The mercy of God is not weak. It was the motivating
force behind the plan of redemption that brought Jesus to
the earth. In the mind of God, mercy was the revelation
that developed the plan. It was God’s design to extend
His goodwill toward man. Because of mercy, the division
between man and God was eternally broken.

When Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem the night
of Jesus’ birth, angels came and appeared to the shepherds
in the field and proclaimed the glory of God: “Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward
men” (Luke 2:14). We have interpreted that to mean
goodwill among men. But the Apostle Paul and the
Apostle Peter both said that Jesus came preaching
peace, not among men, but between God and man.
God was proclaiming, “Goodwill to men from God.”

God sent Jesus as a mercy sacrifice to the world. He
acted in compassion when He sent Jesus to the cross. Jesus
was not the one needing mercy from God. It was you and
me. Nevertheless, the Savior came to this world offering
His comfort: “Come unto me, all ye that…are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). And He left this
world promising to pray and intercede for us that we might
receive the Comforter.

Jesus bore the shame of the cross for the joy of knowing
that we would be able to be reborn in the power and the
image of Almighty God and receive the Comforter—the
Holy Spirit. He knew we could then manifest the same
mercy and comfort on the earth as He had done. “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works
that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these
shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12).

Compassion, mercy and comfort directed all the works
of Jesus’ ministry. If mercy and compassion were over all
the works of God, then it was over all the works of Jesus
because Jesus said, “The Son can do nothing of himself,
but what he seeth the Father do” (John 5:19). Matthew
9:36 says, “But when he (Jesus) saw the multitudes, he was
moved with compassion on them, because they fainted,
and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”

Notice what it says: “He had compassion on them.”
The word, compassion means “an inner yearning deep in
your bowels [or innermost being].” It is not just a feeling. It
is talking about being led by the Holy Ghost as described
in Romans 8:26. He is compassion. There it says that the
Holy Spirit will move within us with groanings which
cannot be uttered.

Gloria Copeland

The mercy of God is a celebration of love. In the
Hebrew language, mercy, love and compassion all
come from the same word, so when you say God is
love, you are also saying He is mercy and compassion.
We have had the idea that God is just love. God is
also mercy—the kindness that gives help to the most
undeserving. He is also compassion—the desire to bear
and relieve another’s distress.

The combination of mercy, love and compassion form the
identity of God Himself. Mercy is not a thing and compassion
is not a feeling. Together, they manifest a person. When
these three qualities demonstrated themselves in the Son of
God, they became a powerful force.

In His ministry, Jesus fully expressed the inner
character and nature of His Father each time He acted
in mercy. He gave us a revelation that mercy, love and
compassion are a person.

Consider these three scriptures as the foundation
for studying mercy in Jesus’ ministry: Psalm 145:8-9;
2 Corinthians 1:3; Ephesians 2:4.

Psalm 145:8-9 says: “The Lord is gracious, and full of
compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The
Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all
his works.” The fact that mercy is over all God’s works
is important. Mercy, not wrath and power, motivates
God to act. It covers every work He performs, and it
is the reason He does everything.

The Bible not only proclaims the power of God, but
also gives us a picture—a revelation—of His mercy.

For instance, if you were to compare a father with his
small son, you could easily see which of the two is the
stronger. But the only way to get a picture of the love this
man has for his son is to see him in action, exercising his
power of protection over the child. It is this open display of
mercy that allows us to see this father’s love.

Gloria Copeland

We need to learn to act on what God’s Word says and
take hold of His mercy like this woman did. We need to
learn to place our faith in the mercy of God, especially
when we sin. The devil will come along and accuse us,
telling us how bad we are for sinning when he is the one
that caused us to do it! This is the time to exercise our faith
in God’s tender mercy.

Second Peter 1:4 says that through His exceeding great
and precious promises, we become partakers of His divine
nature. His nature is mercy and compassion. We must
stand on 1 John 1:9 which says that “If we confess our sins,
he (Jesus) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Don’t be moved by feelings of guilt after having
acted on God’s Word. Stand on it in faith. Stop putting
your faith in the way you feel, and begin putting your
trust in His tender mercy. Release your faith in His grace
and compassion.

Here are four ways to do that:

1. Put the Word first place. Make it the final authority
in your life, and change your thinking to agree
with it. When the Word says, “If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us,” begin to have
faith in that. Begin to incline your ear to that Word
and act on it even when you don’t feel like it.

2. Meditate on God’s mercy. Keep your mind on
Jesus and His mercy. Don’t think about all the
failure and bad things you’ve done. If you have
never done a good thing in your life, do one before
the day is over, and think on it. Remind yourself
that God did not get down on you when you were a
sinner, and He’s not going to get down on you now
that you are His child.

You cannot hide your mistakes from God when
you fail, but you can see His mercy following you,
and you can see yourself yielding to it. Meditate
on running to Him when you sin. Then think
about this. “How has my life changed since I have
believed that His mercy follows me forever? What
can I do to stand on the mercy of God?”

Do not meditate on fear. All fear is selfish
and is not of love. That makes it a sin. Worry is
fear because it is a self-centered concern that
always causes you to be afraid of “What’s going to
happen to me?” The way to cast it out is to replace
it with thoughts on love. The Bible says, “…perfect
love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18). The more you
meditate on love, the less worried about yourself
you will be because you have mercy and goodness
following you.

3. Act on the Word. As you meditate on it, the Word
will begin casting out fear. As you are released from
fear, you will begin to look for opportunities to act
on your faith. The more deeply rooted you become
in God’s Word, the more you will desire for Jesus to
bring people across your path so that you can pray
for them and see Him raise them up. Remember
faith always acts before seeing the results.

4. Make a decision to live the life of love. When
we live the life of love, we become vulnerable,
but God knows that. The Apostle Paul wrote in
Romans 8:36 that to the world we are considered
lambs to the slaughter. However, he also said, “…we
are more than conquerors through him that loved
us” (v. 37). First Corinthians 13:8 says love never fails.
He becomes our shield and protection.

Gloria Copeland

When the Apostle Paul had a “thorn in his flesh,” a
messenger sent by Satan to buffet him, he asked God to
take it from him three times. (See 2 Corinthians 12:7.) Each
time God said, “My grace is sufficient for you.” He did not
say, “You cannot be delivered” or “My grace is insufficient.”
He was telling Paul that he was free to receive grace and
mercy in that area all the time.

God responded to Moses in much the same way, saying
to him, “I am that I am.” He was saying to Moses, “When
you need credentials while before Pharaoh, that is the I
am that I am. I am the water coming out of the rock. I am
healing. I am redemption from your sin.” In other words, “I
am the source of all your need. Whatever you need, I am
that I am.”

Who is God? His identity is summed up in three
words—mercy, compassion and love. Through these, He
is revealing Himself to us today as He did to Moses. He is
saying, “I am Mercy. I am Compassion. I am Love.”

Gloria Copeland

God’s mercy is great. Not only does it last forever, but
it is holy. This is true because love, the source of mercy
and compassion, is the basis of holiness. Every time we
remember how holy God is, we are to give thanks and
praise because “His mercy endureth forever.”

Psalm 30:4-5 says: “Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of
his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is
life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in
the morning.”

Understand that although God, in being holy, sets up
a standard against sin, it is not to prevent us from having
a good time. Mercy is the motivating factor. God wants
us to experience His joy by living and walking after His
example. In His mercy, He is trying to keep us from sin
which has the power to kill us. We are to rejoice in the
protective mercy He has for us and worship Him because
His holiness is an expression of His love. First Chronicles
16:25-33 instructs us to worship the Lord “in the beauty of
holiness.” It says:

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised:
he also is to be feared above all gods. For all the
gods of the people are idols: but the Lord made
the heavens. Glory and honour are in his presence;
strength and gladness are in his place. Give unto
the Lord, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the
Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the
glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and
come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. Fear before him, all the earth: the world
also shall be stable, that it be not moved. Let the
heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let
men say among the nations, The Lord reigneth. Let
the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: let the fields
rejoice, and all that is therein. Then shall the trees
of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord,
because he cometh to judge the earth.

Gloria Copeland

Jesus experienced the same compassion that causes a
mother or a father to overcome the fear of personal harm
for the sake of their child. A father will take on all the
forces of hell and wade into odds far greater than himself
when his family is threatened. His mercy and compassion
is far greater than any danger he sees with his eyes and
hears with his ears.

I will never forget one time when my daughter Kellie
came and sat down on my lap. She was only 3 years old. I
was looking at something else when she placed her two
index fingers, one on each of my cheeks, and turned my
face toward hers, which was right up in mine. As she pulled
me closer she said, “Mommy, I love you.” At that moment in
time, if I owned the moon, I would have given it to her!

God will respond to His children when they express
their love for Him, just as naturally as a parent will respond
to his child who says, “I love you.” The Word says that we
get the similarity of our parenthood from God. Our role
as parents is a model of the relationship we have with our
heavenly Father.

We are never going to get anywhere shaking our fists
in God’s face. But when we get before Him and say, “I love
You, You are the King of my life, and I will go anywhere
You tell me to go, and do anything You tell me to do,” God
will respond to us compassionately.

When we take our place as His children, He will always
take His place as our Father. God Almighty is the biggest
love pushover in the whole world. He is fully aware of our
every sin. He sent Jesus to the cross rather than condemn
us, and He hasn’t changed. He is still looking for
opportunities to show His mercy.

In 2 Chronicles 5, He directed the children of Israel to put
singers out in front of the army. They sang, “God is good.
His mercy endureth forever.” They were really
saying to the enemy, “God loves us anyhow
and you had better keep your hands off us!” In response,
God moved on the enemy army before the Israelites got to
them because they declared His mercy.

Notice also, that when the children of Israel began
to shout about God’s mercy, the place where they were
gathered filled up with the glory of God. The presence of
God was so powerful that the priests could not stand on
their feet to minister. Verses 13-14 say:

It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers
were as one, to make one sound to be heard
in praising and thanking the Lord; and when
they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and
cymbals and instruments of music, and praised
the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy
endureth for ever: that then the house was filled
with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that
the priests could not stand to minister by reason
of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the
house of God.

Gloria Copeland

Today, we are no longer restricted from the presence of
God’s glory. The New Covenant tells us very plainly that
the God who shined out of darkness has “shined in our
hearts, to give [us] the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).
God put His glory in us because His mercy endures forever.
His mercy was greater than all the sin in the whole world.

When Jesus, God’s Son said, “Let this cup pass from Me”
(Matthew 26:39), the Father could have done so. God could
have said, “I will not bring all the sin of fallen humanity on
the One righteous person who has walked the earth since
the Garden of Eden.” However, His mercy and enduring
compassion was greater than what was about to happen
to His Son.

Mercy overcame.

Jesus followed the example of His Father. He was
always moved and led by compassion. He never acted
on His own motives and ideas. Compassion and mercy
dictated to His mind even when His body was suffering.
It welled up within Him and produced joy—the joy that
caused Him to endure the cross, despising the shame
(Hebrews 12:2).

Gloria Copeland