God is Merciful: Gospel Today Devotional - 6th December, 2022

KNOWING GOD SERIES

Having the right knowledge about a person gives to you a certain kind of mindset about that person, and most times, helps you to relate with that person in a much better way. If I know for instance that someone has the power to give me whatever I want no matter what it is, I would come before such a person with the belief that what I desire from him would be granted to me, right? Therefore acquiring adequate knowledge about a person becomes very paramount in getting to understand such a person.

This is that which this particular series is focused on; the fact that your knowledge of God is what determines your experience of him. You cannot come to the Lord for help if you are without the knowledge that he can help you. You cannot approach the Lord for healing if you do not know that he can heal you. So also, you cannot love others if you do not know that God commands that you love them. It is your knowledge of him that determines your experience of him. You cannot experience God more than you know him. Praise God.

We have considered quite a lot in this series. We have seen God as love, we have seen him as light, we have seen him as Spirit, and on. Today,  a new side or should I say attribute of God will be made known to us. I trust that the Lord who has been blessing our hearts ever since we began will bless our hearts even more. The passage of scripture to be considered in today's lesson is seen below,

"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy*" (Psalm 103:8).

When do you say someone is merciful or has shown mercy? Let me paint a picture to explain this; if a person has done something wrong, and everything points against him as an offender, stating clearly that he deserves to be punished, and all of a sudden that punishment is cancelled, what just happened is that such a person was shown mercy (compassion, pardon, help from punishment, etc). The reason for mercy is dependent on the one who shows mercy as it were. It may have been because he knew the parent of such a person, or perhaps because he considered the fact that such a person had children, and there would be no one to cater for them.

You see, as believers, we need to understand that the God we serve is merciful (pitiful, compassionate). You can see from the passage of scripture above, how it states plainly the fact that the Lord is merciful, and gracious, and that he is slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. It means that the God you serve doesn't try to be merciful, he is in every sense merciful. His anger stays for long because of his mercy. Little wonder, God will still be patient until that sinner comes into the knowledge of him, until that brother or sister who has fallen into sin is restored to him. God is never tired of being merciful, why? The scripture says he is plenteous in mercy, meaning that God can never be tired of being merciful. His mercy can never end, and no wonder the scripture says the mercy of God endure forever (Psalm. 136:1b). Praise God.

Three things to note from that scripture; God is merciful, his mercy constrains his anger, and his mercy endures forever. This is to tell us that if God who has begotten us is merciful, if he takes care of both the evil, and the unthankful, and if at every point in time, he looks upon his creations with compassion, it means that we are to be merciful even as he who is our Father is merciful (Luke 6:35, 36). It is my prayer that the Lord will of a truth so help us such that this essential attribute of his is seen in our lives as sons of his. Amen.

Thought for the day: God is merciful. The mercy of God constrains his anger. The mercy of God can never end because it endures forever. Be ye therefore merciful even as he is merciful.

Gospel Today is a comforting, exhorting, edifying and inspiring devotional published by the Delightsome Land Christian Ministry. For questions, enquiries/testimonies, please call/WhatsApp: 08174915361, 08161655758 or Email: [email protected].