Mercy | Adding to our Faith

I recently discovered and so enjoy poems by Annie Johnson Flint. Drawn from the Word of God they speak to my heart.

New Every Morning

Yea, “new every morning” though we may awake

Our hearts with old sorrows beginning to ache;

With old work unfinished when night stayed our hand,

With new duties waiting, unknown and unplanned;

With old care still pressing, to fret and to vex,

With new problems rising, our minds to perplex;

In ways long familiar, in paths yet untrod,

Oh, new every morning the mercies of God!

His faithfulness fails not; it meets each new day

With guidance for every new step of the way;

New grace for new trials, new trust for old fears,

New patience for hearing the wrongs of the years,

New strength for new burdens, new courage for old,

New faith for whatever the day may unfold;

As fresh for each need as the dew on the sod;

Oh, new every morning are the mercies of God!

It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness (Lam 3:22-23). Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and they faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds (Psalm 36:5)

The Lord has been bringing up the word Mercy often in my bible reading and devotions. Desiring to better understand Mercy I started by looking up the definition of “Mercy” in Websters 1828, here is what I found:

1. That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; the disposition that tempers justice, and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant.

In this sense, there is perhaps no word in our language precisely synonymous with mercy That which comes nearest to it is grace. It implies benevolence, tenderness, mildness, pity or compassion, and clemency, but exercised only towards offenders. mercy is a distinguishing attribute of the Supreme Being.

How marvelous to dwell on the Mercy of God towards me. But there is more, God calls me to in turn show mercy to others. Not natural to my nature, yet I know that it is to His, because I have been a blessed recipient. Pondering this definition I can see areas of improvement and opportunity in my life, maybe you can in your life as well? I am asking the Holy Spirit that dwells in me to remember God’s mercy toward me, that I can be a willing vessel in showing His mercy to others. I know that He will help me and He will help you too. We just need to be willing and ask. Our God is great like that!

The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty. Numbers 14:18.
#lovingJesusmore, #mercytriumphs, #onlywithGod