Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." Ah! So then, crying for mercy is a good thing.

To be merciful means we forgive those who wrong or hurt us. To be shown mercy means we are forgiven for the wrongs and hurts we have done others - including God.

Did you know that we have wronged and hurt God? It's true. Almighty God up there in Heaven, the Creator of the whole universe, is offended when we -

- recognize someone else as more holy and important,

- make something we admire more than Him,

- speak disrespectfully of Him,

- fail to rest every seventh day,

- dishonour our parents who gave us life,

- kill or destroy someone else,

- are unfaithful to our marriage commitments,

- take what is not ours,

- lie about the next person,

- desire what someone else has.

If we grasped how awesome and holy God is, and how personally involved He is in the details of our lives, we might get a glimpse of how He hurts when we dishonour Him. Or reject His gift of His Son, Jesus, sent specifically to redeem us and show us mercy.

We find it hard to admit to sin. I know I did well into my adult years when I began to see myself from God's perspective. I've wondered if this is because I rarely saw my parents admit to a mistake. I had no role model for confession. Did you?

Especially if you feel you could never cry for mercy, as is a sign of pride, which especially is evil in God's sight. It is a rebellion against God, such as Lucifer committed - and it turned him into Satan, the arch enemy of God - again, I say, especially if you think this would be too embarrassing, it is imperative that you do it. Without that humble admission that you need God's forgiveness, you will never get into fellowship and peace with God.