Skip to main content

God of Mercy--Part 2

Last week I wrote about how grateful I am for the mercy of God. When I look back at my life, there were so many opportunities where I could have made better choices. So much of the pain that I have experienced was because of decisions I made. Even after I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I kept making mistakes. I wanted to do better but kept repeating the same patterns. Tears and prayers, tears and prayers were a cycle that I knew needed to be broken.

Here's the wonderful part: God saw and heard that I wanted to change. Through His guidance, I sought out a Christian counselor and that was the beginning of understanding why I was making certain choices, and that I had the power to get off the destructive "hamster wheel" that I had been on for so long. I discovered that I had been "programmed" to believe certain things about myself that were in direct conflict with how God sees me. The counselor pointed me to Scriptures (the Bible) that helped me see that "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139: 14) and that "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy" (Psalm 147: 11). The counselor also gave me a book that contained the insight that I desperately needed to unlock the "code" behind my poor decisions. The wisdom in the book, that is grounded in biblical principles, started me on my journey to wholeness. The cover photo for this post is that book. 

God of Mercy!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Green Spring Baptist Church

We have been very, very busy getting settled in Virginia. God has favored us tremendously. We have met so many nice and helpful people, and this has allowed us to feel at home here. One thing that was at the top of our list was to connect with a ministry, so that we could continue to walk in our pastoral calling. God orchestrated what I call a "divine appointment." A local pastor, who befriended us early on, invited us to a pastors' prayer breakfast. He introduced us to the attendees while the breakfast was in progress. Immediately after the breakfast, a gentleman approached my husband, introduced himself as a deacon from Green Spring Baptist Church, and asked my husband to come and speak at the ministry. He shared they had been without a pastor for several years and they were hoping to find the right person to fill that role. Dates were arranged. Fast forward to today. My husband is now the interim pastor, and I have been welcomed as a minister. The members are hungry fo
2 comments
Read more

Unwanted Gift

Before I get into today's post, I want to say "Thank you!" When I started this blog I had no idea there would be so many people who would take the time to read what I write. I want you to know I greatly appreciate each of you and your readership is very encouraging to me.  Unwanted Gift Have you ever received a gift and thought "What were they thinking?" or "What am I going to do with this?" I confess that I have. However, once I got past my initial reaction and opened my mind to the possibilities, some of those unwanted gifts have proven to be a blessing and have become part of my daily lifestyle.  Every believer is a gift that God has given to the world. Each of us has unique talents, abilities, and skills that bring great benefit when we are received and allowed to perform the function that God had in mind. Believers make things better!  However, there are times when what we have to offer will not be wanted, received, or appreciated. Jesus warned hi
1 comment
Read more

I Grant Thee POWER!

We are having some outside work done on our home, and the contractor knocked on the back door. I went to see what was needed. He was holding the plug to a heavy duty electrical cord and his words were "I need power." I showed him where the outdoor socket was, and asked if he needed water or anything else. He assured me he was fine and I went back to what I was doing. A few minutes later, my sense of humor kicked in. "I need power" popped in my head, and I pictured myself extending my hand toward the contractor, and saying with solemn authority "I grant thee POWER!" I laughed to myself at the thought...and was very grateful I did NOT do that to the contractor.  But as I kept on thinking, a parable came forward. I must always stay "plugged into" God. Just like the contractor, the "tools" that I have cannot function as well, or may not function at all, if I don't stay connected to God through prayer, reading His word, and allowing the
2 comments
Read more