There’s an old song we used to sing and this morning it came to mind once again and has filled my morning quiet time.
“Mercy rewrote my life. Mercy rewrote my life. I could have fallen, my soul cast down But mercy rewrote my life”.
Oh yes, thank you heavenly Father for Your mercy!
“You know that the Lord your God is the only true God. So love him and obey his commands, and he will faithfully keep his agreement with you and your descendants for a thousand generations.” Deuteronomy 7:9 CEV
This is a promise from God’s heart to ours. He faithfully keeps His agreement with us.
Simply put, mercy can be defined as being protected from judgement for the things we have done that deserve punishment. One of my favorite “mercy” verses is found in the book of Lamentations.
“The Lord’s kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. 23 The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. 24 Deep in my heart I say, ‘The Lord is all I need; I can depend on him!’” Lamentations 3:22-24 CEV
If there’s anyone in the Bible that knows about mercy, it’s the Apostle Paul. He carried arrest warrants for Christians. He was responsible for their imprisonment and even their deaths.
But, mercy rewrote His life.
” In the past you were dead because you sinned and fought against God. 2 You followed the ways of this world and obeyed the devil. He rules the world, and his spirit has power over everyone who doesn’t obey God. 3 Once we were also ruled by the selfish desires of our bodies and minds. We had made God angry, and we were going to be punished like everyone else.
4-5 But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much he made us alive with Christ, and God’s gift of undeserved grace is what saves you. 6 God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven.” Ephesians 2:1-6 CEV
The worst of sinners became the man that God used to teach us all the message of grace and forgiveness.
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. ‘This saying is true, and it can be trusted. I was the worst sinner of all!‘ 16 But since I was worse than anyone else, God had mercy on me and let me be an example of the endless patience of Christ Jesus. He did this so that others would put their faith in Christ and have eternal life.” I Timothy 1:15-16 CEV
When we fail, and we do. When we feel we are undeserving of forgiveness mercy steps in. God’s love covers our sins, completely!
“The Lord is merciful! He is kind and patient, and his love never fails.” Psalm 103:8 CEV
That’s what makes my heart sing – “Mercy rewrote my life”!