GOD'S
SHADOW PROMISE WORD | DECEMBER 2020
Father of Mercies!
For the LORD will
have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own
land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the
house of Jacob. (Isaiah 14:1)
Early this year,
when the convicts of the Nirbhaya case filed their mercy petitions before the President of India, their pleas were
dismissed and the perpetrators were duly hanged to death. A relief for the family of the victim and
the public too. 'Justice delivered' was
the resonation.
How would the
nation have reacted if the President, for whatever reason, had granted mercy? Shocked, surprised, astonished?! The family would have called it 'Extreme
injustice'. The crime was indeed a dastardly
act deserving the strongest of punishment.
But why is there a provision for mercy?
God's Bio-data
Exo 34:6,7 The LORD
passed before him and proclaimed, "The
LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and
gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no
means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children
and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation."
The God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, reveals to Moses (and through him to the people of Israel) as
to who He is or what His nature is. The very
first trait of God, as it says, is being MERCIFUL. God personifies mercy. A President may not be a merciful person, but
his office permits him to mitigate the punishment, if he so opts. God's very nature is to show mercy, whether the law permits it or not. It is his nature to love,
to forgive, to be kind. In its original,
mercy also means being compassionate, loving and kind.
Why mercy?
A convict who is
sentenced to death by the Court of Law, cannot escape punishment. But he can be released, his punishment could
be minimized on the grounds of compassion. It cannot be earned through hard
work or even by paying a sum. Mercy is
sought or given to a person who has to serve a jail sentence, who is going to
be executed. The one who is shown mercy
is not acquitted of his crime. He is not just the accused, he is
convicted. The favor is that he or she
is being given a second chance to lead a new life! Mercy is neither based on the qualification
nor the merit of the recipient; it is purely based on the magnanimous nature of
the giver - one who shows mercy.
Jacob @ Israel @ Church
Jacob refers to
God's chosen people, God's peculiar nation, the apple of God's eye -
Israel. Today the Church is known as
the Spiritual Israel'. As a nation, the
country Israel, though loved and cared for by God, faltered and fumbled in
their walk with the God. They not only showed their backs, they even went after
strange and false Gods, thus grieving their creator and benefactor. Whenever they went astray they faced plentiful
problems and oppressions from enemies.
The God who loved them could not tolerate all this. At times, he gave
them over to enemies. At times, he made them suffer and languish in
slavery. But in the end, when people
repented and cried unto the Lord seeking mercy, God's everlasting love and
overflowing compassion descended upon them like a fresh morning dew to comfort
and restore them. His mercies are new
every morning. He is the same yesterday,
today and forever. His mercy towards
you, towards me, toward us is the same as it was thousands of years ago.
In this twelfth
month, when everything is looking gloomy and uncertain, God has decided to
extend his merciful arm towards you, towards your family. God knows the things - both right and wrong -
which you have done, doing. He is not
here to show your mistakes. He is here
to showcase His love.
The scene in many a
family today is so grim, so hopeless and meaningless. There are those who are not wanting another
year to come in their life. Their best
efforts have gone in vain and they are reeling under the shadow of the valley
of death.
A Son crying out to The SON
…Thou Son of David, have mercy on me (Mar 10:48)
Mother of a demon
possessed daughter (Mat 15:22) Father of a lunatic son (Mat 17:15) Blind
Bartimaeus (Mar 10:48). What is common between
them? No, it is not their miracle. They
all knew that Jesus could heal them.
They all cried out to him. They all received miracle from Jesus. Anything else? Yes.
They all send their mercy petitions before Jesus. They had a revelation that Jesus was merciful
God. By seeking mercy, they were
admitting that the problem, the pain, the agony, the calamity, the disaster
that is rocking their family, troubling their lives is a punishment that they
deserve. They were not asking why? They
were asking Lord have mercy on us! The
Lord Jesus Christ who moved with compassion transformed their lives.
Some of you reading
this are in no better position than the ones highlighted above. Your future might look bleak with no door
opening. You are wondering as to what is
going to happen to your children who are so entangled with the things of the
world. You see no remedy, no respite
working out for the sickness - physical and mental - that your family, your
loved ones are going through.
Son of David is
around. Seize the moment. This is not the moment to question or
bemoan. Bartimaeus was determined. He
would not let Jesus pass by. So was the
Canaanite woman and the father of the lunatic. This is your time. Send in your mercy petition now. God of Jacob
is waiting to clear the same. Surely, he will not dismiss.
HIS attention
God's mercy, though
a benevolent act independent of seeker's stature, the Bible does indicate few
things that may needs be done to obtain this.
Salvation is a free gift of God. But for us to be saved, we need to Ask,
we need to Believe, we need to Confess. (A, B, C). The characters who received mercy in Jesus'
days did something to draw his attention.
It is not our works; it is our part.
Though there are
many, for our edification we shall look at FIVE
prime areas which, in my opinion, are prerequisites for insuring God's mercy in
our lives. If you are praying for God's
mercy, if you are seeking for God to intervene in the affairs of your life,
then my suggestion is for you to take a very closer look at these steps. These are timeless truths which cannot be so easily discounted.
1) ADMIT
all the wrongs - done knowingly or
unknowingly
Pro 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not
prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy
Just as one is expected to confess his/her need for
salvation, in order to receive God's mercy we are expected to be open before
the Lord. Just examine if there is any unconfessed, undealt sin(s) in your
life.
2) ALIGN
your thoughts - thinking wrongly (negative thoughts and confessions)
Isa 55:7 Let the
wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him
return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he
will abundantly pardon.
How is your thought life? Psalmist prays, let the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart (or thoughts) be acceptable to you, O God. Certainly, negative thoughts breed negativity
in our life. The bible speaks much
about refining and reforming our thoughts.
Align your thought first to receive mercy.
3)
AFFIRM your love - keeping commandments
Dan 9:4 And I prayed unto the
LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful
God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that
keep his commandments
Daniel is quoting the
words of Moses in Deuteronomy 7:9. Even Prophet Nehemiah quotes the same clause
in Nehemiah 1:5. What does it connote? Both the Law and the Prophets converge over one
point. God's mercy is available to
those who love God. We love God when we
keep God's commandments. We love God
when we love our neighbors.
4)
ASCRIBE mercy to others
Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain
mercy.
In all the 9 beatitude verses found in Mathew 5 (vs
3-11), we see two sides of life. One is a requirement, another is a reward. In all these, only when it comes to mercy,
one is expected to give what he wants in life.
Have you been pleading for God's mercy for long? Just check if there is
anybody to whom you owe mercy, forgiveness and kindness. Release mercy and you will be rewarded with
mercy.
5)
ATTEST your fear of God
Luk 1:50 And his mercy
is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
Everything in our spiritual life, begins and end with the
fear of God. King Solomon, the Wisest
man to have ever lived on earth condenses wisdom in just one line. He says, Fear God and keep his commandments:
for this is the whole duty of
man. By fearing, we not only gain
wisdom, we obtain mercy as well.
Fearing is not getting scared of God, fearing is revering Him for who He
is, and diligently adhering to all his commandments. Check your God-fearing quotient today?
By admitting our wrongs, by purifying our thoughts, by
loving him, by showing mercy and by fearing God and keeping all His
commandments we stand in a better position to receive MERCY!
Mercy makes you WHOLE
Mar 10:52 And Jesus
said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he
received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
The blind Bartimaeus, who badly needed his sight, cried
to Jesus for mercy. He knew God's mercy alone could restore him. Jesus did hear his petition and granted his
wish. He received his sight. But Jesus said something more. Instead of saying, "Receive your sight",
Jesus said "Thy faith hath made thee
whole". What is being made
whole?
The Original Greek for
WHOLE is SoZo. SoZo means to be safe, to be saved, to be delivered, to be protected, to be
healed, to be preserved or simply said to be made WHOLE. Without any lack. Maybe you are going through a lean and dry
patch in your married life, in your job, in your family, in your health, in
your finances. Maybe it was your sin,
your transgression, your foolishness, your indifference has led to all this. Now
only God's mercy can restore you. Not only restore you but make you whole. You may be seeking for God's mercy for one
part, but God is making you whole!
We have come to the end of
2020. Into the final month of an year
which has nothing but catastrophe and commotion written all over it. Some of us lost their loved ones, some jobs,
some income, some relationships and
some, even their hope. Hope delayed makes the heart sick, but the
desire fulfilled is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12).
If you are sick, mentally or physically, or in
any way don’t get bogged down. Maybe
someone whom you know is going through this path. It is time to cry, "Son of God, have
mercy on me". It is time to do our part.
God of Jacob will surely
have mercy on you!
God bless you,
In HIS Service,
Vinod Kumar
God's Shadow Ministries
9840011374, 9840995057
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