Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today let’s respect God’s choice to show His mercy.

Today’s scripture, Romans 9:14‭-‬16 (NLT) says…
Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

Consider…
Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the mercy of God!

Mercy has often been defined as not getting the punishment we deserve. But today, I discovered another definition for it, via my reading of two translations of Psalm 23:6a…

• KJV says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”
• NLT says, “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life”

…NLT helped me recognize God’s mercy is also a response of His unfailing love to my failure. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

Psalms 103:8‭-‬11 (NLT) describes my new
found definition this way…
The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

Notice God’s unfailing love bookends this passage.

• It begins by letting us know that God is filled with unfailing love.
• It ends by giving us the immeasurable magnitude of His unfailing love.

Thinking of the breadth and depth of God’s love leads me to Romans 8:38‭-‬39 (NLT), which testifies…
I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If Paul’s list kept going, I imagine he would have included, neither failure nor success.

It also occurs to me that the opposite of separated is connected. Thus, in Paul’s soliloquy, he’s also saying that we are unconditionally and unbreakably connected to God’s unfailing love.

Sometimes I struggle to fully grasp, appreciate, or explain, this magnanimous unfailing love of God. As I grappled with yet again today, the Holy Spirit guided me to 1 Corinthians 13:4‭-‬7 (NLT). It explains…
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

As I read that, I realized Jesus was the embodiment of this Love description. Please allow me to share the passage again, but switch Love to Jesus.
*** By the way I believe God’s good with that, because He is love.

Jesus is patient and kind. Jesus is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. He does not demand His own way. He is not irritable, and He keeps no record of being wronged. He does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Jesus never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Doesn’t that perfectly describe Jesus’ life, death and resurrection here on earth?

Just now I heard Commodores’ sing…

‘Cause Jesus is love, He won’t let you down
And I know He’s mine forever
Ahhh, in my heart

As I contemplate about Jesus being love, and this new mercy definition of God’s unfailing love, the Holy Spirit blew my mind again. He said, Jesus never failed! He used 1 Peter 2:21‭-‬24 (NLT) for emphasis. It says…
For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.

The personification of God’s Mercy can be added to the list of Jesus’ amazing attributes. Jesus is both the grace (undeserved love), and mercy (unfailing love) of God given to us.

John 3:16 (NLT) illustrates this point. It says…
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Here we read how God’s unfailing love motivated Him to give His perfect Son, so that we imperfect people who believe in Jesus, can live eternally petfected.

Also, noteworthy is the fact that not perishing describes God’s mercy, and living eternally describes His grace. And notice both are available to anyone who believes in Jesus.

It’s fitting that the majority of today’s post centers on God’s love. That’s because, love is His to give to whomever, however, whenever He chooses.

Many of us struggle with this truth. I know that because we decry His mercy and bemoan His grace extended to those we deem undeserving. Yet, Romans 3:23 (NLT) clearly explains…
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

That means no one is deserving of God’s love.

Jesus addressed our misguided bias in Matthew 5:44‭-‬45 (NLT) when He said…
But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

Reading that just added another ‘un’ to the description of God’s love, it’s unbiased.

The Holy Spirit is emphasizing that God’s love is…

• Unfailing (mercy)
• Undeserved (grace)
• and Unbiased (unconditional)

…God’s love is based on who He is, not who or what we are.

So the next time you are inclined to withhold the unbiased, unfailing and undeserved love of God that He extended to you, remember that He chose to love you when you were unlovable…. And He wants you to choose to love others that same way.

Therefore, always choose to show the unbiased, unfailing and undeserved love that God has shown to you.

Today’s song is…
Anyway

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)