Mercy For Me
I am a life long recipient of the mercy of God. I am blessed way more than I deserve and I have a grateful heart for the Lord’s mercy on me. I’ve seen His mercy on others as well. I believe everyone needs mercy on occasion. I think I need in regular intervals. I know my heart and the Lord knows my heart and it’s not always pure. I sometimes harbor thoughts that are unkind and harmful to others. This is a reflection of my heart not the things that they did to harm me. I have to learn to give mercy as I have received mercy.
Jonah, the prophet is acting like a spoiled brat – a Christian brat of course. He has just preached a message for God calling for the people of Nineveh to repent and turn from their evil ways and turn back to God. It doesn’t sound like to me that his heart was in the message…but he preached it anyway. I would call that obedience. But then when the Lord shows mercy to these people, Jonah gets really mad. Check this out…
1 But this made Jonah very unhappy, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “When I was still in my own country this is what I said would happen, and that is why I quickly ran away to Tarshish. I knew that you are a God who is kind and shows mercy. You don’t become angry quickly, and you have great love. I knew you would choose not to cause harm. 3 So now I ask you, Lord, please kill me. It is better for me to die than to live.” 4 Then the Lord said, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry?” (Jonah 4:1-4 NCV)I love it when I receive mercy that I don’t deserve. I should be thrilled to see someone else receive mercy instead of punishment. The Lord’s heart is evident in this passage of scripture. God is making a way for these people where there seems to be no way. He is showing them the way to return to Him and they are accepting this gift of mercy.
I’m so grateful for the mercy of God. I’ve seen first hand His love and mercy poured out over me. He is unmatched in His mercy and grace. He has an unlimited supply of both and His heart is moved when my heart moves toward Him. He loves me like no one on this earth could love. I know that I’ve told my children over and over how I love them more than they could love me. I’ve also told them that one day when they have children they will further understand why I say that. God loves me like a Dad loves his children – after all I am God’s kid! I just can’t say enough about the mercy of God – it’s amazing and impossible to properly describe.
Pressing On! Dwayne