"The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger and of great mercy."

                                                                 Psalm 145:8

      If you want to measure your love walk--if you want to determine how much you have really given yourself to God, ask yourself, "How merciful am I? What place does God's mercy hold in my heart?"  Of all the things we find in God's nature; the fact that he is kind, tenderhearted, forbearing, forgiving, benevolent and longsuffering, the real true characteristic to all of these is mercy. In fact, the closer you get to the heart of God, the more compelled you will find yourself drawn to his redemptive nature of mercy.

The holiest place, the most separated, the most consecrated and sanctified place--a place where only one man, once a year could even dare enter was a place where mercy resided!

      What makes God's love so powerful is the deep resolve it holds toward redemption. If you were to look into the heart of God, you would find this overwhelming compassion to see creation completely whole. When man fell, the first thing God did was set in motion his divine plan to redeem mankind (Gen. 3:15). He worked with man and strove with him every way possible, creating opportunity after opportunity for man to experience some sense of a redemptive environment. He made whatever provision possible to help man recover from the consequence of sin. His ultimate means of redemption was to give his only begotten Son. In other words, in all the various conditions God had to work in, the bottom line was his benevolent heart was always seeking to relieve man of pain and suffering. That is why Jesus bore our pain and carried our sorrows. It was God's mercy making a way to completely alleviate the curse of sin, and bring peace and wholeness to the human heart.   

      When Jesus arose and ascended up on high, he entered into the heavenly holy of holies for us all. He became our great High Priest, offering himself upon the heavenly mercy seat! This was the essence of God's great love. Nothing could be more sacred! Nothing could be more holy! Which is why it is the appeal of God's mercy that Paul sought, when he wrote in Romans chapter twelve: "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1). Just as Christ offered himself as a sacrifice for us all, we are to live a redemptive life by presenting ourselves to God. The call of God that is upon all of our lives is a call to a life of mercy. Our goal is to live consecrated and dedicated lives so that the heart of God becomes our heart, and the mission of our heart becomes redemptive!