God's Great Mercy

"O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies (Da. 9:18 NKJV)."

I had the privilege to sit at the table, across from a young man and his wife. They were transients, homeless, passing through. They were taking advantage of a free, warm meal. They shared their story with me as they were eating.


The young couple were recently homeless and living in their car. At this point, they hadn't had a shower in a week. They didn't have any food. What money they had, or get, goes into the gas tank of the car. I couldn't help but see the look of sheer panic in their eyes as I listened to them.


Another worker and myself found them a place where they could shower. Through careful questioning, I learned they possessed a little single-burner campstove on which they could cook. We made sure they ate till they were filled. We supplied them with about a weeks worth of food.

With the shelters in our area are already at capacity, we set about finding them a place where they could park their car and not worry about having to drive from parking lot to parking lot every couple of hours. They then left our facility to face a life of uncertainty and struggle.


I will never forget the look in the eyes of that young couple for as long as I live. The eyes of sheer despair pierced deep into my core. I was instantly reminded of the verse, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels (Heb. 13:2 NKJV)."


The couple could have been angels. No matter, they were homeless, scared, and in desperate need of assistance. They are now gone. It's not likely we'll ever see them again. I can only pray I gave them nearly as much as they gave me.


You might be asking how a homeless couple could give anything? Their situation and story so moved me to my core that I couldn't help but think of my own circumstances. They gave me this truth; I am blessed. It's only by the grace and mercy of God that their situation isn't my situation.


It is precisely what this couple gave me that leads me to this prayer of Daniel 9:18 today. I am blessed, not because of any righteous deeds I have done. I am blessed because God is merciful. I am blessed because God is gracious. I don't pray to God because of anything good that I do. I pray because God is grace and mercy.


I offer prayer today for the young couple. I thank God for bringing them to my table. They have taught me a tremendous truth. By the grace and mercy of God I am blessed. By the grace and mercy of God I have redemption through the blood of the Lamb. By the grace and mercy of God I will one day rise and be transformed into His eternal likeness. God bless...


Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgment and Confession of Sin

Confession is good for the soul. Confession of sin is a powerful weapon in the hands of the believer who's willing to use it. We must examine confession of sin in depth to understand how it can be used to strengthen the daily walk of the child of God.

"I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin (Ps. 32:5 KJV)."

The first thing we need to look at is the phrase "I acknowledged my sin unto thee". Sin is not obeying the commandments of God. Therefore when we sin, we sin against God. The word acknowledged used here means recognized or comprehended. We must recognize our sin before we can confess it. However, upon recognition of sin we are then faced with a decision. Do we confess the sin or do we hide it?

The next phrase of today's scripture passage is, "mine iniquity have I not hid." The decision is made to not hide our sin. We move forward confessing our sin to the Lord. Take note this confession is to God, not to man.

I want to look into the word confess used here. It comes from a primitive root meaning to use the hands, especially to revere or worship with extended hands. This means confessing our sin is a form of reverence or worship. The extension of the hands is a formal sign of surrender. Our confession is surrendering to God in worship.

When we worship God, he must respond. When we worship God in confessing our sin, he is moved to respond with mercy and grant forgiveness, which happens to be the final phrase of today's verse, "and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." This is why John could write, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jn. 1:9 KJV)."

We only deceive ourselves when choosing to hide sin from God. Jesus said, "For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known (Lu. 12:2 KJV)." Paul tells us when the Lord returns he will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and expose the counsels, or motives, of the heart (1Co. 4:5). Our sin will be exposed sooner or later.

Confession of sin brings mercy and forgiveness. Forgiveness brings freedom to live and walk in the grace and blessing of Almighty God. We can hide our sin and place our hope and trust in God's mercy, or we can confess our sin and live in the grace and blessing of God. This is what gives confession power. Confession brings mercy and mercy brings forgiveness. Forgiveness brings grace and blessing directly from God. God bless...