Does mercy expire?

How long do the mercies of our Lord last before giving way to disciple and justice?

He is the Lord God Almighty, who is and was and is to come. He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega. He deserves our respect, our reverence and our love – John 14 tells us to love Him is to obey Him. It is not enough to simply say,

“Yeah, I believe in God, a higher power.”

“Yes, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins
and I accept His gift of salvation.”

He calls us to more than that. Yes, believing in a higher power can lead to a knowing of Jesus and eventually a belief that He is the only way to heaven and that He died on the cross for our sins to save us from sin. This is a foundational belief of evangelical Christians and the message of the Word of God. But as you read on in the Bible and grow in your knowledge of God and who He is and what His Word says, that belief is only the beginning. His character, who He is, demands respect, love and obedience.
Thank God there is mercy and grace to save us from our treacherous hearts that deceive us into disobedience against our Lord. Thank You, Lord, for the blood of Jesus that covers all of our sins forever more. What a truth to hold unto but….

How long will the mercies and grace of the Lord last before He determines that judgment and discipline are needed? He is the Almighty God and He does not tolerate disobedience. He tells us over and over again that to love Him is to obey Him. He speaks of it in the histories of the Bible. We are reminded of it in the songs of the book of Psalms. We see the justice and discipline of the Lord in the prophetic books of the Bible and Jesus Himself teaches us this in the New Testament Gospels and then the apostles themselves remind us over and over again, that our proclaimed love for Jesus must lead us to obedience – an acting out of our faith.
How long can we as a nation, as a people, as a world ignore the messages of Truth that the Lord has for so long been telling us? He loves us. He planned to send His Son to die for us while we were yet marinating in our sin. Jesus Himself tells us that following noble laws and a good way of life is not enough we must believe in Him and be willing to sacrifice our precious things to Him. He requires that He be number one in our lives and all else comes after Him and our love and obedience to Him. Have we done this? Can we do this?

We have seen and heard of tornados, tsunamis, earthquakes, fires, draughts, ripping winds, volcano eruptions, mud slides, floods, hurricanes, famine and disease plaguing our countries and our world. In the past we read that God used these disasters to get our attention to get us to return to Him, to obey and love Him as HE asks and as HE DESERVES. How long will we go on our merry way depending on His mercy and grace and thinking that these warnings aren’t for us?

In Revelations we hear from John that Jesus spits out the church that is lukewarm in its existence. We cannot amble by in life just believing in Jesus and not obeying and loving Him as HE deserves. Discipline will come. God tells us in Hebrews that the discipline comes to those that God loves. Those who believe in Jesus and His gift of salvation are called the children of God. What does the Bible teach us that God does for His children? HE never gives up on them. HE continually calls them to Himself and protects them, lavishes love and blessings on them in ways we can never imagine BUT He does not tolerate disobedience and disrespect of Himself. He will warn us and will call us back to Himself through prophets (speakers of the Word of the God), teachers of the Word of God and messages from His Spirit that lives inside the hearts of His children and hovers over the earth guiding people to Himself. If we continually ignore His messages and choose to live lives apart from Him and following Him in obedience. Justice and discipline will come. Mercy and grace is not gone, they can’t be gone because they are a part of His character but they will be set aside for a time while justice and discipline come to those who ignore Him and His ways. And after justice and discipline have had their time, mercy and grace return and we again have an opportunity to run to Him and be bathed in His love and once again feel the joy of His blessing and provision.

Children of God do not test His love and patience. Listen to the Words He is calling to you. Obey Him as He deserves. Mighty is our God and mighty is His love but He deserves our complete love and obedience and reverence.
Will you lay down your idols – those things that keep you or distract you from loving Him well, obeying Him as He requires? The greatest commandment according to Jesus is to love the Lord your God will ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, with ALL your mind and with ALL your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. Are you doing this? Am I doing this? This is what He requires.

So where is the hope? How can this be done? Might as well just give up after that impossible admonition…NEVER!!!

We do NOT live this life in our own strength.

What God requires He also PROVIDES.

We call upon the Name of the Lord and the power of His Spirit to help us in this path of obedience and love and

HE WILL PROVIDE!

We, the children of God have the same power in us through the Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20). Much is required of the children of God but much is waiting to be given to us as well. Rise up precious daughters and sons of the Holy God. Use the power that lives within you and that cannot be taken from you and love the Lord your God with everything you have and the strength that is given to you by the Sprit of Jesus that dwells in you. Our God is the God of the impossible, ask and watch the impossible lived out in your life.

Incomprehensible Mercy

I have not been able to stop thinking about the incredible mercy God shows us when we humble ourselves before Him. Just recently I have been reading in 1 and 2 Kings and hearing of all the kings of Israel and Judah and how most of them did evil in the eyes of the Lord. There was, however, one king who is described as no other king. This is king Ahab. This is how the Bible begins its description of king Ahab in 1 Kings 16:30 “Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him.” Later in the description of Ahab’s reign, he is further described in this way – 1 Kings 21:25-26 “There was never a man like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.”

In the chapters describing Ahab’s reign we hear of his cowardice as he freely sends his wives, children and silver to the king of Aram instead of fighting the king or asking God for help; his treachery as he hunts down the prophets of God; his whinny and insatiable greed as he pursues the vineyard of a fellow Israelite whom he has killed because he would not surrender his God given land; and his betrayal of God as he worships the idols of the land. This name and this king is always remembered and spoken of in terms of the evil that was done to the people and against God, yet he was shown mercy!

After Ahab whines to Jezebel, one of his wives, about how Naboth refused to give Ahab his vineyard. She contrives a way to have Naboth killed so Ahab can confiscate the lands and have the vineyard he so greatly wants. After the plan is played out and Naboth is killed the prophet Elijah comes to Ahab on the Lord’s behalf and pronounces a terrible judgment on Ahab, Jezebel and his descendents.

“When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: ‘Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humble himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day’…” 1 Kings 21:27-29

This is amazing to me! Ahab didn’t change his ways but he humbled himself before God and God was merciful.

Humility before God even after we do the most vile thing is accepted by God and honored. His mercy is endless and incomprehensible. Don’t ever forget this! Shame over our sin would lead us to believe that we can never go back to God but here we see that a man described as the most evil of kings could humble himself and receive mercy. It is no different for us. The Bible describes God as the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. The mercy shown Ahab thousands of years ago is also available to us TODAY.

If you have sinned against God, do not get caught up in shame and lies, humble yourself before Him, repent and be restored.

Another good reference is Psalm 51.

God's mercy and love

Well, I have been told that blogging is just sharing what's on your mind and here for me what's on my heart. Today I was reading through past journal entries and came across something I wrote after having read in Jeremiah (an Old Testament book).
Just some back story here. Jeremiah, at a young age, is asked by God to be His prophet to Israel and Judah. The people have for years rejected Him, worshipped many idols, sacrificed their children to these idols, killed prophets that have tried to speak the words of God to them. Time and time again the children of God have rejected God and His messges to them. Now it is time for punishment/discipline for the wayward children but before this is doled out on them, God pleads with them to turn away from their sin through Jeremiah.

Journal entry 3/4/10
Jeremiah 3:7 "And I thought (says the Lord), 'After she (Israel) has done all this, she will return to Me...'"
Jeremiah 3: 12-14 "...return faithless Israel...for I am merciful...I am your husband and I have chosen you..."
Jeremiah 4:18 "Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your doom and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart."
Jeremiah 5:18 "'But even in those days,' declares the Lord, 'I will not make a full end of you.'"



There is hope here, not rejection! God is hoping that once Israel is done with her sinful ways, she will come to her senses and come back to Him! Amazing! He isn't seeking revenge in this passage or punishment but He is sharing the hope of His heart - that His wayward children would turn back to Him and come "home".
Even as He is describing the impending judgement, after being refused and blatantly disobeyed; God is MERCIFUL! (Jer 5:18)

Notice too, that He is not merciful because anyone (at least not mentioned in this particular part of Jeremiah) prayed for it. He is merciful because this is His character. Some would say "God is ______" (here merciful) because someone prayed this character trait out of Him or changed His wrath/anger into mercy. NO! God is merciful because this is who He is.

The hope I found for myself in these verses is that God has not changed. His mercy is not just for Israel or Judah but for us all. Even as I sin over and over again and ignore Christ and His attempts to seek relationship with me, there is mercy for me! He will not abandon me or stop loving me. And when discipline/judgement comes my way there will still be mercy and love during that time and especially afterwards when I come to my senses. Friends, do you find hope for yourself here? Is there a time in your life when you came face to face with the hope and love of Jesus even when you were rejecting Him?