"The Mercies of God"

The mercies of God has deep meaning to those saved. The mercies of God are to be a motivator for our lives. "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." (Rom. 12:1) The mercies of God gives us reason to present ourselves back to God to His service in an acceptable way. If the mercies of God means little, there will little response and certainly no presentation. To present yourself as living means you show God, "I'm alive!" To present yourself back as holy means you show God, "I love and appreciate your ways and want to walk in your ways." To present yourself back as acceptable means, "I just want to please you." These things are what spiritual people do.

The effects of the mercies of God show itself in our lives. We become "devoted to one another in brotherly love." (Rom. 12:10) We are in the same mercies and it makes us warm toward one another. We "give preference to one another in honor." That is where we show honor to others under the mercies of God. The mercies of God become a motivation for "not lacking behind in diligence" (Rom. 12:11). We are speaking about having zeal for our relationship to the Lord and exerting ourselves in our lives in our service to Him. Too many are looking for something to motivate them from workshops, lectureships or meetings while the whole time the mercies of God seem to have little impact. I recently heard of a congregation that brought in a motivational speaker to get people more involved. If the mercies of God is not what moves us and inspires us, we will continually have to find something to excite us and that's not a spiritual source. The mercies of God brings about a "fervent in spirit" attitude. Fervent carries the idea of being hot or heated up. It's an attitude from within you and a drive that you are hot for the Lord. "Serving the Lord." (Rom. 12:11) All the above come down to this one issue. Serving the Lord is showing you care, your hot for Him, you love and care for His brothers/sisters and want to serve Him in this manner.

How does the mercies of God affect you? Do you find yourself just going through the motions or does His mercy and saving you from your sins move your heart?