Worthy Devotions - Daily Christian Devotion » Mercy

Mark 11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Today’s word is not Hebrew or Greek, it’s Eskimo! The word is issumagijoujunnainermik. When missionaries first shared the gospel with the Eskimos, they couldn’t find any word in the Eskimo language for forgiveness. So, they took a number of Eskimo words and joined them to form a new word — Issu-magi-jou-jun-nai-ner-mik — and it became the Eskimo word for forgiveness. The individual words are “Not-being-able-to-think-about-it-anymore.”

Too often we remember the hurt, replaying it over and over again in our minds. Forgiveness is not something we do just once. It is something we must reaffirm every day. Whenever a hurtful memory comes up, remember the word Issu-magi-jou-jun-nai-ner-mik, and say, “I can’t think about it anymore, it’s in God’s hands.”

Rather than replay the hurt you may have acquired, replay God’s mercy, His grace, His love for us (and them) — when He freely gave His life. That will enable us to forget it and move forward.

1 Kings 19:4-5 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

In this passage, Elijah had become so weary running from Jezebel that he sat under a Juniper tree and just asked the Lord to take his life. But the Lord knew exactly what Elijah needed and He sent forth a messenger to revive and nourish him. I love it.

In His infinite mercy, God sent an angel to minister to Elijah. And that was just enough to help him get up and continue to do great things for the Lord. We’ve all been under that tree, haven’t we? Some of us are there right now.

Perhaps you know a saint who is growing weary and in need of refreshment. Let’s be available for the Lord, to be that messenger and supply his or her needs. Make a meal, give a gift, offer your time, maybe even just bring a word of encouragement — perhaps that’s all he or she needs to get up from under the Juniper tree and keep on keeping on for the Lord!

When you supply a need for someone else, you are acting as God’s messenger. And proverbs says that he who refreshes others will, himself, be refreshed! There’s so much work to be done!

1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

Many of us have conflicts with people we love most. Husbands, wives, children, parents, friends — we complain to the Lord about our suffering and beg for Him to touch and change the situation so that we can be one big happy family again.

Here’s a question. Have we cried out for that person’s heart like the Lord has cried out for ours while we were yet sinners? Have we suffered and bled in tears and intercession? That is what the Lord did for us while we were nailing Him to the cross.

We need to have the same heart for those who trouble us as the Lord has for us daily. He bleeds and weeps over us and intercedes to no end. How much more should we be doing the same?

Lord, help us! Help us to get your heart on the matter! Help us see those who hurt us through your eyes of compassion and see ourselves for what we really are. Help us to weep. There’s so much work to be done!

Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

I heard this story recently.

Two shopkeepers were bitter rivals. Their stores were directly across the street from each other and they would spend each day keeping track of each other’s business. If one of them got a customer, he would smile in triumph at his rival.

One night an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers in a dream and said, “I will give you anything you ask, but whatever you receive, your competitor will receive twice as much. Do you want to be rich? You can, but he will be twice as much. Do you wish to live a long and healthy life? You can, but his life will be longer and healthier. What is your desire?”

The man thought for a moment, and then said, “Please… blind me in one eye.”

I think we are often unaware of the deceptive way the enemy operates in this area of our lives. Is it easier for us to show sympathy when a person is hurting then to truly rejoice when they receive a blessing? That’s one surefire way to tell.

God wants us to be free of the bondages that hold us back from doing great things for Him, and many times we don’t even know they exist! Let’s examine our hearts today. Perhaps we need to do some repenting. There’s so much work to be done!

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Have you ever heard how a pearl is formed? It is truly fascinating. A foreign object, often a grain of sand, somehow makes it’s way into the tightly sealed crack of an oyster. Instead of spitting out this irritating object, the oyster covers it with layer upon layer of a substance secreted from it’s own body. After months or even years, a beautiful pearl is formed. The longer the pearl stays in the oyster, the more valuable it becomes.

What a picture of God’s mercy toward us! The Lord doesn’t spit us out when we come to Him! “We are accepted in the beloved!” God has every right to cast us out because of our sin but instead, He brings us into His body and covers over our sin with His beautiful covering!

When God found us we were nothing more than an irritation but by His grace He keeps us under His covering, so that we can be made into something value to His Kingdom! God is using our time now under His covering to conform us into His image!

Let’s cherish this time under God’s covering and take this opportunity to grow more and more beautiful — that we attract many for His Kingdom in these trying times!