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August 19, 2023

God’s Mercy and Forgiveness

R. Sidwell Mokgothu   |   Read Romans 11:29-32

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Lectionary Week
August 14–20, 2023
Scripture Overview

Joseph has risen to a high position in Egypt, and now his brothers come searching for food in a time of famine. He reveals his true identity and reinterprets their evil intentions as being part of God’s plan. Sometimes we too are granted perspective to see God’s working in difficult times. The psalmist rejoices when God’s people are living in unity, as Joseph and his brothers were after their reunion. In Romans, Paul declares that his people are not rejected by the merciful God, for God’s promises are unchanging. In Matthew, Jesus teaches that God looks on the inside, not the outside. Thus, what you take into your body is less important than what comes from your heart, and God does not favor one ethnic group over another.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

Read Genesis 45:1-15. When have you experienced God’s grace in forgiving or being forgiven? How were those needing forgiveness still held responsible for their actions?Read Psalm 133. How has God called you to live in unity with those different from you? How do you receive God’s abundant blessing through such unity?Read Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32. How does the eternal mercy of God’s gifts and callings sustain you when it seems like God has rejected God’s people?Read Matthew 15:10-28. When have you, like the Canaanite woman, felt like you had to insist that Jesus come closer? How did your faith change or grow from this experience?

Respond by posting a prayer .

Romans 11:29-32

29 God’s gifts and calling can’t be taken back. 30 Once you were disobedient to God, but now you have mercy because they were disobedient. 31 In the same way, they have also been disobedient because of the mercy that you received, so now they can receive mercy too. 32 God has locked up all people in disobedience, in order to have mercy on all of them.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

Some Christians who gather for Holy Communion regularly confess with the liturgical words of the Anglican Prayer of Humble Access: “We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table; but you are the same Lord whose character is always to have mercy.” The gathered...

Merciful God, may your enduring mercy be upon leaders of governments, organizations, and all who have the power to transform and heal this world. Amen.


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The Upper Room Devotional Celebrates 90th Anniversary

The Upper Room Devotional Celebrates 90th Anniversary

More Than 1.5 Billion Copies Printed Worldwide Since 1935 NASHVILLE, Tenn. May 1, 2025 — The Read More

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