THE MERCIFUL GOD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY AUGUST 20, 2021.

SUBJECT : THE MERCIFUL GOD!

Memory verse: "But go and learn what that means: 'I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Matthew 9 vs 13.)

READ: Zechariah 3 vs 1 - 5:

3:1: Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.

3:2: And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”

3:3: Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.

3:4: The He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from Him.” And to him He said, “See I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”

3:5: And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.

INTIMATION:

Mercy is kindness or forbearance towards someone in one's power: a good thing regarded as derived from God. Mercy is God's nature, and is one of His profound ways of helping His people. God's mercy is forgiving, compassionate, withholding of the punishment or judgement our sins deserve. And because we can't do without help from God, His mercy endures forever.

King David, one of the very few people God called His friends, extensively utilized that nature of God. For instance, God was angry with David when he counted the people of Israel and sent a plaque among the people, such that seventy thousand men died in one day. But David cried out for God's mercy, which he knew would always answer for him and God was intreated. David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Please let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for His mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man."         I(Second Samuel 24 vs 14.)

The passage we read today, the prophet Zechariah, had a vision of how merciful God is. In the vision, he saw the activities or accusations of Satan against the children of Israel represented by Joshua the high priest (He was Israel’s high priest when the remnant returned to Jerusalem and began rebuilding the walls). Satan accused (“opposed”) Joshua. Though the accusations were accurate because the children of Israel had sinned against God (the reason Joshua stood in filthy garments (sins), but yet God revealed His mercy, stating that He chose to save His people in spite of their sin. 

Satan is always accusing people of their sins before God (Job 1 vs 6). But he greatly misunderstands the breadth of God’s mercy and forgiveness toward those who believe in Him. God punished Judah through the fire of great trials, but He rescued the nation before it was completely destroyed, like “a brand plucked from the fire.”

Zechariah’s vision graphically portrays how we receive God’s mercy. We do nothing ourselves. God removes our filthy garments (sins), then provides us with fine, new clothes—the righteousness and holiness of God (Second Corinthians 5 vs 21; Ephesians 4 vs 24; Revelation 19 vs 8). All we need to do is repent and ask God to forgive us. When Satan tries to make you feel dirty and unworthy, remember that the clean clothes of Christ’s righteousness make you worthy to draw near to God.

There is a need to understand the place of God's mercy in our affairs. It’s important also to note that what you are fighting against may not be the devil, or witches and wizards as you have thought; it could be something you have done, like David, that has angered God. He can be intreated when you call for His mercy. Also, certain things may be responsible for where we find ourselves and we may not know what they are. You may know all that you are doing, but will not know all that is doing you. But the mercy of God will always answer for us when we cry to Him in prayers.

Maybe a curse was placed upon one of your forefathers, which you inherited without knowing. For instance, some people have so much money but can't account for how it is spent. They have no land, house, or anything to show for all the money that passes through their hands, yet they are heavily indebted. Some don't even know what next to do with their lives. They just keep wandering about. They invest in all manner of businesses and never realize anything out of them. 

For some people, the things or habits plaguing them are like ancestral curses. They discover that things such as poverty, failure, marriage spell, immorality, drunkenness, lying, etc run through all their family tree.

If you find yourself in any of such predicament, you can cry for the mercy of God to severe you from them. You can say to God, "Lord, I don't know the cause of this thing, but You know all things. Whatever I may have dabbled into through carelessness or ignorance and which has brought this affliction in my life, Lord have mercy! Whatever may have come on me through the negative side of my natural background, let Your mercy prevail for me!" Plead the mercy of God against that mysterious affliction in your life and it will give up, and you will be free. 

It is God's Will to show mercy, therefore, His desire is to have mercy on us out of His love nature, and not out of our ability to appease Him with our sacrifice. Hence God's instruction in Psalm 50 vs 15, "And call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."

God willingly responds with help when we ask. Perhaps there is some sin in your life that you thought God would not forgive. God's steadfast love and mercy are greater than any sin, and He promises forgiveness: "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is Your faithfulness."(Lamentations 3 vs 22 -  23.)

Prayer: Abba Father, You are Loving, and ever merciful. Like David, I prefer to fall into Your hands because I know Your mercy endures forever. Great is Your faithfulness, Amen. 

PRAISE THE LORD!