To Love Mercy

Thursday, May 11, 2017

To Love Mercy

Scripture:

Matthew 5:7

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Matthew 6:14-15

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Ephesians 4:32-5:1

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

Psalm 18:25

With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

James 2:13

For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Psalm 103:2-4
² Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits,
³ who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy

Devotional:

Mercy. Oh, how I love it! How grateful I am for it. And yet, can I give it? Do I let others have mercy from me? Do I want God’s mercy for them?

Yes, in theory.

My daughter LOVES the story of Jonah and the whale. We read it, watch it on DVD, talk about it, and we wrote a song about it together. It’s funny, I have known this story from as young an age as she does. Still, I didn’t realize how much I can relate to Jonah’s anger. He had a personal agenda against the Ninevites, and he did not want God to have mercy on them. He even wanted to get in the way of it (read Jonah chapter 4). He was angry and resentful when God showed them mercy because they repented.

I have been hurt. I have been wronged. In many situations, my hurt has been understandable and upon reflection and counseling, the other person was absolutely not right in what they did. As much as I desire to forgive, it is very hard. I recognize that I need to, and I work through it and refuse to allow unforgiveness to control me. It is NOT easy in certain cases. I make it my mission. But it is something I have to work through regularly and it does not always resolve as quickly as I want it to.

This is true for so many. Other people have suffered atrocities that I can only sympathize with but not truly relate to or truly understand. My heart breaks for the wrongs committed. And still, God desires that we show mercy and walk humbly toward those who wrong us.

Don’t get me wrong. He does not require us to put ourselves into harm’s way. He protects His children, and does not expect us to return to the scene of abuse. No way.

I am not going to take a hard line with the wounded, nor will I point fingers and say “You must forgive, or else!”

But sisters, let us love mercy. Let us walk humbly.

In my home, I am the constant disciplinarian. If I am not careful, I can get too focused on righting infractions and forget that I can overlook a wrong. I can get too focused on how hurt I feel over something I didn’t like that my husband did, and forget that I could pass it over until a better time. We could talk about it later or I could just plain let it go. I could love mercy for him. I could want God’s mercy for him. I could give him mercy.

I want mercy, and I want God’s mercy to flow in my home in a real and tangible way. I pray that this is a new dawning of this truth in our lives.

Prayer:

Father, I thank You that You have shown me mercy. You are amazing and surprising, and I am deeply grateful for the mercy You give and are teaching me to give.

I ask today that the dawn of a merciful heart would be new. I ask that our family would be a family that gives and shows mercy, kindness and forgiveness to one another.

I lift up my child(ren). I ask that their hearts would also be merciful and forgiving, and they would not live a life stuck in bitterness, judgment and unforgiveness.

I lift up (area of need) to Your throne. I ask that You show mercy to my child(ren) for wrongs, and that You will intervene in the area(s) they need.

I thank You for Your beauty and kindness.

In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.