This prophetic word is titled God’s Mercy.
I don’t know about you but sometimes I go through seasons when I just want to relax and receive! That’s it! I do not want to do a thing! Lounging by the beach or the pool and just receive from the Lord. Like a summer vacation for your spiritual life where you’re receiving gifts and blessings from the Lord!
One such thing that you can relax and receive is God’s Mercy. We sure do not deserve it but what I do know is that He will give it to us if we ask.
Titus 3:3-8
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
You know sometimes you can mess up so bad and you need others to have mercy on you. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.
The One that you can be sure of to extend mercy to you is God.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
You can approach with confidence because you know He will show you mercy.
What is mercy?
Strong’s Greek Concordance 1656 – Eleos: Mercy, compassion, pity
God’s compassionate response toward human misery and of the believer’s corresponding attitude toward others. It is more than sentiment; it is love that moves to act and to relieve. Every one of its twenty-seven New Testament occurrences carries this note of active compassion, whether describing God’s saving initiative or the believer’s ethical obligation.
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When I think about God’s mercy the story of David taking the census and stirring up God’s anger comes to mind. You can read the full story in 1 Chronicles 21
Here is an excerpt
7 God was very displeased with the census, and he punished Israel for it.8 Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt for doing this foolish thing.”
9 Then the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer. This was the message:10 “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’”
11 So Gad came to David and said, “These are the choices the Lord has given you. 12 You may choose three years of famine, three months of destruction by the sword of your enemies, or three days of severe plague as the angel of the Lord brings devastation throughout the land of Israel. Decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.”
13 “I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”
14 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, and 70,000 people died as a result. 15 And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But just as the angel was preparing to destroy it, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
16 David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, reaching out over Jerusalem. So David and the leaders of Israel put on burlap to show their deep distress and fell face down on the ground. 17 And David said to God, “I am the one who called for the census! I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? O Lord my God, let your anger fall against me and my family, but do not destroy your people.”
The first thing I notice is that David would rather fall on the mercy of God, than the mercy of man. You see, God has limits but sometimes due to the evil of man’s heart, they don’t know when enough is enough.
You want God’s mercy.
The next thing is the God didn’t even bring His full judgement, He stopped the angel from completing the job.
David didn’t know that God told the angel to stop, he saw the angel, realized there was going to be more deaths and instead said it wasn’t fair that these people should suffer because of his own mistake. David showed mercy to the people in the midst of it. He knew it was an angel of death and still said that mercy should be shown to the people.
It says a lot about who David was as a person and a leader. It showed that he reflected God’s heart by extending mercy to the people in a time when it could cost him a lot, even his life. This isn’t the first time he responded in this manner, remember he spared Saul’s life twice when he had the opportunity to kill him but he showed mercy instead. (1 Samuel 24 & 26)
I believe the Lord already knew that David was going to do the right thing and that is why He told the angel to stop.
Matthew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
To me this means we have a type of “mercy bank account” so that when it is our turn and we need mercy we are basically drawing on what has already been saved up for us because of our past acts of mercy towards others (James 2:13).
Do you need God’s mercy? Approach the throne of grace and ask. You will receive it.
Blessings!
