Most Beloved Savior, I come before You feeling like I am a failure because I find myself falling into the same sins repeatedly. Truthfully, the love and compassions You shower me with is clearly not earned. It is the result of Your divine nature which compels You to give me another chance to get it right. Mercy and Grace are words that come to mind when I think about sin. Grace is the “unmerited favor” You show me as Your child. Mercy is a “form of grace” that releases me from the penalties for my sins when I express true sorrow. It is not that I do not know I should turn to You in my times of temptation and weakness … it is just that my old, bad habits are so easy to repeat. I know that I cannot take Your Grace and Mercy for granted. I must keep my focus on You when facing temptation and count on Your strength to help me overcome it. I must rely on the Holy Spirit to clue me in when sin approaches.
I cannot forget Your words to Paul … “my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” The key part of that scripture is “my power.” What You are emphasizing is that I cannot overcome sin in my own strength … I must count on Your help/power to resist sin. In so doing, I partner with You in eliminating sin from my life. Whenever I feel I can deal with a sin on my own, I put myself in Your place and struggle with a foe I cannot beat because I have no power. To do this is a sin in itself … pride and presumption. When I am at my weakest, if I turn to You to fill me with Your power, then I am stronger than I could ever be on my own. Your intention is not for me to be weak, passive, or ineffective. When temptations present themselves in my life, I must depend on You. Only Your power will make me effective in resisting sin because You are the one who overcame it.
Mercy is a form of Your love. It is the same love that compelled You to die on a cross for me. It was Your way of saying “I want you to be saved” and “you cannot do it yourself.” Mercy is the means of giving me relief and forgiveness. You said in Your Word that You prefer mercy over sacrifices. This calls me to show mercy to others as a witness of Your love. I remember the story of a servant who was forgiven his debt by his master. In return, the servant showed no mercy in forgiving the debt owed to him by another servant. When the master heard about this, he summoned the servant and said, “You wicked servant, I cancelled all of your debt because You begged me. Shouldn’t You have done the same?” In anger, the master turned the servant over to torturers until the debt was paid in full. In the same way I look for Your mercy, I should be willing to give out. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
II Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness.