Mercy

PROPHECY:

Thus Says The LORD,

I have desired to give you, My love. Since the beginning of creation, I foresaw you and called you, My beloved. I knew and thought of you as I created the heavens and the earth. I thought of you before you were born and wanted a relationship with you. I knew the sin you would commit before you took your first breath.

I have understood everything about you and the life you would live before you opened your eyes. I knew every mistake and chose to love and forgive you for every wrong. My mercy has always been available because I do not want to condemn anyone.

I desire all people to turn to Me and seek Me. My kindness is meant to draw people to Me. This is why My mercy endures forever. I am love. I extend My love and will always love.

No matter how you feel, or the guilt you experience because of a wrong. If you will seek Me. Confess your sin and repent. You will experience My mercy. You will know My love.

Says The LORD.

MESSAGE:

Psalms 118:1 (NKJV) [1] Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

The word mercy in Hebrew is Strong's H2617. חֶסֶד ḥēsēd, kheh'-sed; it means loving-kindness; steadfast love; grace; mercy; faithfulness; goodness; favor,

This word is used 240 times in the Old Testament. The term is one of the most important in Old Testament theology and ethics vocabulary.

The Septuagint nearly always renders checed, kheh'-sed, with the Greek word eleos ("compassion"). "Mercy is a form of love determined by the state or condition of its objects. Their state is one of suffering and need, while they may be unworthy or ill-deserving. (Miley, Systematic Theology).

The word of God strongly urges all people to extend mercy, as stated in Matthew 5:7 (NKJV) [7] Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy, and Matthew 23:23 (NLTse) [23] "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law–justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

No person deserves mercy, yet God freely gives mercy. It is because of love that God extends mercy. Love covers a multitude of sins. Though mercy is needed to show love. Mercy is the act of showing compassion and kindness. Mercy is giving forbearance towards a person who has offended or deserves punishment. Without mercy, every person would be lost in sin.

God had it communicated in scripture that He wants His mercy to overshadow us. In Psalm 23, the LORD, our shepherd, had it communicated in verse [6] Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.

God never intended us to live in this life without experiencing His mercy. He chose to always extend it to us because of His love for us. God never wants any person to feel hopeless. He does not want people to stay in their sins. God, in His love, chooses to remove all sin and give us something we do not deserve, His mercy.

He knows we make mistakes. He knows we will sin and do something that displeases Him. Through His love for us, He chooses not to hold our sins against us. This does not mean we have the right to purposefully commit sin. We should not live in a way that displays a lifestyle of sin. There is a difference between willful sin and accidental sin. Deliberate sin is when we say, "I will do this because I want to, when I could walk away and have nothing to do with the sin". Accidental sin is when you sin unaware or make a mistake without thought.

An example is when someone does something that offends you to such an extent that you lose your temper, and then you are met with conviction. You know you should not have lost your temper, but in that heated moment, you acted irrationally. The conviction afterwards is meant to lead you to repentance.

We have been saved by grace, because salvation is a gift God gives to all who repent. God chooses to provide us with what we do not deserve. However, when we willfully sin, we live in a way that says, "I can take the grace of God for granted." We know this by what Paul communicated in Romans 6:1 (NKJV) [1]. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? [2] Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

The word grace in verse 1 is the Greek word Strong's G5485. χάρις xaris, khar'-ece; means graciousness (as gratifying);--acceptable, benefit, favor, grace (-ious).

Mercy is us not receiving the punishment we deserve for the sin we commit. Mercy is God extending forgiveness when we should receive judgment. God expects us to extend mercy to everyone like He does to us.

Because of God's mercy, He calls people into the ministry and does not judge anyone for what they have done. It has nothing to do with a person's ability. We know this by what 1 Timothy 1:12-16 (NKJV) [12] And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, [13] although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. [14] And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. [15] This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. [16] However, for this reason, I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

God has always shown Himself merciful. We see another example of the woman caught in adultery. In John 8:3-11. In verse 11, Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you". The word condemn in this verse is the Greek word Strong's G2632. κατακρίνω katakrinō, kat-ak-ree'-no; means to judge against, that is, sentence: --condemn, damn.

If we do not receive God's mercy, we are condemned. We all have fallen short of the glory of God. Though it is because of God's love we are forgiven, Romans 5:8 (NKJV) [8] But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God has been consistent through the scripture to display His love. Every person Jesus met was shown mercy. No person deserved His mercy, yet He gave mercy throughout His life and gave us the ultimate gift of mercy by demonstrating His love by dying for our sins.