Open Heavens Devotional: ACCESSING ABUNDANT MERCY – Sunday, September 9, 2012 By Pastor E.A. Adeboye

Memorise: The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. Psalms 103:8

Read: Psalms 103:9-14

Bible in one year: Psalms 31-33

Apart from supplies, another thing that God has in abundance is mercy. Ephesians 2:4-5 says God is rich in mercy. Psalms 103:11 says:

For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

Just imagine the space between the surface of the earth, through the sky, before entering the galaxies! God’s mercy covers all that space towards us. If His mercy is that large, then there is enough mercy to go round the billions of earth’s inhabitants. More astounding is the realisation that a very insignificant fraction of that mercy can heal the sick, raise the dead, and do the impossible. But if this is so, why is it that people still run out of God’s mercy? Why did King Saul exhaust his mercy line so soon? Why did the family of Eli run out of God’s mercy at Eli’s old age? The answer is in Psalms 103:11 quoted above; which is the absence of the fear of the Lord. Although God’s mercy is so great yet it must never be taken for granted. The mercy of God responds directly to the fear of God in our lives. While God’s mercy gets bigger and bigger towards those who fear Him, it becomes leaner towards those who do not fear Him. Whether God’s great mercy will be accessible to you or not will be determined by you. If only you can fear God completely, God’s mercy will not only be readily available, but will always be accessible to you.

Moved with compassion and gripped by mercy towards a leper in Mark 1:40-45, the One who asked us not to touch lepers touched a leper and healed him. Mercy gives you what you don’t deserve. Similarly, in Mark 10:46-52, mercy moved Him to hear the cry of a beggar and He healed him. This season, mercy will grip His loins and cause Him to do something about your situation. The Lord will have compassion on you today. Even though you do not deserve His blessing, His mercy will extend His touch to you. On the other hand, work on yourself and ensure you continually increase in the fear of the Lord as a way to ever access His unlimited mercy.

PRAYER POINT:

Father let the hold of the Spirit of the fear of the Lord grow stronger in my heart every day