Tag Archives: mercy

Mercy and Grace

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Mercy and grace. We hear those words often. They are quite similar, yet different.

Miriam-Webster dictionary defines mercy as:

1a : compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one’s power also : lenient or compassionate treatment

b : imprisonment rather than death imposed as penalty for first-degree murder

2a : a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion

b : a fortunate circumstance

3 : compassionate treatment of those in distress

It defines grace as:

1a : unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification

b : a virtue coming from God

c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine assistance

Years ago one of my ministers explained mercy and grace this way.

We’re speeding down the road and get pulled over by a police officer. We deserve a ticket, but instead, the officer gives us a warning.

That’s mercy.

Not getting what we deserve.

Before the officer leaves the side of our car, however, the officer pulls out two sought-after tickets to our favorite event.

That’s grace.

Getting something we don’t deserve.

Jesus told a parable on mercy and grace in his story about the unforgiving servant.

The servant owed a great deal of money to the king, but begged for mercy when the king ordered the man, his wife, his children, and all he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees begging for mercy, promising to pay back all he owed.

The king in his mercy and grace took pity on the servant and forgave him his debt.

But when the servant left the king’s presence, he came upon an acquaintance who owed him a mere pittance. He demanded the friend pay back the money right away.

The friend begged for mercy, asked for patience, and said he would pay back the debt. The ungrateful servant who had been forgiven much, refused. He had his friend who owed him little thrown into debtor’s prison until the debt was paid.

When the king heard of this, he called the wicked servant to appear before him. He reminded the servant, he expected him to give mercy as he’d been given mercy.

In anger the king turned the servant over to the jailers to be tortured until the servant could repay the enormous debt he owed.

God poured his mercy and his grace upon us when he allowed his son, Jesus, to take on the sins of the world and die in our place. Jesus paid the debt we owed but could never pay.

Just like the king in Christ’s parable, because God has shown us mercy and grace, he expects us to be merciful and gracious to others in return.

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Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.” Matthew 18:32-35 (NLT)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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Jesus Paid Our Debt

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Mercy. Grace. Forgiveness.

Not receiving the punishment we deserve. Receiving favor we don’t deserve. Someone else paying the debt we owe, but could never pay.

‘Tis a puzzlement to our way of thinking, wouldn’t you say?

Because God is Holy and can’t be in the presence of sin, our sin demands justice. Payment. Things made right.

Jesus did that on Calvary. He paid the debt we owed but could never pay. His blood covers our sin and makes us right with God. When God looks at us, he sees Christ’s blood covering all the things we’ve done that break God’s law, and he accepts Christ’s sacrifice in our place.

 

Mercy. Grace. Forgiveness.

Thank you, Jesus.

Satan tries to condemn us. He works hard to make us feel worthless. His lies tell us God has abandoned us. They say we are unforgiven, so why even try?

But we have a Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord, who paid the price for our sin, and in his great mercy and grace tells the devil he can’t have us.

We’ve been bought with a price. Christ’s precious blood. We belong to him and he isn’t about to let us go.

 

Glory Hallelujah. Amen?

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God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. John 3:16 (CEV)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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God Doesn’t Punish Us As We Deserve

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Our two-year-old German Shepherd Golden Retriever mix, Kirby, was a mess. Absolutely. She’d found a mud hole in the back yard, courtesy of the soaker hose with a pinhole leak. She was covered from muzzle to tail in mud. And she wanted in.

I let Kirby inside the laundry room and assessed the situation. She was filthy. Still … she was my dog and I loved her.

She looked repentant. She looked sorrowful. She looked at me as if she hoped I’d be merciful instead of treating her as she deserved. It was merely a momentarily lapse of good judgement on her part, I’m sure. Besides, I imagine her frolic in the oozy mud brought her pleasure on a hot summer day. Until she saw me, that is.

Although this scenario occurred years ago and Kirby has since died, I still smile when I think about it. And I reflect.

You see, I’ve wallowed around in mud holes of my own. And I imagine so have you. You know, it’s a momentarily lapse of reasoning. We forget who we are. We forget whose we are. We forget we belong to a Holy God and are called to a life of righteousness.

Our mud romp seems enjoyable for the moment. Until we face our owner.

Then we realize we messed up. We are sorrowful. We are repentant. There is nothing we can do to clean ourselves of our mess on our own. So we fall on the mercy and grace of a God who does not treat us as our sins deserve. A God who does not repay us for our iniquities. A God who casts our sins from us as far as east is from the west.

We stand before a God who does not wait for us to get all the mud off before he will let us enter his presence. Our God takes out his garden hose and washes us clean through the power of the sacrificial blood of our Risen Savior. Jesus Christ our LORD, Messiah, Redeemer, King. The Lamb who was slain. By His wounds we are healed. Cleansed. Found not guilty.

Next time we face a tempting mud hole, I suggest we pray for the strength to walk around it. Quit lingering near it, and run as far away as possible.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Leave your comments below.

He (God) does not punish us as we deserve or repay us according to our sins and wrongs. As high as the sky is above the earth, so great is his love for those who honor him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins from us. As a father is kind to his children, so the Lord is kind to those who honor him. Psalm 103:10-13 (GNT)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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Even Still, God Loves Us

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Full disclosure…I am a sinner. But most importantly, I am a sinner, saved by God’s grace.

God sent his son, Jesus, into this world to die for sinners just like me. Even still, God loves us. Amazing grace.

Yep. In a world that can be anything but gracious, grace is a difficult concept for me to understand. Unmerited favor which I don’t deserve. I haven’t done a single thing to deserve the gift Jesus paid the price for me to receive.

Nada. Zilch. Zippo. Nothing.

An illustration which one of my preachers used to explain grace went something like this.

You get pulled over for speeding. Instead of the punishment you rightly deserve for breaking the law, the officer decides not to give you a ticket. That’s mercy. You didn’t get what you deserved.

But, the police officer goes one step further. She pulls out two tickets to the sold out, sought after, event you had your heart set on attending. She gives them to you. Free. That’s grace. Undeserved favor.

We can’t earn it. We can’t bargain for it. We can’t sneak in under the radar and snatch it. It is a free gift to us from Jesus.

I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. My friends, I don’t feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done.

Philippians 3:12-14

 

Feeling a little undeserving? Join the club. But thanks be to our Heavenly Father who loves us anyway, for his amazing gift of grace.

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I wish you well.

Sandy

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