Hi, I’m Tammy Hernandez, author of Soul Beliefs, Removing The Obstacles That Prevent Breakthrough And Intimacy With God. Welcome to God Today. I want to talk to you today about mercy. Miriam Webster says, “Mercy is kind, gentle or compassionate treatment, especially towards someone who is undeserving of it.” And then of course, a couple of synonyms for mercy are clemency, leniency, forbearance, or patience.
We know that God has called us to be merciful, right? Luke 6:36,37 tells us to overflow with mercy and compassion just as our Father does for us. And we know that there are so many amazing scriptures about God’s mercy, right? Like Ephesians 2:4. And then one of my favorites, Psalms 86:5, which I’m going to read. It says, “Lord, you are so good to me, so kind in every way and ready to forgive, for your grace-fountain keeps overflowing, drenching all are all your devoted lovers who pray to you.” And that of course, is The Passion Translation. And of course, 1 Chronicles 16:34 says, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy and loving kindness endure forever.”
But how many of us are applying that same mercy that God gives to us, to ourselves? The enemy tries to present God as being an angry drill Sergeant who’s never satisfied. And those of us that have accepted Him and we read scriptures, like I just read can sometimes struggle to actually apply them to ourselves. Do you really, really believe that He is overflowing with mercy specifically toward you? You know, the truth is, God would not ask us to do something that He doesn’t do. So if He asks you to be merciful because He’s merciful, that includes giving mercy even to yourself.
Now, if you automatically think, yeah, but you know what? I’m really concerned that I might go too easy on myself or, you know, what if I take advantage of His goodness? My answer to you would be, the fact that you’re concerned about that alone shows that your heart is toward Him. And my experience is the more that I accept or embrace His mercy for me specifically, the more I’m merciful and the more easy it is for me to give mercy to others. And when you truly accept His goodness, His love and kindness, it changes you from within. And that changes your outward behavior. Hebrews 4:16 says this, “Let us then with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
When I stopped being judge and jury of myself and I embraced, and I actually took a hold of Jesus’ true gift of righteousness, it brought me to a new level of intimacy with God. Honestly, it was better than I could have ever imagined. It didn’t cause me to allow sin in my life. It never made me lukewarm. In reality, it set me on fire. It set me on fire for the One that loves me more than I can comprehend.
So let’s pray. God, I thank you that you have shown me so much mercy. And I not only want to show that to others, but I want to give that same mercy to myself because my self-righteousness and all my efforts, as you say, God are as dirty as filthy rags. You did for me, what I could never do for myself. So I receive that mercy. I’d take a hold of it. I embrace it in the name of Jesus, Amen.