TODAY’S DEVOTION (Saturday 9th August 2025)
“I was also blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; with a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
With the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks.” Psalms 18:23-27 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 221ST DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY
It’s been a journey of apostolic insights on what our divine destinies need to be fulfilled. Walking in God’s mercies is one major thing our divine destiny will need to be fulfilled. That was what we shared yesterday.
I think we will continue with the same flow because we can not talk about God’s mercy enough!!!
God’s mercy is responsible for our sleeping and waking up each morning because many of us do not even deserve to wake up because of our level of wickedness. It is the reason the sinner has hope and the saint is made an ex-sinner. It is the reason we do not get the punishments we deserve.
There is a lot to learn about God’s mercy. The Bible teaches that if we receive mercy from God, we must show it to others so that our destinies will be fulfilled. Many do not know that after accepting Jesus Christ as LORD and savior (and remaining in Him), the next qualification for making Heaven is showing mercy to others. That is how serious it is.
Let’s look at some more apostolic truths that teach us to show mercy to others. Do not forget, that is one way to walk in mercy and release your destiny. The word of the LORD says,
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:14-15 NKJV
No one whose sins have not been forgiven can enter Heaven. This scripture teaches me that if I have given my life to Christ and am living in His way and will, it’s a sign that my sins have been forgiven. The next work to do is to keep them forgiven by forgiving others of their trespasses.
IT TAKES MEN WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, WHO LIVE LIVES OF FORGIVING THE SINS OF OTHERS TO MAKE HEAVEN.
What are we sharing this morning? After repentance the next harvest God expects from us (after sowing a seed of mercy into our lives) is walking in love – showing mercy to others and forgiving them their trespasses against us.
The difference between true Christianity and human religion is the presence of God’s mercy in the Christian faith. A Muslim friend once told me that there is no mercy in his religion. He said there is no forgiveness there and that is why he was deciding for Jesus.
He said in his religion they believe in “an eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth.” And that no matter how long it takes, or how deep an offender may have repented of his sins, judgment will still be executed. He said repentance and pleas for mercy does not change laws among them!
Friend, you can never fulfil your destiny that way because you are not walking in God’s mercy.
Sadly, even what we call Christianity has become like that in many quarters! But it got me thinking. Then I began to understand why one Muslim leader in Nigeria who was maltreated and imprisoned in a coup many years ago, as a military leader, will return to power after those years to revenge his imprisonment in a guise of fighting corruption.
He unjustly held the very person who got him arrested those years, even when the courts demanded for the person’s release! Friend, if he was a Child of Jesus Christ, he would never have remembered the past. What gives great beauty to the Christian faith and separates it from any man-made religion is forgiveness of sins and release of divine mercy to sinners.
So, if a so-called believer does not show mercy to those who may have hurt him and repented (or not), he takes away this shine from the Christian faith.
I ALSO REMEMBER WHAT A WORSHIPER OF A FALSE GOD WHOSE NAME I DO NOT WANT TO MENTION SAID.
He said, “there is no mercy or forgiveness in our worship.” That once one offends the gods, he goes for it. You can even see that in our African Movies. The gods do not forgive because Satan has no capacity for mercy.
Another woman that was a high-class sorceress said the same thing. She said once you offend in the kingdom of Satan, there is no mercy. The kingdom of God stands out because God is love!
That is the only place you find unconditional love, great mercies and pardon for sins. Only in true Christianity you find love, mercy and forgiveness!
That is why Heaven will be full of ex-sinners who were forgiven; ex-harlots, ex-adulterers, ex-extortionist, ex- liars, ex-murderers, ex-fornicators, ex-drug barons, ex-homosexuals, ex-lesbians, ex-terrorists like Saul who later became Paul, ex-witches and wizards. Hallelujah! It will be full of sinners turned saints by the power of the blood of Jesus (a sacrifice of God’s mercy).
A season of Mercy can be a season of restoring back the shine of God to your walk and talk with Him by walking in love and mercy towards others.
However in showing mercy, you must be guided by grace and truth and be careful not to allow it to become a breeding ground for wickedness. Those who frustrate God’s mercy (people who use it as a breeding ground for wickedness) are usually punished in the kingdom of God. Only those who make proper use of it are usually blessed.
So, if your acts of love and mercy become a breeding ground for wickedness to grow and thrive, you will be in trouble yourself because you will be overstepping the bounds GOD set, so long as the administration of love and mercy are concerned. I have seen Christians destroying themselves by overstepping the bounds God has set in the release of Mercy.
That is when they become more merciful than GOD Himself. That is dangerous!
For instance, in 1 Kings 13, the young prophet from Judah got himself killed because of that. If he had not shown mercy to the king God judged and exposed his spiritual safety codes in the process, he would not have been killed by a lion.
WHEN IT COMES TO SHOWING MERCY, GOD HIMSELF IS THE STANDARD – THE VERY STANDARD WE MUST FOLLOW.
Ecclesiastes warned that we should not be over righteous because we will destroy ourselves. David knew that very well. That was why he stated what we found in our devotional text this morning. A major highlight of the text says,
“With the merciful you will show yourself merciful; with a blameless man you will show yourself blameless; with the pure you will show yourself pure; and with the devious you will show yourself shrewd.
For you will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks.” Psalm 18:25-27
We can glean truths on how to show mercy to others from this scripture. First, hearts must be discerned. There are four kinds of hearts in the scripture.
1. The Merciful Heart
2. The blameless Heart
3. The Pure Heart
4. The Devious Heart.
We must discern which heart we are dealing with in showing mercy. We must yield to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to help us in weighing the heart we may be dealing with.
God weighs the heart not the head. He weighs a man’s heart before seeding great mercies into his life. That is what we must do if we will not be over righteous as the scriptures warned. Don’t forget, He is our standard for showing mercy. But to do that successfully we must lean on His Holy Spirit and submit to His Holy Word – the Bible.
For instance, a man’s “head” could be wrong, forcing him to react to the pressure and perils of life in a very bad and sinful way, but his “heart” merciful, blameless, or pure. I have seen good people doing very bad things.
You know this person’s heart is right, it’s just his head that is wrong. He is good at heart but foolish in his way! God will show mercy to this kind of a person because he knows the person will not use it to groom wickedness.
He will rather use it to repent from sins and live according to the ways and will of the LORD. But the same cannot be said to the fourth kind of heart on the table – A DEVIOUS HEART. The Bible says to the devious God will show Himself shrewd. Not merciful, blameless or pure but shrewd.
Friend, that can be dangerous you know! He knows if He shows Himself merciful to them, they will use it as a breeding ground for wickedness.
I believe the message of today’s devotional has been passed. May God use these words to give you an inheritance among they that are sanctified! AMEN!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“For You will light my lamp; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall.
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” Psalms 18:28-30 NKJV
