Forgiveness

Mercy for Today

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments

O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14 KJV

Often when we ask God for mercy, we are asking for a past sin to be forgiven. But mercy is about more than sin and more than just about what is past. We often think of the Psalms as being a book written by David but many were written by Asaph, two by Solomon and Psalm 90 was written by Moses, as a prayer for mercy. Interestingly he first asks for mercy early. If you are like me you might want to try this. It doesn’t take me long into my day to mess up! But he is not here simply asking for God to forgive past sins. Mercy is also a cry for undeserved help in every area of our lives.

What are you facing today? Is it physical weakness or disease? Are you struggling in a damaged relationship, financial pressures or unfair accusations? God offers His mercy “early”. He anticipates our need before we even ask. He knows about the storm even before we hear the weather forecast. He sees the test results before we get the mail. God has already looked through our empty cabinets before we make our grocery list. He stands at the door of our room and watches us as we sleep, and then greets us as we wake. In the old covenant days God’s special holy place in the Tabernacle was called the mercy seat. Today, this very morning Jesus is sitting at that same spot and offering His mercy before we even speak a word, make our coffee or begin our work. He knows what will unfold and lovingly gives us mercy and all we need to do is ask!

A Bridge of Mercy

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

Forgive us our debts and we forgive our debtors    Matthew 6:12 ESV

I like the idea that if I am merciful to people; I can count on God forgiving my sins. But we can’t just close our eyes and say, “God I forgive everyone.” God wants us to forgive actual hurtful things people have done. Several years ago I worked for a man who was well liked in our community though he always paid his bills late. But one year after I had worked for Bob several times without getting paid I began to get upset. Thanksgiving came and went with no check. Then Christmas and New Years passed with the same result. I was angry. Bob had promised payment for my hard work but it never came. Then one day as I was praying God spoke to me. “Pete; you’ve got to let this go.”Oh I hated doing that! I had trusted Bob and worse yet most people thought he was a great guy!! But I knew God was right. At first I told God I would forgive and even threw the bill away. But whenever I passed Bob at the store I would remember his bill. Then God spoke to me again and asked; “Are you as happy to see Bob as I am to see you after your sins have been forgiven?” I bowed my head in shame. I saw that forgiving meant treating Bob, like Jesus treated me. Stepping away from demanding my money set me free to really forgive. Giving mercy means building a bridge of forgiveness for others to cross back to you, just as God built a bridge at Calvary for everyone. He freely forgives! What about you? I am ending today’s devotion with some of my favorite songs about mercy. Have a wonderful and merciful day!

No Justice No Peace?

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. Luke 23:34 ESV

I was struck by two events today: one great – the other terribly sad. First the great! Our church re-opened after 6 months: Yay!! Pastor Johnny Scott came in after an awesome worship service and preached on the unity that Jesus prayed for before He went to the cross.

He shared the message that we desperately need a revival of the holiness and unity in the church that Jesus prayed for. We are not divided in Christ. We are all His family. We are from every race and every nation. We are each unique. We are all kinds of people both poor and rich. No matter what anyone else thinks Jesus thought we were valuable enough to give His life for us.

But I was also struck by a sad second event that happened in Compton California today. There two deputies from the sheriff’s department lay in a hospital room fighting for their lives. They had been ambushed and shot in the head by unknown people who had as their goal division and hate.

Photo by Vidal Balielo Jr. on Pexels.com

Shockingly, while doctors and nurses battled to save their lives, a crowd gathered outside the emergency entrance of the hospital shouting for the death of the police. It reminded me of another scene 2,000 years ago when a different crowd demanded for Jesus to be crucified and Barabbas the murderer set free. They loudly screamed and insisted for so long that finally Pontius Pilate ordered for Jesus to be led away to Golgotha.

“No Justice – No Peace!” Is one of those often used phrases in the social justice movement. Of course it sounds pretty snappy, but I for one am glad that Jesus chose different words as He hung on the cross. Instead of demanding justice and the death of His executioners; He chose words of true peace. If Jesus had waited around for the world to get good enough to deserve His peace, He would still be waiting today. Instead He offered forgiveness. He offered a full pardon for all of us who are as guilty as Barabbas and as worthy of punishment as the shooters of those two innocent deputies. We have all sinned and wandered away from God’s love. The good news for today, is that Jesus came to bring something way better than justice. Jesus came to bring mercy. Jesus came to love. Those are things that I desperately need! How about you?