Mercy and Grace

Scripture Reading:  Lamentations 3

Main Scripture: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22- 23 (ESV)

Worship Song/Song to meditate on: The steadfast love of the Lord – Maranatha Singers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PemhmovZRec)

Can you recall a situation as a child where you did something really rude and your mother found out, you knew that the belt was coming; however, instead of punishing you she simply warned you and gave you a treat. That’s called grace.  Although you deserved a fine spanking your mother gave you what you did not deserve.

Another example of grace is the Lord’s everlasting love for us no matter what we do. Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) states “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” In the same way that the Lord extends his mercies and grace to us, he wants us to extend them to others.

Ladies it can’t be easy to forgive or love the man who raped your daughter or the man who murdered your child. However, we are expected to.

While the examples above may seem extreme, consider the following that may hit closer to home. How do you treat your husband when he does something that you don’t agree with? What about the person, who cuts you off in the traffic, how do you treat that person?

The truth is sometimes we behave so badly, we often have to ask the other person for forgiveness and yes; we expect the person to extend mercy after we just shouted, cursed humiliated and insulted them. I know, I’m not perfect either, but if we start by doing some small things for example, a soft answer turneth away wrath.

No, you didn’t start the argument, you did not insult him first, however, you know better. The love of God that is within us will enable you to forgive and to answer calmly or just walk away. It is the principle of turning the other cheek. I know you are hurting and you want so badly to slap the person but ….

It might sound weird, but extending grace and mercy not only helps the person who offends us, it helps us too. Have you ever been upset with someone and it spoils your whole day, sometimes you’re so upset, you cannot even think straight. Well, I bet you, if you forgive the person, although the person did not deserve it, you would feel so much better.

This week do things for persons that they do not deserve remembering that Christ does the same for us all time.

Have a God Filled Day Ladies.