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Month of Divine Mercy
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Connected by scripture or shared themes.
Month of Divine Mercy
Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
I don't know who you are this morning. I don't know what you are struggling with that has become a cycle in your destiny. You know that thing, but the Lord is available this morning. The Bible says, "A broken and a contrite heart will [He] not despise."
Don't let the devil lie to you. He has lied to you for a long time, telling you that your addiction is bigger than you. But I pray in the name of Jesus, through the power that raised Christ from the dead, that as you pray today, that chain is broken in the name of Jesus.
And remember: find an accountability partner. The devil knows that the moment you speak about it, your problem is sorted out. Don't keep quiet. Reach out to people that can help and have faith that in the name of Jesus, God will work.
Last week we established that God is love—not that God has love or can give love, but that God himself is love. There's a difference.
We also established that God is merciful. God is gracious. God is good—not just to some, but to all. Both the poor and the rich, both the tall and the small, both the educated and the uneducated, both the white and the black. God is good to all.
We established that God has great mercy. God's tender mercy watches over His works, and we are the works of the Lord. If God's tender mercies were not upon our lives, we would do what David did. David was a murderer, yet nobody ever knew it because mercy shielded him. But I pray that the mercy of God will never cease in our lives in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we look at the nature of man, Jeremiah 17:9-10 tells us that the heart of man is deceitful. Who can know it?
A person who has not encountered God should not be in a relationship with anyone. If you are a child of God and you are in a relationship with someone who has not encountered God in their life, you are taking a risk.
I remember precisely in 1992 in Delta when there was a lot of money-making. Business patterns emerged, and they were killing each other—and they were Christians. Why? Because the mercy of God was absent in their lives.
If you are in a relationship right now with someone who has not encountered the Lord Jesus, that is an error. I pray you experience a relationship where the person will encounter the Lord Jesus, and that the mercy of God will be mighty upon their life. Every day of his or her life, they will want to find an opportunity to show you mercy.
Choice in life is useless if there's no option. You can say, "Oh, this man is very humble." How do you know the man is humble? The man who is humble has never seen what courageousness is. The man you say is humble has never traveled out of his village. The man that you say is humble has not seen the opportunity to show that he's wicked. How can you say a man is humble when he's just managing to drive between one village and another?
A man has seen the world when he speaks with understanding—because you have a reference point.
You say, "Oh, this man is nice." How do you know he's nice? Because he knows how to smile. After people smile to you in your office, do they love you? No. Salutation is not love. Love is not in the salutation. But the Lord God will help us in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible says in Genesis that God looked at man and said this was evil. The Bible says the sons of God were communing with the daughters of men, and God said, "No longer will [My] spirit strive with man." Satan devised this just to make sure it was God's plan, but he lost the battle. Every plan of the enemy against your life, the enemy will always lose the battle in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a privilege to be a child of God. It is not a right. It is not compulsory. But the Lord God will help us in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we talk about mercy, it means forgiveness and God withholding punishment. Mercy also means alleviating the pain of another person—attending to that need. That is mercy.
Let's read from Lamentations 3:22-23:
"It is of the mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness."
The mercy of God is new every day in your life and in my life. That is why you and I are not victims of that deceiver. The Lord will help us in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of us don't see reason to give God thanks that you have seen a new day. It is not your right. It is not my right.
When you slept, you never knew when you slept. You only knew when you lay down. You may lie down at 9:00 p.m., but sleep may not come exactly at 9:00 p.m. When sleep comes, you don't know. When you wake up, you don't know. But when you got awakened, that's the time you know. The Lord just taps you and says the day is done.
We need to understand and appreciate God for everything He is doing. Look at what Jesus was doing. In John 6:11-12, Jesus had 5,000 people to feed. They ate and had leftovers.
"Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks he distributed to [His] disciples and [the] disciple[s] to them were set down and likewise all of the fishes as much as they would. And when they were filled he said unto his disciple[s] gather all the fragments that remain that nothing below."
This shows that God hates wastage. Some of us cook what we can eat in one cup, but we cook three cups. At the end we throw away two cups. Heaven is not happy.
I'm not saying it's wrong for you to cook three cups if you know you can eat three cups of rice. Go ahead and cook three cups and eat three cups. But don't throw them away. Jesus gathered the fragments, and they had 12 baskets gathered. This is why God expects us to be very good at managing whatever resources He has given to us.
As a child of God, we should give God thanks for whatever He has done for us, and He will do more for us in our lives in the name of the Lord. The more you give God thanks, the more God does for you every day of your life.
Remember: when you give God thanks, you open the door for multiplication, for God to do more in your life.
You see in some ethnic groups, if you do something for them, the next day they still tell you thank you for last week. Next month they still tell you thank you for last month. It means when they come to you again, you will not refuse them. But there are some people you do good for, and the next day they will not even greet you again. You gave them 10 pounds and they pass by you without acknowledgment, thinking it was too small. They were expecting £1,000. But those who are good at saying thank you—the Lord does more in their life.
That's why Jesus said, "Where are the nine? Were they not ten cleansed? The one that came to say thank you was made whole." The other nine were healed but were not made whole. The one that came to Jesus to thank Him—you cannot see the trace of leprosy in his life. But the other nine, you can see that they were once lepers, but now they are healed. The leprosy is over, but the scar is still there. But the one that came to Jesus has no scar, no sign, no signal. He became new, became a young man, became a young personality. That's what it means to be made whole. That's the advantage of saying thank you for what the Lord has done.
I pray that we will learn to appreciate God for whatever He has done for us in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If God gives you one room, give God thanks. God gives you two bedrooms, give God thanks. Even if the two bedrooms are leaking, give God thanks. God will give you a better one. When you are telling Him thank you, He says, "Oh, this my son, this one is even leaking, and he's telling me thank you. Me, I should give him a better one. I have some money I kept in the bank that I reserved and didn't want to use, but God said I should give it to somebody who needs it." Oh, "I'm even looking for money to pay my rent!" Oh, just have that money. That's how God works.
I mentioned earlier today that a church in the US was looking for money to pay rent for the property they were using for church service. They had no money, and God told a farmer in the farm, "This church needs money to pay rent. Sell your cow and go and pay the rent." He sold his cow and went and paid the rent for that church. God knows what you need. He knows your heart's desire. He will do it for you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Making requests to God for mercy is very important in life. In Mark 10:47-48, the blind Bartimaeus, a beggar by the roadside, heard that Jesus was coming from Jericho on the highway where he was begging.
He was not just named "a beggar"—his situation gave him a name; he became a beggar.
When he heard Jesus was coming, he said, "Son of David, have mercy upon me!" The people following Jesus, the multitude, told the man, "Shut up! Don't talk again. The Lord is coming." But the more they silenced him, the more he shouted.
The Bible says in verse 48 that it drew the attention of Jesus. He said, "Son of David, have mercy upon me."
All he was saying was, "Remember my predicament. Remember my challenge. Remember my pain. Remember my difficulty."
And the Bible says Jesus said, "Come, rise up." He rose up. He was made whole. That was what the man was looking for, and God answered immediately.
I don't know what your question might be. Anytime you are in trouble, anytime you are in challenge, anytime you are in difficulty, go to God. Run to God. Go to His altar and say, "Lord, this is my position. You gave me a job. I misused the opportunity. The job is taken from me. Lord, I come to you now. I am sorry. Lord, have mercy. If You don't have mercy on me, no one else can have mercy on me. Lord, You are merciful. Lord, You have great mercy. Lord, You cannot abandon me. You brought me to earth. You can't leave me in this situation. Lord, attend to me. Give me another job." Then Lord will give you a better one.
But don't say, "Well, this job they did for me, I'm the most intelligent. I made first class." Who told you first class made you what you are? It's God that makes you whom you are. The Bible said in James 1:17, "Every good and perfect gift cometh from the Lord. It came from above." It doesn't come from your head knowledge. No, it comes from God.
When God gives you anything that is perfect, and challenges come, He gives you a better one. There is no failure in Him. There's no disappointment in Him. I've not seen anyone God has failed before. He will not start with you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When God appears in your situation, the devil will disappear in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ. If He did it for the blind Bartimaeus, He will answer that situation for you with speed and accuracy in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Develop an attitude of showing mercy to others. The Bible said in Proverbs 21:13, "They that shut their ears to the cry of others—the day they will cry, no one will answer them." But I pray that will not be you. When people cry, please attend to them. The more you attend to them, the more heaven attends to yours in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible says in Psalm 18:25 and in 2 Samuel 22:26: "The merciful—for with the merciful they will show mercy. And for the upright, the Lord will show uprightness."
Once you are merciful to somebody—you don't even know the person—the person may have missed their way. You say, "No, this is not the right road. This is the right road." You are showing mercy. Which means any day you come to a crossroad and you don't know where to go, the Lord will appear for you there. There is reaping. There is reward for everything you do. Heaven has a record.
Did you show somebody the road? Did you see somebody in pain? Did you see somebody in distress? Did you assist the person? And their situation was rectified? Why will heaven not rectify your own?
In the name of Jesus, I pray that none of us shall shut our ears to the cry of anyone in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will not shut our ears to the cry of anybody in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The last mystery is being involved in kingdom expansion. When you are involved in evangelism, you don't need to be an evangelist to be involved in evangelism. You don't need to be a pastor to be involved in evangelism.
Once you are born again, you are saved by God. You are a servant of God. Once you are saved by God as a child of God, as a born-again child of God, you are a servant of God. You and I are expected to win a soul for God. Soul winning is our responsibility.
Let's see what the Bible has for those who bring people to Christ. Isaiah 12:1-3 says:
"In that day thou shall say, oh Lord, I will praise thee... Therefore, with joy shall you draw water out of the well of salvation."
When you win a soul for God, whatsoever you desire, the Lord does it for you. The Bible says you shall shine like a star in the brightness of the firmament forever. When you win a soul for God, you shine like a star. No matter how dark the atmosphere is, they must see the star. It means no matter what the world looks like, you must be seen.
God or in evangelism, or investing your resources in kingdom expansion—there is no way heaven will not open the windows of heaven and pour you a blessing.
I remember some time ago when they needed to buy a car for the pastor. One brother said, "They just gave me a car loan from [his workplace]. Can we add this one?" He gave them the name, and we prayed. Heaven opened up because of kingdom expansion.
Father, in Your great mercy, bring an end to that affliction in the life of anyone here in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Be ye mountain, oh God, bring an end. Bring our name. In Your great mercy, bring an end to that affliction in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mention that affliction to God. Mention that prayer to God. Mention that challenge to God. Mention it to God. God will do it for you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Zechariah 4:7 says: "Oh ye great mountains." What are you waiting for? You are going to mention that mountain before the Lord.
The Bible said in Psalm 114:4 that the mouth escapes like a ram, and the little he like a lamb. A ram is an adult sheep; a lamb is the small one, the baby one. Any small challenge before you is referred to as a lamb. Any big challenge is referred to as a mountain. But God—because He is a God of great mercy—is bringing an end to that mountain.
Lord, I pray, heavenly Father: any mountain that is terminating before Your sons and Your daughters—You said in Psalm 114:4 that "by reason of Your presence they shall skip like a lamb and like a ram, and the little hills like a lamb." I pray, Father, that the mountain that looks so big before Your sons and Your daughters—God, that can make the mountain melt away—let that melt away now. Let it melt away. Let it melt away. Let it melt away in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God of the valley is the God of the hill. Therefore, Lord, that little hill that is standing in the way of Your sons and Your daughters—not to experience expansion, not to experience greatness—we decree today that little hill, let it collapse. Let it collapse. Let it collapse. Let it collapse. In the name of God the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. In Jesus mighty name we pray.
I don't know who you are this morning. I don't know what you are struggling with that has become a cycle in your destiny. You know that thing, but the Lord is available this morning. The Bible says, "A broken and a contrite heart will [He] not despise."
Don't let the devil lie to you. He has lied to you for a long time, telling you that your addiction is bigger than you. But I pray in the name of Jesus, through the power that raised Christ from the dead, that as you pray today, that chain is broken in the name of Jesus.
And remember: find an accountability partner. The devil knows that the moment you speak about it, your problem is sorted out. Don't keep quiet. Reach out to people that can help and have faith that in the name of Jesus, God will work.
Last week we established that God is love—not that God has love or can give love, but that God himself is love. There's a difference.
We also established that God is merciful. God is gracious. God is good—not just to some, but to all. Both the poor and the rich, both the tall and the small, both the educated and the uneducated, both the white and the black. God is good to all.
We established that God has great mercy. God's tender mercy watches over His works, and we are the works of the Lord. If God's tender mercies were not upon our lives, we would do what David did. David was a murderer, yet nobody ever knew it because mercy shielded him. But I pray that the mercy of God will never cease in our lives in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we look at the nature of man, Jeremiah 17:9-10 tells us that the heart of man is deceitful. Who can know it?
A person who has not encountered God should not be in a relationship with anyone. If you are a child of God and you are in a relationship with someone who has not encountered God in their life, you are taking a risk.
I remember precisely in 1992 in Delta when there was a lot of money-making. Business patterns emerged, and they were killing each other—and they were Christians. Why? Because the mercy of God was absent in their lives.
If you are in a relationship right now with someone who has not encountered the Lord Jesus, that is an error. I pray you experience a relationship where the person will encounter the Lord Jesus, and that the mercy of God will be mighty upon their life. Every day of his or her life, they will want to find an opportunity to show you mercy.
Choice in life is useless if there's no option. You can say, "Oh, this man is very humble." How do you know the man is humble? The man who is humble has never seen what courageousness is. The man you say is humble has never traveled out of his village. The man that you say is humble has not seen the opportunity to show that he's wicked. How can you say a man is humble when he's just managing to drive between one village and another?
A man has seen the world when he speaks with understanding—because you have a reference point.
You say, "Oh, this man is nice." How do you know he's nice? Because he knows how to smile. After people smile to you in your office, do they love you? No. Salutation is not love. Love is not in the salutation. But the Lord God will help us in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible says in Genesis that God looked at man and said this was evil. The Bible says the sons of God were communing with the daughters of men, and God said, "No longer will [My] spirit strive with man." Satan devised this just to make sure it was God's plan, but he lost the battle. Every plan of the enemy against your life, the enemy will always lose the battle in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a privilege to be a child of God. It is not a right. It is not compulsory. But the Lord God will help us in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we talk about mercy, it means forgiveness and God withholding punishment. Mercy also means alleviating the pain of another person—attending to that need. That is mercy.
Let's read from Lamentations 3:22-23:
"It is of the mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness."
The mercy of God is new every day in your life and in my life. That is why you and I are not victims of that deceiver. The Lord will help us in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of us don't see reason to give God thanks that you have seen a new day. It is not your right. It is not my right.
When you slept, you never knew when you slept. You only knew when you lay down. You may lie down at 9:00 p.m., but sleep may not come exactly at 9:00 p.m. When sleep comes, you don't know. When you wake up, you don't know. But when you got awakened, that's the time you know. The Lord just taps you and says the day is done.
We need to understand and appreciate God for everything He is doing. Look at what Jesus was doing. In John 6:11-12, Jesus had 5,000 people to feed. They ate and had leftovers.
"Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks he distributed to [His] disciples and [the] disciple[s] to them were set down and likewise all of the fishes as much as they would. And when they were filled he said unto his disciple[s] gather all the fragments that remain that nothing below."
This shows that God hates wastage. Some of us cook what we can eat in one cup, but we cook three cups. At the end we throw away two cups. Heaven is not happy.
I'm not saying it's wrong for you to cook three cups if you know you can eat three cups of rice. Go ahead and cook three cups and eat three cups. But don't throw them away. Jesus gathered the fragments, and they had 12 baskets gathered. This is why God expects us to be very good at managing whatever resources He has given to us.
As a child of God, we should give God thanks for whatever He has done for us, and He will do more for us in our lives in the name of the Lord. The more you give God thanks, the more God does for you every day of your life.
Remember: when you give God thanks, you open the door for multiplication, for God to do more in your life.
You see in some ethnic groups, if you do something for them, the next day they still tell you thank you for last week. Next month they still tell you thank you for last month. It means when they come to you again, you will not refuse them. But there are some people you do good for, and the next day they will not even greet you again. You gave them 10 pounds and they pass by you without acknowledgment, thinking it was too small. They were expecting £1,000. But those who are good at saying thank you—the Lord does more in their life.
That's why Jesus said, "Where are the nine? Were they not ten cleansed? The one that came to say thank you was made whole." The other nine were healed but were not made whole. The one that came to Jesus to thank Him—you cannot see the trace of leprosy in his life. But the other nine, you can see that they were once lepers, but now they are healed. The leprosy is over, but the scar is still there. But the one that came to Jesus has no scar, no sign, no signal. He became new, became a young man, became a young personality. That's what it means to be made whole. That's the advantage of saying thank you for what the Lord has done.
I pray that we will learn to appreciate God for whatever He has done for us in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If God gives you one room, give God thanks. God gives you two bedrooms, give God thanks. Even if the two bedrooms are leaking, give God thanks. God will give you a better one. When you are telling Him thank you, He says, "Oh, this my son, this one is even leaking, and he's telling me thank you. Me, I should give him a better one. I have some money I kept in the bank that I reserved and didn't want to use, but God said I should give it to somebody who needs it." Oh, "I'm even looking for money to pay my rent!" Oh, just have that money. That's how God works.
I mentioned earlier today that a church in the US was looking for money to pay rent for the property they were using for church service. They had no money, and God told a farmer in the farm, "This church needs money to pay rent. Sell your cow and go and pay the rent." He sold his cow and went and paid the rent for that church. God knows what you need. He knows your heart's desire. He will do it for you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Making requests to God for mercy is very important in life. In Mark 10:47-48, the blind Bartimaeus, a beggar by the roadside, heard that Jesus was coming from Jericho on the highway where he was begging.
He was not just named "a beggar"—his situation gave him a name; he became a beggar.
When he heard Jesus was coming, he said, "Son of David, have mercy upon me!" The people following Jesus, the multitude, told the man, "Shut up! Don't talk again. The Lord is coming." But the more they silenced him, the more he shouted.
The Bible says in verse 48 that it drew the attention of Jesus. He said, "Son of David, have mercy upon me."
All he was saying was, "Remember my predicament. Remember my challenge. Remember my pain. Remember my difficulty."
And the Bible says Jesus said, "Come, rise up." He rose up. He was made whole. That was what the man was looking for, and God answered immediately.
I don't know what your question might be. Anytime you are in trouble, anytime you are in challenge, anytime you are in difficulty, go to God. Run to God. Go to His altar and say, "Lord, this is my position. You gave me a job. I misused the opportunity. The job is taken from me. Lord, I come to you now. I am sorry. Lord, have mercy. If You don't have mercy on me, no one else can have mercy on me. Lord, You are merciful. Lord, You have great mercy. Lord, You cannot abandon me. You brought me to earth. You can't leave me in this situation. Lord, attend to me. Give me another job." Then Lord will give you a better one.
But don't say, "Well, this job they did for me, I'm the most intelligent. I made first class." Who told you first class made you what you are? It's God that makes you whom you are. The Bible said in James 1:17, "Every good and perfect gift cometh from the Lord. It came from above." It doesn't come from your head knowledge. No, it comes from God.
When God gives you anything that is perfect, and challenges come, He gives you a better one. There is no failure in Him. There's no disappointment in Him. I've not seen anyone God has failed before. He will not start with you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When God appears in your situation, the devil will disappear in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ. If He did it for the blind Bartimaeus, He will answer that situation for you with speed and accuracy in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Develop an attitude of showing mercy to others. The Bible said in Proverbs 21:13, "They that shut their ears to the cry of others—the day they will cry, no one will answer them." But I pray that will not be you. When people cry, please attend to them. The more you attend to them, the more heaven attends to yours in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible says in Psalm 18:25 and in 2 Samuel 22:26: "The merciful—for with the merciful they will show mercy. And for the upright, the Lord will show uprightness."
Once you are merciful to somebody—you don't even know the person—the person may have missed their way. You say, "No, this is not the right road. This is the right road." You are showing mercy. Which means any day you come to a crossroad and you don't know where to go, the Lord will appear for you there. There is reaping. There is reward for everything you do. Heaven has a record.
Did you show somebody the road? Did you see somebody in pain? Did you see somebody in distress? Did you assist the person? And their situation was rectified? Why will heaven not rectify your own?
In the name of Jesus, I pray that none of us shall shut our ears to the cry of anyone in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will not shut our ears to the cry of anybody in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The last mystery is being involved in kingdom expansion. When you are involved in evangelism, you don't need to be an evangelist to be involved in evangelism. You don't need to be a pastor to be involved in evangelism.
Once you are born again, you are saved by God. You are a servant of God. Once you are saved by God as a child of God, as a born-again child of God, you are a servant of God. You and I are expected to win a soul for God. Soul winning is our responsibility.
Let's see what the Bible has for those who bring people to Christ. Isaiah 12:1-3 says:
"In that day thou shall say, oh Lord, I will praise thee... Therefore, with joy shall you draw water out of the well of salvation."
When you win a soul for God, whatsoever you desire, the Lord does it for you. The Bible says you shall shine like a star in the brightness of the firmament forever. When you win a soul for God, you shine like a star. No matter how dark the atmosphere is, they must see the star. It means no matter what the world looks like, you must be seen.
God or in evangelism, or investing your resources in kingdom expansion—there is no way heaven will not open the windows of heaven and pour you a blessing.
I remember some time ago when they needed to buy a car for the pastor. One brother said, "They just gave me a car loan from [his workplace]. Can we add this one?" He gave them the name, and we prayed. Heaven opened up because of kingdom expansion.
Father, in Your great mercy, bring an end to that affliction in the life of anyone here in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Be ye mountain, oh God, bring an end. Bring our name. In Your great mercy, bring an end to that affliction in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mention that affliction to God. Mention that prayer to God. Mention that challenge to God. Mention it to God. God will do it for you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Zechariah 4:7 says: "Oh ye great mountains." What are you waiting for? You are going to mention that mountain before the Lord.
The Bible said in Psalm 114:4 that the mouth escapes like a ram, and the little he like a lamb. A ram is an adult sheep; a lamb is the small one, the baby one. Any small challenge before you is referred to as a lamb. Any big challenge is referred to as a mountain. But God—because He is a God of great mercy—is bringing an end to that mountain.
Lord, I pray, heavenly Father: any mountain that is terminating before Your sons and Your daughters—You said in Psalm 114:4 that "by reason of Your presence they shall skip like a lamb and like a ram, and the little hills like a lamb." I pray, Father, that the mountain that looks so big before Your sons and Your daughters—God, that can make the mountain melt away—let that melt away now. Let it melt away. Let it melt away. Let it melt away in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God of the valley is the God of the hill. Therefore, Lord, that little hill that is standing in the way of Your sons and Your daughters—not to experience expansion, not to experience greatness—we decree today that little hill, let it collapse. Let it collapse. Let it collapse. Let it collapse. In the name of God the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. In Jesus mighty name we pray.
