Tag: mercy

A Reverent Fear of Almighty God Defines Us

Psalm 25:12
Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.

As good sons and daughters of our earthly fathers, we benefitted greatly from living in awe of the highest authority figure in our lives. We have been shaped by this key relationship and we will continue to be shaped throughout our entire lives by this relationship. Our earthly fathers took us through the follies of our youth as he provided for us in our formative years and prepared us for life in this world.

Fear of God can be compared in some regards to our relationship with our earthly fathers. While we may have feared punishment from our earthly fathers, it was the fear of offending the one we loved so dearly that held such power over us. The fear of disappointing the one that we wanted to please the most provided enormous influence over us. The fear of not living up to the expectations of the one that we held in the highest place in our lives impacted our lives. The fear of losing closeness with the one we desired to be closest to kept a rein on our lives. It was this paternal fear that held us in line when the world was trying to pull us out of line and it is this awesome and reverent fear of Almighty God that defines us and keeps us in line with His eternal plans for our lives.

But so much more has been provided for us by Our Heavenly Father. He has provided for our every need in preparing us for our eternal lives with Him. Through His mercy and His perfect love, He gave us His Son as our Redeemer so that we could be worthy to spend eternity with Him. To those of us that humbled ourselves before His Son, He set aside a path of sanctification. He provided His Holy Spirit to make us aware of our sinful nature and call us to repentance. To this day, His Holy Spirit guides us and gives us rest in our souls as He leads us to our journey’s end in Our Heavenly Father’s eternal kingdom.

Let us submit in reverent fear to the Son of Almighty God, Jesus Christ. Let us seek to live every day in awe of who He is. Let us seek His Holy Spirit in directing every moment in our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we exalt Your name as the name that holds the highest place in our lives and we exalt the name of Your Son, Jesus, who shed His blood for our sins. We thank You that we can live in the shadow of His love, His protection and His provision. We seek to deepen our relationship with Your Son. We pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to understand who He is so that we may live our lives in reverent awe of Him. We ask all these things in the name of Our Refiner and Purifier, Jesus Christ.

The Perfect Love, Mercy and Forgiveness of Jesus Christ

Psalm 32:5
I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

In the flesh, it is very difficult to deliver a full confession of the sin in our lives. We simply are not equipped to deal with self-condemnation without the aid of the Holy Spirit. Our carnal minds are not able to fathom the real joy in the forgiving mercy of Jesus Christ.

It is very important that we confess our sins and repent of them quickly. We should not hold on to them for any reason – not even to punish ourselves. We must take God’s merciful grace and cleanse ourselves of our sins. We must recognize that Jesus Christ has atoned for all of our sins for all eternity. To hold on to any sin, even its guilt, is to continue to unnecessarily suffer its destruction in our lives.

Once we have cleansed ourselves of our sins through confession, the Holy Spirit will come along side us and lift us to a new, higher level relationship with the Father. “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” Psalm 32:1-2

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to inspect us and to reveal to us the darkness of sin in our lives. Let us surrender to the urgings of the Holy Spirit to repent of our sins so that we may be cleansed. Let us rejoice in the peace, comfort and freedom that we are given as we confess our sins and receive the perfect love and forgiveness of Our Savior. Thus let us take our relationship with Our Heavenly Father to a higher level.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace that has provided a way for us to be cleansed of our sins and freed from its destructive power in our lives. We thank You Jesus for settling our sin debt for all eternity. We exalt the name of Our Savior. We pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to uncover all of the sin in our lives so that we may quickly confess it with our mouths. May we escape the darkness that has overcome us and live in the precious light of Our Redeeming King. May we reach higher and higher in building our relationship with You, Father. We ask all these things in the mighty, holy and precious name of Jesus Christ.

Living As Jesus Lived

Matthew 14:14
When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Jesus has great compassion for all people. During His time on earth, He poured out His compassion on all of the people whom He encountered. He did not go out condemning them, even though many deserved His condemnation. No matter what condition He found them in, He offered help. He came to heal them all in mind, body and spirit. In each case, He forgave them of their sins and offered them the hope of an eternal inheritance.

Today He does the very same thing for us. He does not care what condition we are in now or what condition we come from. His offer is always the same. He pours our His loving kindness on us. He offers us the opportunity to be healed in mind, body and spirit and to receive our eternal inheritance through His mercy and grace. His offer is always accompanied by His perfect love and forgiveness.

In turn, He expects us to reflect His love and forgiveness by having compassion on the people that He places in our lives. We should be alert to those around us that are burdened by afflictions, addictions and iniquities.

Let us raise our awareness for the need to show mercy and compassion for those who are burdened. Let us prepare ourselves to provide for the needs of their minds, their bodies and their souls. Let us willingly and purposely serve them in the same manner that Jesus would have served them, compassionately without condemnation.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing for our every need and offering us the keys to Your kingdom through Your Son, Jesus. We exalt the name of Jesus for the sacrifice He endured for us to be able to accept His loving kindness and mercy. Remind us, Lord, that we are Jesus’ ambassadors of compassion today. May we be living vessels of His perfect love and forgiveness. We pray that through Your grace we will serve the world around us compassionately without condemnation. We ask all these things in the name of our eternally compassionate king, Jesus Christ.

Judged and Forgiven in Advance by Our Savior

1 Peter 4:17
For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

For each of us that have been washed clean of our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ, the keys to the kingdom of God will be given. Our sins will have been judged and forgiven in advance by Our Savior. Our sins will no longer stain us in the eyes of Almighty God. We will appear in the likeness of Jesus Christ before Our Father in heaven. We will be worthy to become heirs to the kingdom of Almighty God for all eternity.

Yet Our Just and Holy Father requires that all sin must be punished. So those of us that have received the grace of salvation will experience rebuking for our sins in this lifetime. The Holy Spirit will reveal to us the past and current sins in our lives. We will be required to ask forgiveness for our sins and turn away from them. Until we completely surrender to Jesus, we will suffer trials and tribulations in accordance with our iniquities. Our suffering will serve as both the measured punishment required for our sins and the enlightenment needed to facilitate our reliance on Our Savior. Our suffering will continue until every element of our self reliance is slain at the Cross.

For every man and every woman that does not accept the offer of salvation, their time of judgement will also come. It will be at the Throne of God. Sadly, they will have no defense for their sins. They will be deemed unacceptable to enter in to the eternal home of Almighty God. There will be no comfort for those that come before the Lord on their final day still covered in the filth of their sins. They will face endless torment.

Let us rejoice in the knowledge that our salvation separates us from our sins and their required eternal damnation. Let us completely surrender ourselves to the sanctification process that the Lord has set aside for us on this earth. Let us prepare ourselves to hear the sweet words “well done good and faithful servant” when we stand before Our Heavenly Father at His Throne.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace in our lives. We thank You for opening our eyes so that we may see the sin in our lives that separates us from You. We thank You for preparing our hearts so that we could receive Your Son, Jesus, as Our Savior. We pray that You mold our hearts, Lord, so that we fully surrender to Your Son each and every day of our lives. Prepare us, Lord, to stand before You in the image of Your Son. We ask all these things in the name of the precious Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

The Grace of Salvation is Available to All

Titus 2:11
For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all the people.

Every one of us on this earth is burdened by a sin debt that we cannot pay. It is a debt the carries the most severe of all debt penalties – eternal damnation. Our Divine Creator through His perfect love and forgiveness offers each of us a payment plan that allows us to remove the onerous debt. He is a most merciful creditor.

The debt clearing offer of Our Heavenly Father is not based on our good deeds, nor on the basis of our performance of any type. The redeeming offer that He makes to us is made to us as a free gift. It is called His grace. It is revealed to us by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit. All we have to do is accept it in the name of His Son Jesus.

To add to the sweetness of His offer, He extends His grace to us by providing His Holy Spirit to in-dwell in us to guide, counsel and comfort us as we go through the debt period of our lives. Let us remember that we have not earned, nor do we deserve the grace of salvation. We are most unworthy, sin-burdened servants. It is by God’s grace and the shed blood of His Son that our salvation is possible.

Let us now live righteous and godly lives that correspond to the glorious debt free condition that we will hold when we stand before the Lord. Let us humbly recognize that we cannot do it on our own, but we can through the grace of Almighty God and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the riches of Your grace that are extended to us through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We pray that through Your grace we will lead sober, righteous and godly lives. May those who You have placed in our lives be drawn to accept Your salvation offer that is available to all of them through Your precious grace. We ask all these things in the name of the One who is the fount of all of Your grace, Jesus Christ.

God Promises to Raise Us Up from Our Lowest Places

Daniel 4:14-15
He proclaimed aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field.

King Nebuchadnezzar was at ease in his house and prospering greatly. In his own words, the Most High God had blessed him in every way. But because of Nebuchadnezzar’s unrighteousness and iniquities, it was all taken away from him. The Most High God, who had provided it all to Nebuchadnezzar, allowed it all to be taken away. Ultimately, when Nebuchadnezzar turned his eyes back to the the Lord, all was returned to the King.

In the prophetic words of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar is the tree. God commands that the tree be stripped of all branches, leaves and fruit. But as the God of all mercy stripped everything away from the tree, he left a stump from which the tree could rise again.

Almighty God is not only the God of all provision, He also the God of all loss. In some unusual cases, He may order our losses to occur. In most cases, He is simply allowing a loss to occur as a result of our iniquities or as a result of the attacks of the enemy. Be certain that no loss can occur in our lives without God allowing it. Be even more certain that our merciful Lord, who is filled with lovingkindness, is also the God of restoration. So no matter what we are going through, or have gone through, God has commanded that some good remnant be left in us from which He can raise us up according to His perfect plans for our lives.

Let us gird ourselves with the promises that God has made to us when we are going through the greatest of trials. Let us rejoice in knowing that He is not only prepared to restore us, it is His desire that we be restored. Let us find comfort in knowing that the loving and merciful hand of the Lord never leaves us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for every provision in our lives. We give You all the glory and the praise for Your grace and lovingkindness. Teach us, Lord, how to give you all the glory and praise when we are experiencing loss in our lives. Build up our faith so that we may endure while You raise us up from “what is left” in our lives to the good and perfect place that You have planned for us. We ask all these things in the name of our all-sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Holds All of Our Blessings in His Hands

Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

In this passage we are given the summation of all of our blessings. God the Father is the author and giver of all blessings. Jesus Christ is the medium that God the Father uses to dispense His blessings. The sphere of coverage is every single blessing in heavenly places.

The fullness of everything that we need and the fullness of everything that will satisfy us originates with God the Father. Every iota of these blessings is held in the hands of our risen Savior, Jesus Christ. And His Holy Spirit dwells in us as the dispensing fount that we may draw on at any time.

Why should we ever look elsewhere? Man can never be counted on to stand by us through all circumstances. At some point, all men will fail one another. The Lord, Jesus, never fails us. He is with us even under the direst circumstances, even the ones that we have created ourselves.

Let us surrender ourselves to the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us prepare to receive all that He can bestow, all that His Son can provide and all that the Holy Spirit can apply in our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the loving kindness, the mercy and the grace that You provide to us through Your Son. We pray that You show us how to turn to Jesus first in all things. Strengthen us, Lord, so that we may leave behind our reliance on a fallen world. Prepare us, Father, to stand before You one day and receive the fullness of Your kingdom in heaven. We ask all these things in the name of Our Mediator, Jesus Christ.

God’s Promise to Perfect His Strength in Our Weakness

Matthew 22:37
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

To love God with all of our heart, soul and mind requires that all of our physical strength and all of our intellect and understanding be fully engaged in turning all of our affections toward our heavenly Father. May we always be mindful that God provided His Son to die for our sins because we can not measure up to this command from Almighty God. We simply do not have the capacity, except through Christ in us, to love God to the extent that our love consumes our whole heart, soul and mind.

We should also be mindful that God is completely aware of our weakness. He provides His Holy Spirit to dwell within us to guide us along our path of sanctification. The Holy Spirit will not rest when we depart from making God the love above all loves in our lives. The Holy Spirit will not accept us living with one foot in God’s kingdom and one foot in the world. It is all or nothing with the Holy Spirit. The good news is that the Holy Spirit’s job is to follow through on God’s promise to perfect His strength in our weakness.

Let us, who have no virtue or value without the work of salvation in our lives, allow ourselves to be overtaken by the overwhelming love of Christ in our lives. Let us become vessels of His perfect love and forgiveness.

Let us, who fall far short of loving Our Lord with all of our hearts, all of our souls and all of our minds, surrender to the urgings of the Holy Spirit. Let us be consumed by His pentecostal fire.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the mercy and the endless grace that You provide to each of us. We bless the name of Jesus who allows us to fulfill the law that we cannot fulfill on our own. Help us, Lord, to be keenly aware of the urgings of the Holy Spirit. Help us to humbly accept the corrections that the Holy Spirit is asking us to make in our lives. We pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit will take us to the high places that can only be reached when our hearts are fully consumed by Your love. We ask all these things in the name of the Exalted One, Jesus Christ.

Resting on the Providence and Promises of Our All-Sufficient Lord

Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

It is obvious from this verse that we are to have burdens in our lives. But God in His mercy promises us that He will not give a burden that is larger that the provision that He will grant to overcome the burden.

God gave His own Son a cup of sorrow and suffering that was so intense that Jesus sweat blood as He faced His upcoming crucifixion. But Jesus did as the verse commands, He cast His burden upon the Father. Thus He was provided with all He needed to face the Cross and rise from His trial in victory.

No affliction or tribulation is joyous. They are all troublesome. Some are much heavier than others. At times they even seem to gather together or to extend much longer that we would care to bear. The total of it all adds up to the burden we face. Our relief is to look to Jesus Christ who bore it all on the Cross and took it away from us.

Let us cast our burdens upon the Lord. Let us claim the promise of Our Heavenly Father that He will not let His righteous children fail. Let us rest upon His providence and promise. Let us rejoice in His faithfulness.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your promises that we can lean on as we deal with the cups of sorrow and suffering that we must swallow. We thank You for using our trials to build our faith in who You are. We thank You for insuring our victory through Your Son, Jesus. We thank You for insuring our righteousness through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We pray for Your mercies to be granted us each day as You release fresh supplies of strength and comfort just as we need them to overcome our trials. We ask these things in the name of the One who gave His life for the ransom of many, our all sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

The Faithful Love, Protection and Provision of Almighty God

Psalm 91:1
He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

In this world, to live in someone’s shadow is generally thought to be an undesirable place. It is regarded as a place where you cannot live up to the standards of the one who preceded you. In the kingdom of God, quite the opposite is true. Living in the shadow of Almighty God enables us to be more than we could believe to be possible.

Loving faith in Almighty God on our part will always be met by faithful love, protection and provision on God’s part. His covering of us is much greater than we can imagine. If we are abiding in Him, there is no limit to His shadow that is over us. He protects us at all times from natural and supernatural enemies. He makes our homes secure. He is our refuge in every storm.

But it does not stop there for those that seek to live in His shadow. He invites us to enjoy so much more. There is a special nuance in this passage that must not be overlooked. The blessings spoken of in today’s passage can be greater for those believers who live in ongoing, close fellowship with God. The delightful fullness of these most high blessings are for those who habitually abide in the shadow of Almighty God. Those who stand in continuous communion with God set themselves up to become possessors of rare and special benefits.

Let us seek the grace to be constant refugees in the fortress of Almighty God. Let us enjoy the fullness of His shadow.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for the shadow of protection and provision that You place over us when we surrender our lives to You. We bless the name of Jesus who has made it possible for us to come to Your mercy seat. We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will guide us and strengthen us as we seek to abide under Your shadow. May our hearts be prepared to seek that secret place of constant communion where we can access the fullness of Your most high blessings. We ask all these things in the name of the One whose mercies never end, Jesus Christ.