mercy

Mercy and Grace

April 3, 2021 by Bill Leave a Comment

When I think about it, I cannot believe the mercy and grace I’ve received from God. There are so many times I’ve messed up in one way or another but every time, when I confess, repent, and ask forgiveness, He is right there to hear me and forgive me. That’s mercy. In Matthew 18, Peter asks Jesus a question about forgiveness, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” And Jesus answers, “I say to you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven.” (V. 21-22). The 70×7 expression is symbolic for infinity which is how many times God will forgive us. It’s hard to believe but God loves us that much. He is patient with us, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9).

But realize this, Jesus would never say, “I’ve given you mercy by forgiving you, now get out of here!” No! But He does say, like He told the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” (John 8:11). He will not condemn us for our sin, He will forgive us, show us mercy, but instructs us to not keep on sinning. I’ve heard that mercy could be defined as, “Not getting something we deserve.” And grace is, “Getting something we don’t deserve.”

I got a vision once of how mercy and grace might look in a courtroom, you can read about it HERE.

As we now look forward to Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday, let’s think of mercy and grace at the cross. Did Jesus give us mercy on the cross or did He give us grace? He came to earth as a baby, grew in stature and in the power of God, suffered horrendous pain and suffering at his crucifixion according to the plan of God. But He did it for us, He took on our sin so the charges against us would be dropped. That is MERCY! But He also rose from the dead to give us the chance for life eternal. If we accept His gift of mercy, we will also receive His gift of GRACE. Hallelujah! The thief on the cross next to Jesus repented and was shown mercy AND Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). Now, that is GRACE! Because of the cross, we have the offer of MERCY and GRACE. “Mercy forgave the thief on the cross but grace escorted him into paradise.” – Max Lucado

Are you guilty? Yes, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). Have you asked to be forgiven for the umteenth time? If you have then you have received mercy and you didn’t get what you deserved. Now, bow to Jesus, follow Him and you will receive grace in this life and much more in the life to come with Him in Heaven. Happy Resurrection Day!

Go and Sin No More

September 4, 2018 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given May 2018

Our pastor, Wayne Hager at Zion Family Ministries, preached a sermon recently about the woman caught in adultery, (John 8: 1-11) . One of the things that stood out to me from his message was a statement Pastor made after he told of the woman’s accusers who, one by one, dropped their stones and left the scene. Pastor said that Jesus was the “last man standing”. If we’ll allow Him, Jesus will be our “last man standing” when we’re in trouble. I was thinking about this scene recently while driving and God showed me some more lessons in this story. Again,this is where “Revelations from the Road” comes from; things God speaks to me while on the road.

Well, from this story, God showed me three lessons that I had not focused on before:

Number 1 – If you’re near Jesus and He’s on your side, you’ll be alright. In this story, the woman was brought to Jesus and “deposited” at His feet. The “religious people” were making all kinds of accusations about this woman, which were true, and demanded that Jesus do what was right according to the law. I thought, what would have happened to the woman if Jesus wasn’t there? I’m sure she would have been stoned to death. But Jesus was there, He was near the woman and she was at His mercy. Lesson: Accept Jesus, get Him on your side and draw near to Him (James 4:8).

Number 2 – The devil uses people to accuse you. The Bible says that the devil is the “accuser of the brethren”, (Revelation 12:10). Many times we cry, “Oh, the devil is doing this or that to me.” Well, the devil, Satan himself, is not omnipresent; he cannot be everywhere. There are many demons who were cast out of Heaven with Satan, (Revelation 12:9), and they’re all over but be sure that Satan and his demonic forces will use people to accuse us and do other dastardly deeds from hell. So Satan uses people to accuse us; to remind us of our past, to lie on us and take advantage of us. It’s not always demons working for Satan against us but people who have been enlisted by Satan to do this work.

Number 3 – What about the man? This question comes up often when this story is told. The woman was caught “in the act” of adultery which means she was caught having sex with a man who was not her husband. So why was the man not brought before Jesus too? The Bible doesn’t say. We can speculate on all kinds of answers: Women were treated differently in that day than men. The man ran away. Maybe the man was a church leader and they let him go. We don’t know but the man wasn’t there and was not even mentioned. Jesus told the woman, after her accusers left and no one was there to condemn her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” (John 8:11). I can imagine if the woman would have asked, “Thank you Master, but what about the man?” Jesus might have answered, “Don’t worry about him, I’ll take care of that.” “You just go on, accept my mercy and sin no more.”

Another idea that came from this sermon and story that I have used often when temptation tries to influence me is the boldly stated phrase, “NO MORE!” Jesus told the woman to go and sin NO MORE and, I’ve found, that this statement is a good deterrent to temptation. #nomore

Mercy and Grace

April 10, 2015 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given February 2015

I entered the courtroom in shackles on my hands and feet and wearing the standard orange prison jumpsuit. I was led to the front of the courtroom where I was directed to sit down. “Oh, what have I gotten myself into?” “Why did I do those things?” “What was I thinking?” “Well, this looks like the end for me.”

I was brought back to reality by the authoritative voice of the judge, “Next case!” The bailiff called my name and I tentatively rose and approached the bench. The judge glanced at me then began looking at my file and the crimes I was accused of committing. He said, “Son, I see you’ve not been in trouble before but these charges now are pretty serious.” “With the evidence here against you, you are guilty and the sentencing guidelines are clear.” The judge looked back down at my file. My heart was racing and sweat began to form on my forehead. I swallowed hard as he looked back up at me. “Here it comes”, I thought, “my life is over.”

“Sir, you’ve made some serious mistakes here and made some bad choices.” “Are you sorry for what you have done?” “Yes, Your Honor, I am very sorry.” “Well, I believe you are and I believe you’re basically a good man so I’m going to do something different here today.” “I’m going to give you a second chance.” “By my authority as judge of the First District, I am dropping all these charges against you.” “You are free to go.”

That is Mercy! When you don’t get what you deserve.

I was stunned! I saw the judge raise his gavel and I heard the sound when it hit his desk. With opened mouth and wide, tear-filled eyes, I cried, “Thank you Your Honor, thank you so much!” He nodded at me and replied, “Now go and make something of your life.” “I will Sir, thank you.”

The bailiff led me over to the side of the courtroom where the shackles were removed from my feet and hands as my family came up to meet me. We embraced in tears at the good fortune given me by the judge. We could not believe what had just happened. I turned to thank the bailiff and extended my hand. However, the bailiff, instead of shaking hands, placed an envelope in my hand. I said, “What’s this?” “I don’t understand.” He said, “The judge had done some research on your background and found that you are a decent man, had recently lost your job and had some really bad luck in your life.” “He wanted to help you get started with your new life and wanted to give you this.” I thanked him and exchanged puzzled looks with my family as I opened the envelope. To my shock and surprise, inside there was a check for $10,000! I looked back toward the judge, shaking my head in disbelief, as he smiled and nodded at me.

That is Grace! When you get something you don’t deserve.

God is merciful and graceful like that. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16).

Mercy and Grace

Go and Sin No More

Mercy and Grace

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