Psalm 103:10-11 “You may discipline us for our many sins, but never as much as we really deserve. Nor do you get even with us for what we’ve done. Higher than the highest heavens – that's how high your tender mercy extends! Greater than the grandeur of heaven above is the greatness of your loyal love, towering over all who fear you and bow down before you!” Today's episode talks about God's mercy and how much He loves us. It also talks about how we can hear the Lord's voice. How does He talk to us? Who is He talking to? What does He say? It talks about how gentle and loving it is when the Lord talks to us. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Our Father’s Love (Part 7) God’s Mercy Extends Higher Than The Highest Heavens
Psalm 103:10-11 “You may discipline us for our many sins, but never as much as we really deserve. Nor do you get even with us for what we’ve done. Higher than the highest heavens – that's how high your tender mercy extends! Greater than the grandeur of heaven above is the greatness of your loyal love, towering over all who fear you and bow down before you!”
Yesterday I talked about how much God loves us. I talked about how He gave His only son for us while we were still sinners. Today, we are talking about God’s mercy. We talked about how God is not just waiting up there for us to sin so that he can punish or hold that sin against us. Today’s verse confirms and reinforces this for us. It states that the Lord “will discipline us for our many sins, but never as much as we deserve.” We might hear this and worry because we all have different opinions of what we might deserve. We might look at all we have done and know we do not want the discipline we deserve. This is another time when it is important to remember that “God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts.”
Just because we know that we deserve a severe punishment does not mean we will get one. God does not think like we think. Most of us are way harder on ourselves than God would ever be. We are harder on ourselves than we would be on other people. If you take a minute to think about something you are hard on yourself for and then ask yourself if your friend did that thing, would you be hard on them? For instance, when I talk with my friends, and they are complaining that they didn’t do something they should have done, I remind them that we are aiming for progress, not perfection. However, when I look back at all I haven’t done throughout the week, I can start to give myself a hard time.
God is not looking at all that we have done wrong. He is looking at all that we do right. He is not looking for our downfalls. He is looking at all of our progress, growing closer to Him. God has told our prayer group many times that the littlest thing we do to praise Him or to spread His love or his Word to others makes Him so happy. Think about a child that you know and love. When they come to you with a picture they made, do you look at all the ways that picture falls short of what it was supposed to look like? Do you focus on all the places they went out of the line and all the ways you would have done it differently? I doubt it. We would look at that picture and see all the love they put into it. We would see how hard they worked at it. We would see how hard they tried to do something beautiful for us. This is how the Lord looks at us.
Man, I wish each one of you could be in our prayer group meeting, even just for one day! I wish you could hear the way the Lord talks to us. By us, I mean you and me. When the Lord gives words of prophecy, they are meant to build up the community. They are not for one person. Even when the content is specifically for one person, the word builds up those who are giving it as well. When God is giving words to our prayer group, they are meant to be shared. Maybe I will start sharing one of his words at the end of each podcast. That way, you will begin to get used to hearing how the Lord talks to us. You will begin to see His mercy and His love.
If you spend time listening, you can hear the Lord’s voice. He does not talk to our prayer group because we are special or because He likes us best. He talks to our prayer group because we invite Him in, and we listen to what He has to say. One of the speakers at our Life in the Spirit Seminar mentioned a quote by St. Bonaventure that I think speaks to this. St. Bonaventure said the “Holy Spirit comes where he is loved…Where He is invited… and where He is expected.” Do you love the Holy Spirit? Have you invited the Holy Spirit into your life? What about your day? Do you expect the Holy Spirit to show up every time you ask?
This last one can be really difficult at times. I believe the Holy Spirit will show up. He has in so many instances that I can’t even count them all. I still question that he will show up sometimes. When someone asks me for a word of knowledge or when I need a scripture verse, I ask the Holy Spirit for it, and at the same time, my brain is telling me I won’t hear anything. After all the times I have heard from the Holy Spirit, I know this is ridiculous, yet it still happens. If you are having trouble listening to the Spirit, know you are not alone. Keep loving Him, keep inviting Him, keep trying to expect Him. When you invite Him in, take a few minutes of silence to see what He wants to tell you.
I think it is hard at first because we don’t know what the Lord’s voice sounds like or what kinds of things He wants to tell us. First, God’s voice usually sounds like your voice. At least in all those I have talked to who hear a voice in their heart, it sounds like their voice. Also, it might not be a voice. You may just get a thought that pops into your head out of nowhere. It could also be a feeling. For instance, you could feel an overwhelming peace about something. He also talks to us in visions and dreams sometimes. He can talk to us in and through Scripture, and He can also use other people. God is not limited. If He wants to tell you something, He will find a way, especially if you are inviting and expecting Him.
God says all types of different things. When discerning the words of prophecy for our prayer group, we look for four kinds of words. The first is a Call. Sometimes, God is calling you to do something. Usually, this is calling you deeper into your relationship with Him. The second is Proclamation. These are usually “I Am” statements where God tells us who He is or other essential things about Himself or His relationship with us. Third is Promise. These usually talk about how great God is and what He does for us. The fourth and final one is the Directive. This is when God is giving us a directive to do something. You can usually tell these ones because the language used is God telling us what to do. This is different from a call in the way that directive is usually God sending us to others. The call is generally calling us towards Him, and the directive is Him sending us out to others.
In our prayer group, we record all words of prophecy that are given in a month, and we have a team of four who read through all the words given and ask God to give us one call, proclamation, promise, and directive for the month. We put this on a bookmark so that everyone can have a record of what God told us that month. Here is an example of the latest bookmark we reviewed at our meeting.
Come beloved children of mine, come and feel my joy and my love. Once you feel it go and spread it to all those around you. Let them know that I am a God of love and hope. Come and be fully mine. Remember I am the I AM and you are mine. I am pleased with what you do for me, and I will love you to the Kingdom. You cannot contain me with your limited expectations. Even the tabernacle does not contain me. I am near you; I am everywhere. You will see and hear me. Open your eyes and ears. Expect me. I am there. Proclaim my word and my compassion. Proclaim it through your smile, words, with your arm around a shoulder. Take time to listen, and give up doing what you feel is urgent in that moment. Let my call be urgent, and proclaim me through your actions of love, forgiveness, and peace.
This is one example of the bookmark that we hand out each month. Do you see how loving the Lord’s words to us are? If you heard the Lord talk to you like this each and every week, do you think you would still think that the Lord is disciplining us more than we deserve? Do you think you would picture Him sitting up there waiting for us to sin so He can get back at us?
The verse above ends with, “Higher than the highest heavens – that's how high your tender mercy extends! Greater than the grandeur of heaven above is the greatness of your loyal love, towering over all who fear you and bow down before you!” I was thinking that I went off topic above, and yet I think this confirms what was said. The Lord loves us. His tender mercy extends higher than the heavens. He is more loyal to us than the grandeur of heaven.
I really feel as though the Holy Spirit wants you to know that the Lord wants to talk with you. He wants to sit and have conversations with you. He doesn’t want to be someone you see at church and someone you talk to when you need something. He wants to be a part of everything. I also feel very convicted that He wants me to share the words we receive at prayer group with you on this podcast. So, I will start tomorrow by ending each episode with a Word from the Lord. This way, you will begin to understand what His voice sounds like and will hopefully start to recognize His still, small voice inside you as well! I invite you all to take a moment and invite the Holy Spirit into your life right now. I invite you to give Him permission to work as much or as little in your life as He wants to. After you do that, expect Him to come and just see where He shows up! Not if He shows up, where and when He shows up.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we invite you in. You are welcome here. Lord, show us how to recognize you in our lives. I know you are already in all of our lives. I pray you show each and every person listening where you are in their lives, Lord. Help us feel your presence. Help us learn to trust you. Help us learn to listen to you. Help us all to listen to you better. Thank you so much, Lord, for showing up in such a big way today. I truly felt you wrote this episode and that it would touch the hearts of all who listen to it. I feel so much joy writing this. I feel as though you are talking faster than my fingers can type. Thank you, Lord, you are so good. Thank you for this message and for all those who will hear it. I pray lives are changed through your words today, Lord. I pray your children take a step to grow closer to you. We love you so much, Lord, and we thank you for being so amazing!! We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus! I hope you were touched by the Lord’s words to you today, and I hope they help you begin to see that the Lord is talking to you, too! I look forward to bringing you another witness tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!