Mercy

(He) “stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner…’”

It was 2014. I was experiencing radical change as I was being exposed to the person and presence of the Holy Spirit. My eyes were opening to the reality of the spiritual realm, and I was seeing videos and hearing testimonies of people encountering God and being healed. My world was flipping upside down, and my heart had never felt more alive. At the same time, I was fighting ever so hard to break from an addiction to pornography. In fact, at this specific moment, I had recently fallen into sin. I was so distraught and broken before God. I was falling more in love with God by the day, and the grief I knew I was causing the Holy Spirit was deeply bothering me. At that moment, I cried out to God for help. In desperation, I cried out to Him to help change me. I was at my end, and I did not know what to do. It was in that moment that the power of God went from the top of my head down my back like a bolt of electricity. When I woke up the next morning, I felt like a different person. I remember a close friend at the time asking me, the next morning, what happened to me. He said I was, all of a sudden, carrying a love and kindness I had never had before… praise God! God is so merciful that He will meet you right where you are. Right here, right now, no matter what you have done.

​Wherever you are right now, just say the word “mercy.” God is an incredibly merciful God. Let me testify to His incredible kindness and forgiveness. (Yes, some take advantage of His mercy, but that is not who we are or who we will be.) He is not just merciful in the little things, nor is it a “three strikes, and you are out” kind of mercy. His mercy and forgiveness are extended towards you as long as you have breath in your lungs. No matter what you have done, God will forgive you if you receive the finished work of Jesus’ sacrifice. Think of David, he was a murderer and adulterer! Or consider Peter, who denied Jesus three times! God not only showed them mercy but also continued to work with and through them in their calling.

There is one thing, however, I want to address that can hinder you from experiencing God’s mercy.

“God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” (Matthew 5:7 NLT)

We see Jesus teaching that being merciful enables one to be shown mercy. Therefore, we can safely conclude that not being merciful can actually cut us off from being shown mercy. We have all been hurt. We have been let down, betrayed, gossiped about, abandoned, etc. These things never should have happened, but because of man’s disobedience, they do. However, our mistake is forgetting that in reality and in God’s eyes, we are not better nor were we less of sinners than those who have hurt us before Jesus saved us. Many people make themselves or someone else other than Jesus their standard of what “good” is. One problem with this is that we lower our standard of what love and obedience actually are. Jesus is our standard. Not me, not you, and not your uncle Joe. So maybe you did not kill someone; maybe you did not get drunk last night and hit someone while driving home. However, you are just as desperate and needy for God’s mercy as those who have. If you withhold mercy, mercy will be withheld from you. One way to quickly test how you are doing in this is to figure out what kind of person to you is the worst kind of person. Like, who do you really not like, or who do you think is in opposition to God? What if they were to repent of their sin right now? Would you hug them and forgive them? Or how about this: if they were to die tomorrow and go to hell,  would you care? Would you cry out to God to have mercy on them? If you cringe inside or answer no, that might be a sign you need to grow in mercy. One last question here: what if the tables were turned? What if you were deceived? What if you thought you were good with God but you weren’t, and you were about to die and go to hell to pay for your sins…. Would you want people crying out for God to have mercy on you?

“Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14 NLT)

Receive and enjoy the mercy of God. We just made it through Christmas. A special time of year when we celebrate and remember that the Son of God chose to come and give Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Don’t neglect what Jesus came to bring. Receive His mercy and enjoy relationship and peace with God.

Have a blessed New Year! I am very excited for all that God has in store for our families and us this year!