September 27: MERCY

Believe it:

Seek the LORD while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. Isaiah 55:6-8

Live it:

We can learn three lessons from today’s text:
1. Mercy happens when God does not give us what we deserve. Grace happens when God gives you what you don’t deserve. In mercy, He does not give you what you do deserve. Just like new birth, grace, and the Holy Spirit, mercy is a gift of God. They are all God’s gifts. The truth is, we are all born bad and get worse with age. We deserve nothing less than eternal death. Even so, God shows us His goodness, and His mercies are new every morning.
2. It’s hard to be lost. If you want to be saved, God can do it. Notice the words that reveal God’s attitude in the verses above: near, mercy, abundantly pardon. John the Revelator tells us of a vision he had: he saw an open door to heaven. God has no interest in anyone being lost. He is not interested in seeing how many people He can keep out of heaven, but rather how many He can have to join Him there.
3. I should make good use of this time of mercy to share the Good News with others. I have good and bad news for you. The good news is that God is full of mercy. The bad news is that someday soon that opportunity for mercy will end. The Bible is clear that a time will come when there will be no more opportunity. That’s why it is important to get the Word out now, for a time is coming when this opportunity will no longer be available.

Share it:

Think of someone at work who needs God’s mercy and love. Share positive words of encouragement today with that person.

My prayer today: for people who live their lives very far from God

             -Pray that their eyes will be opened to the reality of God’s mercy

            -Pray for an opportunity to invite them to the week of changed lives

from God’s City, My City