TODAY’S DEVOTION (Tuesday 10th December 2019)
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”
So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Romans 9:14-16 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 344th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF GOING FORWARD.
Today we are taking on another dimension of truth and follow it up till the end of this month. We have been sharing about deep intimacy and there is one thing that we find in the place of deep intimacy. That thing is called the mercies of the LORD.
We will never make it through an outgoing year successfully without banking on God’s mercies. Because either you like it or not, with just few days to the end of the year, some will still not make it. They will either be taken down by the enemy or their own making.
Others will not make it because the number of days God located to them will be fulfilled before the 31st day of this month. So, we need God’s mercies. David said unto the LORD
“You crown the year with your goodness, and your paths drip with abundance” (Psalms 65:11 NKJV).
One major aspect of GOD’s goodness that He wants to use to crown our year with is HIS GREAT MERCIES.
Whenever God crowns a man’s year with His MERCIES, the paths He designed for him will begin to drip with abundance. When a year is ending like this, those who spent the months of that year walking (only) on God’s paths for their lives will gets a fresh dimension of His mercies for the coming year.
You see, God has a way of crowing any year we spend on His paths with His many-sided goodness – including this year.
For those who are not aware, I want to say at the beginning of this year, the LORD said to us “2019 is Our Year of Going Forward.” He then set paths for us to follow. And all through the year He was teaching us His paths and ways. Now He wants to crown the year with a dimension of His goodness called GREAT MERCIES! Hallelujah!
God’s mercies are a major blessing that He confers on those who seek Him in the deeper places of the Spirit. That is why the subject is coming on the heels of what He had been showing us on deep intimacy.
A major highlight in our devotional text this morning quoted God saying, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”
GOD HAS DECIDED TO GIVE US THE MERCY WE NEED TO END THE YEAR WELL AND ENTER THE NEW ONE IN HIS GOODNESS.
Like I have always said, sometimes we think that God’s mercy is for wicked people. Well that is true but not the whole truth. God’s Children needs more mercy than the lost. The reason is because it does not take any effort to do your selfish things and stand strong in sin. But it takes a lot of effort, external support from Heaven, to do the will of God and stand strong in righteousness. Look at what Peter said;
“If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. 1 Peter 4:18-19 NKJV
This scripture made it very clear that we need more mercy from God than the lost. Yes, the challenges of saying yes to Jesus are not easy without God’s mercies. The SCRIPTURE made it clear that if we the righteous are scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and sinner appear? We need a lot of mercy from God to receive and retain our salvation my friend.
You see, becoming a true Child of God is not the end but the beginning.
The real warfare is not in receiving Christ but having Him formed in you and walking with Him intimately until you go to be with Him. It is very possible to receive Christ and get lost at the end due to the warfare that rages after you have received Him.
It’s possible to lose what makes you a true Child of God if there is no mercy in your life to keep you as a righteous Child of God. Jesus told us the possibility of this happening when He said,
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” Matthew 5:13 NKJV
Losing your flavor as the salt of the earth is losing what makes you god’s true child on the face of the earth. The greatest tragedy in the life of a Christian is the loss of his flavor as the salt of the earth. Hebrew made it clear that once that is lost even when you seek it with tears you will not find it again.
Jesus Himself asked “but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?”
THAT IS WHY WE NEED GOD’S MERCY AS HIS RIGHTEOUS SEED!
Jesus made it clear that if we loose our flavor as Children of GOD we cannot be seasoned again. The next thing that will happen is that we will become good for nothing; men and devils will be trampling on us. Sadly, that has become the lot of many in the kingdom today that is why we need mercy!
Another highlight in our devotional text today says, “So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” That tells me, to make it to the end of this year and successfully spend the coming year in Peace it is not by might nor by power but by the mercy of the LORD! The Holy Spirit must make His mercies run through my life like blood run through my veins. Zechariah the prophet puts it this way;
So he answered and said to me:
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6 NKJV
There are so many things Satan throw at us to take us away from the side of God’s favor and goodness. One of it is temptations. Another is fiery trials and persecutions. But I have come to realize that if God’s mercy is on your life, you will be able to overcome temptations.
If God’s mercy is upon your life, trails of faith will not be able to have you. If God’s mercy is upon you, He will make sure you find a way of escape in any Circumstances that the enemy or you throw at you.
Yes, sometimes the enemy throws things at us and other times we throw them at ourselves. But if the mercy of God is upon us, He will always make a way of escape for us. The Bible says,
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 NKJV
We need God’s mercies in our lives to always find a way of escape when the enemy strike us through temptation.
GOD’S MERCY IS THE REGULATOR OF THE IMPACT OF TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS ON US.
It will make sure we are not allowed to be tempted beyond “what we have spiritual capacity for” by creating a way of escape for us; especially when it is becomes too much than we can bear. That tells you why we find God’s mercies in the deep. Whenever your relationship with God becomes deep, the trials and temptations thrown at you from hell becomes terrible. But the mercies you find in the deep will keep you in the mist of it all.
As you take each step into the New Year, whatever douse of GOD’s mercy you need will begin to take steps towards you in Jesus precious name! AMEN!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;
“My soul still remembers and sinks within me. This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:20-24 NKJV