How God’s Mercy is Able to Bless Your Life Now and Forever

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When is the last time you thanked God for His gift of mercy?

In my last post, I shared my favorite definitions for God’s mercy and grace in my life…

God’s Grace is – God giving me what I don’t deserve.
God’s Mercy is – God not giving me what I do deserve.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines mercy as:

1. Compassionate treatment, especially of those under one’s power; clemency.
2. A disposition to be kind and forgiving.

The Bible says we’re all guilty of sin.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Romans 3:23

And that sin deserves to be punished.

For the wages of sin is death…

But God offers us the gift of forgiveness and life.

but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

No one likes to think they deserve punishment, especially eternal punishment . . . but that’s exactly what the Bible says.

You and I are sinners who have been declared guilty. On our own, we sit on death row.

But God…

God gives mercy to replace punishment. God gives grace in the person of Jesus. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, God gives life “rich and satisfying” to all who trust and follow Jesus through faith.

[Jesus said,] The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

John 10:10

Paul explained God’s mercy like this…

But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) . . . God saved you by His grace when you believed.

Ephesians 2:4–5,8

There is nothing you and I can do to deserve forgiveness and the pardoning of our punishment—nothing we can do to earn eternal life in God’s presence.

I love this quote from the Life Application Bible Notes:

[God] did not save us because of, but rather in spite of, what He saw in us.

No matter how hard you and I try, we are not and cannot be “good enough” to deserve God’s mercy.

God’s mercy is simply…

“His tenderhearted, loving compassion for His people. It is His tenderness of heart toward the needy. If grace contemplates humans as sinful, guilty, and condemned, mercy sees them as miserable and needy.” ~ Millard Erickson

Let’s pause to thank God for His gift of Mercy…

A Prayer of Thanks and Praise
for the Undeserved Gift of God’s Mercy

Lord God, how can I begin to thank you for Your gracious gift of mercy. Your mercy reaches out and lifts me out of the pit of my sinful thoughts, words, and actions. Your mercy looks beyond my failures and offers me forgiveness and freedom through faith in my Savior, Jesus. Your mercy and grace shine the light of Your love over all You have made. Your Word tells me that You love me.

Your love covers my past, prepares my future, and goes with me through each day. Your Word tells me that it is a love so deep and full that You accepted my punishment. And not just any punishment, You endured my suffering and died my death. “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (1 John 4:10) Just the thought of it overwhelms me.

Thank you for this undeserved gift of love . . . for Your mercy. I pray to never take Your mercy and grace for granted. I pray to humbly receive both with love and gratitude. And I ask that You will give me everything I need to extend Your grace, mercy, and love to everyone around me. I come to You in the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus. Amen.

It’s impossible for us to fully comprehend the extent of God’s mercy and grace.

Charles Spurgeon describes it like this…

 God’s mercy is so great that you may sooner drain the sea of its water, or deprive the sun of its light, or make space too narrow than diminish the great mercy of God.

And Max Lucado said the following…

“Our Savior kneels down and gazes upon the darkest acts of our lives. But rather than recoil in horror, he reaches out in kindness and says, ‘I can clean that if you want.’ And from the basin of His grace, He scoops a palm-full of mercy and washes our sin.”

God has shown us an abundance of His mercy and grace. He’s poured so much over us and into us that He invites us to share them with others . . . to shine the light of His love over everyone we meet so that they might experience His blessings themselves.

Take time throughout the day to thank and praise God for His mercy. Thank Him for seeing our need and for sending Jesus to suffer the punishment you and I deserve. And thank Him for the gifts of faith and freedom.

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