God's Mercy
Genesis 18:32 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” 33 So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
God is just and loving. God doesn't suspend His love to execute justice, and He doesn't ignore justice to demonstrate love. His love and His justice are two sides of the same coin. If He didn't judge evil, like He did in Sodom (Genesis 18, above) His love wouldn't be perfect.
The Bible says there is a time coming where planet earth will see judgment on a global level. As darkness increases, we will see evil flourish. God eventually gives mankind what it wants, and unfortunately a good portion of mankind wants its own way. The fullness of man's heart apart from God is evil. This is what happened in Sodom, Ninevah, Tyre, Egypt, Babylon, Jerusalem...there is a long list of cities that have finally had God's hand of restraint removed and evil has flourished to the point of judgment, and eventually destruction.
But God's mercy and justice are so great. IF His people will respond to His warning, if we will agree with Him, He always pours out mercy. God always provides a "city of refuge" for those in agreement with Him in a time of trouble. Noah's Ark is a great example. Noah was safe from the flood, and everything He needed to live was provided for Him, because He agreed with God.
When God destroyed Sodom, He promised Abraham He would spare the whole city if He could find just 10 people living in agreement with Him! When God couldn't find even 10, Abraham's nephew Lot was sent out of the city to a place of refuge. The angel who rescued Lot sent him to the mountains, but look at what Lot said:
Genesis 19:20 See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there ( is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.” 21 And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
God listened to Lot! He let Lot choose his own city of refuge! Because Lot chose Zoar, the city was spared and from that time on was known by a new name!
Every time judgment is poured out, God's people have been sealed and safe if they will live in agreement with Him. When God judged Egypt, He spared the land of Goshen, the place where His people lived.
Judgment is promised to come to planet earth. We are seeing some of the first inklings of it now. I hear God asking us: what would it take for Me to make your city a "city of refuge"? Will YOU ask ME this question, like my servant Abraham, or will you ignore the warnings like Lot's sons-in-law (Gen 19:14)? Will you contend for your city of refuge, like Lot?
Contending for your city starts from the inside out. It is people like me and you living in agreement with God, wholeheartedly making Him our pursuit and passion, the One thing we desire, the One thing we measure our life by, that saves cities.
When describing the end-time judgment, Jesus said this:
Luke 18:7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
This is a passage about a movement of night and day prayer that is taking shape on the earth, but it is also a statement about contending for God's mercy in an intentional and sustained way in our own hearts.
I want to agree with God about the severity of the problem of evil, so that I can agree with Him about the solution. Pretending things have "always been this way" is what people naturally do. Ignoring the problem of evil is what the majority of people do before each demonstration of judgment in the Bible. Agreeing with God about the problem of evil, and His solution, contending for our own wholeheartedness to change our city's "name," can change our story from one of judgment to one of Glory!
In the midst of the promised judgment, there is another promise: God's glory and His Spirit will be poured out on all that are His...on all flesh living in agreement with Him. He says His glory at that time will "cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." The water in the sea is different depths all over the place! At the beach it is really shallow, and at the Marianas Trench, it is miles deep! What we do now will determine whether God's glory is thick and deep in our city, or barely touching us! Now is the time to agree with God about what the prophet Joel called the "Great and Terrible Day of the Lord." For some it WILL be great, and for some it WILL be terrible. How will it be for us? Will we cry out day and night for our city to see mercy and experience God's glory in a deep way?
Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.
Revelation 7:3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
God is just and loving. God doesn't suspend His love to execute justice, and He doesn't ignore justice to demonstrate love. His love and His justice are two sides of the same coin. If He didn't judge evil, like He did in Sodom (Genesis 18, above) His love wouldn't be perfect.
The Bible says there is a time coming where planet earth will see judgment on a global level. As darkness increases, we will see evil flourish. God eventually gives mankind what it wants, and unfortunately a good portion of mankind wants its own way. The fullness of man's heart apart from God is evil. This is what happened in Sodom, Ninevah, Tyre, Egypt, Babylon, Jerusalem...there is a long list of cities that have finally had God's hand of restraint removed and evil has flourished to the point of judgment, and eventually destruction.
But God's mercy and justice are so great. IF His people will respond to His warning, if we will agree with Him, He always pours out mercy. God always provides a "city of refuge" for those in agreement with Him in a time of trouble. Noah's Ark is a great example. Noah was safe from the flood, and everything He needed to live was provided for Him, because He agreed with God.
When God destroyed Sodom, He promised Abraham He would spare the whole city if He could find just 10 people living in agreement with Him! When God couldn't find even 10, Abraham's nephew Lot was sent out of the city to a place of refuge. The angel who rescued Lot sent him to the mountains, but look at what Lot said:
Genesis 19:20 See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there ( is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.” 21 And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
God listened to Lot! He let Lot choose his own city of refuge! Because Lot chose Zoar, the city was spared and from that time on was known by a new name!
Every time judgment is poured out, God's people have been sealed and safe if they will live in agreement with Him. When God judged Egypt, He spared the land of Goshen, the place where His people lived.
Judgment is promised to come to planet earth. We are seeing some of the first inklings of it now. I hear God asking us: what would it take for Me to make your city a "city of refuge"? Will YOU ask ME this question, like my servant Abraham, or will you ignore the warnings like Lot's sons-in-law (Gen 19:14)? Will you contend for your city of refuge, like Lot?
Contending for your city starts from the inside out. It is people like me and you living in agreement with God, wholeheartedly making Him our pursuit and passion, the One thing we desire, the One thing we measure our life by, that saves cities.
When describing the end-time judgment, Jesus said this:
Luke 18:7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
This is a passage about a movement of night and day prayer that is taking shape on the earth, but it is also a statement about contending for God's mercy in an intentional and sustained way in our own hearts.
I want to agree with God about the severity of the problem of evil, so that I can agree with Him about the solution. Pretending things have "always been this way" is what people naturally do. Ignoring the problem of evil is what the majority of people do before each demonstration of judgment in the Bible. Agreeing with God about the problem of evil, and His solution, contending for our own wholeheartedness to change our city's "name," can change our story from one of judgment to one of Glory!
In the midst of the promised judgment, there is another promise: God's glory and His Spirit will be poured out on all that are His...on all flesh living in agreement with Him. He says His glory at that time will "cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." The water in the sea is different depths all over the place! At the beach it is really shallow, and at the Marianas Trench, it is miles deep! What we do now will determine whether God's glory is thick and deep in our city, or barely touching us! Now is the time to agree with God about what the prophet Joel called the "Great and Terrible Day of the Lord." For some it WILL be great, and for some it WILL be terrible. How will it be for us? Will we cry out day and night for our city to see mercy and experience God's glory in a deep way?
Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.
Revelation 7:3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
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