Fresh Manna 2009© by Pastor Tim Burt
“Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 As I said yesterday, God wants to do great and mighty things through you, but quit thinking in terms of making the headlines concerning the “mighty” things He’d have you do. That’s pride. He wants to use you and in doing so, it’s going to be about blessing someone else. You will be touching someone else’s life in ways that at first might seem anything but mighty—they might seem small and insignificant. They won’t be. They will be small seeds of blessing that end up having life-changing or life-impacting results.
When God shows you great and mighty things, one thing He shows you is His mercy. He shows you how Jesus died for you, even back when you couldn’t care less about God. He shows you His mercy, His patience and His forgiveness toward you. He shows you His pure love and desire to reconcile you to Himself and give you a new life. He shows you His mercy—not just for past offences, but His mercy over and over again as you continue to violate Him and others. Psalm 86:5 says, “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.”
God’s mercy changed the entire course of your life. His continuous mercy keeps you from being eaten up from the devil’s accusations of your unworthiness and from the pains and feeling of condemnation when you mess up. His mercy continues to work powerfully in your life. Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us of how much we all need that mercy and how powerful and mighty it is in our life. It helps us start afresh each day—even when we’ve really blown it. It says, “The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By His mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day.”
When I tell you that God wants to do great and mighty things through you, I am not thinking about building a skyscraper or setting an Olympic world record. Those would be great and mighty things to the world but are seldom the kinds of things God highlights in His Word as great and mighty. Showing and giving mercy is a great and mighty thing. It’s a great and mighty thing to receive and it is a great and mighty thing to give.
Jesus instructed us in Matt 5:7 “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Then the Apostle Paul reinforces how “great and mighty” is practically worked out in our life. Col. 3:12 says, “Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience…”
A short time ago, someone close to me sent me a rude email. Something was bugging this person and it spilled over on me. To be honest, I was momentarily heated and tempted to respond back to it when the Holy Spirit suddenly brought a verse to my remembrance. Prov 19:11 “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” Then I remembered Prov 17:9 which says, “He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.”
Because of these verses, I made an immediate decision to overlook it. I said nothing and let it go. I thought, “Something is bugging him. It’s okay, it’s no big deal.” No sooner had I made that decision when I heard the Lord speak to my heart and say, “He will call you to say he is sorry.” Two weeks later, I got that call. I let him apologize and then told him I had blown right by it when it happened. I told him our relationship was far more important than some petty offense. He was blessed and we were good.
Revealing and giving the mercy of God—the same mercy He continually shows you—is one way we can practically and continuously do “great and mighty things.” More later…
1 Tim. 1:16 “But that is why God had mercy on me, so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of His great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in Him and receive eternal life.”
In His love,
Pastor Tim
Published by Pastor Tim Burt
Copyright© 2009 Tim Burt, All rights reserved.
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