Daily declaration - Mercy
The Mercy Declaration (daily reminder of the "big idea")
We see ourselves in Christ as mercy agents. We will live this day in SYNC with the intentions of our High Priest, Jesus, when he presented his own lifeblood to God the Father on our behalf.
OR,
This is a day to remember the sacrifice of Jesus and to live like it matters. (This version is included in the "default wording" for the Jubilee Cards.)
OR,
This is a day to remember the sacrifice of Jesus and to live that changes everything.
OR,
This is a day to remember that Jesus has presented his blood as our sacrifice, opening the floodgates of mercy for us.
OR,
This is a Day of Atonement, and we have mercy.
Use the above or any similar wording to keep the mercy of Christ on your mind as you go through your day. Stay alert for people who live either with guilt or in denial of guilt and don't know there is any other option. God did not intend for any human being to live like that, and you could be God's way of connecting them to the mercy he intended for everybody.
The more God's mercy flows through more and more people, the more famous Jesus gets as the source of mercy, and the more the world slips out of the oppressive hold of guilt. That is what mercy agents are campaigning for.
FAQs about the Declaration
1. What is the point of making a "Mercy Declaration" at all?
Fearlessness, significance, and a smile that lasts all day.
Fearlessness because agents always have back-up from whoever authorized them and sent them. By repeating the Mercy Declaration, we remind ourselves that we have the power of Jesus the Messiah behind us. That helps when get into scary situations as his representatives. We trust him to get us through or bail us out.
Significance because mercy agents are a central part of the strategy Jesus launched to spread heaven's mercy across the world after his final sacrifice. What could be more fulfilling than that role in his plan?
A smile because smiling is what we do every time we get reminded that God is bringing us back to himself by his mercy, not condemning us to death for rejecting his Son, the Messiah. We can never really fathom that mercy, but we can still enjoy it without having to be able to explain it.
2. Can I honestly make this declaration if I'm not convinced that religious rituals with sacrifice and blood have anything to do with the world today?
Surprisingly, you can. The death of Jesus on the cross was as far from a religious ritual as you can get. It was a totally down to earth Roman execution of a condemned criminal.
Jesus's presentation of his blood as a sacrifice in the Temple in heaven was not a ritual either because rituals are symbolic things humans do on earth, hoping they will influence heaven. Jesus's presentation of his sacrificial blood was done in heaven, not on earth. It went beyond symbolizing, hoping or trying. It accomplished his purpose of restoring the relationship of God and humanity. It changed the game, showing how far God was willing to go to heal, bless, and connect humanity.
Jesus today is much more interested in our actual whole-life response to his sacrifice than in any religious ritual we may do to remind us of that sacrifice. When we make the declaration, we connect his sacrifice to our everyday life, and it redefines us as mercy agents. That's what he wants, and you can do that even if the language of blood and sacrifice is foreign to you.