Growing up in church, I heard the seasoned saints sing, "The Road hasn’t been easy. Nobody told me that the road would be easy….But I don't believe He brought me this far to leave me” Many of us can identify with this. We can say as we look back over the years that, “We’ve come too far from where we started from.” And we can only attribute the safe passage on the not so easy road to “grace” and “mercy.” I am not a stranger to God's grace and mercy. I have seen it show up quite often in the course of my life. Hebrews 13:5 says, “…….For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” These words have never been more true for me and Monte in the last few months. We have witnessed the dynamic duo, grace and mercy move in an extraordinary way through some pretty turbulent storms along life’s road. And one particular storm we have been in for 18 years. Yes, 18 long years we have prayed for our Father to deliver us from this hard place as it was causing us to be at a standstill in a particular area of our life. And while we were praying about the issue it sent us to the Throne, which is the corner of Grace and Mercy. The issue we have been dealing with for 18 years was the result of a bad decision in our younger years and although it has hindered us, it could have been so much worse. Mercy is defined as God not giving us what we deserve; a deliverance from judgement. His mercy has been unrelenting and a prophetic fulfillment of what He told us at the beginning of 2018 that we would experience divine acceleration; breakthrough; new beginnings and new doors. And He has guided us out of the mistakes of our past, and right into the fruitfulness of our future. He showered down His gift of mercy and we are certain its because we have been steadfast and did not give up. I am filled with joy that after 18 long years of walking through what most times felt like miry clay our Father has steadied our footing and brought us to safe and sturdy ground. You, see, He has been protecting us and now has lifted us out of eye of the storm and showed us that the storm is OVER NOW! Thank you, Father God for your Son, and Your Spirt! We are so grateful for our Father‘s mercy and grace! Gratitude is the normal and natural response to one who has received grace. “Grace” means unmerited favor. Grace is God blessing us despite the fact that we do not deserve it. Actually, “Gratitude” comes from the Latin word for grace (“gratio”), and in this season we are witnessing God bless us "exceedingly and abundantly more than what we can ask, think or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20) with His Grace. On August 1, 2018, after 18 years of praying, many heartfelt conversations asking Him when He was going to do it, in 4 months, move us out of the parking space and lead us to the corner of grace and mercy. And no one can take the credit but Him! His continued covering of grace and mercy kept us and caused us to learn the greatest lesson as we lived with the ramifications of a bad decision for 18 years and that is that you can’t give up on faith, as faith leads you to the corner of grace and mercy! Our faith is expecting God to do the extraordinary as it’s our faith that moves mountains. (Matthew 17:20) Faith has a confidence in the Words of our Father that His mercy is everlasting, and His grace is sufficient. It's rejoicing through the disappointment and tears. It's being thankful in the midst of the worst storms and knowing that the He will not allow the storm to harm you. It's knowing that while your past may cause them to give you a negative report, His Word will cause every tongue that rises up to be condemned. It's knowing without doubt that He will do what He said He would do. When you have this type of Godfidence, it doesn’t matter what mistakes you have made, as we all make them (James 3), but if you walk in wisdom and understanding in all your ways He will make your paths smooth and ultimately bring you to the corner of His Grace and Mercy! (Proverbs 3:5-8) If this thought has been profitable to you, please share with your friends and family. Like or click the social share button or leave a comment in the box below for Pastor Yolanda.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
August 2020
Categories |
Sign up to receive encouraging teachings, updates, emails and
|
|
Copyright © 2024 Yolanda Douthit