LAUNCH OUT INTO THE MERCY OF GOD

LAUNCH OUT INTO

THE MERCY OF GOD!

Try to picture with me a day at the seashore on the Atlantic Coast.  These beaches have no rocks, as we have on the west coast, just solid sand.  And that sand is packed with thousands of people as you look in both directions.  And each person or family unit is crowded under umbrellas, miles and miles of them, in all colors.  There are children screaming, waves roaring, seagulls hovering over all.  And then there are the planes flying low over the ocean flying their banners to advertise products or motels or hotels offering their services.  The skies on this particular day were hazy and the weather was very warm.

As I sat under our umbrella on this particular day, as our children and grandchildren  were out in the waves, I began to ponder this scene in the light of what the Lord was trying to show me about my walk with a the Lord.  How do all those umbrellas remind me of His tender care and protection, and His mercy?  Is there a message there for me, and for you, as I begin to write down what I observed.

As I sat there watching the rolling sea and the waves crashing upon the shore, I was remembering how God created the mighty oceans and gave them a boundary they couldn’t cross over.  I never tire of watching the sea and just amazed at its mighty depths.  I am reminded of an old hymn, as I see my family members, including my husband frolicking in the waves, and others, like me, prefer to just stand upon the shore, maybe wet my toes a little.  I am reminded of God’s unlimited mercy, like a rolling sea:

 LAUNCH OUT

"The mercy of God is an ocean divine, a boundless and fathomless flood; launch out in the deep, cut away the shoreline, and be lost in the fullness of God.

CHORUS:  Launch out into the deep, oh, let the shoreline go.  Launch out, launch out in the ocean divine, out where the full tides flow.

But many, alas! Only stand on the shore and gaze on the ocean so wide; they never have ventured its depths to explore, or to launch on its fathomless tide.

And others just venture away from the land, and linger so near to the shore, that the surf and the slime that beat over the strand, dash o’er them in floods ever more.

Oh, let us launch out on this ocean so broad, where floods of salvation  e’re  flow; oh, let us be lost in the mercy of God, till the depths of His fullness we know."  (Albert B. Simpson)

“O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever” I Chronicles 16:34.

The word mercy appears 261 times in the King James Version of the Bible.  The phrase, “His mercy endureth forever” is repeated 35 times in the Old Testament.  Why do you think it is repeated so often?  Perhaps so we never forget that we are in need of God’s mercy daily.

 If today, you feel like your sin is so big that God can’t or won’t forgive you, He invites you to launch right out into the waves of His mercy and just be lost in all the fullness of God.  God’s mercy is so great, that He invites us to walk right in and let His mercy overflow your heart with His love, and He wants that for you my friend.  Our merciful God sent His Son to die on the cross for you, shed His precious blood for you, wherever you are.  His love and mercy is always flowing, and is flowing now to you.

Whatever situation you are in right now, God’s mercy is flowing, and invites you to, by faith to enter that ocean of His divine mercy.  “God’s mercy is boundless, free and, through Jesus Christ our Lord, available to us now in our present situation.” (A.W. Tozer).

I felt His presence there on the beach and as I pondered on His mercy and His love,   He was the “Gentle “Ocean Breeze” filling my day.  He was my “Sonshine” shining through the hazy clouds.  He is the shade on my right hand as I sit under my umbrella.  He is “Peace” as I recall remembering how He walked on the sea and calmed the waves.  I remember as I feel the sand beneath my feet of His promise to Abraham in Genesis 22:17 in that his descendants would number more than the sand on the seashore.  Can you count grains of sand in even a handful?

Yes, we serve a loving and merciful God, and “mercy” is just one of God’s attributes.  As I pondered those things I felt about Him, and watched the mighty Atlantic Ocean roll, that all that He is can never be measured, nor can we comprehend Almighty God.

“He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness. The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at His rebuke. He stirs up the sea with His power, and by His understanding He breaks up the storm.  By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him!  But the thunder of His power who can understand? “(Job 26:10-14).

 In Jesus’ Name,

Pastor Sharon