Know Mercy – A Devotion

Ephesians 2:1-5 (NLT)

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

 

Understanding the mercy of God is pivotal to accepting the Love of God fully. It is unfathomable by human nature that anyone could be so forgiving and compassionate to another in the midst of betrayal. There must be a price. There must be retribution. There must be a penalty. Face it unforgiveness is easy to digest in a world of opposition. Waiting in line at the neighborhood superstore, I surveyed the contents of a sparse shopping cart consisting of soup and nutritional supplement bottles. How did I arrive in this place? Surely this cannot be for our 19-year-old son. Thankfully the contents permitted a hasty exit in the express line, so I could get back home to our ailing son. Going over the list in my mind, I needed to head over to the pharmacy to pick up even more prescriptions to overcome the side effects of cancer treatment. The gentlemen behind me bore the distinct odor of years of addiction to cigarettes. As I gathered my bags, his raspy voice asked the cashier for cartons of his favorite brand. As if frozen in time, my body was rigid. Anger and bitterness rose within me. How could he choose death over life? Rebelling against all the warnings that such behavior causes cancer while our boy heeded these warnings and never smoked one cigarette avoiding such unhealthy behavior. Oh, how I wanted to grab his hand and angrily storm him into our home and show him just how ugly cancer really is. The piles of bills and the cost of treatment would surely get his attention. The boy who should be attending college and living a normal teenage life might reveal the horrible truth behind nicotine addiction as he spends days and nights in discomfort recovering from devastating treatment to kill the cancer cells invading his body. How dare he choose to die? Needless to say, I had zero compassion and my tirade was fueled by anger not love. God has every right to feel the same way about me. He warned us not to choose the “Tree of Good and Evil” but we took the fruit anyway. God tried to protect us from the ramifications of sin but His People rebelled. They would not listen. God sent His Precious Son Jesus Christ to die for mankind paying the penalty of sin once and for all. Still nothing, man rejects the Lord even today. God has done everything possible to express His Love and Compassion for mankind yet His Mercy is rejected each and every day as we choose death over life. Maybe if we understood the Mercy of God and committed our lives to discover the full extent of a Love so great it is driven by forgiveness filled with kindness, compassion and favor, maybe then we would get it and accept it by entering the Brand New Life that God has provided.

 

Exodus 34:5-7 (NLT)

Then the LORD came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh.The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.”

 

Yahweh is the Lord full of compassion and mercy. It is difficult to understand pure compassion and complete mercy because we choose to interject “but” in the sentence. I forgive you, “but” I will not forget. I love you, “but” I cannot trust you. Such a little word with the power to nullify the preceding statement, it changes the concept of forgiveness and love into something palatable to mankind. Yahweh is forgiveness. He is love. It is complete and whole for those who choose righteousness over death. He is life to the condemned. There is no condemnation in the compassion of God only overflowing forgiveness with the power to forgive you AND forget your sins. God’s Love allows you to love AND trust Him. Such a foreign concept in light of the fickle love of this world, the man in line at the store is loved by God the same way our son is. God has mercy on His Soul despite His Choices. The Lord will do whatever it takes to have this man’s heart as He has apprehended our son’s heart. God’s Mercy is available without remorse or regret to all mankind. Can we accept it? To add a requirement to God’s Mercy is to admit that the Blood of Jesus was not sufficient payment for our sin and that the Love of God is not complete. The freedom permitted by God’s Mercy to the captive heart of mankind allows us to love freely and forgive freely. People who have not experienced the Compassion of God and do not fully understand it give God human qualities of such a commitment missing the fullness of life that is promised in the salvation plan and limiting one’s own ability to love and forgive others in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

Psalm 51:1-4 (NLT)

Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say and your judgment against me is just.

 

If people could reduce the details of this life to the simple truth that God loves you what a powerful transformation would occur. We need the Mercy of God alone. His Acceptance is freedom. No longer will God’s People be bound by human acceptance and affirmation. It really doesn’t matter what other people think about you when you become fully aware of how God feels about you. When human focus turns from the conflicts of life to the Power of God that is waiting to be revealed it will become your most powerful pursuit. Forgiveness is freely given by those who have been completely forgiven. Mercy is evident in those who have been truly set free. If you live in the Kingdom of God and dwell in His Presence, the comings and goings of this world are inconsequential and the only thing that matters is sharing this Light of Love that scatters the darkness to the dying world. Your message is to choose life because you are living the life fulfilled, whole and complete lacking nothing just as God has promised. Our sin is against God alone. Your neighbor’s sin is also against the Lord. We have rebelled against our homeland of Heaven. But God’s Mercy full of unfailing love allows love to captivate our heart and overflow into the lives of a lost and dying world. Are you caught up in the Love of God today? His Mercy will overwhelm you and apprehend your heart?

 

Romans 9:23-24 (NLT)

In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory.

 

You were created to glorify God. His Love for you never diminished in spite of the sin that overtakes people. He loves you and prepared you for glory. He cannot and will not change His Mind about you. His Mercy is evidence of divine favor. What on earth could possible compare to the divine favor of God? There is nothing that mankind can offer that is so complete and whole. Yet we struggle to become vessels of glory due to inability to accept the complete transformation of His Mercy. Becoming a vessel of God’s Love requires full acceptance of His Mercy, all of His Kindness, Compassion and Favor. We must be humbled to understand that we are offenders of God who have been granted a kindly forbearance. The Sovereignty of God gives Yahweh every right to strike us dead in our rebellion and sin but the Love of God will not allow Him to harm His Precious Children. Instead, Jesus died to set us free. However, by living outside of God’s Mercy and failing to accept its flow through our life is rejecting the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all its glory and power while accepting a life of rebellion and death. The man buying cigarettes was exercising his legal right to purchase tobacco and his eternal right to choose death. However as a Child of the Living God, I chose disobedience in withholding God’s Love and Mercy from another.

 

Isaiah 49:9-11 (NLT)

“I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’ They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures and on hills that were previously bare. They will neither hunger nor thirst. The searing sun will not reach them anymore. For the LORD in his mercy will lead them; he will lead them beside cool waters. And I will make my mountains into level paths for them. The highways will be raised above the valleys.”

 

Understanding God’s Mercy toward us will allow God’s People to become overflowing wells of kindness and compassion for others as we begin to fully understand the magnitude of mercy. Mercy focuses on the people and not the sin. Mercy comes after repentance. God fills the voids left by sin with His Divine Favor – mercy. We have nothing to lose anymore but everything to gain. It changes the human heart from condemnation to compassion for others as we become fully acquainted with the newfound freedom available by living in the Presence of God. Our old life was defined by death, hopelessness and despair that was driven by the discourse of natural time but now we are divinely in tune with Kingdom of God. God’s Way has become our way. He is mercy. The Lord is compassionate and kind. His Mercy is not only enough for us but it will lead us to be merciful as God satisfies our body, mind and spirit with His Amazing Love. We expect nothing in exchange for the Good News of Jesus. God lead us in mercy today. May we first experience the full ramifications of your compassion, kindness and favor, Lord. Change our heart. Make it pure and palpable to accept forgiveness and give forgiveness freely. We have sinned against you alone. Our brothers and sisters sin only against you. There is no offense to be taken – only love and compassion to give!

 

Psalm 123:1-3 (NLT)

I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in heaven. We keep looking to the LORD our God for his mercy, just as servants keep their eyes on their master, as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal. Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy, for we have had our fill of contempt.

 

Those who live in the Presence of God through righteousness and holiness will experience His Merciful Fulfillment of His Promises. Keep looking for the Lord’s Compassion. It is found in the Knowledge of God found in His Word and His Way. To know God is to know His Mercy. To accept His Mercy is fulfillment. To give extend mercy is obedience! Obedience reveals even more favor in the life of a believer. Know God’s Mercy today! Share it with others!

 

Matthew 5:7-8 (NLT)

God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.