Forever Changed: Understanding His Grace & Mercy for You During the Renewal of Your Mind and Spirit

HIDING PLACE:  Return to your secret place for this week.  I know it is the bathroom but go anyway.  It is such a humbling place to be in front of the mirror looking deep into your soul.  But it is a beginning.  And God meets you wherever you are, even in front of a bathroom mirror.  As you look at yourself in the mirror today, you should begin to see a small flicker of hope in your eyes.  God is healing, one moment at a time.  Praise God!

TODAY’S GOAL:  Learn how to look for His grace and mercy in your life

TODAY’s FOCUS:  Today we will learn about blessings of mercy and grace. 

Both are free gifts from God to His children who call upon His name. Mercy is when God forgives you and does not punish you the mistakes you make.  He also forgives others who make poor choices that may affect your life in a negative way, just like the impaired driver who killed my son.  A Christian forgives because they were forgiven first, by God grace.  You may not be able to forget things that happen, but you must forgive.  Just like the impaired driver who killed my son, I was supposed to forgive her.  I did not say forgiving was easy, but because God loved me unconditionally, then I must love and pray for others.  

Grace is different.  Grace is God’s love for you and His generosity toward you.  God gives grace freely, regardless of what you do.  God’s grace is a free gift of love, even when you don’t love yourself.  Grace is God’s unmerited favor toward you.  The only thing we have to do to get this free gift of grace is to accept it!

Let me share a personal example of grace and mercy.  The impaired driver that killed my son made the horrible choice to drive when she should not have driven.  Even with previous charges, she still chose to get on the road that night while impaired.  That night, both of my sons were traveling the same road as her.  She ran my youngest son off the road and he almost wrecked.  But my other son was riding his motorcycle.  She hit him head-on, in his lane.  He died instantly.  Both sons were innocent.  She was not innocent.  She was impaired.  So where does grace and mercy come in for my story?

To be honest, I was really struggling with offering forgiveness (mercy) and love (grace) to that woman.  I was beside myself with bitterness and hatred for what she had done and all the people that enabled her.  It took me a long time to get to the point where I could even think about extending forgiveness like Jesus would have done.  God forgives and loves unconditionally, why couldn’t I forgive?  I had to fall before Him and ask Him to help me be obedient.  Through God’s strength, and only through His strength, was I able to tell her in the courtroom that day that I forgave her for her poor decision to drive impaired and that I will pray for her soul and those who enabled her behavior.  Wow, saying that out loud took all of the Jesus I had in me!  Although, I will never forget what she did, I had taken a big step in God’s eyes.  During my impact statement in court, I went on to share that when my boys were little, I taught them about forgiving others just like Jesus would.  Hmmmmm.  Now I had to demonstrate that same principle.  I had to extend mercy and grace to the women who killed my son. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do! 

And as luck has it, I have to drive by her home every day, not once but twice; once when I go to work and once when I go home.  Believe me when I say the struggle was real!  Then one morning, out of the blue, God spoke to me, “Cathy, you must pray grace and mercy for her every time you pass her house”.  I was like, “Excuse me God, but did I hear that right?  You want Me to pray grace and mercy over HER?” Boy was that a hard pill to swallow.  Surely, He must be kidding!  But I was obedient, hard as it was.  Over time, I discovered that speaking grace and mercy over her as I passed her house actually brought an unexpected healing for me.  Every day, twice a day, I raised my hand toward her house and prayed that God would have mercy on her soul and give her grace.  Surprisingly enough, my heart began to heal, a small piece at the time.  Totally His strength, and my obedience.

Sometimes I still have to remind myself that God understands how I felt.  Afterall, He sent His only son, Jesus, to die on the cross for everyone.  Even those who make mistakes, even me, and even her.  He covered your mistakes with His blood too.   There is no judgement in how God really loves us.  When He gave His only son, He gave all, for everyone.

SONG & ARTIST:  God Really Loves Us by Crowder & Dante Bowe

FOCUS SCRIPTURE:  “Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good.  His mercy endures forever.” Psalm 136:1 (NKJV)

Wow!  God loves you beyond what you could ever imagine.  And you can love others beyond what your flesh can ever imagine.  Not by your strength but through His strength.  What a humbling experience to be in His presence, reaching out to Him for mercy and grace.   His mercy is abundant, and His grace is infinite.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, not of yourselves.  It is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8 ESV)

The Bible is full of examples of grace and mercy.  Let’s take a look at some of those examples.  Grace was seen in the story of Noah.  “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:8 KJV)  Noah was a just man, and he walked with God.  Noah was not perfect.  Yet he was the only just man that God could find in the corrupt world at the time.  Grace was the love that God showed when He saved Noah’s family during the flood. 

Grace and mercy are both shown in the story of Joseph.  Although Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery and mistreated him throughout his life, God’s grace allowed Joseph to be placed in the right places at the right time to do God’s work.   Even though Joseph suffered time and time again at the hands of his brothers, God stood with him and positioned him for the next assignment.   One day while Joseph was imprisoned, he received special favor from the king. Not because of who he was, but because of his unexplainable ability to interpret dreams.  The king had dreams that he could not understand the meaning of, so he summoned Joseph to the palace to interpret them. Being impressed by Joseph’s work, the king placed Joseph over the kingdom’s food supply and grain.  The irony in the story occurred when Joseph’s brothers went to the king to ask for food because of the seven-year famine.  Joseph’s brothers had to deal directly with the brother they had so badly mistreated.  They had to ask him for help!  Joseph’s brothers did not deserve Joseph’s help, but through God’s grace and mercy, God used Joseph to provide food for his family.  Regardless of how Joseph felt about his brothers, he was obedient to God’s calling and provided for them.  That took strength that Joseph probably didn’t have but he trusted God would help him.  And how loving and considerate Joseph was!  He told his brothers in Genesis 45:7 that “God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.”  Joseph told them that God had sent him ahead to deliver them, as if his brothers’ betrayal was part of God’s Plan!  Joseph could have turned his back on his deceitful brothers, but Joseph showed mercy and grace, just as God had taught him. 

Another example of grace and mercy is revealed in the story of Rahab, a harlot that God used to protect the two spies sent to scout out the promise land.  Although Rahab had lived a life of prostitution, God used her in a big way!  Two men arrived at Rahab’s house.  She knew there was something special about those men because God had forewarned her about their arrival.  God had spoken to her and asked her to provide protection for them.  And according to God’s instruction, she hid them from the people searching for them.  God had prepared her, even in her sin, to help in His plan. The king was alerted that two men were arriving in his country, so he sent his officers to ask Rahab if she had seen them.  She admitted that she had seen two men but did not know where they were from.  She told the officers that they should catch the men before the city gates close and while they were supposedly still in the area.    

After the officers left, Rahab went up to the roof where the two men were hiding.  She asked them about their God and how He could provide and protect her and her family.  The men assured her that God would take care of her family because she was taking care of them.  Grace was God’s unmerited favor toward Rahab and her family, while mercy was forgiving her for the poor choices she had made and not punishing her for them.  If God wanted to punish her, He could have.  But because of His grace and mercy, He did not.  Rahab walked away from the life that she lived and followed God.  That is grace and mercy! 

But the story did not stop there!  Rahab eventually married a good man and bore a son, Boaz.  Rahab was no longer a harlot, and her lineage became part of Jesus’s lineage for she become the great, great-grandmother of David.  How awesome is that!  From a harlot to a cherished member of Jesus’s family!  What an amazing example of grace! 

No matter where you find yourself today, remember that God is forgiving and has great work for you to do, just like Moses, Joseph, and Rahab.  His mercy and grace are not only sufficient for you, but His mercy and grace are abundant! Walk away from this world and follow Him.  God will provide everything you need and exactly when you need it.  His timing is perfect, just like His unconditionally love!  He saw potential in broken people and used the brokenness to bless others.  Sometimes it isn’t until you make mistakes that you realize how amazing His grace and mercy are!

READ the following passages and write a brief note about what God speaks to you through each verse.  How does He show you mercy and grace?  How does He provide for you?

Proverbs 3:1-6   My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments.  For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee:  bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.  So shalt thou find favor and good understand in the sight of God and man.  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Isaiah 40:31   But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.  They shall mount up with wings like eagles.  They shall run and not be weary.  They shall walk and not faint. 

2 Corinthians 9:8   And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

2 Corinthians 12:8-9    Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.  And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.

Hebrews 4:16   Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Why is God’s grace sufficient for you?

How do you come boldly to the throne of grace when you are in need?

PERSONAL REFLECTION:  Look back at your artwork from last night’s lesson.  What do your eyes see today?  What did your ears hear today?  What did your mouth say today?  Where did your feet go today?  What did your hands do today?  Did your answers to these questions please God?  If not, what can you do to make it different tomorrow?

How has God shown grace (love and generosity) to you?

How has God shown mercy (forgiveness) to you?

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, I come to you humbly as I reflect on how you made me different from everyone else in this world.  Thank you for creating me to be like you and giving me a purpose in life.  Please guide me as I begin each day.  Renew my heart and mind so I remain focused on You and Your will in my life.  Guide my feet to go where you need me to go and my hands to do your work.  Give me patience and the skills I need to take care of my family.  Help me to see your unconditional love for me every day.  Open my ears so that I hear your voice.  Use the words of my mouth to bring you glory in all that I say and do.  And at the end of the day, search my heart for anything that does not line up with Your will and forgive me.  Dear Lord, thank you for loving me just like I am.   Lord, I am not worthy of your mercy and grace, but it is because of your mercy and grace that I am forgiven and now have eternal life.  Thank you for erasing my sins by in Your river of grace.  Amen.