God's Mercy is Our Pencil Eraser! (partIII)

        Let me start out by paraphrasing the first two parts of this article:  You and I will make mistakes in this life.  The only one to ever do it right was Jesus.  However, it is absolutely vital to know that when we do miss it, we need to run to God-not from God.  The bible says that God  is rich in mercy.  His mercy is our pencil eraser.  When we call on God, for forgiveness of sins, His great mercy swallows up our mistakes!
In Luke 18, Jesus gives us a perfect illustration of the power of God’s mercy.  He tells of a parable about two men that went into the temple to pray.  One man attended church regularly, and the other man was a sinner.  Luke 18:11, says the man that went to church prayed like this, …God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  (12) I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
       However, the sinner prayed a different prayer.  Luke 18:13 says his prayer went like this, …God be merciful to me a sinner.  Now look at what Jesus says in the next verse, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other…  What is Jesus saying?  Good deeds do not make you right before God.  Now don’t get me wrong, we are supposed to do those things that the first man did.  However, our motive should not be if I can just do enough good deeds, then God may accept me.  As Christians, we are right before God because of the power of His mercy and the precious blood of Jesus!
If you have ever read Psalm 136, I think that you can see the Holy Spirit is trying to drill something in our heads.  Twenty-six times, the Holy Spirit through David pens this inspirational phrase:  for his mercy endureth for ever.  One definition for the word endure is to continue in existence.  That is exactly what God’s mercy has done through out the ages!  His mercy has continued to exist.  Just think of all the sins that have been committed since Adam and Eve.  Yet, God stills has fresh mercy for us everyday!

God's Mercy is Our Pencil Eraser! (partII)

In part I, I discussed how the mercy of God is very similar to a pencil eraser.  Just think back (way back :)) when you were in your early grade school years.  Remember how important an eraser was.  You may have answered that two plus two is five, or maybe you left one of the e’s out when tried to spell green.  No matter the mistake, as long as you caught it before you turned your assignment in, you could just turn your pencil upside down and erase it!
Even though you actually answered the question wrong, when you erased that wrong answer, it was as if you never made that mistake.  You could have been penalized for that mistake.  It could have affected your score.  Depending on your situation, your mistake could have held you back.  Possibly, you might not make it to the next level!  However, that eraser is much more valuable than just a chewing toy ( I never knew why some kids chewed on their eraser--Yuck).  That eraser just saved your butt, and in my case I mean that literally.
That is exactly what the Mercy of God has done.  It has saved our butts!  Look at Titus 3:5, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.  I am so thankful that our God is a merciful God.  Where would we be without His mercy?  That is a scary thought.  The bible says that God is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4)!  You wanna know how rich God is in mercy?  Go with me to Lamentations 3:22, It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. (23) They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.  There will be days when you just do something stupid; there will be days when you say something stupid; there may be day when you mess up all day long.  When them days come around, repent to the Lord for your “mess ups”, and realize that God is cooking up a fresh batch of mercy in the morning!  Now that, my friend, is what I call being rich in mercy.

God's Mercy is Our Pencil Eraser (part 1)

I don’t have much use for a pencil anymore.  Not since my first couple of years of high school have I routinely used a pencil. As I got older, I noticed my teachers would allow us to use pens.  However, I remember in grade school a pencil was a primary requirement for school.  Just as much as I had to have a pencil, I also had to have an eraser.   There are many types of erasers.  I personally liked the ones that just slide on top of my pencil.
There are many, many people today that live in constant torment because of past decisions, failures, and mistakes.  The devil is relentlessly reminding these people of their flawed past.  Too often severe depression plays a major role in their life.  “After all you made that bed, so you lay in it”!
Well God sent me to tell you that He wants to make up your bed! Over and over in the Word, the Holy Spirit has pointed out to me how that God’s Mercy is our pencil eraser.  In other words, that messed up past (no matter how messed up it is) is no match for God’s Mercy!
In the first book of Timothy, chapter one, Paul describes himself before Christ as being “The Chief Sinner”.  Paul is basically saying that of all the sinners on the earth during that time, I was the leader!  The devil deceived Paul into believing that by killing the Christians he was doing God a just service.  Nevertheless, look at what Paul writes in 1st Tim Ch. 1:16, Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, … Paul clearly insinuates that yes I did have a messed up pass, but because of God’s Mercy it has been erased.  King David said the same thing in Psalm 94:18, When I said, “My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord held me up.  This is very powerful verse! Of coarse there will be times when you slip up and do something stupid.  That slip should have set you back; it should have caused a major delay in receiving from God.  However, your mess up ain’t bigger than God’s Mercy!!!!  The Mercy of God is available to assist you to finish your course.  I’m not preaching you can do what ever you want and it is o.k.  I’m saying to the person that is in the will of God, and he/she is pursuing God with real passion His Mercy is available.  Always remember this:  On the other side of your obedience to God is your blessing!