Mercy

Glory To God!

As I was seeking the Lord for the message to write this time, I kept hearing the word “mercy”. I have seen that word many times in the Bible, but have not really studied it before. So, I went to the Webster’s Dictionary and my Strong’s Concordance and looked it up.

Webster’s defines it as: kind, compassionate treatment, forgiveness, relief and alleviation of distress.

Strong’s defines it as: to bend or stoop in kindness; to favor; fairness and graciousness; to have pity on; to love; to show tender love towards; to make supplication for (or pray for).

Just the other day, as I was praying for someone who is causing me distress in many ways, the Lord had me pray for mercy for that person. I have never prayed that over anyone before. At the time I really didn’t know what it was all about, but as I think back over it, I see He wanted me to pray that God would have mercy for that person and that He wanted me to have mercy too.

So, as we continue to renew our minds and fast from wrong thinking, I am going to show you what God is showing me about thoughts that come up against people who hurt us or have hurt us in the past. It is not an easy thing to pray over a person who has caused us hurt and pain; but as we pursue that avenue this month, I believe we will be set free in that area of our mind. We don’t want Satan to get any more inroads into our minds; and we can get rid of his thoughts once we understand how to do it. We all need to be free to live with renewed minds according to the word of God.

First we have to see what God has done for us regarding mercy. My Bible uses the word “lovingkindness” in the place of mercy. So, I will quote some scriptures the way my Bible says it.

In Psalms 86 we have several references to lovingkindness or mercy. Here are some of them: Vs. 5: “For Thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon Thee.” Vs. 12-13: “I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Thy name forever. For Thy lovingkindess toward me is great, and Thou hast delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol (hell).” Vs. 15: But Thou, O Lord, art a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.”

We have all had the mercy and lovingkindness of God given to us. We were shown great mercy and grace when He sent Jesus to die in our place. When we accepted Him as our Savior, we received His mercy and grace in the forgiveness of our sin. He completely wiped the slate clean for each of us; and continues to show us mercy and grace as we stumble through this life, trying to learn His ways.

Right now, this whole world is growing further and further away from Him. Yet, He is still showing us all mercy and grace; trying to draw all men unto Himself so that none will be lost and go to hell for eternity. Sometimes, I wonder how He can tolerate the horrible things that man is doing in this world today. It is only by His great love for us and His mercy that we are not all wiped out! We cannot even fathom that kind of love.

I understand more than ever that He requires us to show that same mercy to those who hurt us in any way. When Jesus died on the cross, He prayed. “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they are doing.” That is a call for mercy! Jesus asked the Father to show us mercy by forgiving us. In praying that prayer, He forgave us Himself before He went back into heaven.

I am continually being reminded these days of a scripture in Matthew 5:44-48 “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gathers do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles (unsaved) do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect (mature) as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 5:7 tells us “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” I don’t know about you, but I can use all the mercy I can get. However, this scripture shows me that if I want mercy, then I have to be merciful…no matter how much it hurts. By showing mercy and kindness in the face of persecution, I free myself from the pain and anger that wants to rise up and take me over.

I also see that it puts a barrier up for Satan to torment me with thoughts of revenge and retaliation. If my mind is renewed with these scriptures, people who lie and use words against me that are unkind can’t get through that barrier of mercy and love.

Another word for mercy is “forgiveness.” By an act of our will (not our feelings) we can forgive anyone. We don’t have to feel it…and we don’t have to allow them into our lives any more, but we can free ourselves by showing mercy and forgiveness toward them. I don’t say it is easy. We can only forgive because we understand that Jesus first forgave us. It is an act of obedience to the word of God…a choice we can make regardless of what they have done to us.

It releases us to live free from the pain, anger and guilt of holding things against those who have hurt us. It is quite amazing how it works, you know. It isn’t something we can put our “finger” on. It is an act of the Holy Spirit of God that works inside us when we allow ourselves to turn our self and the other person over to Him.

So, for this month, let’s work on showing mercy to those who have hurt us and are continuing to hurt us. Let’s fast from the wrong thinking of anger, bitterness and hatred and renew our minds with the word of God so we can live free and find that peace of God that passes all our understanding that we so earnestly seek.

May God bless you with an understanding of His word this month. Let’s meditate on that word “mercy”. Let’s hide the word of God in our hearts so that Satan can’t get any more inroads into our lives.

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