Exodus 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

Matthew 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

I will not tell you I know God’s mercy from His perspective. I can only speak to the mercies that I have received. I see the need for mercies in my brothers and sisters in Christ and I pray, “Father be merciful.” In some cases, He is merciful. The number of unanswered prayers for mercy are far greater. Does that mean our God does not love those people any less? No, not to my understanding.

Why does God choose to be merciful to some in need and not others? That is something I cannot answer and something in me says, “Don’t question your God.” We do not know how people’s sufferings will play out in the overall picture of salvation. Jesus, in response to the Pharisees, linked mercy to salvation. Only God knows what is in the hearts of His people and how His will is exacted in mercy.

We only see what is before us. God knows all things. We should be thankful for mercies shown and testify of the goodness of our God. We should not allow mercies withheld from our sight to dampen our faith, nor keep us from praying.

If my healing should cause the loss of one soul, let me suffer.

Exodus 13:2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.

Exodus 19:10 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,

Exodus 19:22-23 And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.

Here we see men being asked to make an effort to sanctify themselves. The first is to dedicate yourselves to God throughout the generations. Give your children to the Lord and treat them as the Lord’s. How else will generational blessings be established if we do not pass them down to our children?

Secondly is this issue of appearance. Any particular way of life which is established as walking with God and obeying His commands must be attractive to those outside the camp. This includes how we treat one another. No one will ever want to join a group if all they see is backbiting and mistrust.

The third is boundaries. Respect of boundaries is essential in relationships. God will allow you to come only so far and those who serve the Lord must also establish boundaries and guard them. Boundaries prevent abuse. The Lord does not want His children abused in any way, for any reason.

At the core of man’s sanctification is a dedication to an attitude of respect in holding the things of the Lord as sacred and separate, not to profane nor contaminate.

We are not perfect in performance, we still have sin in our lives. That is why we need His mercy and forgiveness. Those are our next two words to examine.