Knowing God’s HeartSample

God is Mercy and Grace 

Know God’s heart, a heart of mercy and grace

In Jeremiah 9: 23 & 24, The Lord speaks through the prophet Jeremiah saying “Let not the wise man glory in His wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in His might, nor let the rich man glory in His riches; But let him who glories glory in this, that He understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving kindness, judgement, and righteousness in the earth, for in these I delight,”. 

One of the facets of God’s loving kindness is demonstrated to us through expressions of God’s mercy and grace. Scripture reveals to us various verses of God’s mercy and grace. When Moses expressed his innermost heart’s desire to know God intimately and to see His Glory in Exodus 34:6, God responded in the affirmative by proclaiming Himself as being ‘The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth’. David as well exclaims in Psalm 103:8 saying ‘The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy’. Hence we decipher that our God delights in divulging the fact that He is a God of mercy and a God of grace.

Mercy keeps us from receiving the judgement we deserve. Grace gives us the good things we don’t deserve. We have received abundant benefits as a result of His mercy; forgiveness of sins, our justification, a new beginning and freedom from reaping the rewards of our wrong actions. 

Jonah the prophet knew his God as being a God of grace and mercy. Therefore, when God decided to extend mercy to the people of Nineveh, Jonah exclaims in Jonah 4:2, ‘Lord, I knew you were a God so merciful and gracious, I knew you were a God who was slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and one who turns back from doing harm’. Jonah had utmost confidence in who his God was. Let us make it our aim to make our boasting in God’s grace and mercy alone and let us aspire to be channels of dispensing His mercy and grace as we meet people in our daily walk of life. 

Father, help us to know and understand that you are a God who delights in releasing mercy and grace to people and help us to expect that to happen as we reach out to people, that our God is a God who exercises loving kindness, demonstrates mercy and grace on earth. In Jesus name, Amen.