God's Mercy and Grace

Have you ever known a hard-hearted person? In other words, no matter how hard you tried or how many attempts you made, they shut you out. If you did anything wrong, they were relentless and unforgiving.

Not so with our Lord. Although He has every reason to be hard-hearted toward us, instead He pursues and forgives us. What a tender-hearted Lord we have! This is important—in Ephesians 4:32 He commands us to be like Him – kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving each other. 

Is it easy? Not necessarily. But it’s a command we are to obey. Jesus models being tender hearted, kind, and forgiving. We’re to follow His example by the power of Christ’s Spirit in us. 

Does this mean that what a person has done is right? No. Does it mean we’re to necessarily engage in a relationship with them if what they are doing is not aligned with Christ’s teachings? No. Rather, it means that we leave the person to Christ, knowing He will deal with them. In the meantime, we live in a right relationship with Jesus which translates into living in a right relationship with others…as far as it depends on us. 

Lord, I praise You for being kind, TENDER-HEARTED, and forgiving me. Thank You for Your mercy! Thank You for Your grace!  

Have you ever struggled to find the right words to pray? In those times, it can help to pray God’s Word. Click HERE to discover prayers for discernment, discouragement, knowing God’s way, and forgiveness.

King David was deceived. He thought his sin of adultery and murder was hidden; no one would find out about it. But sin isn’t a kind bedfellow. Psalm 32:3-4 records how it affected David. “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night, Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.” Notice that David said, “Your hand.” He knew God knew and God’s hand was heavy on him.

But what happened when David acknowledged his sin and confessed it to the Lord? We find the answer in Psalm 32:5. “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD; and You forgave the guilt of my sin.’” 

What advice does David give us in Psalm 32:6? “Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found.” David discovered that instead of attempting to hide his sin and himself from God, it was better to make God his hiding place. “You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7). 

There may be times when we, like David, think we can hide our sin from God. But the truth is, we can’t. He sees us and even knows our thoughts. Yet even while we are in our sin, He invites us to a place of forgiveness—Himself. Today we can choose to stop trying to hide our sin. We can turn to God and humbly confess and repent of our sins. 

Lord, how sweet to know You as my HIDING PLACE who preserves me from trouble and surrounds me with songs of deliverance. Thank You. I praise You. 

Repentance is the way to come clean with God and enter into His forgiveness. To learn more about repentance, watch Debbie’s teaching on it HERE.