Titus 3:4-6

^“4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, ⁵ He saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy,
through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. ⁶ He poured out this Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

MERCY

Do you ever experience days and even weeks where you get punched in the gut everywhere you turn? During refinement seasons, it appears as though all living environments are gateways for attack; this could include work, home, social, etc.

I recently spoke of how easy it is to sit on the “shelf of life” where you experience very little to no disruptions. Yet, this is not our calling. As a believer, I am very aware of spiritual battles, gateways, and Satan’s plan to kill, steal, and destroy – there is no other plan. I am also very well aware of God’s refinement. You see, God takes all of our impurities, applies heat, and takes a very close look at His masterpiece! What is He looking for? His reflection! Why? God molds and applies perfect heat within your life until it is pure enough to reflect His image, which is the same process of removing impurities and imperfections from the finest gold – there is always a beginning and a journey!

My prayer is twofold. First, I give a thanksgiving prayer to God Almighty for His perfect mercy and grace. Dear friends, we are sinners; we are human; we make mistakes, and there is not one single thing you can do to earn God’s mercy and grace. This was freely given through the perfect sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. Come to the end of yourself – simply stop trying to earn His forgiveness and accept it.

Secondly, my prayer is that we grant those in our lives tender mercy and grace each and every day. We are called to live as Christ, who bore our sin’s yet lived a perfect life. We live in an imperfect world. We are surrounded by sin, chaos, and confusion. Yet, the beacon of light is love, tender mercy, and grace when you just don’t feel like it.

Let’s be transparent, you will hurt those you love because you are human. You will also get your feelings hurt by someone you call friend, neighbor, spouse, child, etc. However, forgiveness rests in the arms of mercy and grace as God looks down and says, “I did it for you–you must do it for others!”

The choice is yours. In fact, we make choices daily that either (A) draw us closer to each other in the goal of reflecting God’s image or (B) repelling others away from us. It’s time for believers across the land to set aside pride and sensitivity and trade it for tender mercy and grace.

Thankful,

Christian Armetta