To attempt to understand the significance of God's mercy and grace towards us, let's look at some definitions of those words and dive into some powerful scripture verses.
Mercy: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.
Grace: (in Christian belief) the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.
Did you catch some of those words? Compassion, forgiveness, free, unmerited favor of God, salvation and blessings are all good reasons to want to shout from the rooftop about our Heavenly Father. It is not about what we do for Him (works); hence unmerited, but what His Son (Jesus) did for us.
In Exodus 34:6-7 God passes in front of Moses and says "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
Think about what God declares after saying "The Lord, the Lord." There are a million different things He could have said but the two words He used were "compassionate" and "gracious." In Psalm 6:6-7 David is very transparent and says "I am weary from my groaning; with my tears I dampen my pillow and drench my bed every night. My eyes are swollen from grief; they grow old because of all my enemies." When we can "be honest with God, He will help us turn our attention from ourselves to Him and His Mercy."
Can I get an Amen?
“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;" (Deut. 7:9)
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Have a great evening!
-Miguel R. Viera
Executive Director at Family Ministries of America
Visit familyministriesofamerica.com to see how communities are being impacted for Christ. If you, your church, school, or company are interested in getting involved in lasting community outreach, let's talk about ministry opportunities in your area.
Visit bit.ly/playingforjesusministries to learn how we are helping build godly role models for future generations.
Read about how to impact your company culture by learning more about my new book "Mission Minded in the Workplace: Illuminating the fruit of the Spirit" at missionmindedworkplace.com
