GOD IS MERCY

GOD IS MERCY

Lamentation 3: 32

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

    his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

God is faithful. In the Year of Mercy the theme of our 3 day Lenten mission is God is merciful and Jesus is the Face of the Father’s mercy. While announcing the Year of Mercy Pope Francis gave us a papal bull called Misericordiae Voltus  (Face of Mercy) One of the things he says is even though we are sinners God loves us. Mercy: is the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness.”  (Pope Francis, Misericordiae Vultus) No matter what we do or who we are He loves us. The steadfast of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end. We say God is merciful but how do we know that God is merciful? We experience His mercy when we journey with Him, to journey with God we need to have a relationship with Him.

Many people approach God with doubts and questions, if we begin with doubts we will never see God. We must approach Him with faith and love. First love God, journey in faith and then bring your questions and doubts to God. The first things we need to do if we want to journey with God and experience Him is to ask pardon for our sins and then invite Jesus into our heart with faith. In 1 Cor. 13:13 we are reminded to walk in faith hope and love. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. The keys to approach God are faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love.

Two words in the Old Testament which describe the nature of God are patient and merciful. Many people have journeyed with God in the Old Testament but none of them saw Him. The Word of God tells us that Moses was a friend of God he was called to lead the people of God from slavery to freedom. He journeyed with God and led the chosen people. Ex 33:18 Moses asked God to see His glory and see His Face but God tells him in Ex 33:20 “You cannot see my face because man cannot see me and live.”  But Moses was fortunate to see the back of God. God passed by and granted him this favor. Ex 33:21-23 “See this place near me; you shall stand on the rock and when my Glory passes I will put you in a hollow of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”



As the Lord passed before Moses He proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Ex 34:6-7 In these verses we see the 7 attributes of God which we should keep in our heart.

·   God is merciful

·   God is gracious (God’s graciousness flows from His mercy)

·   Slow to anger   (and His anger lasts for only a moment)

·   Abounding in steadfast love (everlasting love)

·   Faithfulness

·   Keeping steadfast love to the thousandth generation

·   Forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin

God can never deny His Name because He is true to His Name and He cannot deny His Word because His Word is true. This is why we must believe in His Name and His Word.

God says do not fear 366 times in the Bible – one for the leap year as well He does not leave any stone unturned. There are over 10,000 plus promises in the Bible for every human need.

In Psalm 103:3-4 God makes 6 promises

·   He forgives all your iniquity,

·   He heals all your diseases,

·   He redeems your life from the Pit, (grave)

·   He crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

·   He satisfies you with good as long as you live

·   Your youth is renewed like the eagle

Satan seeks to destroy our relationship with God. Evil is real and it can attacks us in three ways.Evil can bring sickness as it can interfere in your health. How do we know when there is evil – first you are financially attacked,  any animals in your house could die, and finally you can get sick.

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

The thief is Satan what does he desire to steal? He comes to steal our relationship with God he cannot steal our soul as he has no authority over it  but he has taken it upon himself to destroy our relationship with God this is his work until the end of the age. We cannot bind Satan as God has not given us authority to do so.  Jesus at the end of the tree temptations he told Satan to get away from Him. We can drive Satan away, we can overcome him but we can quote Scripture to strengthen and empower us. We can overcome Satan when we journey with God. Second he kills is our faith; he takes away our very hunger and thirst for God. And third he destroys any aspect of God that still remains in our life. There is no longer any desire for prayer or Sacraments.

2 Cor 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Don’t leave room for the devil. Trust in God, believe in His merciful love, hold on to God always no matter what and do not despair – despair is a sin against the Holy Spirit.  Jesus reveals the Face of God to us. In John 6:37 God says, “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away.” Go to Jesus every time and any time. Mat 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  When Jesus looked at the crowd and He was filled with compassion. God has mercy but Jesus has compassion because He feels with us, He identifies with our human condition. In Luke 7:13-15 we read, When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. He was moved with pity for the widow of Naim.

The demoniac of Gerasenes was living in the caves. He had a legion of spirits in him which is around 6000 plus evil spirits. (A Roman legion consisted of 6000 foot soldiers, 120 horsemen and technical personnel). The Lord was compassionate and healed him. The man wanted to follow Jesus, “But Jesus refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you’”. (Mark 5:19) Jesus is the face of the Father’s mercy. Even while dying on the Cross He revealed the mercy of God. As He was dying the thief on the right was saved when he said, “Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He recognized Jesus as Lord while dying on the cross.  Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And Jesus replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’ (Luke 23:42-43).

He came down and meets a man who is waiting for the Lord a leper approaches him and says if you want you can make me clean. And Jesus says I do want to be healed. And Jesus said go and said go and show yourself to a priest. The leper had faith Walk in faith begin your journey in faith, establish a relationship with him and walk with Him and you will see the glory of God He will reach out to you and reveal God’s mercy to us.

Mat 8:1-4 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’  Jesus reveals His compassion when He reached out and touched him and said I do choose and the leper was healed. The leper had faith.

Walk in faith. Begin your journey in faith. Establish a relationship with Him. When you walk with Him who is always with you will see the glory of God. He will reach out to you and reveal God’s mercy to you. He is waiting for you.