Joni and Friends Daily Devotional 3 December 2021 | Friday Message
Topic: Mercy
Scripture: “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” – James 2:12-13
Why do we assume that the mercy of God is mainly a topic of the New Testament, while the judgment of God is a topic of the Old? Don’t we realize that God’s mercy is talked about four times as much in the Old Testament? We wrongly think that judgment and anger characterize the God of Israel while kindness and compassion solely belong to the Lord of the spiritual Israel.
True, the New Testament reveals the full-blooming of mercy and its triumph at the cross, but it’s not like God suddenly had a change of heart or cosmetic surgery on his character. God did not do an about-face between the Old and New Testament. He did not switch to a merciful mood when he saw his Son walking among men. Mercy is not a mood but a changeless character quality of God who is eternal.
He is the same, whether in the Old or New Testament. Whenever God appears to men, he always acts like himself. He is the same God who appeared in the Garden of Eden as in the Garden of Gethsemane. He has always dealt in mercy with man and will always deal in justice when his compassion is despised and rejected.
A good study on the character of God is A.W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy. This beautiful classic looks into the eternal qualities of God, giving us a glimpse of how great and infinite the love of God is.
God, you are good when you judge and you are good when you show mercy. How marvelous and beyond our understanding you are! Thank you for being merciful in your judgment while always judging with complete mercy.
Joni and Friends Daily Devotional 3 December 2021 is taken from Diamonds in the Dust – By Joni Eareckson Tada