His Mercies Never Come to an End

Good morning and grace and peace. Today’s day number three of our fast. Congratulations again. You are at a pivotal point in this journey. Take the time to appreciate how far you’ve come in this spiritual work. You have denied yourself sustenance. You have engaged God with prayer. You have started off your year with the same to God, I need your wisdom, your guidance, your direction, and only you are the path to success. And because of that, I’m here to declare to you that God says this is a fast I will honor. So congratulations. Well done. 

Lam. 3:22  ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,^a 

his mercies never come to an end;

Today I would like to encourage you using the same word we looked at yesterday. Jeremiah, the writer of this text, Lamentations chapter 3 verse 22 says to us, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercy never comes to an end.” (NRSV) Yesterday we looked at the fact that God’s love is steadfast. You can depend on it. Today as we continue in our shift, here is a word of the Lord to you. His mercy never comes to an end. Beloved, that is great news. Why, you ask? 

“Sometimes the clearest evidence that God has not deserted you is not that you are successfully past your trial but that you are still on your feet in the middle of it.” – Warren Wiersbe

To answer that, we fully have to engage in an understanding of what mercy is. In the text, which is a Hebrew text, the word “mercy” is the word רחמ ‘racham’. It means that God is gentle. That God is compassionate. But not that he’s just compassionate or that God’s is gentle just on general principle, and certainly that application could be made. Mercy is a word that presupposes our guilt. In a court of law, when I have done nothing wrong, I demand justice. But when I’m guilty of the crime and have laid the truth out for all to see, what I tend to beg the judge for is mercy. It means I’m guilty of a thing, but please don’t subscribe to me a punishment worthy of the crime that I’ve committed. 

“So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit.”

(Galatians 6:9 MESSAGE)

When I look at this text, it’s telling me, even though I have blown it, God has been merciful to me. This means that he has not administered the justice I deserve. That he continually looks at me and says, “ I will be gentle with Leo, even though he hasn’t been gentle with himself.” Mercies, plural, are the way that they’re structured in this text. It then means that because I’m human and have the propensity to consistently blow it. God has the ability to be consistently merciful. As I go into this new year and we are looking towards that shift, I understand that I’m going to blow it, make mistakes, do things that were not part of the plan, and hopefully learn by them. It is my prayer that as I shift and go towards purpose, every mistake I make would be met with mercy. And I decree that for you. His mercies, plural, are never ceasing. 

That’s good news. I want to encourage you today. You can do anything you put your mind to, and the scripture says that everything you put your hands to shall prosper. Prosper today. Succeed today. Remember, His mercies are never ending. 

“Failure is not the end of your calling; it is the classroom of your calling”

Let me close with this. I remember hearing a story about the Wright brothers as they were endeavoring to achieve flight for the first time. When they determined that they were going to build these airplanes and test them, they settled in their mind that in order to succeed in flight, it meant that they would crash a plane every day. But they never stopped believing that they can achieve, what they set out to achieve. You are endeavoring to do something you’ve never done before. You’re intending to shift your entire existence to something you’ve never done before. Be OK with the fact that every day it is possible that you will crash a plane. Get back up, clear the debris, and go forward and test the plane again. You will soar. You will fly. 

Enjoy today. I look forward to your miracle. And I believe and decree that God will do exceedingly above all that you can ask or think. 

Remember, drink all the water you can, at least 8 to 12 glasses today, and one bowl of soup after three pm. Make sure that you are actively engaging God with your prayer list. This is not a time to pray aimlessly. Be succinct and accurate in your prayers. I look forward to hearing your miracles.

Yours Because I am His,

Leo Colon D.Min., M.Div.,

http://www.ihpfwc.org