God of Mercy

Fifty2 Sunday's ~ Listening4God

         The sermon was not about mercy - however, one of the songs we sang was and it has stuck with me all week. I believe this was what God wanted me to hear.  Mercy defined is "compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power; also: lenient or compassionate treatment"(Webster's).  

        The grace of God is dependent on God being merciful.  What person living has not needed or desired the "unmerited divine assistance" of God (Webster's)?

        Mercy-the word is an easy one to say (and I like to say it aloud).  An easy prayer in any circumstance is "God have mercy".  One can never go wrong praying for mercy-because we ALL need God's mercy.  Mercy is a part of God's plan for salvation. All who have by faith accepted the debt Jesus paid for our sins on the cross are recipients of God's mercy. 

        Salvation comes from the Jews (John 4:22). The scripture says, "Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in" (Romans 11:25b).  Gentile believers are fortunate to have been "grafted" into this promise (Romans 11:17).  However, were it not for the mercy God showed the Jews, there would be no mercy for the Gentiles.  In the same vein, the future salvation of the Jews is dependent on God's mercy toward the Gentiles (Romans 11:25-32) even though God has promised that, "all of Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26). 

        About mercy the scripture says; “I [God] will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Exodus 33:19).  God is a just God (II Thessalonians 1:6), but he determines who he shows mercy to and showers grace on (Romans :16-19; Ephesians 4:7).  Our God is not a temperamentally unstable king who one day is jovial and generous and the next day angry and partial.  

        Instead, "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"...is..."the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort" (II Corinthians 1:3) ... "the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17) and is "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).  Indeed, "Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.  ... they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:23).