Enduring Mercy

One of my favorite attributes of God is His mercy. To receive mercy is to have the punishment we deserve withheld. Before Christ, we were dead in our sin…BUT GOD, rich in mercy, sent Jesus to pay the price so that we could be saved. Instead of punishment, God poured out His grace upon our lives and saved us. God no longer sees our sins and failures because we are new creations in Christ! Hallelujah!

I’m so thankful for God’s mercy. I certainly need it. I make mistakes! I fail sometimes! And that’s why Lamentations 3:22-23 means so much to me:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Every day is a new day with God! His mercies are brand new every single day of our lives. We get another chance to get it right. Praise the Lord!! In fact, God is the God of endless chances. It says many times in the Bible that God’s mercy endures forever and ever. That brings such comfort, doesn’t it? I used to deal with a lot of condemnation. I would beat myself up for all my mistakes and imperfections. I allowed the devil to immobilize me with those defeated thoughts and emotions. Then I discovered by reading the Bible that satan is the accuser of the brethren accusing us day and night (Revelations 12:10b). That’s his job – flinging accusations at us, reminding us about our past, pointing out our weaknesses. He loves to torment us this way. When these thoughts come, we need to recognize that they’re from the enemy and not allow him to beat us down. Romans 8:1 tells us that there’s no condemnation in Christ Jesus. We’re forgiven and washed by the blood of the lamb. The past is the past and we’ve been made new in Christ. Maybe we need to forgive ourselves. If God forgave us then who are we to hold onto unforgiveness?  Mercy is a beautiful gift from God, but we need to receive it. It’s as simple as saying, “Lord I receive your mercy. Thank you for your forgiveness. I receive your grace in my life.” Reminding ourselves of these truths will empower us to walk in victory. 

It doesn’t matter how long we’ve walked with God, the enemy will still try and challenge us because we’re in a spiritual battle. The best weapon against lies is the truth. The absolute truth of God’s word will demolish every lie. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says:

 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

It’s so important to know the truth of His word so we can recognize the lies immediately and then replace those lies with the truth of God’s Word. John 8:32 tells us it’s the truth that “we know” that will set us free. If we don’t know it, it has no impact on our lives. But a child of God armed with the Word is an unstoppable force. Let’s be committed to the pursuit of knowing God’s Word. We need it more than ever in a world where we’re bombarded by lies every day. It’s one of the reasons we started Hope for Today. We need to hear, speak, and saturate ourselves with truth. Below is another video from the study on Ephesians I’m doing with my friend Gail. I share more about God’s mercy and the miraculous transformation that takes place in our lives when we get saved and walk in the newness of life made possible through Christ. If you haven’t seen it yet, I know you’ll be encouraged by the truth of God’s word. Blessings friends!