The Mercy of God

 "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in Him'." -Lamentations 3:22-24 

When it comes to the topic of God's mercy, we need to be very careful how we talk about it. I feel that there are usually two mistakes that Christians make when they contemplate divine mercy. On the one hand, we fall into the trap of antinomianism which says that God accepts us no matter what we do and therefore it does not matter how we live. On the other hand, we can fall into the trap of ignoring the fact that God is merciful and thus we end up thinking of only divine justice. Both of these extremes are completely wrong because they do not properly describe the nature of God, who is both merciful and just. According to Scripture, those who are in Christ, God will never hold our sins against us. This does not mean we can live however we want to, however, because we are called to live a life that is set apart for His glory and His kingdom. Now, this does not mean that we will never sin though, but when we do sin God has already forgiven us because of what Jesus Christ has done on our behalf when He went to the cross. I know that in my experience I sin all the time in every single moment of every day whether its in my thoughts, words, or deeds. It is precisely because of this that I do have a tendency to feel shame for what I have done. I frequently feel like I have grieved God and that I am just one more step away from Him sending me away. However, it is in these dark moments that I need to be reminded of the Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ says that I am innocent in God's eyes because He sees the righteousness of His Son in me! Therefore, God sees me as though I have never sinned. This is an incredible truth to grasp because I do not always believe it. My mental illness frequently leads me into sin and because of that I do not fully understand how the Lord can see me as sinless. But, I need to remind myself not to look within like the world would have me believe. When I look within that is when I am in danger. In reality, what I need to do is look outside of myself to the cross of Jesus Christ because that is when I will realize the truth of Romans 8:1 that for those who are in Christ there is therefore NOW NO condemnation! This is an amazing truth and I praise the Lord for His abundant mercy and grace that He shows when He declares a guilty sinner to be righteous! We need to really let this truth sink into our hearts instead of just giving it intellectual acknowledgement. In Christ, God loves you and me and nothing can ever separate us from that love. This truth should cause us to want to live our daily lives for His glory not our own. So in closing I will challenge you to examine yourselves and ask the Lord to reveal to you if you are truly living for Him or if there is an area where He needs to work on with you. It is all for His glory and His honor. Soli Deo Gloria! -East To West By Casting Crowns

-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

For 24 hour peer support, please call the Christ-Centered Mental Health ministry line at 567-343-3727 or email me at christmentalhealth@gmail.com Lydia Sarchet: mrssccmh@gmail.com Britton Garleb: britaingabriel@protonmail.com Joe Roman: Twiztedmembrain@gmail.com Scott AKA Johnny Kangaroo: scottsoconmhs@outlook.com Dwayne McLeod: psyconatics@gmail.com Veronica Talbot: vtalbot747@gmail.com Amber Williams: shayneedm18@gmail.com Chuck Ward: wcw50@aol.com Sarah Olivia: sarahjesseolivia@gmail.com Amber Marie: amarie0193@gmail.com Zachary Uram: Netrek@gmail.com Joseph McDermott: jpmlovesjesus@live.com
Roselyn Morgan  (Christian Counselor): RoselynMorgan53@yahoo.com 

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