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1st Chronicles 16
34. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever.
Psalm 107
1. O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.
Psalm 118:
1.. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth forever.
2. Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth forever.
3. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth forever.
4. Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth forever.
Psalm 136
1.O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.
2.O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth forever.
3. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth forever.
4. To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth forever.
5. To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth forever.
6. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth forever.
7. To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth forever:
8. The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth forever:
9. The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth forever.
Sometimes life becomes a struggle even for those of us who are of usually full of faith. Some days although most won’t admit it, we wonder where God is in our situation and wonder if he has forgotten us. Jesus said that in this world we will have tribulation and he said that to believers. He also said to be of good cheer for he has overcome the world. That is the one thing I want to focus on today.
I believe one way that the so called faith movement has erred is because they want you to think you are controlling your destiny by the faith you have and by the things you confess. I am not against this but they left out part of the message. Paul said that we don’t live by our faith but by the faith of Jesus Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. It is his faith that is sustaining us so we have no room to boast of our own faith. After all doesn’t the scripture say that God has given to every man the measure of faith? Doesn’t the scripture say that by grace you are saved through faith and that faith didn’t come from you it was a gift of God?
Sometimes we get so caught up into the bondage of walking the faith walk that we forget that all that we have is because of God’s mercy and not because of our works of faith. Yes, it is wonderful to always speak positive and always be full of faith but it is extremely dangerous to forget about the mercy of our loving Father.
Peter had faith to get out of the boat and to walk on the water for a few steps but after having all that faith he still would have drowned if he hadn’t called out to Jesus to save him. David was a man after God’s own heart but the Psalms he wrote are full of him crying out to God for mercy.
So what is my point? It is simple, when you are full of faith rejoice and speak loudly and declare the words of faith from your heart. If you have an awful day and it seems like God is a billion miles away cry out to him for mercy. Within a few moments your heart will be full of faith again because faith comes by hearing the voice of God. Every time I have ever cried out to him he has answered me with love and restored me to faith and peace.
It’s time we have an honest conversation and not be so uptight about all the rules the faith teachers have given to us. It’s time we stop being hypocritical and acting like nothing is wrong when we are falling apart. We must be honest with ourselves if we are ever going to grow up into the fullness of Christ.
On one hand we have the faith teachers telling us to pretend we never have a bad day and boasting of their mighty exploits of faith and on the other hand we have the apostle Paul who said the following in 2nd Corinthians 11:
But whatever anyone else dares to boast of I am speaking as a fool I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one.
I am talking like a madman with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
But whatever anyone else dares to boast of I am speaking as a fool I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one.
I am talking like a madman with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
Three times I was beaten with rods.
Once I was stoned.
Three times I was shipwrecked;
a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
on frequent journeys,
in danger from rivers,
danger from robbers,
danger from my own people,
danger from Gentiles,
danger in the city,
danger in the wilderness,
danger at sea,
danger from false brothers;
in toil and hardship,
through many a sleepless night,
in hunger and thirst, often without food,
in cold and exposure.
And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.
We all know that Paul the apostle was a great man of faith and the scriptures tell us of great miracles that were done through him but he was not afraid to admit that sometimes life is hard and we endure not by our faith but by the faith of our Lord who loves us and by his mercy.
It’s OK if you are having a hard time and it’s not because you have little faith or because you messed up. Sometimes life is hard because it’s life and for no other reason.
So if you are struggling with problems and troubles that doesn’t make you a failure or strange. It just means that you are a believer learning to live in a fallen world and learning to restore this world to our loving Father’s original plan of heaven on earth. One day we will get there and we will see earth look just like heaven but it will come by overcoming by the faith of Jesus Christ, by his blood and by his mercy.
So I encourage you to do as I do. When I have a hard day I don’t hesitate to call on Jesus. He never leaves us and he always loves us and his mercy does endure forever.
I hope you are encouraged by these words and I leave you today with a song I wrote. I hope you will pardon the sound quality as it was recorded in my closet and not in a professional studio.
Until next time,
Grow Rich in His Grace,
I love you all,
michael
Click here for the song. Sweet Mercy
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