do you feel forgiven?...

we are dealing with offering mercy here and a good question would be how then do i become a merciful person? and the starting point is you must first experience the mercy of GOD.

you cannot offer mercy to anyone else until you have first received mercy. you can't offer forgiveness to anybody else until first you feel forgiven.

one of the reasons why some of you have a hard time forgiving people is because you don't really feel forgiven. when i feel unforgiven, then i am definitely unforgiving. when i don't feel good i sure don't want anybody else to feel good.

the starting point is i must receive the mercy of GOD, the peace of GOD and the forgiveness of GOD and then i can offer it to others.

every sin you have ever committed, are committing right now, or will commit has already been paid for. why? the bible says just as you break man's laws there's a penalty, you break GOD's laws and there's a penalty. the bible says, the wages of sin is death. JESUS took that penalty. it's already paid for. right now you can have a clear conscious, a clean slate. you can begin a new life. you can receive the mercy of GOD, not because you deserve to be forgiven, you don't. but GOD wants to forgive you, simply because HE is a forgiving GOD. HE loves forgiving. it's HIS nature. HE is a GOD of mercy.

after you've done that, once you really feel forgiven, once you have been graced, then it's easier for you to be gracious. once you have felt the mercy of GOD then it's easier for you to be merciful.

just a thought from the front porch…