God's Gifts of Grace and Mercy

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT)

How can we not be joyful when it comes to God’s faithfulness, His never ending love and His new mercies for us every day! I can’t read these scriptures and not think that the Joy of the Lord is my strength! When we make Jesus the Lord of our lives, we receive gifts that we would never be in position to receive otherwise.

God’s grace is a gift to His children, a gift he gives to those who have made Jesus their Lord and Savior – we don’t do anything to receive this gift, it’s part of our inheritance.  

Just like the grace we extend to our own children when they haven’t done anything to deserve a reward. I’ve often given my sons gifts simply because they’ve asked – not that they have gone out of their way to do something for me – but simply because they asked and I was able to give them the gift they asked for.

7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 

9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. (Matthew 7:7-11 NLT)

There is nothing that our God can’t do for us – He is able to do great and exceedingly wonderful things, He doesn’t put limitations or requirements on His gifts – He only tells us to ask Him and receive by faith.

Mercy another gift from God, given to us because we’ve either made a mistake or just because in this world, there will be trouble – isn’t it good to know that Jesus told us that, “…Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33c NLT)  

Think of this: if you have told your child a thousand times to stop climbing and jumping out of a certain tree, yet he continues to do so and one day breaks their arm - are you going to stand there, shaking your finger at them and give them a lecture on listening to you? Heck no, you are a good parent – you are going to carry him to the ER, while trying to calm him and reassure him, lavishing all your love on him – not because he made a mistake, but because you love him no matter what and want to ease his suffering.

15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. 16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:15-16 NLT)

I’ve heard this said before, the difference between mercy and grace is – MERCY is NOT getting what you deserve and GRACE is getting what you DON’T deserve. There’s nothing more joyous to my heart than the love I have for my family and when I think of the love God has for his own Son Jesus, and the price Jesus willingly paid for us all; I can’t even imagine the extent of God and Jesus’ love for us.

I know when I give my children a gift, I love to see them use their gift, I don’t want to see it sitting on a shelf never to be used. This is how I see God’s mercy and grace for us. He wants us to be blessed, He wants us to use the gifts He’s already given us! Jesus already paid the price – so let’s not put it high upon a shelf to gather dust, thinking it’s too special for us! 

Don’t get caught in a trap thinking, “we’re not good enough for those gifts, you got this wrong God – there are just ‘some things’ that the blood of Jesus can’t clean”… don’t buy into those lies of the devil! The devil wants you to think that way because you become very dangerous to him when you accept God's gifts of mercy and grace! And when you receive all of the gifts God has for you THAT is when you can become WHO God called you to be!

Receive God’s gifts for you today, claim them with the blood of Jesus, stand on the promises you have been given and then give God all the honor and glory He deserves.

Child of God

Are you living like a child of GOD, a child with an inheritance in heaven, a brother or sister of Christ? This doesn’t mean we are equal to Jesus, we can never meet the righteousness of Christ, but because of GOD’s grace and mercy, we have been given the right to call GOD our Abba father. “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.” (Romans 8:14-17a NLT)

As Believer’s we have an eternal inheritance in Heaven, we just have to remember that there is work to do for the 'family' business. “Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ Then he looked at those around him and said, ‘Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’” (Mark 3:33-35 NLT) Jesus has given us instructions to do GOD’s will; our main focus is to be on GOD and not ourselves. I’ve been trying to catch myself in the words I choose, when I refer to ‘my life’, I have to correct myself and say, ‘this life’; because this life, is no longer mine, it was bought with the blood of Jesus. So this life, needs to live the will of GOD and not the will of ‘me’ and ‘my’ wants and desires.

Jesus gave us specific instructions on HIS will, “…Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16 NLT) As Believers, as the Body of Christ, as the Church; our job is to share the Good News. People have a tendency to stop right there and put up a wall saying they are not a preacher or a teacher - they have a misconception that they are exempt from sharing the Good News. Remember, you can always invite someone to your church (so they can hear from a preacher and/or teacher that do have that gift). Each and every Believer upon accepting Jesus as their personal Savior, receives the Holy Spirit and HIS gift(s), as well as gift(s) of the Father and the Son. Perhaps, your gift may allow you to be generous to others, helping with your time or money, listening to a friend, offering wisdom and advice, or maybe just sharing your experience and faith. Your gift may not mean you will stand up and evangelize for Christ as a preacher or teacher BUT the life you are leading is sending a message with every word and every action you do when you say you are a Believer.  

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  (Colossians 1:9-14 NIV) Once we are children of GOD, we want to do GOD’s will and live a life for HIM. We want this, not because of who we are, but because of who GOD is and what HE has done for us through HIS Son Jesus. So live ‘this life’ for GOD, receive your inheritance and receive the good gifts GOD has for you, start by sharing HIS Good News with those around you.