarizes this responsibility beautifully: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Notice that the instruction requires action. Justice must be practiced, mercy must be loved, and humility must become part of your daily walk.
As you move through this day, pay attention to the moments when your character is being tested. A difficult conversation may provide an opportunity to practice patience. A disappointment may reveal whether your trust is anchored in God’s faithfulness. An offense may challenge your willingness to forgive, while a personal mistake may require humility and repentance. These ordinary situations often reveal whether the character of God you have studied is influencing the way you respond.
Moses prayed to know God’s ways, and God revealed His character. Today, the invitation is to move beyond admiring those attributes and begin examining whether your life reflects what you are learning. Do not become so familiar with describing who God is that you neglect the responsibility of becoming more like Christ. His mercy, grace, patience, truth, holiness, and faithfulness should not remain words you recognize only when reading Scripture. They should increasingly influence your attitudes, decisions, relationships, and responses. As Day Two comes to a close, remember that knowing God’s character is not simply about having a better explanation of who He is. It is about developing a deeper relationship with Him and allowing His revealed character to transform how you live.
Let’s Pray:
Father, in the mighty and matchless Name of Jesus Christ, I come before You with a humble, grateful, and surrendered heart, thanking You for revealing Your character through Your Word. Thank You for being merciful, gracious, longsuffering, compassionate, faithful, holy, righteous, and true. Thank You for loving me when I was difficult to love, extending mercy when I deserved correction, and demonstrating patience when I struggled to obey Your instructions. I acknowledge that there have been moments when I have been more concerned about what You could do for me than about developing a deeper understanding of who You are. Forgive me for seeking Your hand while neglecting Your heart, and teach me to desire a relationship with You that goes beyond blessings, answered prayers, and the things I hope to receive. Father, just as Moses prayed for You to reveal Your ways, I am asking You to reveal Your character to me in a deeper and more personal way. Open my spiritual understanding as I study Your Word, and help me recognize the difference between what I have assumed about You and what You have revealed about Yourself. Where my understanding has been influenced by disappointment, fear, past experiences, or unanswered questions, bring my thoughts into alignment with Your truth. Teach me to trust Your goodness when circumstances are difficult, Your wisdom when I do not understand Your decisions, and Your faithfulness when I cannot see what You are doing. Help me remember that Your character does not change simply because my circumstances do. Lord, search my heart and reveal the attitudes, motives, habits, and responses that do not reflect the character of Jesus Christ. Forgive me for the times I have asked You for patience while being impatient with others, desired Your mercy while withholding compassion, and sought Your forgiveness while struggling to release resentment. Forgive me for the moments when pride has made correction difficult to receive, when my emotions have influenced my words, and when I have allowed frustration to determine how I treat people. Do not allow me to become so comfortable recognizing the shortcomings of others that I overlook the areas of my own life that require repentance, correction, and spiritual growth. Father, teach me to be merciful without compromising truth, compassionate without abandoning wisdom, and forgiving without neglecting appropriate boundaries. Develop within me the patience to listen before responding, the humility to acknowledge when I am wrong, and the self-control to remain governed by Your Word when my emotions are unsettled. When I am misunderstood, help me respond with wisdom rather than defensiveness. When I am disappointed, keep bitterness from taking root in my heart. When I am corrected, give me the maturity to examine myself rather than immediately justifying my behavior. And when someone else falls short of my expectations, remind me of the grace and patience You have continually extended toward me. Lord, let Your holiness challenge the things I have become too comfortable accepting, and let Your truth confront the excuses I have made for attitudes and behaviors that do not please You. Where pride has been disguised as confidence, expose it. Where impatience has been excused as frustration, correct it. Where resentment has been hidden beneath silence, bring healing and freedom. Where I have allowed familiarity with Scripture to replace obedience to Scripture, awaken within me a renewed desire to become a doer of Your Word. I do not want to become knowledgeable about Your character while remaining unwilling to allow Your truth to transform mine. Father, I ask You to examine the parts of my character that others may never see. Search my private thoughts, hidden motives, unspoken judgments, and the attitudes I have learned to excuse. Reveal anything within me that has become acceptable to my flesh but remains contrary to Your Word. Do not allow me to hide behind my responsibilities, accomplishments, spiritual knowledge, or service while neglecting the condition of my heart. Teach me to welcome Your correction as an expression of Your love and to recognize that spiritual growth requires honesty, humility, repentance, and obedience. Help me understand that being right does not give me permission to respond in a manner that is wrong. Father, develop the fruit of Your Spirit within me. Let love influence how I treat others, joy strengthen me through difficult seasons, peace govern my thoughts, and longsuffering shape my responses. Teach me to demonstrate gentleness without weakness, goodness without seeking recognition, faithfulness without inconsistency, meekness without pride, and self-control when my emotions are challenged. Let these qualities become evident not only when life is comfortable, but also when I am inconvenienced, disappointed, offended, misunderstood, or required to exercise patience. May the way I respond in difficult moments reveal that Your Word is doing a transforming work within my heart. Lord, as I learn more about Your mercy, let me become more merciful. As I study Your compassion, make me more compassionate. As I reflect upon Your faithfulness, strengthen my commitment to remain faithful in what You have entrusted to me. Let Your truth govern my conversations, Your holiness influence my decisions, and Your love shape the way I treat people. Help me understand that I cannot claim to desire Your ways while continually insisting upon having my own way. Where my preferences conflict with Your instructions, teach me to surrender. Where my emotions challenge my obedience, strengthen me through Your Holy Spirit. May I never become so determined to defend my position that I fail to recognize when You are calling me to examine my posture. Father, teach me to represent You faithfully in my home, relationships, conversations, responsibilities, and every assignment You have entrusted to me. Let my private conduct agree with my public confession, and may my actions never intentionally contradict the message of love, mercy, and truth that I proclaim. Help me remember that the way I speak to people, respond to disagreements, honor commitments, and treat those who cannot offer me anything in return matters to You. Give me the courage to make things right when I have caused harm, the humility to apologize without making excuses, and the wisdom to recognize when my conduct needs to change. Lord, continue developing within me the character of Jesus Christ. May I never become more concerned with how spiritual I appear than with how faithfully I am living before You. Keep me from confusing religious activity with intimacy, biblical knowledge with spiritual maturity, or public praise with private obedience. Let my life become a testimony of Your transforming grace, not because I have reached perfection, but because I remain willing to be taught, corrected, and changed. Teach me to recognize that the true evidence of spiritual growth is not simply what I know about You, but how I allow that knowledge to influence the person I am becoming. Father, I do not want to merely admire Your character; I want my life to increasingly reflect the character of Jesus Christ. Continue renewing my mind, purifying my motives, strengthening my obedience, and teaching me how to walk humbly before You. May I never confuse spiritual activity with spiritual maturity or assume that knowing Your Word automatically means I am living according to it. Let my desire to know You become greater than my desire to have my own way. As You reveal more of who You are, give me a willing heart to surrender everything within me that does not align with Your truth. Father, when others encounter me, may they experience kindness rather than unnecessary harshness, compassion rather than condemnation, honesty rather than deception, and humility rather than pride. Let my words carry grace, my decisions reflect integrity, and my responses demonstrate the transforming power of Your Holy Spirit. Help me recognize that my character is revealed not only when everything is going well, but also when I am challenged, corrected, disappointed, or offended. In those moments, remind me that my emotions may be real, but they do not have to rule my responses. Give me the wisdom to pause, pray, listen, and respond in a manner that honors You. And Father, as I continue through this five-day journey of learning Your ways, prepare my heart for everything You desire to reveal. Give me the courage to confront what needs to change, the humility to acknowledge what I have overlooked, and the willingness to apply what I am learning. I do not want to finish this series with more information about Your character while remaining unchanged in my own. Let every revelation lead to reflection, every reflection lead to repentance where needed, and every act of obedience draw me into deeper fellowship with You. Above all, Lord, keep me teachable, accountable, repentant, and willing to change. I recognize that I am still growing, and I thank You that Your grace continues working within me. I want more than the ability to describe Your ways; I want the evidence of knowing You to become visible in the way I live, love, speak, serve, and respond. Let my life reflect Your mercy, my words communicate Your grace, my decisions honor Your truth, and my conduct demonstrate the character of Jesus Christ. May I become more like Him, not merely in what I profess, but in how I live before You and others each day. In Jesus Christ Mighty Name, I pray, Amen!
Nugget ~ Knowing God’s character should transform your character. Don’t just speak of His mercy, patience, and love; let the way you live, speak, and treat others reflect the God you profess to know.
Blessings…
Love, Dr. Jean…
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