Dr Creflo Dollar during his session read from Psalm 145:9-8. From the text, Dr Dollar mentioned that God’s mercy is transformative. He went on to give 3 definitions of God’s mercy.
In the first definition, he defined God’s mercy as compassion or forgiveness shown by somebody who has the power to punish or harm another person.
He however shared his disappointment at how people in the body of Christ fail to show mercy to others when God has shown mercy to them. “What grieves God is how we treat one another. This power of mercy is what we need to understand” he said.
For the second definition, he described God’s mercy as the love that responds to human needs in an unexpected or unmerited way. Dr Dollar also mentioned that at the base of mercy is forgiveness. “At its base, mercy is forgiveness. We all need forgiveness. We live in a generation where people are stubborn when it comes to forgiveness,” he said. Reading from Matthew 9: 13, he explained that Jesus is the face of God’s mercy and that the power of God’s mercy will change what needs to be changed in the life of a sinner or believer.
In the third definition of God’s mercy, he said that it is bad we deserved, but we did not get it. The bad we deserve is replaced by favour and that is called grace. “Jesus came to release undeserved favour and mercy to you. The bad you deserved you don’t get, that is God’s mercy. The mercy of God is responsible for where you are right now”, he explained.
Dr Dollar went on to read Lamentations 3:22-23, from the text he showed that we wake up every morning to receive a new batch of God’s mercies that will transform our lives each day until we are in the image of Christ.
“We spend so much time on how much we love God, but faith works by how much love God has for you. When you think God hates you, you will rebel against God. You have to have faith in the love of God. When you experience the power of God’s love you will begin to work in miracles. The faithful love of the Lord will never end. His mercies are there every morning.” He described from the text.
While talking about God’s love, Dr Dollar said that experiencing God’s love is an intimate, personal relationship and that even when we have a lot of knowledge about God, we might still not know Him or experience His love. “Have you experienced God’s love today? We need to ask for his presence. The first act of the holy spirit is to pour the love of God into our heart.” He said.
When breaking down Psalm 103:8, Dr Dollar pointed out that God is plenteous in mercy, and that our sins will never outdo God’s mercy.
He went on to remind the congregation that God is ready to forgive us when we release our faith for the mercies of God. Psalm 86:5 You will see mercy in the same place as the power of God. In Ephesians 3:18-20, the Man of God said that we can experience the fullness of life through the mercies of God, and used Chapter 1 of Jonah to show how merciful God was to Jonah even when he was unwilling to obey Him or show mercy.
In concluding his session, Dr Dollar clarifies that in the case where we feel that God did not show mercy, we should remember that He allows some things to happen to us so that we can mature.
“We must mature, and sometimes there are certain things that happen to us so that we can mature. God is preparing you to mature for the ultimate will of God. Don’t get stuck in transition, allow him to take you to where he wants you to be, ” Dr Dollar concluded.