THE WONDERFUL MERCIES OF GOD
“NEHEMIAH 9:31”
WELCOME to out topic for to-day. The wonderful mercies of God are abound. But humanity has taken everything for granted. We easily forget where the air we breathe comes from.
It only becomes important, when we are short of breath. We experience breathlessness.
When we are not able to breath in adequate oxygen. We become sick. Trouble starts. Then we remember God Almighty. We pray to the Lord for forgiveness of sin, we pray for healing. If He decides to show us mercy, we survive, and if not we die. Our quotation read as follows:“But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are!” Our God is all round merciful.
Humanity is evil. All have sinned. (Romans 3:23). But our Lord God of mercy continues to show us His faithfulness and willingness to forgive sin. (Isaiah 1:18-19) It is only by God’s mercy that we can be declared not guilty. It is written in the Book of Genesis 8:22 as follows: “As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night’’. We are always guaranteed food to eat from the soil of His earth, for rainfall does not favour between those who know God or not.
When God does not want us to face punishment due to sin, He uses His power to stop us from sinning. (Genesis 20:6). Abimelech had unknowingly, taken a married woman, and nearly committed adultery. Our Lord God of mercy, stopped him. That is how Abimelech escaped God’s punishment. God in his power, has stopped us from committing sin, and consequently we have escaped His punishment. Our personal experiences will testify to that. How many times have we desired to sin with a woman or man, and it never occurred? How many times did we want to steal from our work place and it never occurred? How many times have we been tempted to sin in every manner, and it never occurred?
Sometimes it is not always we shall know the power of God is working on our behalf. But we can tell from the story of Abimelech that, God is always there for us. To protect us from sinning. Some people on earth, are highly protected from sinning a deliberate sin by God Himself. For example, when some people may be terrible thieves, but there are those who do not steal, it is a wonderful thing to experience the mercies of God of protection against sinning. God works just as often in ways we can’t see, as in ways we can see.
Our Lord God Almighty, shows us mercy by forgiving us our sins. In the days of Abraham and Noah, God used to drop bream storms of fire from heaven to punish sinners. It happened to Sodom (Geneses 19”13). The sins of Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, caused fire to come out from the presence of God and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. (Levit 10:2). With God, even complaining so much was one were way of inviting fire from heaven to burn to death those who were complaining (Numbers11:1).
Because Jeroboam had provoked the anger of the Lord God Almighty, his family was consumed and no one of his family remained. (1st Kings 21:2). In many instances God Almighty Jehovah Jireh, punished people instantly for committing sin. The Holy Bible is full of such cases. It is different from what is happening these days. In those days to be forgiven of sin entailed to do a lot of rituals. (Levit4:7).
In the present, God takes a long time to react to sin. People are given a lot of time (chance) to reform before action is finally taken. The coming of Christ Jesus saw the new chapter, in as far as forgiving of sin is concerned. A prayer of forgiveness, will be enough to declare you free from sin. We learn about forgiving of sin as taught by Christ Jesus as it is written in Matthew 6:14 as follows:- “for if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you”. This is a new lesson in the New Testament about forgiveness of sin. When we are able to give others, we shall be sure of our sins being forgiven, this is the mercy of God that He has not brought instant judgement upon us. When judgement brought instant justice upon those who committed sin, in the Old Testament, it is different from the situation in the New Testament. Christ Jesus by his own power forgave sin. (Mark2:10). To forgive sin is a great demonstration of our Lord God Almighty that He loves us and can forgive our sins. When our sins are forgiven, we remain free, not guilty. We know that sin separates us from God. (Isaiah59:2). But when our sins are forgiven, we are again called the children of God-unlike in the days of the Old Testament, now when we call to the Lord by prayer, he is ready to hear us, for His arm is not too weak to save us, nor is His ear too deaf to hear us call. (Isaiah 59:1).
We should be thankful to the Lord God Almighty, for being kind enough to forgive our sins. This is how we are made righteous before his sight. This is how we are made holy. This is how we remain true worshippers of our Lord God Almighty the Most High. This is how we remain faithful to our true God of Israel. This is how we remain singing songs of praise to our true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is how we remain obedient to the Word of our Lord God of Israel, Creator of heaven and earth, what is seen and what is not seen. It is forgiveness of sin that gives us hope to receive the reward of salvation, which comes by the grace of God.
The Lord God Almighty will always show us His mercies by providing protection for us against the evil one. We might have fallen prey to the world. This must have been times of anguish. But the Lord God of Israel has come to rescue us from such problems. It is written in Psalms 5:11, which says: “spread your protection over them that those who love your name may rejoice in you” Our protector is the Lord God Almighty. He protects us from very embarrassing situations. Situations that could have brought shame not only to us, but as well to our families. God is certainly merciful to us.
There are many life threatening diseases around us. They have destroyed thousands of human life. Up to now we are free from such diseases. If we have one of them, our hope remains in the Lord, God Almighty the best healer. At one time in 2010, I was diagnosed with a cancer of the Prostate. Prognosis was put at 50/50. In March 2012, I was operated upon. Here I am as fit as a fiddle. In the Book of Isaiah 58:8, the Holy Book says: “Then your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly appear. Then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard”. We can be served from disease by faith. And then the faithful God will show mercy. (Matthew 9:22) (Matthew 9:29). Most of the time, our faith lacks sincerity. As a result, we get to pray, we get no positive answer. With sincere faith, God can even prolong our lives, even though we remain with the disease. And the glory of God shall be known to humanity, world over. I
n Jeremiah 33:6, the Bible says: “Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it, I will hear my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security”. God is always ready to heal his people when they call upon Him. It is written in Psalms 145:18, thus: “The Lord is close to all who call on Him, yes to all who called on Him in truth”. Our Lord God Almighty is always ready to do great things among His people, He is full of majesty, glorious splendid mercies. He is kind in His dealings. When we are sick, it is important only to depend upon the Lord God who remains close to those who call upon Him.
Our Doctors will; do their part, but actual healing comes from our Lord God Almighty. He hears our cries and rescues us. He is the only one, who is ready to lift us up and bear our burden. (Galatians6:2). It is written in Isaiah58:9, thus: “Then when you call, the Lord will answer.” Yes, I am here, he quickly replies”.
We know that our Lord God Almighty, is not far from us. He can easily be reached by prayer. He is able to answer back quickly than we think. He is our gracious God. He is our merciful God.
The Lord God Almighty has promised that if the people who are called by His name, repent and call upon his mercy name, He will hear them and forgive their sins.
Our God Almighty, shows, mercy to humanity, by giving riches. It is written in the book of Deut. 8:18, thus: “remember the Lord you God, He is the one who gives you power to be rich”. All our riches which we possess, come from God. Some are so rich, that they have increased on the number of women to marry. And they do not remember God, who is the source of all riches. They think they got the riches out of their effort. The power to make money comes from God. Some people are rich and they remember God. They never miss on their tithe. They love people, and family members are never in need. They extend their hand to those in need, without showing favour to the colour of the skin or tribe. They help people of all colours. They are not like the Biblical rich fool. We are warned never to be lovers of money than God. (1st Timothy3:3). It is also said that love of money is the source of all evils. There is in the Bible a parable said by Christ Jesus, pertaining to the rich fool – (Luke 12:16). In life we have learned many lessons, but one of the rich fool comes out one of the most outstanding. At one time we were probably rich, but now, we are as poor as a church mouse. All because we failed to respect God with our riches.
Our Lord God Almighty has eternal love for us His people, He will continue to bless us with His mercies for our living. We are even free to ask for a second chance.
He will provide. He is a faithful God. Our Lord God Almighty is so rich in mercy and loves us so much, He will not leave us alone in times of need. (Ephesians2:4).
May the Lord God Almighty continue to bless our Republican President with much wisdom and continue to pour love and peace upon the people of Zambia. Amen.