Mercy

John 8:12 says "Then Yeshua again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."
Many of us may have read this verse several times before, appreciated it for the face-value it declares and moved on to another memory verse only to allow this one particular verse to diffuse into the chaos that batters our lives within and without each day. I submit to you though that Yeshua wasn't trying to coddle us with a warm platitude to help us sleep at night. He wanted us to know His word is truth, and that truth is intended to set us free.
Mercy is a song I had the privilege to pen in 2009. This particular song was birthed from a series of personal events occurring in my family, namely with my best friend and beautiful bride Debora, at that time and a few select messages of our good friend Dr. Hollisa Alewine of whom I frequently listened to on my three hour round trip commute to work everyday. So much knowledge and growth was and still is drawn from those deep wells of teaching and life experience. I hope to pool some of these truths Messiah has revealed to me in the next several paragraphs and my prayer is that it will reach in to where you are and prove to be a blessing.
Practical Atheism:
We've all heard "it's all a 'state' of mind". As humans being we all wrangle with perceiving life's daily events and attempting to make sense of all the headlines in our public and private lives. Part of our journey though, in my humble opinion, is unlearning some of the junk we've absorbed into our heart and mind. A long time ago I was impressed with the acronym G.I.G.O., which simply stated is Garbage In, Garbage Out. For too long, in some measure we've all allowed damaging memories to play over and over in the background of our mind only to reinforce negative thoughts.
My bride Debora confided in me how for years she battled with forgiveness and the all too real pain that encouraged her to 'nurse' vengeful, angry thoughts toward a father who during her and her sister's childhood committed unconscionable acts, stealing their youth, and laid burdens upon them that would trace their indelible marks into adulthood, making it impossible by man's standards to rise above such reprehensible behavior.
In a conversation she compared the battle she justified for years in her mind akin to what she called a 'practical form of atheism'. She would explain that the hurt pent up inside her wounded sould would cry to forgive but also for justice. She was torn between fearing her suffering would be in vain and yet her childlike heart deeply desired reconciliation with her daddy. This vicious cycle she later told me, exacted a heavy toll, impairing her ability to grow and develop in her relationship with her Heavenly Father; and a heavy price it exacted indeed.
In February of 2009 my wife received the call that her dad was in ICU in Texarkana Texas. Suddenly her estranged relationship with her ailing father took center stage in her life and everything she had painstakingly struggled to heal from all at once became an open wound again. Over the course of the next several months Debora soldiered back and forth between her home here in South Carolina and back to Texas to be by her father's side.
I remember though the initial reunion of Debora and her dad. I'll never forget, on that fateful day as we entered his room in ICU, Debora spoke life with a heartfelt smile and said shalom; and without skipping a beat this weathered ole' fisherman and rehabilitated man struggling to live and rise above his own regrets called back with 'shalom' as well.
There, in an utter state of helplessness, connected to a mesh of tubes and wires plugged into all manner of blinking diodes and respirating machines beckoned his beloved daughter to his side. I do believe it was then that all the anger and unforgiveness broke and melted away. There were more precious visits Debora was afforded in that brief interim of time, suffice it to say though she received some of her greatest teachings on forgiveness and reconciliation during those divine appointments with her dad.
The lesson for me came during another divinely inspired conversation with Debora in the car. It seems some of our best conversations come when were on the road together...there's a sermon in there I think. But I remember her sharing about all she had suffered in seeing her father in ICU, helpless and completely at the mercy of other people, completely dependent upon the commitment of other folks to keep him alive. It was observing his frail condition that crushed the vengeful spirit in her that she had nursed for so many years. It was in seeing her father in such a fragile state that I believe the Holy Spirit gave her such a nugget of wisdom. She said that all of us are like that, really. Certainly, many of us don't appear as her father did then in ICU, but essentially we are all truly helpless. In foolishness we may boast of our health and our ability to navigate life with 'lone ranger' bravado, but in truth, all of us are one 'hiccup' away from total dependency. We've no guarantee of tomorrow, we don't have certainty of the next hour, but how sinister the enemy appeals to our sense of pride and revenge that he has ravaged many a mind of untold years that could have been spent loving those we've offended or been offended by.
A Time to Make Up
　
One of my Deborabel's favorite Bible verses is found in Joel 2:25; "Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten..." God is faithful to heal us and restore back unto us the years we've lost if we would simply be willing to come back and submit ourselves to Him. She has experienced this in a very personal way, and it seems so evident everywhere we go. Kind of like that new car you see on the showroom floor at the dealership, and then suddenly you start seeing it everywhere out in town. I've been afforded opportunities to share in what my Debora sees because we stand together. People are hurt, angry, guarded and reluctant to open up because life has been one ouch after another and it's usually involved another person or group of people. We're all guilty of it.
If we could show your most intimate thoughts on the big drive-in movie screen what would we find? How many people have we held hostage? How many people have we crucified in our mind and left them there day after day with no hope? It may be that some of these people we've nailed up in our minds are so far apart from us that not only do we never speak to them, it may be that they've physically passed on and we never seized the opportunity to make it right. Regret on top of regret. Isn't it time to take them down and bury them? Dr. Alewine teaches on this in her messages and I encourage you to visit her website at www.thecreationgospel.com and www.israelnet.tv as you will discover a wealth of knowledge to challenge and encourage your walk with Adonai. But back to the mental reference of crucifixion. Beloved, if you take a dead man down off the execution stake, for whose benefit is it really? The dead man? How would it benefit him, he is dead and wouldn't know. The benefit is for us.
When we take them down and bury them figuratively, we forgive and show them mercy. Deserved or not, it is the same mercy our Messiah demonstrated when His very murderous screamed "Let His blood be upon us and our children!" And thank God that it is only by His Son's shed blood upon us that we can be made right with Him again. But when we bury something that has died, then it has the opportunity to become something beautiful. It has the chance to ressurrect and bring new life! When we show mercy we open the door for forgiveness and life and that's what my wife experienced first-hand beside her father.
I have been reading a couple of books lately, both by Mrs. Batya Wootten. One book entitled "Israel Empowered by The Spirit" is a very encouraging read. In it many topics are covered but one I just completed reading is very fitting for this teaching. In it Mrs. Wootten discusses one of the most crafty agents in the arsenal of our enemy the devil. I highly recommend anyone desiring to come to a deeper understanding of God's truth please obtain a copy at keyofdavidpublishing.com. But for those unfamiliar with this effective tool of the enemy allow me to share with you it has been used since the Garden of Eden. It is a "Lying spirit". The lying spirit has destroyed more families, marriages, relationships, and congregations than anything else. The lying spirit masquerades as an angel of light and is oh so convincing. It speaks persuasive words and can even sometimes for the sake of ensnaring its prey, work a miracle, but in the same breath reject the commandments of God! I cannot count the times I have been an accomplice to a lying spirit. How many times I claimed to love God with all my heart, but in the nooks and crannies of my heart I refused to forgive someone for some wrong I felt was done to me. Beloved, how can there ever be healing and true restoration if we never do like the AA big book succinctly states, which was taken straight from scriptures tells us, that we need to turn our lives over to the care of God.
Dr. Alewine touches on this in her teachings about the Spirit of Wisdom in The Creation Gospel. The Spirit of Wisdom is all about humility, and in discussing it she states "Reverence for our Creator leads us to humbly invite His Spirit of Wisdom into our lives. Proud people can learn very little, for there is little room for God's wisdom if the heart is already swollen and crowded with pride and man's wisdom, which is a poor counterfeit for the true Spirit of Wisdom".
When people meet my wife, sometimes she can come off a little intimidating. She doesn't fancy herself a 'Betty Crocker' mom. But one thing I remember so powerfully after her father passed away was that at the different congregations we visited afterwards, during prayer requests with tears flowing down, looked without shame into every face in the room and begged for our hearts to be brought to that place where we can all be broken; because it is there that we can be filled with Love like we've never known and have our stubborn shells cracked, finally being set free from denial and able to breathe in the sweet breath of God and to share it like He desires us to every single day. That's why I sing over and over to give mercy away everyday. Mercy brings resurrection and life and beauty and this is what our Heavenly Father desires of us more than anything.
I never knew how powerful a song "Mercy" would become, but I've always known that when YHVH's Word goes out, it never returns back void and always accomplishes what it was designed to do. My prayer is that every heart within ear shot of "Mercy" will experience reconciliation and ressurrection in their relationships and experience Mercy and Love the way our Creator and His Son demonstrated on the very first day of creation. Beloved, be blessed.
Praise Him,
Will & Debora Spires