Embracing God's Mercy Through Humility and Faith

We serve a living God Yes, maybe the year might have been rough For somebody, you know, from the view of the yet or now But I have news for you God is not finished with you He is going to make a way for you In the name of Jesus God is going to heal all your diseases God is going to make way Where there has been no way God is going to overturn every captivity In the mighty name of Jesus Hallelujah So today I just want you to connect by faith And as you connect by faith I believe your life will not be the same again God, the word of God is spirit and it is life The word of God is healing to all our bones The word of God is food for the soul Praise the Lord So as the word of God is coming to us I want to believe that it is not going to return The word of God is healing to all our bones The word of God is healing to all our bones The word of God is healing to all our bones The word of God is healing to all our bones The word of God is healing to all our bones [00:20:36]

Because, listen, if not for God, who are we? We are nothing without God. That is the truth. And so, in the New Testament, when we talk of mercy, we are also talking about, you know, God having pity on us to show compassion again and to continue to be merciful towards us. You know? And that is another meaning of it. So, generally, or to someone, mercy is the compassionate treatment of those in distress. Amen. The compassionate treatment of those in distress, especially when it is within one's power to punish or to harm. God has the power to punish or to harm us. And because he has that power, he decides that instead of punishing us, he's going to show us mercy. Amen. So, mercy can only be exercised by one who has the power to do so. [00:29:28]

mercy is the fruit of compassion nobody can show mercy when they are not compassionate towards you there are many times that jesus had compassion towards people to the point that he overlooked their wrongdoings and came in to heal their sicknesses and their diseases that's what jesus did out of compassion he exercised mercy that is what jesus did and that is what i want us to understand that god is giving us today mercy is a gift given to someone who is suffering by someone acting with compassion so mercy is what a gift when god shows us mercy it is just a gift that he has given us praise the lord mercy is a gift given to someone who is suffering someone who is in pain someone who is in need who needs mercy so it's a gift given to that person you know by someone acting with compassion that is god acting with compassion now the main text for today to help us to understand what i'm trying i'm saying matthew chapter 17 matthew 17 from verse 14 to 21 matthew 17 verse 14 to 21 there's an interesting passage over there 17 from verse 14 let's [00:30:46]

let's continue lord have mercy on my son lord do what have mercy on my son so you can call on god to have mercy on you and you can call on god to have mercy on somebody you know is going through some difficulties some difficulties some challenges someone who is troubled amen so the man cried have mercy on my son he has seizures and suffers terribly he often falls into the fire or into the water so i brought him to your your disciples but they couldn't heal him he says what i brought him to your disciples but they couldn't heal him we'll find out why did why that did not happen now number 17 jesus said you faithful you faithless and corrupt people how long must i be with you how long must i put up with you bring the boy here to me amen amen what this means is that jesus as long as we walk with him and we are receiving his mercies he expects us to be able out of the same compassion and mercy extend you know some things to others around us let us see and experience the power of god the the love of god the unfailing love of god as we have said so verse 18 then jesus rebuked the demon in the boy and it left him from that moment the boy was well afterward the disciple asked jesus privately why couldn't we cast out that demon the next one you did you don't have enough faith jesus told them i tell you the truth you [00:33:00]

If you have faith, even as small as a master's seed, you could say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. Praise the Lord. May nothing be impossible. [00:35:08]

And so the man decided, let me bring my son. I know of Jesus. And I know of his disciples. And I've seen and I've heard that Jesus is working miracles. People are receiving their healings. People are receiving their breakthroughs. So, therefore, instead of sitting here and just murmuring and complaining and crying, why not take my son to them? [00:36:58]

Yours may not be similar to this. But I believe each one of us have what we are dealing with in our life. A problem that we are going through. A challenge that is troubling our life. And we need his mercy for a breakthrough. Hallelujah. We need God to have mercy and give us breakthrough. Because if God is going to, you know, mark us strictly, then he will not do any good to us. Any good for us. Amen. So when we are asking for mercy, when we are telling that God, I may have done some wrongs, but don't pay attention to my wrong. Lord, I just need your help. Because I know I cannot help myself. [00:37:58]

When you come to Jesus for you to receive mercy, come to him describing your situation. Be open and transparent. Lord, this is my problem. This is the issue. Have mercy on me in this area. Hallelujah. And when we do so, trust me, he will come through for us. He will come through for us. In the name of Jesus, may he come through for you, this man. In the name of Jesus, may he come through for you, this man. [00:46:12]

there is something that is causing these seizures in the life of this boy and for that to be dealt with you have to deal with it from the root if you want any problem to completely die off you have to kill it from the root you have to destroy it from the root so in this particular case jesus did not say be healed from seizure but he says you demon he rebuked the demon and said you demon of seizure come out of him and that demon came out and the boy was healed the boy was made free i pray that the problem that you are confronted with any demon that has been responsible may they receive the fire of the holy ghost may they be cast out in the name of jesus may they be uncomfortable in your life in the mighty name of jesus sometimes the cause of our problem or what we may attribute as the cause of our problem may not be the actual cause of the problem sometimes the cause may be a remote cause it may be something that we have no idea about that's why when we come to god who is all -knowing who knows how the thing started and what has brought that about is able to help us to break free and give us the deliverance with me hallelujah i pray that god will help us many people are going through all kinds of challenges and troubles in life and they've done all the things that counselors have told them to do so the problems are still there probably the root cause is not this what people see on the surface there is there's much more damaging roots than what people just see on the outside may god help us to understand this have mercy upon us lord tell pray this prayer oh lord have mercy on me hallelujah hallelujah pray that again oh lord have mercy on me so the root cause for this problem was the devil or demons there was a demon that was responsible the same way god assigns angels as messengers to minister to us the devil also assign demons to also minister evil in our lives and so we need to be spiritually alert and not allow the devil to to take advantage because as long as we are ignorant of the root cause of our problem we'll be dancing around it you'll be praying the wrong prayers and the problem will still be there because can you imagine the disciples were praying and nothing happened jesus came and did not pray the same prayer the disciples i'm sure the prayer the prayer was that let this boy be healed from the from from epilepsy but when jesus came on this demon must come out he rebuked that demon jesus realized that was the demon behind it now the next question i want us to answer from the passage again is why the disciples failed because remember the problem first came to the disciples but they failed to get solution for them for the man they failed to bring the healing so why did the disciples fail according to the passage we we are told in verse 17 jesus gave us the reason why they failed and one of the reasons was that he says you faithless hallelujah jesus described them as you faithless this translation is what you unbelieving and perfected generation so that is what stood in the way for them to be able to achieve the solution the result that was required praise the lord so if they were faithless number one [00:48:11]

number two perversion though they were prevented people when somebody is prevented it means that you know they they they are not doing things the way it's supposed to be done they almost want to find shortcuts or want to do things their own way whatever that makes them comfortable so perversion was one of them lack of knowledge and understanding of the root cause was also the reason because they lack the understanding of the root cause jesus was able to deal with it because he got to under he got to know and understand the root cause the disciples couldn't because they did not amen and then ineffective prayer sometimes it's not how many hours you pray but it is how well you pray it is the foundation of the word the word foundation for your prayer amen the word of god upon which you stand on to make those prayers because god is only bound by his word hallelujah so ineffective prayer can also cause that and we see that in the verse 21 verse 18 verse 21 and the last thing was fasting jesus told them it is not just you're gonna have something that has to be done or be dealt with by fasting and prayer so the people have not prepared themselves enough now the last question i want us to answer from this passage was this is this what was the outcome of god's mercy what was the outcome of god's mercy from the passage the outcomes are these jesus attended to the need of the man favorably hallelujah jesus did what he attended to the need of the man favorably may he attend to your need favorably this man in the name of jesus jesus attended to the need of this man favorably he favored him because jesus could have said that i don't know you from anywhere why are you coming to me with your problem i am not a cause of the problem why are you coming to me for it to do anything about it but jesus received the man because of the way the man also approached jesus so we should be careful with our approach another outcome jesus identified the root cause of the problem [00:52:32]

we touched on that already jesus identified when we come to jesus he will identify the root cause of our problem there are times that we need to be spiritually sensitive alert because sometimes god will open our eyes to see that this thing that you are dealing with this man might be the reason why this is happening but sometimes we are not spiritually sensitive so we know we will just pray and go without waiting for god to speak to us without allowing the word of god to guide us and so we end up making choices or just we just pray get up and go and just hope that something will happen but god sometimes want us to know that this and this is the problem what is the reason why somebody's hating you so much you must know why that person troubling you at your workplace like that what is the root cause you have to avert your mind to that why is it that i'm applying for jobs and still nothing is happening you must you must you know ask god god is this something i am doing wrong is this something somebody's doing against me is it you know the the more you are that you you call on him and he enlightens you the better you will be prepared and ready to deal with the situation and breakthrough hallelujah [00:55:19]

you know brainstorm do whatever that we need to do we will still not be able to get to them and let's know the root cause so that's where calling on him for mercy comes in because the man may have dealt with that situation the man and his family have dealt with the situation of their son for so many years and because they didn't know the root cause they have been trying almost everything that's the way that was recommended to them and still they never got a solution until they came to the right man jesus may you come to the right man jesus he will figure things out for you and he will guide you out of the situation praise the lord he will work a miracle for you in the name of jesus jesus rebuked the devil and he departed the boy was freed and killed that very hour the boy was freed and killed anybody in bondage at the sound of my voice may you be freed may jesus free you in the mighty name of jesus may you be set free in jesus name we don't deserve to be in bondage hallelujah now as i wrap up quick lessons from the passage number one human effort alone is not enough tell somebody human effort alone is not always enough praise the lord god at times your efforts you think you are smart you are intelligent you are well educated you have the degrees and you have the skill and you have the know -how there are some things it requires a divine intervention your effort alone will not bring the solution that is why we need god amen we need god in our life we need jesus in our life the way jesus came to the scene the man receive solution in the way jesus showed up people receive miracles people receive solutions to their problem so understand that human effort alone is not enough the disciples could not cast out the demon showing that spiritual authority requires more than just trying it requires dependence on god remember jesus told them you faithless so it requires dependence on god [00:56:54]

must learn to train ourselves to depend on god on every single thing it doesn't matter how small or how big and always i can knowledge the fact that if i'm able to do anything it is just by these grace it is just by the strength of christ amen i can do all things through christ who strengthens me not by my effort alone when i begin to think that way that's when i begin to fail when you begin to think that you can do everything by yourself that's when you begin to fail you set yourself up for failure so you must know that yes you may be able to do some things but there are some things you need god so don't wait for the thing that you need him only to depend on him depend on him for the thing that you think you can do because his effort will support your effort and you achieve things better than what your little effort will help you to achieve so number two lesson number two faith must be active and genuine faith tell yourself my faith must be active and genuine yes your our faith must be active and be genuine at the same time that's important that is how we unlock the message of god by faith by faith active faith genuine faith jesus rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith highlighting that results come not by formula [00:59:34]

truth is that in this day and age, mantles have been overused by many men and women of God. You understand? And they picked that from when some people came looking for some of their apostles and they were not there and they saw their hand catches and their aprons and they took it to put on their sick and their sick became well. And so people have also adapted that and doing it. And nothing is happening for many people because it may not be God that is directing. Even in that context of scripture, it is the people themselves who said, let me go and take it. It is not the man of God or the apostles that say, take my apron and go and use it. Praise the Lord. So I just want you to know that God's methods is always the best. [01:01:41]

Even small faith, I am not listening to that. Even small faith can be powerful. Faith in what? Faith in Christ Jesus. Faith in acknowledging that he is your Lord and master. Faith in depending on him totally for guidance and direction in your life and the things that you do. Even when you have a small faith, it will accomplish powerful things. Jesus said that faith, as small as mustard seed, can move mountains. Emphasizing the potential of sincere God -centered faith. So your sincere God -centered faith will activate miracles in your life. Now quickly, prayer and fasting is essential for spiritual breakthrough. [01:03:21]

Because if you just live your life eating and sleeping, the problem will hang around for a while. May God help us. Because Jesus told them, this kind does not go out except by what? Prayer and fasting. So persistent spiritual discipline are needed for confronting deep spiritual strongholds. Every stronghold in your life may it break this month in Jesus' name. Any demonic stronghold may it break. The strongholds that are preventing you from receiving your healing, the strongholds that are preventing you from receiving the job, the strongholds that are preventing you from receiving your immigration breakthrough may no strongholds. love for the break in Jesus' name. Let's wait on him for that breakthrough. [01:04:44]

Because rituals means you get used to the way some things are done to the point that you can just keep doing it without missing the essence of doing that thing, the importance of doing that thing. Hallelujah. That's the point. For instance, if you drive, when you first started driving, you are very careful. You pay attention. You know, you sit behind the steering and you are watching everywhere. But over time, with the experience, you think that, oh, now you know your way and if you are not careful, that's how some accidents happen. So we always have to be sensitive and not take familiarity for, you know, not allow familiarity to set us back. Amen. So continuously being spiritually disciplined is important. [01:05:56]

The disciples had cast out demons before, but this situation exposed the need for ongoing intimacy with God. You must have intimacy with God continuously. Not only once in a while, only when you feel like, only on Christmas, only on Easter, only on some occasions. It must be a daily affair. Make time with God every day. In your closet, in your room, kneel down before Him and pray to Him. Talk to Him. He hears you. Sometimes you feel like you are the only one there, but He's with you. He's hearing everything you are saying. And He will come through for you. Amen. So I pray that God will help us. So the discipline to cast out demons before, they had, you know, the disciples cast out demons before, but this situation exposed the need for ongoing intimacy with God. Not just past past experiences. Your past experience, yeah, may be good, but may not be relevant today. Amen. [01:06:48]

Jesus is patient but expectant. Jesus is patient but expectant. Jesus expressed frustration or unbelieving and pervert generation. The verse 17 says, Yet still heals the boy, showing his grace alongside his desire for spiritual maturity in his followers. Amen. Jesus wants us to be spiritually mature. So, he does not say, well, people can't do it. Let me just forget and go. He still decided to heal the boy, to show the disciples that it is still possible. There are some few things maybe you have to get done right and things will work out for you. [01:08:31]

Doubt, that's what, it hinders but it doesn't disqualify. The people could not do it but Jesus did not disqualify them. He rather equipped them, he taught them the right way to do it and they were teachable to learn. Amen. The disciples failure is learning, is a learning moment, not a final judgment. so Jesus rebuked them did not say that okay, from now on I forget about all of you, I don't need you anymore, no. Jesus knew that they couldn't do it but still he was willing to help them to increase their faith to be built up to be strong so that next time when another situation comes they'll be ready for it may we be equipped for every challenge that will come our way in the name of jesus jesus uses it to teach and to strengthen their faith he uses to teach and strengthen their faith now finally the lessons for today genuinely believe in jesus and let him truly be the lord of your life amen genuinely believe in jesus christ of nazareth and his finished work on the cross and let him truly be the lord of your life that is how you receive your miracle seizure like in the case of this man this man this son was gone disable your problem will roll away if you have the same attitude and make the same decision have faith in god and in his word amen have faith in god and in his word jesus can do what no man can do for you amen jesus can do what no man can do for you jesus did pray for this man and his son what the disciples do not do for him amen so jesus can do for you what no man can do for you know that the devil is not your friend and does not want you well no matter what he offers you amen always know that the devil is not your friend no matter the good thing the devil tried to try to show you it is just a trick just to trap you so that he can destroy your life so the devil cannot be your friend amen evil cannot be your friend pray effective praise tell yourself i will pray effective prayers and then let fasten be part of your christian life let fasten be part of your christian life be sensitive to the holy spirit and be alive to his gifts in you amen be sensitive to the holy spirit and be alive to his gifts in you this is the message i have for us today and i believe that if by god's grace we meditate on these lessons and ask him to help us to be able to internalize it and live it we will receive favorable results in our life we will experience the miracles of god signs and wonders who will truly follow us so i don't know what you are faced with it may seem impossible in the eyes of men but it is not possible it is but it is not impossible with god hallelujah with god all things are possible so the thing that you know you have been struggling with your family have been struggling with your children have been struggling with your parents have been struggling with come to jesus call on him like this man did oh lord of mercy have mercy on me have mercy on my son open up your mouth and begin to pray pray that prayer just pray for the mercy of god that lord this month mercy just have mercy on me this month the message of god will release unusual miracles in your life the mercies of god will release unusual miracles in your life father have mercy on me have mercy on me have mercy on me i've i've made you too small in my eyes please forgive me have mercy on me have mercy upon your people have mercy on all of us lord we have no power of our own like this man have mercy oh god we'll pray the same prayer as this man this man his his Let's go. [01:09:24]