Intro:Every day. Every day we experience the mercy of God. Every day that we take a breath. Every day we pull our feet from the covers and meet the cold floor. Every day we live we have already experienced mercy.
I don't know about you, but I for one am stoked that God gives me mercy daily! I need it. I get His mercy when I am a good boy and even when I am not so good. I receive this mercy because of who HE is not what I do. That is good news.
Read:
Lamentations 3:17-26
17 Peace has been stripped away,
and I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 I cry out, “My splendor is gone!
Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!”
19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness
is bitter beyond words.
20 I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
21 Yet I still dare to hope
when I call this to mind:
22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”
25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
26 So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord.
Think:
How do you find hope in tough times? What do you call to mind to help you cope (v.21)? In the midst of struggle and pain ... in the midst of feeling fear and loss where do you turn? So easy to get stuck on emotion and feeling. So easy to only see the negative and brood about it. Our author teaches us a very important thing here: THINK.
Think through the love of God. Don't try to work up a feeling about His love. Think through the extent of His love. Think ... the feelings will follow. Think. Call to mind. Remember. Bring the right things out of the storehouse to feed your soul on. THINK.
Have you ever thought through why God loves you? I've been meditating on CS Lewis's book the 4 Loves lately. He says God loves us because He MUST love us because He is love. In fact, it is His very nature to give good things to us because He loves us. God's love compelled Him to create something He did not need (you and me) so He could share and show His love.
So, when I feel down or when my circumstances are sucky. When I wonder if God is around someplace. When I doubt that God will come through yet again. I am invited to THINK about God's love and goodness to me.
I can see this love in two places:
1. On a cross. Amazing love how can it be, that you my God would die for me? When God created us in love He saw the necessity for the cross and planned for our rescue. The blood of Jesus is precious. The death of the Son of God proves the love of God for me. When I wonder about my circumstances I need to THINK through the cross and the love that was shown there for me and you.
2. On a cold floor. Amazing love how can it be, that you my God would give me another day to live? The fact that you awoke this morning is a sign of mercy and love from God to you today. He is saying, my child begin again. Have a new day on Me. My love is greater than your sin and your shortcomings. I have a plan for you today My child. Rise. Live. Share with others the joy of living and knowing Me.
The author in the Book of Lamentations had a lot to complain and worry about. Living in captivity is like that. YET, he calls things to mind. He THINKS. He remembers that God has shown mercy and love to him in that fact that he woke up that morning.
Did you wake up this morning? God's not finished with you. Mercy is being shown today. Live with all the gusto you can. THINK about that love. It is the love of a God that would rather die than live without you.
That's mercy!
DevoLink: Devotions to help you Link with God.
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