We can understand a bit of the mercy of God through this story. Jordan’s heart boomed in his chest as he stood looking at his mother. He didn’t mean to break the five bottles of freshly pressed orange juice meant for the women’s meeting at church tomorrow. One of the bottles sat on the bread wrapper and as he pulled the bread out from the fridge, disaster struck.
“I am sorry, mummy,” he said.
He waited for his punishment. He couldn’t meet her eyes as she looked long and hard at him.
“It’s okay” she said. “Just clean it up.”
That was it. He couldn’t believe his ears. Instantly, he got the mop and bucket and began to clean.
Minutes later, mummy hears Juliet crying. Jordan had hit her for removing one of the tires from his toy car. It was a mistake.
“But I didn’t do anything to you when you broke the bottles of juice?”
Jordan acted like the wicked servant in Matt. 18: 21-35 as told by Jesus.
The wicked servant refused to be merciful to his fellow servant after receiving mercy from his master. He owed his master more, compared to what his fellow servant owed him.
Much like Jordan’s mistake compared to his sister’s. He could have just told Juliet “It’s okay. Just fix it.” Much like mummy said to him.
Why do you think Jordan and the servant in the story acted as they did? They did so because they weren’t grateful for the mercy they received. They forgot that their offense was worth punishing for but who they offended decided they were worth not punishing.
The story teaches us two things:
Firstly, we should be grateful for God’s mercy because we’ve all come short of mercy. And it’s only through Jesus’ death on the cross that we have the right to receive mercy from God.
Secondly, as we have received this mercy, we are meant to reciprocate it to others ‘You should have mercy on your fellow-servant, just as I had mercy on you.’ Matt. 18:33.
What do you think mommy would do to Maxwell? Well, the master in the story was angry when he found out what happened and had the wicked servant thrown into jail until he could pay back what he owed Matt. 18: 34.
Jesus said that is how God will deal with us if we don’t have mercy on others.
Who are you going to forgive today?
Prayer: Dear God, I thank you for showing me mercy. Amen
Action point: Continually ask God to help you to do this continually.
Declaration: My children show mercy. They are considerate and loving to their neighbours.
There are people who don’t know about Jesus. They could be around you or not. Even if you can’t evangelize to them, you too can pray.
Pray that the Holy Spirit will help them to accept Christ into their lives. They could have heard about Christ and still be unwilling to accept Him. It’s only the Holy Spirit that can convince them of who Jesus is and make them yield to Him. Yes, only the Holy Spirit can do that; it is not in your power to do that.
Make prayer also, for those who have never heard of Christ before. Pray that they will have an encounter with someone who would tell them about Jesus. And that once they are spoken to, the Holy Spirit will convict them.
God loves it when we make prayer for people to know Christ because He wants everyone to enjoy the benefits of having Christ in their lives.
Yesterday, we talked a bit about your thoughts, and learnt that we should guard our thought pattern. Today, we will talk about your words and actions. Your WORDS receive the baton from your THOUGHTS. They continue the race but if your thoughts leave the racetrack, they make your words run the same way.
Your words do as they like also and continue to the race.
Your ACTIONS finish the race. Whatever way your actions pass the baton to them is how they will finish it. If the baton is received wrongly, the race will end in a disaster.
Disaster can only be averted if the race starts well with your THOUGHTS good and passing the same goodness to your WORDS who pass this same goodness, finally to your ACTIONS, who end it healthily.
The only way to have a healthy ending is if you know and remember what the word of God says about your thoughts, words, and action.
To obey God is a sign that you love Him. And God likes it when we obey Him. It makes Him bless us more and more.
Be careful about what you think. Your thoughts run your life. Prov. 4:23 ICB
May the Lord help you with your thoughts, words, and actions. Amen.
Prayer: Lord, help my thoughts, words and actions start and finish their relay well in my mind. Let me guard my thought well in Jesus’ name. Amen
Action point: Check your thoughts always, watch your words, don’t jump into acting instinctively. Pray about these three areas.
Declaration: My thoughts, words, and actions are guided by the word of God.
Learn to guard your thought pattern. Have you ever watched a relay race before? Four people in a team will have to complete a set amount of distance, each covering a distance before passing the baton to the other person.
This continues till the last person takes the baton and finishes the race. The last person holds all the chances of the team either winning or losing the race.
Now, imagine your THOUGHTS, WORDS, and ACTIONS as members of a relay team. Who do you think will start the race? Who will be in the middle and who will end the race?
Be careful about what you think. Your thoughts run your life. Prov. 4:23 ICB
Your THOUGHTS will definitely start the race because they are what inspires or fires up the rest. Their speed is an advantage to the team. They birth the whole process and come from deep within you.
If you don’t teach them to run within the lines of the racetrack, they will run the race as they like and hamper the chances of the team winning the race.
Tomorrow, I will talk about your words and actions.
Prayer: Lord, help my thoughts, words and actions start and finish their relay well in my mind, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Action point: Check your thoughts always, watch your words, don’t jump into acting instinctively. Pray about these three areas.
Jesus is one important person you cannot help but study about. Studying about Jesus is important, and the bible talks about Him all through from the start to the end.
You could start from the prophecies about Him, His conception, birth, death, and resurrection. These are key aspects of His life that will definitely benefit and bless your life.
Study what He did, how He did it, where He did it and why He did it. It’s a wonderful thing to study about Jesus. His whole being and existence is the bedrock of salvation.
And as you study, ask Him to bless you with a revelation about Him. Amen.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, give me more revelation about you. Help me know you more. Amen.
Action point: Take yourtime to study about Christ.
Declaration: As I study, there is illumination on my path.
