Grace and Mercy
Jesus Gives Both
2 John 1:3
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
The Bible has several verses that mention God’s grace and God’s mercy together, but the meaning of these two words is very different. Grace is God’s blessing. We receive His unconditional love as a free gift, and it is something we don’t deserve. Mercy is when God withholds a punishment we do deserve.
To fully understand grace, we need to consider who we were without God’s grace, which means living without Jesus in our heart. We were spiritually dead. We have no morals, no sense of right or wrong, no concerns about retribution for our actions today or in the future. Without belief in eternal life, we live for today with no concern about tomorrow. We don’t even acknowledge we have a soul that may be eternally separated from God’s love if we reject Jesus.
It is important for grace and mercy to work in tandem. Emphasizing grace alone focuses only on God’s love. It can seem sentimental and can be taken lightly. On the opposite side, focusing on only asking for God’s mercy to avoid punishment can make God seem harsh and cold. Jesus’ life demonstrates the balance between grace and mercy. They meld together in a perfect balance.
Our walk with the Lord is a unique blend that shows how God delivers grace through His justice and truth, and how He offers mercy when we sin.
Remember: We did nothing to earn God’s grace and, in fact, we deserve His justice even when He gives us mercy. We serve an awesome God!
TODAY’S PRAYER:
Dear Father in heaven, there are not enough words in any language to describe the feeling of gratitude we have for Your grace, and how much You love us. We are grateful that becoming one with You does not have to be earned because no amount of busy-ness could possibly be enough to enter the gates of heaven. We humble ourselves before You, Lord, with a child’s heart and simple gratitude. Thank You for being who You are. Thank You for your grace which we are so grateful to feel and experience. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
What a beautiful way to start my day.
On my bedroom wall I have giant wooden letters that spell out Grace right smack dab in the middle as soon as you walk in. I put them there right after I got married intentionally to remind myself of how much Grace I’d been given to even be able to experience the joy of a second marriage after having failed at the first.
Funny story; it was not too long after being married that my husband and I had gotten into a heated argument. He had said or done something that really hurt my feelings and he was finally in the process of apologizing but I was still so angry I wasn’t ready to hear it.
He happened to be standing in the doorway to our bedroom and I looked up briefly only to see this big huge word looming over the back of his head like a crown, lol. Gods gentle to reminder brought a comical end to that argument very quickly 😋😍🙏🏽
I spend 15 + minutes a day reading the Bible....started doing this within the last few months. It’s pleasing and calming. How nice it it to add your Sunday substack after doing this. Adds a lot to the morning. Thank you Doctor and blessings that you share with me/us the Word of God.