TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Saturday 1ST May 2021)
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.”
“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.”
Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.
You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Luke 7:40-50 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 121st DAY OF OUR YEAR OF HIGHER HEIGHTS!
Today is the first day of the month of May, and it’s been a blessing, waking up into a New Month from the God of Heaven and earth.
Like I have always said, some of us do not deserve to be alive today, but God’s mercies kept us so we can look into our ways and make them right before Him. The redemptive goal remains one; He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Sadly, many do not use His mercies to come to repentance. Hence defeating God’s redemptive goal for their lives.
One of the major things you must understand in God’s kingdom is the goal of His mercies. They are not to be taken as an excuse to continue in sin, an approval for a life that is not rooted in God’s ways, or a silence to be twisted as a nod for what He may have said nothing about.
The enemy will seek to confuse us on the purpose of God’s mercies, so that we can come into sudden destruction. We must know why God show mercy and give Him What He expects from us.
Most times, God shows mercy to us so that we can extend it to those who need mercy from us. This is where many of us are failing; we find it difficult to show mercy or serve as extenders of God’s mercy to others.
When you do not show mercy to others, you will one day find yourself in a spiritual prison that even prayers cannot take care of. You will only come out of the spiritual prison if you go to show mercy to the ones you withheld it from when they needed it.
Showing mercy is a major principle of the Kingdom of God! It is the foundation upon which the kingdom of God is established.
Meaning, if we do not show mercy to those who need it from us, we are pulling down the kingdom of Christ, and hindering it from being established. If you hinder the kingdom from being established, you cut off the supply of grace, favor and mercy to your life from the king of the Kingdom. The Bible says,
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:6-9 KJV
THERE IS A LOT IN THIS SCRIPTURE TO GLEAN
The blessing of being a peace maker, having a pure heart, and being thirsty for righteousness is received only when one walks in mercy. Now, how does this apply?
You see, you could be hungry and thirsty for righteousness or more of GOD, if you are not merciful, you will never obtain the mercy to receive what you are thirsty for. You could have a pure heart, but if you are not walking in mercy, you shall not see GOD. And you could be a peace maker between warring people, but you are not walking in mercy in your personal affairs, you will not be blessed.
It is very possible to be asking others to show mercy and reconcile with themselves, while you do not show mercy or do the same to those who wrong you.
This explains why many seek so much from GOD, and finds either so little, nothing or counterfeits from the kingdom of darkness.
There are people who seek the Holy Ghost baptism and end up finding divination. They seek Him walking in hate, un-forgiveness and etc. and end up finding other spirits that counterfeit as the Holy Spirit.
Child of GOD, you can only obtain the mercy to receive things in God’s kingdom only when you walk in mercy! Make this month your month of walking in mercy; a month of being an extension of GOD’s mercy to someone in need of it.
It is our job to show the lost how GOD’s mercy looks like.
One of the major lessons Jesus showed us when He was physically on earth was in the area of showing mercy. He never turned away any sinner who came to Him in repentance. He never turned away any sick soul who came to Him in faith. He healed even those who did not deserve healing like in the case of the Phoenician women.
HE DEMONSTRATED THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD RUNS ON THE FUEL OF A LOVE THAT MANIFEST AS MERCY.
That is why when His Spirit begin to live in you, either you like it or not, you will find yourself walking in mercy towards others.
Yes, you will find yourself taking decisions that will make even those you are showing mercy to call you stupid. They will do so because you are doing what they do not have capacity to do because the Spirit of Christ is not living in them.
You will be made to touch lives that should not be touched with your kindness because of their antecedents. In fact, you will find yourself not being able to shut down the bowels of mercy to even those you have vowed not to deal with again. It will not be by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the LORD.
The Bible made it clear that if we find a believer who cannot walk in mercy towards others, we have found someone with no Spirit of Christ in him or her. Again, this month, it is important that you make it a Month of walking in mercy. If you do, you will reap so many dividends.
I have come to realize that nothing about GOD, stands for a long time wherever the genuine mercy of GOD does not exist (because there is counterfeit mercy). Be it a marriage, ministry, family, finances, joy, peace, even health. Nothing beautiful last long where people cannot show mercy.
The easiest way to pull down beautiful things in GOD’s kingdom sometimes, is not by receiving a host of attack from hell. It is simple by not walking in mercy.
When people do not walk in mercy, nothing beautiful about them will last long. You find this true of some marriages, families, churches, projects, programs, friendship, partnership, spiritual parenting and etc. that has ended in strife.
They term “irreconcilable difference” is always used in some of the circumstances.
Our devotional text today was a response Jesus gave to people who thought His mercy towards a harlot who was on her way to hell was not ideal. They thought it was too much. Men and brethren, mercy can never be too much.
The Bible made it clear that Jesus forgave her many sins in minutes. That was one of the many occasions He manifested His deity to the blind religious leaders and people of His day, because only GOD serves as the final arbiter that forgive sins.
FOR THE RELIGIOUS MIND WHO WERE THERE, THE SINS WERE TOO MANY OR HEAVY TO BE FORGIVEN.
That’s what we always think when religion, or maybe the spirit of wickedness, takes over our hearts. Going by that standard, I will not even be alive today, come to talk of preaching the gospel. If you are truthful, the same is applicable to you!
Are you not glad that GOD does not deal with us according to our standards? He does not deal with us according our standards for showing mercy?
I grew up to discover that GOD’s vision for showing mercy to some of us, with the heaviest tons of sins, iniquity and trespass in our accounts, is for us to fall deeply in love with him. A good person will love you the more if you forgive their many sins.
A major highlight in the text says,
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.”
“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.
Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.”
If you look at this scripture, you will realize that God’s intent for forgiving our heavy sins is to make us kingdom citizens who loves Him deeply, with the capacity to love others deeply also, even to the point of forgiving their unforgivable sins.
He knows how our frame is, so He gives room to anger. But He does not give room to hate and a life that does not walk in mercy.
Yes, we can be angry but we should not sin. In other words, the anger should be controlled by the resolve to walk in mercy no matter what.
When we allow the anger to go out of this control, it will become a tool in the hands of the enemy to destroy divine plans or purposes.
Anger out of control is called wrath. The Bible says, the wrath of man cannot work the righteousness of GOD. Meaning, it destroys what is of God, and establishes what is of the evil one.
God’s word admonishes that we learn to bring our anger within control. He admonished that when we get angry, it should remain under the control of a desire to walk in mercy no matter the circumstances. If we do that, His kingdom will still reign irrespective of what may have happened.
However, that is what Satan hates to see, and we must understand that.
Satan really hates it whenever we cease from anger and forgive the unforgivable. He knows that whenever we forgive, especially the unforgivable, a stronghold for God’s kingdom will be established, and wherever a strong HOLD for the kingdom of GOD is established, strongholds of his kingdom cannot reign; be it in a marriage, a ministry, a family, a partnership or any other related thing.
So he prevents that from happening by cooperating with our flesh to show us why people should not be forgiven and why we should continue being angry.
But in this new month, give no such place to the devil.
May the month turn out to be one of your best in life in Jesus precious name.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU
But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus.
Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it!
And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.
What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.
Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.
Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can’t work.
Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted.
Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:20-30 The Message Bible