“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6).”

How can we understand mercy?  In our lives, it’s not often that we get a second chance, let alone a third or fourth chance. If I am taking an exam and answer a question wrong, the teacher is not going to give me a second chance!  Thankfully, God is different.  Psalm 23 tells us that the Lord’s mercy endures forever.  That means nothing can stop His mercy.  We all need mercy. I don’t need to tell you that we’re all sinners. It’s a simple, sad fact of life “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” ( Romans 3:23).  

With this in mind, how can a pure, righteous and Holy God allow us anywhere near Him?  The answer: He is merciful!

When we pray and ask God for His mercy and forgiveness; we are acknowledging that He has the power and the authority to give it to us.  This revelation of a gracious, understanding, merciful, forgiving God is to change our attitude toward God and His creation; it is not to change God’s attitude toward us.

God’s mercy is never withdrawn from us.  It is ours to acknowledge and accept whether we are riding high and everything seems to be going well or if you are on a downward spiral.  God’s mercy is always available.  You do not have to plead for or beg for His mercy.  You don’t have to ask Him thousands of time because God’s mercy is always there.  His mercy is always being offered, always present to you. 

Many will say: ”Well you don’t know the things I have done and how deep and how long is my sin.”  The Word tells us that no matter how far we have fallen, how deep we have strayed His mercy goes farther.

In Jeremiah 33:11 we again find the phrase: “His mercy endures forever”.  Jeremiah saw the coming kingdom.  He saw the lion lying down with the lamb; he saw the little child leading a lion down the street.  He saw the kingdom of righteousness and peace.  And Jeremiah said: Praise the Lord!  Look what He has in the future for each of us-His mercy endures forever!

Do you know that God will be merciful to you as long as you live?  No matter how young or old you are, the mercy of the Lord will continue to endure.  You see it does not matter what age you are and how long you have known Jesus Christ as your Savior the mercy of the Lord will be there for you.  The Bible tells us that when we go through the valley of the shadow of death, and when someone sits at your bedside, waiting for you to go home to be with the Lord, His mercy endures forever. That word endure means nothing can stop it. It comes from a Greek word which means ”to conquer”.  It means His mercy conquers forever. 

Mercy is defined as God’s kindness or pity on you and I. It is an aspect of God’s love that causes Him to help the pitiful or the miserable, in other words people like you and I.

It’s the reason we are saved.

It’s the reason God keeps getting us out of the messes we drag ourselves into.

It’s the reason why in our carnal state God keeps on loving us. 

Thank God He gives us mercy instead of justice! He pardons and forgives and keeps on watching us! Thank God for mercy!

Let me tell you something about his mercy: it is the reason you and I aren’t condemned straight to the pits of hell every day. 

His mercy endures forever!

Acts 26:19 
For that reason, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision
 
These are the words that the Apostle Paul addressed to King Agrippa.  Paul's words shed an immense ray of light on the character and activity of the great apostle.  In this portion of scripture, Paul gives his testimony to King Agrippa and Governor Festus.  In this, Paul gives a very accurate picture of what he was like before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.  By his own admission, he was truly a prosecutor. 

Can you imagine the splendor, the ceremony, the showy display as Governor Festus, King Agrippa, Bernice and their ranking officials all entered the palace room?  You can almost hear trumpets blaring.   You can see them in their finery.  Here they come parading in: proud, wealthy, and powerful.  Each one wearing their fine, colorful garments as they take their seats.  Of course their seats are raised, as they looked down on the poor folks who would come into their court to be heard and helped.  Then here comes Paul, a small man, weighted down with chains.  He shuffles into the room, stood for a moment, and when the investigation was formally handed over to King Agrippa by Festus, Paul begins his defense.
 
Paul speaks of his own vanity and pride.  He wanted to make a name for himself by cleaning up the earth of “those” saints.  Paul tells them of all the people he had killed.  How he had accused Christians.  How even when the Christians were dying he insulted them.  He became more and more intoxicated with power because he had letters of authority.  But then he gets to the critical turning point!    It was mid-day and everyone was taking a rest, but Paul was not taking a rest, he was on a mission, rushing to kill people.  However, he was stopped by a bright light from heaven.  They had all fallen on the ground and Paul heard the words: I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.  Rise up.  He then continues to tell his audience that since that day he has not been disobedient to that heavenly vision - the heavenly call that he had received from the LORD.  Paul informs his hearers that he witnessed to all men-everywhere.  He preached repentance and the need to turn to God and to do the works of repentance.  He preached only the Scripture.  He preached Christ’s death and resurrection.  He told Agrippa and Festus that he was obedient to the heavenly vision, to the call of Jesus.
 
He lets them know that his call was from Jesus and he lets them know that he was the most unlikely person in the world to receive a call from God, but it came any way.  The Lord Jesus appeared to him and called him and the call was a command, a demand, a charge, a mandate, a decree, an ultimatum, a stipulation, a claim and a dictate.  Are you getting the message?   The Lord’s call was not up for discussion or debate.  There was no need to confer with family or friends, no need to seek out other people’s opinions concerning the call.  The Lord called Paul and the Lord expected Paul to fulfill his call.  Paul states emphatically that he had not disobeyed the heavenly call.  The charges brought against Paul, who was now before King Agrippa, were unjust.  He wanted them to know that he was not disobedient to God.  He had been faithful to the Lord, doing exactly what the Lord wanted done.  Yes, he was a sinner: but the Lord in His mercy saved and called him, and he was now obeying the Lord. 
 
He tells them that the Lord commissioned him to preach to the Gentiles and the Lord promised to deliver him from them.  Wow what courage!!   Here is Paul speaking before two powerful Gentiles - a King and  Governor, neither of whom can touch him because he has appealed to speak to Caesar, the Emperor, and yet he is able to preach the gospel to both of them.  The Lord means business when HE calls a person.  The call is from heaven; therefore it supersedes all other calls and interests.  It is not up for discussion nor is it to be subjected to any other desire.  God knows the need of the world for the gospel, and he knows whom HE wants to fill that need.  So, the best thing to do when we hear the call from the Lord is to surrender to it...immediately!
 
Paul gave his resume in a few words.  We get the impression that Paul said these words emphatically, and not as a weak, old man.  He said them because he was filled with sorrow and full of affliction for his past but that the Lord saved a wretched like him and like us.  Oh, that each of us Christians could say the same thing that we have not been disobedient to the call that  we have received from the Lord.
 
I want to point something out, in this scenario.   Who had the real power?  Was it those who were dressed in their finery, or was it the crowd that was listening, or was it the one man who was in chains?  The answer is the man in chains.  Yes, Paul had the power.  He spoke of a suffering Christ, of His resurrection from the dead - this is reality.  This is the truth of the gospel.  The swords and spears of the guards, the chain mail worn by the officers standing beside the governor and king, these are as delicate as fabric and just like fine cobwebs and temporary as butterfly wings.  You see in this one instance that the power of this world is a fraud.  The man in chains was the one who was really free.  And those who proclaimed their freedom by their splendor and pageantry were really bound.  That means that they were bound for all eternity in hell.
 
Paul was not only obedient in the good times when he was surrounded by victories and successes, but always even when others would feel their hearts freeze up and their throats get dry. Paul was obedient in spite of the ingratitude of those he loved most and by whom he was loved the least in every condition of his agitated existence: in poverty as also in abundance.  Paul never wavered not even a single time.  For Paul even death was considered gain.  It would bring him to an encounter with Jesus, the object of his vision and the hope of his heart.  He never allowed his heavenly vision to vanish. We all get tired, we all get hurt, we forget that heavenly vision that was given to us by our Lord.  We have to be reminded that we need to draw from the fountain of life: Jesus Christ.  We need to live in community with Christ.
 
In the history of King Xerses you can read that in order to maintain and keep his hatred against the Greeks alive, he gave orders to a slave to whisper in his ear every day at dinner time the words that said: “Remember the Greeks,” “Remember the Greeks.”    As Christians we must always keep the infinite love of our Lord in our minds,  “Remember the love of Jesus.”   “Remember the love of Jesus.”

What is it that GOD has called you to in this New Year?  Let's follow this lesson from the Apostle Paul and live out our calling!   Do not be disobedient to your heavenly vision.

As a Pastor for many years I would often receive "repeat" questions.  One of those questions is: Why is there so much wickedness, immorality, lawlessness and violence in the world?  IF there is a God and you say that He is sovereign and IF He rules over and controls all the events in the universe the why does HE allow evil on earth? 
 
Have you ever noticed: It is always God’s fault?
 
We say well, God could compensate for people’s evil actions through supernatural intervention 100 percent of the time.  People say: “Can’t God stop a drunk driver from causing an automobile accident?".  Others have said and believe that God could stop a lazy construction worker from doing a substandard job on a home that he is building that could later on cause grief to the homeowners.  Still other state, "can’t God stop a father or mother who are addicted to drugs or alcohol from doing any harm to their mates and children or extended family?".  If God is in control can’t He stop a gunman from robbing convenience stores, or killing people in a church or synagogue or in school, in a mall?  Isn’t God able to stop high school bullies?  Can’t God stop terrorists from flying airplanes into buildings?
 
Now if God did that everyone would probably say “Yea God, Way to Go!!!” Now the solution sounds attractive but let’s see if it works.  Let me tell you that you do know that God’s intervention would lose its attractiveness as soon as God’s intervention infringed on something we wanted to do.  We want God to prevent horribly evil actions, but we are willing to let “lesser-evil” actions slide.  We need to realize that those “lesser-evil” actions are what usually lead to the “greater-evil” actions.
 
Should God only stop actual sexual affairs or should He also block our access to pornography and end any inappropriate, but not yet sexual relationships?  How about all the sex chats on the internet? 

Should God stop “true“ thieves or should He also stop us from cheating on our taxes? 

Should God only stop murderers, or should He also stop the “lesser-evil” actions done to people that lead them to commit murder? 

Should God only stop acts of terrorism, or should He also stop the indoctrination that transformed a person into a terrorist. 

Then there are those who say why doesn’t God just remove all those people who choose to commit evil acts.  The problem with this possibility is that there would be no one left, for God would have to remove all of us.  You see we forget that we all sin and we all commit evil acts.  Romans 3:23 reminds us "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God".   Yes, I will grant you that some people seem to be more evil than others, yet ALL have sinned…so where would you want God to draw the line?
 
In John 11:32, Mary, the sister of Lazarus (the friend of Jesus who had just died) confronts Jesus with, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Isn’t this the same way we react whenever a tragedy or disaster happens to us or our loved ones? We complain to Him and say that if ‘he had been present then’ this thing would not have happened.   Even when the Lord waits to be glorified in an event, we give the devil a priority since we become the first in pointing our fingers at the Lord. Accusation is a devil’s weapon for he is the accuser of brethren (Revelation 12:10). He accused Job before God and many other men of God. You are therefore not an exception. He will continue pointing his crooked finger at you as long as you are doing the will of God.
 
Next time you face a calamity, as a Believer, do not start accusing your neighbor, pastor, someone in church or even God. He may be wholly involved in the molding of your life than any of those you have in mind. Remember that even Jesus’ disciples fell into such a weakness when they saw Jesus walking on water (Mark 6:47-51) they thought that Jesus was a ghost in the midst of the troubled sea. Stormy seas may not be welcome in our lives, but sometimes they are needed so that our carnal lives are worked out to the fullest. Remember, when the stormy seas arise in your life, it just might be an indicator that Jesus Christ is about to appear, walking on the sea to come to your rescue!   

When the seas get rough, don't blame GOD, don't think it's all GOD's fault...get excited, because GOD may just be using the storm to do something incredible in your life!

My dad was the Pastor of our church before I became the pastor.  I was the third pastor of our home church.  Our first Pastor ministered and took care of two churches for 50 years.  My dad was born and raised in the faith and helped the Pastor at one of the churches.  I remember him saying many times that when people get converted, they sometimes develop an attitude that says: “I am better than other people.”  Today, we would call them elitists. I am speaking of Believers who sometimes get snobby.  Yes, even Christians, even Believers begin to believe that they are Super Christians.  That God owes them something for getting saved.  Then, if things don’t go their way they start whining and saying” “Where is God in all of this?”  My father used to say that just because you get saved God does not roll out the red carpet for you.  He would say that on the red carpet the only thing that is of any importance is the red blood of Jesus Christ.
 
I am quite sure we have all seen the Red Carpet rolled out when Hollywood gives out Academy Awards.  You see what has happened to us; we begin to take on the world’s ways and the world’s thinking.  We think that is what God should be doing for us.  We see the women wearing dresses valued at $10,000 and they are wearing jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.  We begin to think that God owes us.  BUT that is not what the Christian life is to be like.  You know what happens….even Believers get tainted by the world.  We think that we are entitled to certain things and rewards because we are children of the King of Kings.
 
I remember a phone call that I received from a young woman.  She and her husband were Pastoring a church.  She said that she started thinking of all the good she and her husband had been doing for the Kingdom of God.  But then her voice went low, she said that she was beginning to develop a prideful attitude.  One night she asked the Lord to show her, her rewards.  Oh, she said he showed her.  She told me that she dreamed that she died and went to heaven and she saw this bright light.  She could not see the face of the Lord because the light was so bright.  And around the throne were all sorts of crowns: large, medium and small.  Oh, they were beautiful and sparkling.  She said that she said to herself, “Oh these must be MY crowns.”  Then in the dream she saw the hand of the Lord touch the crowns and they all burned up like dross, like trash, like garbage, like they were worthless-just the way the Bible describes it.  All that was left was a teeny, tiny crown, the smallest crown you could hardly see.  In fact, it was so small it could not even fit on the end of her pinkie finger.  She said all that she could do was to cry out to the Lord: “Forgive me for my rotten, stinking prideful attitude.”
 
Some of you may be saying well, it is not right to speak to God like that.  “We should not ask Him a question such as did this woman.”  All the years of my life in the church I have heard people say it is not respectful to ask God why?  Yes, we must be respectful of our Lord.  But He is not offended by our honesty and sincerity.  We all forget that the Bible tells us that He already knows what we are thinking.  He knows our questions. He even knows our motives and most of the time we don’t know our motives.  I truly believe that we do not want to ask Our Lord about certain things because then we would have to do what He asks of us and we may not like the answer.
 
In the Old Testament there is a small book that only has 3 chapters - Habakkuk. It is the name of the prophet.  Here, we have a great example of a man of God who was not afraid to ask God the tough questions that really bothered him.  Most prophets spoke to the people for God.  Habakkuk spoke to God for the people.  He lived in times that were hard on the faith.  He saw the righteous suffering and the wicked prospering.  He asked God two questions that we often ask: ”Why?”  and “How long?”  He wanted to know why are these things happening and how long before they are corrected.  We need to go head and ask God but ask sincerely, correctly and humbly.  Habakkuk is one of the good guys.  He fears God and does what is right but it is getting him nowhere.   When you get to the end of his book his name which means “to embrace or wrestle” becomes appropriate.  He chooses to cling firmly to God regardless of what happens to his nation. (Habakkuk 3:16-19)    That is the final conclusion we need to come to in our lives.  Regardless of what happens in our lives, or in the lives of our family or what happens in our country; our final conclusion must be to cling firmly to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He is our refuge and our strength.  He is our strong rock, our fortress, our deliverer. 
 
We learn from Habakkuk the progression he went through.  He goes from questioning God to trusting God.  Habakkuk would be right at home in our society today.   We witness murderers getting away with punishment because of a technicality.  We see terrorists allowed to go free.  We witness the persecution of Christians world-wide and no newspaper or television news outlets report it.  If it weren’t for the religious organizations we would know nothing about the world-wide persecution. But that was when Habakkuk cried out to the Lord and maybe that is what we Christians need to do: Cry out to Our Lord and start praying. 

Remember God never turns away the honest and sincere seeker.  Go to God with your questions.  You may not find all the answers but in finding God you then know the One who does.

There has never been a time when you were unloved by God.  I know many, many people do not believe that statement, but it is true.  God’s love is perfect, faithful, unconditional, forgiving, all-encompassing, pure, lasting, sacrificial, strong, enduring, refreshing, redeeming, everlasting, lavish, full, inspiring, hope-filled, gracious, and so much more. It’s never based on us, our abilities, or striving to ever be good enough. It’s found in Him, His character, and a huge capacity to give. It knows no boundaries and has no limits. There’s no place too deep that His love can’t reach us still. As the old hymn says:  “He can reach way down to pick us up.”
 
Over the years, He has cared for us, thought about us on a moment-by-moment basis, and never resisted the idea of loving us.  He has been willing to laugh with us, cry with us, and listen to us describe every detail of our lives.  When the world rejects you, God is your constant Friend who accepts you just as you are.   I know many times people see and think of God as an ogre with a heavy hand ready to knock us down but that is not the God of the Bible.
 
The problem we face is not God loving us, but how we love Him.  Do we truly know how to experience the love He has for us?  Can we accept the fact that He loves us unconditionally, and that the plans He has for our lives are ones that overflow with goodness and mercy and grace?  Think about this:  God does not withhold anything in loving us.  He gave everything He had to give when He extended His love to us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  His love is a free gift of grace.  All that we need to do in order to have this love is to accept it, claim it and cling to it.

So how do you perceive God?  Several years ago, a student in seminary class stood to his feet and announced to the professor, "I don't believe in God!" The professor, unraveled, replied, "Describe this God you don't believe in?" After the student had described an unlovely and vengeful God, the professor confessed, "I don't believe in that God either. My God is a God of love."

It is so difficult to describe God’s love. How do you describe a rose to a blind person? How do you describe Handle's Hallelujah Chorus to a deaf person? How do you describe the thrill of down hill skiing to one who has never walked? How do you describe the impeccable, infinite love of God to impure, finite human beings?
One of the most vivid characteristics of God is that He is a God of love. The Psalmist was descriptive in recording the love-nature of God. He stated that he was "abounding in love" (Psalm 103:8 NIV), "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His  love for those who fear Him" (Psalm 103:11 NIV), "As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him" (Psalm 103:13 NIV),  "But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’S love is with those who fear Him (Psalm 103:17).  (The word fear as used here means to respect, to honor and to worship Him!)

The point is not simply that God "loves," but that He is love itself. Love is not merely one of His attributes, but His very nature. The Scripture says, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. (1 John 4:16 NIV). To say that God is love is not to imply that love is God. God is love means that God wants the very best for you. God has your best interest in mind. He wants to give you good gifts and provide you with "all His benefits" (Psalm 103:2, NIV).

God's love touches every part of our life. Nothing - no calling or circumstance, no adversity or advancement, no pain or promotion, no status or station - escapes the brush strokes of God's love. God's love bleeds into every fabric and fiber of our lives.  The number of times the three-lettered word "all" is used in Psalm 103 reminds us that God's love is all consuming. His love touches every area of our lives. There is nowhere we can go to escape His love. There is no problem that we will encounter that is not touched by His love. There is no advancement that we will make where God is not already there. Even when our world falls apart, we can say, "God, I don't know why this is happening. I don't understand it, but I'm sure glad to know you love me."

The Bible cuts through all the philosophical ideas and declares that God is a Person. As a personal being God is capable of loving and being loved. And as a personal being he loves each one of us intensely and personally. God's love is not simply for mankind as a mass. It is not a sentimental, vague, diffused feeling - something like Charlie Brown's attitude when he says, "I love mankind; it's people I can't stand." God really likes individual people.

When Karl Barth, the famed German theologian, visited the United States, a reporter at a dedication service asked: "Dr. Barth, what is the single most important truth you have learned as a theologian?"  Barth replied, "The most important thing I have learned is this: 'Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.'"

"Jesus loves me" is the central pronouncement of the Christian faith and the cornerstone of the nature of God.  When God says I love you, He is saying that you matter to Him!

You are a person of worth. 

You are valuable to Him.

Regardless of what others think, in His eyes you are wonderful.

Have a Great Day and Remember...God Has Always Loved You!