Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment

For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. - James 2:13

6 For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing and stripped the naked of their clothing. 

7 You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. 

8 The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man lived in it. 

9 You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed. 

10 Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you, 

11 or darkness, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you. 

12 "Is not God high in the heavens? See the highest stars, how lofty they are! 

13 But you say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through the deep darkness?  - Job 22:6-13

25 With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; 

26 with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. 

27 For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down. 

28 For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness. 

29 For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. 

30 This God-his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. 

31 For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?- 

32 the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.  - Psalm 18:25-32

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.  - Proverbs 21:13

but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. - Matthew 6:15

32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'

34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.

35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." - Matthew 18:32-35

give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you." - Luke 6:38

11 and I will execute judgments upon Moab. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

12 "Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them,

13 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword.

14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord GOD. - Ezekiel 25:11-14

30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'

31 The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." - Mark 12:30-31

Joy Unbound

I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26)

That’s what Jesus prayed the night before he died. Imagine being able to enjoy what is most enjoyable with unbounded energy and passion forever. This is not now our experience. Three things stand in the way of our complete satisfaction in this world.

One is that nothing in this created world has a personal worth great enough to meet the deepest longings of our hearts.

Another is that we lack the strength to savor the best treasures to their maximum worth.

And a third obstacle standing in the way of complete satisfaction is that our joys here come to an end. Nothing lasts. But if the aim and the prayer of Jesus in John 17:26 come true, all this will change. He prayed “that the love with which you, Father, have loved me may be in them.” God’s infinitely well-pleased love for his Son in us!

If God’s pleasure in the Son becomes our pleasure in the Son, then the object of our pleasure, Jesus, will be inexhaustible in personal worth. He will never become boring or disappointing or frustrating.

No greater treasure can be conceived than the Son of God.

Moreover, our ability to savor this inexhaustible treasure will not be limited by human weaknesses. We will enjoy the Son of God with the very enjoyment of his Father. That’s what Jesus prayed for!

God’s delight in his Son will be in us and it will be ours — our delight in the Son. And this will never end, because neither the Father nor the Son ever ends.

Their love for each other will be our love for them and therefore our loving them will never die, nor ever diminish.

John Piper 

Are you grumbly hateful? Or humbly grateful?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. James 1:2

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Sometimes we have to admit it’s hard to “count it all joy.” Trouble comes. Opposition comes. Adversity comes. Sometimes we complain. Rather than being humbly grateful, we become grumbly hateful.

Oh, how I wish that, beginning today, we would emulate the faith of the saints who’ve gone before us—saints like Fannie Crosby, the great hymn writer.

For most of her life, Fannie Crosby was blind, and yet, at the tender age of eight, Fannie wrote:

“Oh! What a happy soul am I, although I cannot see, 

I am resolved that, in this world, contented I will be. 

How many blessings I enjoy, that other people don’t. 

To weep and sigh because I’m blind, I cannot and I won’t.”

You know what? She didn’t. She took her blessings and let God enrich and enliven her life. She lived to age 95 and wrote these words, “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.” In the tests of life, I give Fannie Crosby an A+. Wouldn't you?

ACTION POINT:

• How can you apply this truth to your life today? 

• How can you share this truth with someone else?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Before My God I Will Fall On My Knees

Bow and repent!

Healing comes from His blood, His death!

He has risen!

He alone offers eternal life!

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith-that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. - Ephesians 3:14-21

Sinful man, Christ alone will deliver you from Hell!

Sinful man saved by grace, tell the world of the hope that is found in Christ alone!

He forgives!

He satisfies!

He heals! 

5 And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets."

6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken,

10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."

11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. - Luke 5:5-11

You are unworthy!

Fall before His throne of grace!

3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" 

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" - Isaiah 6:3-5

Absolute, Sovereign, Almighty Love

The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” (Exodus 34:6)

God abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Two images come to my mind:

The heart of God is like an inexhaustible spring of water that bubbles up love and faithfulness at the top of the mountain. Century after century the spring keeps on flowing.

Or the heart of God is like a volcano that burns so hot with love that it blasts the top off the mountain and flows year after year with the lava of love and faithfulness.

When God uses the word “abounding” — “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” — he wants us to understand and feel that the resources of his love are not limited. You can drink at this mountain spring all day, year after year, generation after generation, and it never runs dry.

You might even risk saying that God is like a government that simply prints more money when there’s a need. Inexhaustible, right? Well, there’s a difference. God has an infinite treasury of golden love to cover all the currency he prints. The government is in a dream world. God banks very realistically on the infinite resources of his deity.

The absolute existence, the sovereign freedom, and the omnipotence of God are the volcanic fullness that explodes in an overflow of love. The sheer magnificence of God means that he does not need us to fill up any deficiency in himself. Instead his infinite self-sufficiency spills over in love to us — to sinners — who need him, and the gift of himself in Jesus.

We can bank on his love precisely because we believe in the absoluteness of his existence, the sovereignty of his freedom, and the limitlessness of his power.

John Piper 

Are you in the crucible of testing?

BIBLE MEDITATION:

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. 1 Peter 4:12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Has something bad happened to you and you said, “Oh, what did I do? I must have done something terrible. Otherwise, this wouldn’t have happened!”

And before you knew it, you fell headlong into a pity party of morbid introspection—taking yourself apart piece by piece to see where you went wrong. If you’re like most people, you have.

But have you ever thought that maybe you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, but God is simply testing your faith? This is an important truth to understand. If you don’t, you may get discouraged. The seeds of doubt and discouragement sprout in the soil of ignorance. Remember, Jesus was tested in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Trials and hardship are a part of life in this fallen world. They aren’t a commentary on your spiritual health. But they will strengthen you, if you lean hard upon Jesus.

So as you face your trial, face it knowing it doesn't mean you’ve done something wrong or are doing something wrong if you're tempted.

ACTION POINT:

Trials and tribulations lead to endurance, and endurance leads to maturity. You see, that's what makes you strong. You grow when you work against pressure. Read Exodus 16 about the testing the Israelites experienced while they were wandering in the desert. It was testing that came from the Lord, and He had a purpose for it in their lives. Do you see an application in your own life?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

God Isn’t Gloomy

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:10–11)

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). The implication of this text is that God has the right and power to do whatever makes him happy. That is what it means to say that God is sovereign.

Think about it for a moment: If God is sovereign and can do anything he pleases, then none of his purposes can be frustrated. “The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:10–11).

And if none of his purposes can be frustrated, then he must be the happiest of all beings.

This infinite, divine happiness is the fountain from which the Christian (Hedonist) drinks and longs to drink more deeply.

Can you imagine what it would be like if the God who ruled the world were not happy? What if God were given to grumbling and pouting and depression, like some Jack-and-the-beanstalk giant in the sky? What if God were frustrated and despondent and gloomy and dismal and discontented and dejected?

Could we join David and say, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1)? I don’t think so.

We would all relate to God like little children who have a frustrated, gloomy, dismal, discontented father. They can’t enjoy him. They can only try not to bother him, or maybe try to work for him to earn some little favor.

But that is not the way God is. He is never out of sorts with frustration or discouragement. And, as Psalm 147:11 says, he “takes pleasure . . . in those who hope in his steadfast love.” So the aim of the Christian Hedonist is not to avoid this God, not to run from him, or tiptoe through the living room lest his gloominess become anger. No, our aim is to hope in his steadfast love. To run to him. To be happy in God, to delight in God, to cherish and enjoy his fellowship and favor.

John Piper