TODAY’S DEVOTION (Thursday 12TH November 2020)
“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 315TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
Our journey into the revelation of God’s mercies continues. Do not forget, any height in Christ Jesus is fueled by God’s unfailing mercies. The manifestation of the Higher Heights prophecy will be powered by or fueled by God’s unending mercies.
The truth is, we do not qualify for anything, God just qualifies us through Christ. Anything we get in Christ is a product of His unfailing mercies.
God’s unfailing mercies are responsible for deliverance, breakthroughs, miracles, divine visitation, outpouring of the Holy Ghost, and etc. His unfailing mercy is responsible for sleeping and waking up each morning, yes, because many of us do not even deserve to wake up because of our level of wickedness.
That is why Heaven roars each time we do not show mercy to our fellow humans, having being beneficiaries of God’s mercy ourselves.
If God’s Mercy says “no” to any judgment that we deserve before God, and we do not say “yes” to those who ask for our mercy by cancelling any punishment they deserve, even our going to Heaven as Christians will be at risk.
Many of us do not know that after accepting Jesus Christ as LORD and savior, the next qualification for making Heaven is showing mercy to others. The word 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 live according to His way and will, it’s a sign that my sins are forgiven. The next work to do is to keep them forgiven, by leading a repentant life, and forgiving others their trespasses.
IT TAKES MEN WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN TO MAKE HEAVEN.
What are we sharing this morning? After repentance the next harvest God expects from us is walking in love – showing mercy to others and forgiving them their trespasses against us.
It may interest you to know that the difference between True Christianity and human religion is the presence of God’s mercy.
A Muslim friend once told me that there is no mercy in his religion. He said there is no forgiveness there. Though I have read the Koran once, I do not know how true that is.
He said to me that in his religion they believe in “an eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth” like Moses wrote, 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! 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 imprison in a coup many years ago as a military leader, would return back to power after those years to revenge his imprisonment on the very officer who was sent to arrest him then, in a guise of fighting corruption.
Friend, if he was a Child of Jesus Christ, he would never have remembered the past. What gives great beauty to true Christian faith, and separates it from religion is forgiveness of sins and release of divine mercy to sinners.
So if a so called believer do 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).
Today, you can make up your mind to have the shine of God restored back to your walk and talk with Him, by walking in love and mercy to others. However, in showing mercy, you must be guided by grace and truth.
If we are not guided by grace and truth while showing mercy, our acts will become a breeding ground for wickedness. There are people who have destroyed themselves by not being guided by grace and truth in their quest to show mercy to others. That is why I sue for carefulness.
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 a 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 over stepping the bounds GOD has set. Again I want to affirm that I have seen Christians destroy themselves by over stepping the bounds God has set in the release of Mercy. That is when they become more merciful than GOD Himself.
It is really dangerous to be more merciful than GOD, so to speak!
1 Kings 13, the young prophet from Judah got himself killed because he was more merciful than GOD. 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 find 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 so much truths on how to show mercy to others from this scripture. But there is no space for that. You find four kinds of hearts in the scripture.
1. The Merciful Heart
2. The blameless Heart
3. The Pure Heart
4. The Devious Heart.
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. So, 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, thereby forcing him to react to the pressure and perils of life in a very bad and sinful way, but his “heart” could be right – merciful, blameless, or pure.
I have seen good people do 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 WAYS!
God will show mercy to that kind of a person because He knows the person will not use it to groom wickedness. He will rather use it to repent form his sins, and live according to the nature of his heart – merciful, blameless or pure.
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. He will not show Himself merciful, blameless or pure, but shrewd. And that can be dangerous, you know!
If God 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.
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