Mercy: January 18, 2011

TODAYS WORD FOR TUESDAY JANUARY 18, 2011

MERCY

DEFINITION:

Compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender; the disposition of power to be compassionate; an act of kindness, compassion or favor.

SCRIPTURE:

So then it does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” Romans 9:16

“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.” Ephesians 2:4

“For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” Psalm 100:5

“He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.” Titus 3:5

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Webster defines mercy as one being compassionate toward an offender. We have all sinned against God so we are all offenders and in need of God’s mercy. It is because of God’s mercy that He offered up His only Son to pay the penalty for sin so that we can know Jesus to be our Savior. (God is truly a God of mercy and of love)

In 1Samuel 24 we read of David showing mercy to Saul. David was being pursued by Saul and his army because Saul wanted to kill David. Saul entered a cave where David and his men were hiding. David managed to creep up unnoticed on Saul and cut off a piece of Saul’s robe. David could have easily killed Saul, but instead he showed mercy to Saul and let him escape. When Saul was made aware of David’s act of mercy, Saul repented and reconciled with David. Like Saul, we should be so grateful for the mercy God has shown for us that we desire to repent of our sins and be reconciled to God.

Although we are undeserving, because we are all sinners, He showed His mercy to us by sending His Son to this earth to save us from death which is the punishment we deserve. He sacrificed His only son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and then Jesus arose from the grave and soon went to Heaven to prepare for us a place to live for eternity. God then showed His mercy to us by sending His Holy Spirit to be with us and guide us each day we live on this earth.

Throughout the Bible we read about God showing mercy. In Genesis 18 we read of Sarah laughing at God’s promise, to give her a son in her old age, because she doubted God. God had mercy on her, in spite of her doubt, and gave her the promised son. Time after time the people of Israel turned away from God and sinned against Him, but God had mercy on them and continued to love them and bless them. This was the standard of mercy that God continued to give all the generations that followed. In Psalm 18:21 it reads that God gives mercy to the merciful. God wants us to be merciful to those our lives touch each day. Then He promises to be merciful to us. We as Christians serve an awesome God who shows mercy to us each and every day.

As parents we have the responsibility to teach our children to be merciful. When Children get into fights they usually have no desire to show mercy.

Our children loved to participate in sports and we coached some of their teams because we felt it gave us a chance to teach important life values not only to our children but their peers. We taught them what it meant to be good sports, win or lose. We taught the importance of teamwork, how to play fair, the value of practice and hard work.

And on a few occasions we even dealt with mercy. In youth sports there is a “MERCY RULE” which brings a game to an early ending when one team has such a big lead that it is evident the losing team has no chance to win. This spares the losing team the humiliation of suffering a greater defeat.

Our children and their teammates were having a great time winning so they were not thrilled to see the game end. However, when we asked them to think about how they would feel if they were the other team, they understood that it was right and proper to show mercy to them.

We are familiar with Psalm 23 written by David. In verse 6 it reads: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” All those who love the Lord can be assured of God’s unfailing love and goodness and mercy, just as David was. We fail but God’s mercy does not. God’s mercy is everlasting.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in John 3:17.

“For God did not send His Son into this world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

PRAYER:

Thank You Lord for the mercy You have shown to me by dying on the cross to save me from my sins so that I do not have to pay the penalty that I rightly deserve. Thank You for the assurance I have that Your mercy is everlasting and that Your love is unfailing. Help me to be merciful to others so that they may see Christ in me.