The Miracle of Mercy | P. Julian Gamba

Mercy is not weakness. It is divine strength in action. 💛

“The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.”
 — Psalm 145:8

Throughout this series, we’re talking about Unbreakable Faith, and today we learned that one of the clearest expressions of that faith is mercy.

Mercy is not just something God does… it is who He is. And if we follow Jesus, it should define us too.

In this message we learned:

✨ Mercy is love in action
 ✨ Mercy is not a feeling, it’s a decision
 ✨ Forgiveness withholds punishment
 ✨ Compassion gives undeserved kindness

“The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love…”
 — Exodus 34:6

“Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
 — James 2:13

👉 If we show mercy, we receive mercy
 👉 Mercy always wins over judgment

5 signs of a merciful life:

✨ I forgive those who have hurt me
 — Colossians 3:13

✨ I help those who are hurting
 — James 2:15–17

✨ I am patient with difficult people
 — 1 Thessalonians 5:14

✨ I show kindness even to my enemies
 — Luke 6:27–28

✨ I care for the spiritually lost
 — John 3:16

Mercy begins when we receive it from God… and allow it to transform our hearts.

Today is an invitation to let go of guilt, receive God’s mercy, and extend it to others.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Mission Orlando's podcast. We hope that through this word you will get closer to Jesus. Be sure to subscribe so we can get you new messages every week. Have a blessed day.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

So today we're gonna talk about the miracle of mercy. The miracle of mercy. And I want us to go to Psalms 145, verse 8. And today I prepared something a little different. It's more like a lesson. So visualize you're in a classroom. And today you're gonna learn something practical about God's character that if you apply it to your life, you will be more like Jesus. You will be more like God. So Psalm 145, verse 8 says in the NIV, the Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. So what we see here is that that grace being merciful is one defining aspect characteristic of God. He is merciful, he's a God of mercy, and it should, by default, define us as well. If we say that we follow Jesus, if we say that God is in our heart in our lives and He lives in our heart, we need to reflect mercy to other people. So what is mercy? Mercy is love in action. So say with me, mercy is love in action. So mercy is not a weakness, it is a divine strength in action, and God reveals himself as a merciful God. So he's not ready to judge people, he's always ready to forgive and to give people chances. In fact, if you read the Bible, you will see that God gave people, the people of Israel, if you if you read the Bible back in the Old Testament, he gave them many opportunities, many opportunities like uh Sodom, Garam, though that's those cities that were destroyed, Gomorrah, those two cities that were destroyed, God said, Well, maybe I won't destroy it if you find ten people, then less, less, less people, until He said, That's it. But he gave them many chances. So we see that God is a God of mercy, and mercy is love in action. That's how Moses got to know the Lord. Moses went up to get the Ten Commandments, and as he was there in the in the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments, he saw something. It says that the presence of the Lord came, and he could hear that as he passed, verse 6 in Exodus 34, it's on the screens, it says that he passed in front of Moses, the Lord God proclaiming, the Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. So he is a God who is slow to anger and abounding in grace and mercy. And if you read that, that sounds great, but let's take it into practice. Are we merciful, which means slow to anger? That's that's a little difficult, right? How many of you are slow to anger? There are some people. Not too many. We have a couple. How many of you are more like the the opposite? I don't know, something goes wrong, they just change the plans. They say, well, the meeting is supposed to be at 10, they change it to 1015, and uh you start getting like irritated. It's hard to, you know, be slow to anger. It's really hard, especially with those that are close to you. It's sometimes it's hard because you have that openness and you just explode. But an unknown person, maybe if I go to your house in the middle of the argument, right away you'll go like, hi, hi Pastor, how are you? Oh, it's so good to see you, right? Because it's easy to just get lost in anger and and forget about mercy. But as we read, God is uh a God who is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. So there are two dimensions to mercy. The first one, the first dimension is forgiveness. So with your left hand, you're gonna say forgiveness. Forgiveness. Remember this, forgiveness. With your right hand, you're gonna say now compassion. Say compassion. So we need to apply this in our daily life. What is forgiveness? Forgiveness is withholding punishment. So, you know, when I when my kids do something that they should have not done, they come running, and maybe let's say Ezekiel, he's the the youngest, he's seven, he's the only boy, and then I have two daughters, they're nine and ten. Ariana's about to turn 11. So they protect the little one. So if I say, Ezekiel, come, I need to talk to you. Let's go to the office. The two sisters come running and say, Please, please forgive him. Don't don't give him barita. That's exactly what they say. Like those uh how do you say it? I don't know how to say it in English. Um so they they speak Spanglish and they say, Don't give him barita, please. Don't spank him. Yeah, don't spank him. Thank you. Don't spank him. And they go and they ask for forgiveness on behalf of him because they love him. And sometimes that's I don't know, it's such a nice scene to have your kids doing that. That you say, you know what? Give you one chance, and and that's withholding the judgment or punishment for something that he deserved, but that's forgiveness. It's important to apply it in our daily life, and we'll see how we can apply it later on. And then next week we'll be talking about mercy for your family, and that's gonna be good. We all need mercy for our families, amen. Some men said, Yes. Okay, so let's go to James chapter 2, verse 13. I love this verse. When I was preparing this message, I came across this verse and I was I was impacted by it. Look, look at what it says. It says, Because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. So if you want to receive mercy, you have to give and show mercy to others first. And then it says, mercy triumphs over judgment. Sometimes in our relationships, we need to be more merciful because that will be better than judgment. It's easy to criticize, but it's hard to empathize and to be nice to people, to understand where they're coming from. So mercy is not just something you feel, it's something that you do. Something is not uh mercy is not something that you say, well, I don't feel like being merciful today. It's something that you actually put into action and we need to be more merciful. Amen. Anyone with me? I need to be more merciful. So there are five marks of a merciful life. If you're taking notes, you can write this down. Five marks of a merciful life. Actually, this week I hope in your uh Go group you have a chance to talk about this and go through these five different marks and see and talk about how you can improve those five marks of a merciful life. The first one, I forgive those who have fallen. I forgive those who have fallen. And we can translate this into letting go of grudges. Maybe they embarrassed you in front of other people. Maybe it is that family member that every time you get together says that comment that it's really annoying. Do you have that family member? If you don't raise your hand, I have good news. It's you. Well, in a way, we all can be that family member. Because sometimes we say things that come across the wrong way, maybe you know, hit people different, and they could be upset too. So, in that way, we need to be merciful to those people. Look at Colossians chapter 3, verse 13. It says, bear with each other and forgive one another. If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. That's that's a merciful life. I remember years ago I have uh given some money as a loan to a friend of us, and uh, it was a good amount of money. And uh a couple of months passed by, he didn't pay. A year passed by, he didn't pay. I saw him, he started, you know, he I loaned him money because he was going through a difficult time. Two years later, I saw him and he was doing good. He bought a brand new motorcycle. Like, oh, nice bike. Where's my money? I didn't say anything, I was just trying to be merciful because I I I knew he had good intentions, and I knew he wanted to return the money maybe in a few years, or maybe in heaven, I don't know. And I was waiting for that, but I remember hearing about uh forgiving someone's debt. My my mother-in-law preached about this, and as I was sitting down, that name came coming back to my head. Forgive the debt. And at the end she said, Well, maybe someone owes you money and you need to forgive. And that day I I heard from the Lord that that was the what I needed to do. So at the end of the service, I went up to him, I looked for him, and I said, Hey, I know you owe me some money, but the Lord put in my heart to just forgive the debt. And you know what I uh what happened? That person was so grateful that just the joy of seeing him like that with that burden taken off his shoulders, that was a joy for me as well. I was so joyful to see him, and I was joyful to be able to forgive, and that's what God wants us to do. Forgiveness feels unfair. If you have kids, you've heard this before. That is not fair. Have you yeah? Have you heard that? My kids, I think that's top three phrase. Could be number one, maybe. Every time you know I buy something and I'm dividing, like you know, when you order just one plate to divide into the three of them, I serve their portion, and I'm I'm very careful of serving the exact amount. Parents, some parents are laughing because you understand what I'm saying, and you're careful, like even counting the beans, like one, two, three, like okay, it's 25 beans for you, 25. I mean, the the one thing missing is for me to take like a roller, uh ruler or a uh a weight, and you know, at the end, after all of my effort, all of them are not fair, he's got more, not fair. He his beans look better. Like, oh my goodness, come from the same plate. So it is a challenge, and sometimes we could be like that, but mercy isn't about fairness, it's about forgiveness. Number two, I help those who are hurting. Compassion requires action. James 2, 15 and 17. It says, if someone has no clothes or daily food, and you only say, Go in peace, keep warm and well fed, but do nothing, what good is it? Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. So if if you can help someone, not just have uh good intentions, take action and help people, because in you could be someone else's miracle. So help those who are hurting. If you see someone, maybe someone in your group, let's start with the people in our go group. You go to a group, maybe you see someone who's going through a difficult time. Come reach, reach out and help them. Maybe it's a phone call, maybe it's a prayer, maybe it's a text message. And with that, you can be a blessing to other people and you can be merciful. Proverbs 3 27 it says, Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to act. So I wanna I want you to ask yourself, who around me needs help right now? Who around me needs help right now, and you can help them. Start with the people in your group. Number three, the the third mark is I am patient with difficult people. Wow, this one is a blessing. I am patient with difficult people. People act out because they're hurting. So instead of judging that person, maybe try to understand what happened to that person. Why is he acting like that? And maybe it is a hurt, maybe it is a pain from the past that he's been or she's been carrying, and you could help that person overcome that barrier. So 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 14, it says, Warn those who are idle, encourage the discouraged, help the weak, and be patient with everyone. Proverbs 19:11, it says, A person's wisdom yields patience. It is to one's glory to overlook an offense. So it is easier to criticize than to empathize. But the Lord is calling us to look beyond behavior and see what's the pain behind it. So if you have someone difficult in your life, maybe someone at work, show them Jesus through your actions, through your attitude. I I hear so many people that come and tell me, I'm going through this very difficult situation with my family, maybe it's a family member, others, they tell me someone at work that it is so annoying. I can't stand that person. And today I tell you, you could be Jesus to that person, just show God's love through your attitude. Difficult people are usually hurting people. I remember in my first go group, one of my very first go groups back in the day in Colombia, and as I was teaching, one of the new members, he raised his hand and he says, I don't agree. Why are you teaching as this about the the Bible? I don't I don't want to hear it. I was like, Okay, God gave me the grace to you know just handle this situation. I was like, Oh, that's amazing. Let let me talk to you after we finish, and we can, you know, just go through the that difficulty that you're going through. It's okay. And we stayed after, I invited him to dinner, and over the course of probably like next three months, I met with him one-to-one every week, and I was praying for him, and I understood where he was coming from. He was he had to live alone for many years of his life since a very young age, probably uh 11 or 12, if I I'm not mistaken. He was kicked out of his house, no money, and he had to find a way to, you know, just overcome life to come out successful, and he had done it, and he was probably like mad at life, at situations, he was not used to authority, so I just gave him love, and I kept loving on him and till probably like a year later, one day we were at the group, and he starts crying, and he says, Thank you, because I understand what I did that day was wrong, but you didn't judge me, you showed me mercy, and now he serves the Lord. Come on, so be kind to old people, and number five, and this is the last one. I care for the spiritually lost, I care for the spiritually lost. You know, it's so easy to like help the people that you know, to talk to the people that you know. It's more difficult maybe to help the enemies as I was talking, but the best way to defeat an enemy is to turn them into a friend. So, another way, as I was reading, is to care for the spiritual lust. I want you to think in your life, how many people don't know Jesus? How many people you come across day to day and they they don't know the Lord? They're going through probably the same things we're going through. Maybe they're going through a difficult time as I was sharing. Uh the past two months have been very, very difficult for me. My health, uh, they've been probably like the hardest in my whole life. Or my yeah, now this overcame it probably took number one spot after I got chicken pox at 24. That was hard. But this has been a struggle for the past two months, and as I was reflecting on this this week, ready to take my medicine. I said, Wow, imagine the people that is going through maybe someone is going through this same thing, but they don't have the peace of the Lord, they don't have the hope that Jesus can come and bring in a difficult moment. Let me tell you, even if you're going through a difficult time, even if you're going through a difficult moment, let me tell you, there is someone out there that is going through the same and they don't have the hope of Jesus, and you have it. Come on, praise Jesus. John 3 16 is a well-known verse, probably one of the best known verses around the world. It says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Who in your life needs hope, truth, and salvation? Today, I want to encourage you. To be a blessing, to show mercy to that person and bless them and share what God has done in your life. Bring them hope in a world that is hopeless. I'm sure God is gonna use you, and that will bring you so much joy, so much happiness to be able to help other people. I want you to stand for a moment. I know many of you want today say, I need some mercy in my life. I want to be that person. But the only way to become merciful is to receive God's mercy in your life. It's to be sure that God created you, He brought you here, you're here for a purpose. It's not a mistake that you're here this morning, it's not a mistake that you came here this morning, that you're part of this community. It is not by chance, it is God that brought you here in this moment, in this time, for you to receive his mercy and to show it to other people. I'm telling you, this city needs people who can show mercy to other people, and you're one of them. You're you've been called to show mercy. Ephesians 2, verse 4 and 5. It says, Because of his great love, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in sin. It is by grace that you have been saved. So let me tell you, God has forgiven you, He has set you free from guilt, and just need to allow God to transform your life with His love. Today, right there where you are, I want to invite you to place your hand over your heart and say, Lord, I'm ready to receive your forgiveness, ready to receive healing. If I've been hurt, maybe I've been hurting for a long time, but today I'm ready to receive. I'm ready to Lord accept the sacrifice you did on the cross for me. Lord, thank you. I accept your sacrifice, and I ask you to cleanse me with your blood. Lord, set me free of guilt, let set me free of judgment, of criticism. Set me free, Lord, and give me compassion, give me mercy for me to show other people in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen. Praise Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 25:03

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