“In wrath, remember mercy.” – Hab. 3:2
People need hope. But many place their trust in themselves instead of God. This is futile.
All worrying is destructive because the worrier is too self-absorbed to trust in God. Others don’t turn to God because they think they won’t be heard. A man who won’t ask shouldn’t expect that he will receive anything (Jas. 1:6,7). God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. It’s not that the humble have less sin, just ask people like David and Saul, but they are more likely to be heard. Habakkuk saw the horrible judgment of God coming soon to Judah and he said to God, “In wrath, remember mercy.” Habakkuk knew the God of mercy, the God on the cross who prayed for his tormentors that they might be forgiven “for they know not what they do.”
A man in jail asked recently if his sin was too great for God to forgive. He wanted to know about the sacrifice of Jesus and why He had to die. In his words, his sin was too great and he would have to pay the debt for his own sin. I assured him that if Jesus tasted death for all men, he too could be forgiven. We have a Just God who will punish iniquity, but he also has His ears attuned to the cries for mercy. Jesus is the Savior of the sinner who knows what he deserves yet seeks forgiveness.
“He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” Mic. 6:8
God hears the humble. The person who prays for mercy and seeks it with all of his heart should receive it. “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened to you.” Are you knocking today? Have you grown tired of living the sinfully destructive life? Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and will you proudly confess His name? Have you been baptized by immersion into water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for the express purpose of calling on God for forgiveness? If so, you are cleansed and your name is written in the Book of Life, the book of mercy.
An often overlooked and little known verse of the Bible says, “Now why do you delay? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on His name.” (Acts 22:16). The person of faith gets from God not what he deserves because our Creator is a God who gives mercy.
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Sin of commission and omission
A Conquering Faith 
In a recent Bible study we were considering the faith of Abraham and how it was imputed to him as righteousness. He obeyed God because of his faith and despite his struggles was considered righteous because of God’s mercy. But the thought struck me, as we considered Abraham’s great faith, that a large part of faith is being humble enough to ask God for whatever it is that we need. It seems to me that a part of demonstrating faith is prayer.
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