Loving Kindness and Tender Mercies
There is something wonderful about being a born-again Christian believer! Our lives are crowned with lovingkindness and tender mercies!!! God’s Word says so. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,…” (Psalm 103:1-4)
We can picture an actual crown placed upon our head by the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, with the inscription of: Lovingkindness and Tender Mercies. Since the Holy Spirit is gentle as a dove, we must choose do be diligent in our walk with the Lord, seeking Him with all of our heart, and keeping our vessels filled up to the brim with the oil of the Holy Spirit.
“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” (Matthew 25:1-4) We need to ask ourselves if we are “packed up and ready to go” when the bridegroom comes for His church? Or, will be out in the “market place” playing the role of the harlot of this world system? Will we have removed our crown and tossed it aside until it becomes so tarnished that it is no longer a crown, but just a forgotten gift?
But wait, for we can all live for Christ with our crown in place. Ephesians 2:5-10 explains this wonderful truth. “But God, who is rich in mercy , because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly place in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” See how the words abound clearly to distinguish us from those who have not yielded their lives to Jesus Christ, for He has ordained “that we should walk in them.” We are called by God to “walk in good works.” In so doing we are choosing to wear our gift from God — our crown —- the crown inscribed with the words, lovingkindness and tender mercies.
The riches described to us in scripture thrills our hearts as we bathe our minds with the promises of God. “Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22,23) His love promises that His mercies are new each and every morning. How awesome and faithful is our God! So, we can arise each day with His praises upon our lips, springing forth from our inner most being.
We are not as a dry tree, but we are fruitful and blessed through the living water of Christ our Lord. (See John 4:7-14) Because we are redeemed by the blood that Jesus shed upon the cross, we are nourished unto life eternal each new day. While the world looks on with dismay and lack of hope, we are continually revived and blessed by God’s loving kindness and tender mercies. “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” (Luke 21:28) What a marvelous gift, our crown of lovingkindness and tender mercies! Let us wear it well.
