The Bible says we were created for God's glory. God created us, He loves us, and He designed us for His purpose, and to honor Him in our lives. God doesn't need us to glorify Him, because God is God. He is the all-sufficient One and doesn't need anyone or anything. He is perfect, awesome, amazing, and omniscient. He wants to have a personal relationship with us, so He can show us the plan and purpose He has for our lives.
Most people will spend their entire life searching for fulfillment and happiness, but they can never find it without God. Everyone feels that emptiness that long to be filled. They don't realize that only God can meet their deepest needs. This is why some people do some of the craziest things. They end up hurting others and themselves. They try everything possible to make them feel good, but it doesn't last. Those paths only leads back to emptiness. When you accept Jesus as your personal Savior, you accept God's mercy. You feel Jesus' love, joy and peace. You begin to walk in the mercy of God.
But what is God's mercy? "The Lord God, is merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Exodus 34:6b). The short of it, God's mercy is forgiveness. It is not getting what we deserve. Mercy is who God is. Mercy is an attribute of God. God showers us with mercy, on top of mercy.
We all have sinned and come short of God's glory, so when we falter, we can stand at "the doorway of God's mercy," because our merciful Father is never short on mercy.
There at "the doorway of God's mercy," is love. There is nothing like the love of God. God's love is Agape love. Agape love is the true essence of love that God offers us unconditionally. God's love can heal every heart, every hurt, and every pain. God's love never gives up. Love doesn't toot its own horn. Love doesn't have a swollen head. Love doesn't keep score. Love puts up with anything. Because God puts up with us. "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
There at "the doorway of God's mercy," is compassion. True compassion is genuine heartfelt empathy and our Lord is compassion at its finest. That shouldn't surprise you about our Lord. For compassion is one of the great character qualities of the Godhead! It should bring you to a place of awe and worship. God is compassionate toward us and He gives us a beautiful promise of compassion, "For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,' says the Lord, who has compassion on you" (Isaiah 54:10). It was God's compassion that sent His Son to Calvary's Cross. This same compassion allows Him to pour out His love and affection over you.
There at "the doorway of God's mercy," is forgiveness. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more" (Hebrews 8:12). The Lord wants us to receive His forgiveness and to forgive ourselves. Satan is the one who continues to remind us of our sins, failures, and shortcomings. Our God is all-powerful, all-wise, and is perfectly just. Each and every one of us stands guilty before God and we all have deliberately done something that we know is wrong. And yet, God still loves us. Justice demands the guilty punishment , but God's love desires forgiveness.
There at "the doorway of God's mercy," is patience. God's patience is closely related to His Holiness and His love. God's patience is what holds back His wrath from consuming all that is contrary to His Holy nature. He wants us to understand this wonderful characteristic of His nature that extends His hand of grace and withholds His wrath. God is love! LOVE is patient. God's patience is longsuffering. God has great patience! "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
There at "the doorway of God's mercy," are blessings. God desires to bless us. God is a God of purpose. What is His purpose for us? God gives us His blessing of forgiveness and eternal life. He wants to bless us with blessing that are in the heavenlies. Heavenlies, as in the spiritual and heavenly nature. "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms, because we are united with Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).
God gives us every spiritual blessing that He has in the heavens, in Christ. God chose us in Christ. God chose us to be His very own, through Christ. We stand before Him covered in His love. We have been adopted into His own family, when Christ died for us. Christ did this because He wanted to. God's kindness and favor has been poured out upon us. God has an inheritance for us. Through Jesus' sacrifice, we have been brought into God's family and He has made us heirs along with Jesus.
Because of Christ, we have become gifts to God that He delights in. We are gifts that inspire the Almighty Sovereign God. He accepts us with joy, because of what Christ did for us. We are a special gift in God's eyes. We should always have a praise for God and give Him glory for what He has done for us.
We can't earn God's mercy. No religious or moral effort can acquire it. Mercy only comes from God's love, which includes His compassion, tenderheartedness, patience, forgiveness, gentleness, tolerance, generosity, righteousness, kindness, sympathy, blessings, because of our Redeemer.
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