TODAY’S DEVOTION (Wednesday 11TH November 2020)
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Matthew 5:7 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 314TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
As we move from REJOICING to HIGHER HEIGHTS, it is important that we get our spirits cocked with the revelation of GOD’s mercy because 2021 will be a year we will rejoice to Higher Heights, and it is the mercy of the LORD that will make it happen.
2021 is therefore not a year to spend frustrating GOD’s mercy. Now let’s hit the ground running with this revelatory truth!
First of all, I want to submit to us that there is a generation that specializes in frustrating the mercy of God. There is a generation that God calls “vessels of wrath.” It is a generation of those who do not know how to respond positively to God’s mercy. They see it as a right instead of a seed. They do not make use of it to turn from wicked ways and do the right things.
They return evil for every good God has done to them, even to the point of becoming lesbians and gay. They describe the killing of unborn babies as “the right of a woman to choose,” and revive the spirit of Molech, placing those precious unborn lives on the altar of sacrifices to unseen gods.
If you look at the Church today, you will see the same generation rising; from the pulpit to the pew the breed is everywhere. But God is not willing that any should perish, but that all of us should come to repentance! That is why one thing He made more abundant than the waters in the oceans is His unending mercy.
But like we have always said, His Mercy is not just a need, His mercy is a seed. Those who do not understand that will take it for granted and end up being grinded. They will not make use of it, but will turn it into a fertilizer for sin and wickedness.
That is why you can find a young lady who aborts the first Child successfully, going for the second and the third abortion without even thinking of repentance. You find us falling into one sin, and going to it again and again, without being struck in our conscience by the convicting power of GOD.
MESSING UP GOD’S MERCY IS THE REASON FOR CURSES IN SO MANY LIVES!
You find people, who got involved in any wicked act without an immediate consequence, going on with their wickedness undisturbed. You find men and women who have become callous to God’s word and ways because of His mercies upon their lives, not even remembering His severity.
A man once said to an evangelist that he will commit so much sin and get God so angry that when he dies and appear before Him in judgment, God will be so furious with his wicked ways, that He will want to throw Him into hell. But because of the intensity of His anger, He will mistakenly throw him into Heaven without realizing it. That is how depraved many have become.
We need to understand that when God show a man mercy, He expects something in return and that thing is not money or any other offering. What God expects in return is repentance! We see this all through the scriptures. The most common of in the scriptures, in my view, is the story of the woman caught in Adultery.
The Bible says,
“Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.
Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her,
“Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” John 8:3-11 NKJV
Often times when this story is told in Church, the preachers major on the part that says
“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” because of our lack of willingness to live a righteous life in his heart or Church.
YOU FIND SO MANY OF US PREACHERS, MAJORING IN THE MINOR.
Friend, many are living in sin and ARE not ready to be rebuked or corrected. But the most important part of this story, so long as the mercy of God is concerned, is the last part. The Bible says,
“JESUS LOOKED UP AND SAID TO THE WOMAN, NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU GO AND SIN NO MORE.”
That was a seed of Mercy sown into her life, to reap a harvest of repentance. If God was not interested in a harvest of repentance, He would not have charged her to go and sin no more.
You see grace and truth in action here. Grace told her “neither do I condemn you.” Truth told her “go and sin no more” and we will come to that shortly!
From this scripture, it is clear that Grace does not condemn because all sinners (either in church or outside the church) are condemned already. Grace transforms our hearts working alongside with truth. It has a way of imparting a man to do truth.
That is why I tell people, if you say you are under grace but live in sin, you are not under grace but under grass.
Again as earlier stated, grace said to her “neither do I condemn you.” But Truth told her, “go and sin no more.”
Truth will urge sinners to repent, by stirring and rebuking them of their sins. When they repent, grace will come in and say “neither do condemn you,” then truth will complete the process with a “go and sin no more” encounter with the LORD.
Truths will stir us not to repeat our folly, while grace will impart us to stand in truth. That is why a balanced gospel will be full of grace and truth, not grace alone and not truth alone.
REMEMBER JESUS CAME FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH.
But, to many Christians today, when Jesus said to that woman caught in adultery “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more” it was a divine approval for wicked conduct. They do not see, the go-and-sin-no-more aspect. They just see, “neither do I condemn you.”
Hence when you rebuke them for sins they are secretly or openly involved in, they scream at you saying “you have no right to condemn me, we are all sinners.”
And my response to that kind of a generation has always been this; “we are not all sinners. If we are all sinners, then Christ died in vain and the Holy Ghost is not on earth. Some of us have been blood washed and enabled by grace to obey the word of truth and righteousness.”
This adulterated grace mentality is the greatest killer of the consecration of most Christians. We must begin to see how GOD intends us to handle His mercy! That is why, when we begin to see God’s mercy as a seed, we will have the revelation to return back the harvest. We will understand that repentance is the first harvest God expects from us as beneficiaries of His mercies.
Now, there are other harvests and that is what we want to touch at this point. That harvest is living “a life of forgiveness and mercy” towards others.
Our devotional text today is a unique one. It is the shortest devotional text we have seen so far but holds maybe the longest lesson and principle of the kingdom. It says,
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
That reminds me of the parable of the unforgiving servant.
The Parable makes it clear that an unforgiving spirit always leads to more than one person. It reveals why many in church today are in bondage and shows us that if God show a man mercy, apart from repentance from sin, He expects that man to extend same mercy to others, especially those who needs it from them.
Here is a secret; the man God may have shown mercy, will undo it if he withholds it from those who needs it from him, especially the way he needed it from GOD. This is one reason many hard working but unforgiving believers will be found in hell.
IT IS A SAD REALITY! THE BIBLE SAYS,
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.
The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.
So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.
Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” Matthew 18:23-35 NKJV
If you look at this scripture, you will discover that two people ended up in prison. The one that refused to extend mercy to the other, and the one he withheld his mercy from. Jesus said God will do the same to us if we withhold mercy from people who have offended us.
The truth is, God has delivered many to spiritual torture because they refused to extend mercy to their fellow men. The Bible says
“And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.”
MAYBE YOU ARE WONDERING AS A CHILD OF GOD WHY YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN FULL OF TORTURE AND YOUR PRAYERS NOT BEING ANSWERED.
Maybe you are wondering why you are going through this and that in spite of your prayers, fasting and giving. May be you or some prophets, have blamed all your problems on some voices or demons crying against you from your village, or those coming to sleep with you at night, or even some generational curses.
You have pointed accusing fingers at everyone and everything except yourself. Now, start looking inward!
Is there someone you have refused to forgive? It could be your father, your mother, your sister or brother? It could be the man who used and dumped you, or the woman who destroyed your entire life and disappeared?
It could be your uncle or friend? It could be your boss? Maybe all your prayers have been that they “die by fire” instead of forgiving them, as GOD has said. Maybe they knelt down and begged you in genuine repentance asking you to show them mercy, but you refused.
Concerning the unforgiving servant, the Bible says,
“So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.
That could be what is really crying against you in the spirit, and not a voice from anywhere or what your fathers did. Yes, that could be why your life has been so torturous – with nothing working – no marriage, no ministry, no business, no regular financial flow, no education, or no good social life, and etc. that could be why your life is full of pains.
The greatest curse in life is not the curse in our father’s houses, but the curse that comes when we withhold mercy from those who knee down before us, in genuine repentance, to ask for it. That is what puts GOD against a man.
AND IF GOD IS AGAINST A MAN, NO ONE CAN BE FOR HIM; YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT.
If there is someone therefore, that you have refused to forgive for what he or she did to you, you must stop withholding mercy from him or her, especially those who have repented, and forgive them. You must release them from the spiritual prison you put them into, so that you can come out of torture yourself.
Now I need to says this; there are those you forgive and keep away from your life forever, and there are those you forgive and bring back to your life. You must know the difference!
One sign that you have forgiven a person is lies in how you feel each time they are mentioned. If you can pray for the person (I did not say against the person I said for the person) asking the LORD to bless or save the soul, it’s a sign that you hold no grudge against the fellow.
The truth remains, anyone you can happily intercede for, is no longer an enemy. So carry out a check and may the Holy Spirit guide you further.
Let me strike the balance again; there are people that will offend and injure you in life, but will not see anything wrong in what they have done. These ones are very dangerous. God will judge them Himself in His time, because He said in his word “vengeance belongs to me.” Meaning, it does not belong to us. It is forgiveness that belongs to us!
Our job is to forgive these offenders for our own sake; not to put them in any prison in the spirit realm but keep them very far from our lives in love.
I believe the message of today’s devotional has been passed. May the LORD use these words to improve your walk and talk with Him in Jesus precious name! Amen!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
“Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
“Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:14-21 NKJV