Seven Ways to Be Merciful

“God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7 NLT).

In yesterday’s devotional, we talked about seven facets of mercy. Today, I want you to consider some personal application questions for each of the aspects. I challenge you to commit an act of premeditated mercy in each of these categories this week.

Wait. Isn’t there a tension between mercy and personal responsibility? Yes, there is. But I have personally decided that if I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of being too gracious, too merciful, and too forgiving. I’d rather go overboard on mercy—just look at what Jesus did on the cross.

So, how will you be merciful?

• Be patient with people’s quirks. What person in your life has irritating quirks? How can you practice patience with that person this week?
• Help anyone around you who is hurting. See who around you is obviously hurting—and then look for a way you can help this week. If you can’t find anybody, then you’re not paying attention. Look closer!

• Give people a second chance. Who in your life needs a second chance? How can you show that person mercy and compassion this week?

• Do good to those who hurt you. Maybe you’re suffering from an old wound that you have not been able to let go of. Choose to forgive and then turn it around for good. Who is that person in your life? Will you make a phone call or a visit this week?

• Be kind to those who offend you. Who offends you? Maybe it’s a politician or a comedian that you can pray for. Maybe it’s a Facebook friend who has different views and says some pretty offensive things. How can you be intentional about showing kindness to that person this week?
• Build bridges of love to the unpopular. What person first comes to mind when you think of an outcast? Who spends their lunch breaks eating alone or doesn’t seem to have any friends at soccer games? What specific thing will you do this week to bridge the gap between you and that person with love?

Value relationships over rules. What unbeliever could you invite over for dinner in the next few weeks? Will you then step up and invite that person to church? This is your ministry of mercy.

Talk It Over

Will you pray this prayer today? “Heavenly Father, your Word convicts me. I want your blessing on my life, and I want to be a merciful person. As I look at these seven things, I think of shortcomings and weaknesses in my own life. I pray that rather than just hearing the Word, I would do something about it. Give me the courage to be merciful. Give me the strength this week to step out in faith and do radical, premeditated acts of mercy that point others to you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

https://pastorrick.com/seven-ways-to-be-merciful/?roi=echo7-35168985893-53777744-a4ab8183bf249f5f872fe3e0bdaf9bdf

Seven Characteristics of Mercy

“The wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy” (James 3:17 NLT).

Mercy is like a diamond; it is multi-faceted. Today we’re going to look at seven facets of mercy, because I guarantee that learning how to be an agent of mercy will transform your relationships.

1. Mercy means being patient with people’s quirks.

How do you get more patience for your kids, spouse, or friends? The Bible says in James 3:17, “The wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy” (NLT). The wiser you become, the more patient and merciful you become.

2. Mercy means helping anyone around you who is hurting.

You cannot love your neighbor as yourself without being merciful. Proverbs 3:27 says, “Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it” (GNT). But God is not simply watching what you do. He’s watching your attitude: “[When you] show mercy, do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:8 NIV).

3. Mercy means giving people a second chance.

When somebody hurts us, we normally want to get even or write that person off. But the Bible says, “Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don’t yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ”(Ephesians 4:31-32 CEV).

4. Mercy means doing good to those who hurt you.

Mercy is giving people what they need, not what they deserve. Why should we do it? Because that’s what God does with us: “Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because [God] is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36 NIV).

5. Mercy means being kind to those who offend you.

You’ve got to be more interested in winning people to Christ than in winning an argument. Jude 1:22-23 says, “Show mercy to those who have doubts. Save others by snatching them from the fire of hell. Show mercy to others, even though you are afraid that you might be stained by their sinful lives”(GW).

6. Mercy means building bridges of love to the unpopular.

This is what I call premeditated mercy, because you intentionally build friendships with people who don’t have friends or who are not accepted at work or in society.

When the Pharisees questioned why Jesus ate with tax collectors and other unpopular people, Jesus said, “‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners” (Matthew 9:13 NLT).

7. Mercy means valuing relationships over rules.

Romans 13:10 says, “Love fulfills the requirements of God’s law” (NLT). If you want to show mercy, put people before policies. Put their needs before procedures. Put relationships before regulations. Choose love over law.

https://pastorrick.com/seven-characteristics-of-mercy/?roi=echo7-35167343549-53775849-6417b985b314ef03506fde7fe8b2354c

Four Ways God Answers Your Prayers

By Rick Warren — October 26, 2018

”You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:11-13 NLT). God always answers every single prayer—just not always the way you want—and he does it in one of four ways. When the request is not right, God says, “No.” Just like parents say “no” to their kids for a hundred good reasons, God doesn’t owe you an explanation every time he says “no” to your request. When the timing is not right, God says, “Slow.” There’s a big difference between a delay and a denial. “No” and “not yet” are not the same thing, and learning and accepting the difference shows spiritual maturity. When the request and timing are right, but you’re not right, God says, “Grow.” He wants to do something in your life before he answers your prayer because you’re not yet ready to handle the answer. When the request is right and the timing’s right and you’re right, then God says, “Go.” God often gives us the green light to our prayers—and it’s a reason to celebrate! Luke 11:11-13 says, “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (NLT). God is never going to give you anything that is hurtful or bad for you. After all, if even imperfect parents know how to give good gifts to their kids, won’t God, who is good and perfect, do even more for you? He is ready to answer your prayer—in his own perfect time and way. https://pastorrick.com/four-ways-god-answers-your-prayers/?roi=echo7-34388501162-53391389-92f6e1aade95f5802e975228e731fe77

Patiently Trust His Timing

God's direction and timing is always perfect and always with a purpose - but it is often with a purpose we may not initially see or understand. Even when we earnestly ask for direction through prayer and the study of His Word, God's answers are usually not what we expect and are often perceived as slow in arriving. However, His direction and timing still remains, always perfect and always with a purpose.

God called Abraham to follow Him when Abraham was already seventy-five years old. Though advanced in years, God blessed Abraham with great abundance and soon promised he would have many descendants; "I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted" (Genesis 13:16).

Although this was a wonderful promise from God, it certainly did not seem possible. Not only was Abraham an old man, but his wife, Sarah, had never been able to have children and was now long past the normal child bearing years. Therefore, when Sarah failed to become pregnant - when God's promise was apparently going to be unfulfilled - she formulated a plan to "help" God.

Genesis 16:2
"The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her."

Since this was an accepted practice and seemed like a reasonable way to fulfill God's promise, Abraham agreed. Not surprisingly, great tension soon developed between Sarah and her maidservant. This tension increased when Ishmael was born and even continues today with the unfortunate hostilities we see in the region of the Middle East. Abraham clearly heard the call and promise of God, but he became impatient with God's timing and resorted to a worldly solution.

It was another thirteen years before God fulfilled His promise through the birth of Isaac. These were thirteen long years of waiting and wondering if God had forgotten...but God's direction and timing is always perfect and always with a purpose. With Abraham one hundred years old and Sarah ninety, the birth of Isaac left no doubt that God was in complete control and guiding the events in Abraham's life.

In a very real sense, we are foreigners in this place and time; "Aliens and strangers on earth" (Hebrews 11:13). We will never understand how all the pieces fit together until we stand before the Creator of the Universe. Until then, we must continue to love and worship Him with all our heart. We must continue to seek His face and ask His guidance for every step. We must continue to follow His direction and patiently trust His timing.

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1102184301023&ca=ef07aedc-5dd0-4b23-871c-7bc26a382324

What Does It Mean That Jesus Is Creator?

The Bible teaches that Jesus was the creative agent through which God the Father acted to make all things. Moreover, Jesus "uphold[s] all things by the word of His power" (Hebrews 1:3), acting as the ongoing sustainer of the universe.

Aaron Burden/Unsplash

The biblical conclusion is that Jesus Christ was the agent of creation at the will of the Father, and that both the Father and Jesus were involved in the planning and design of the universe.

John 1:1-14 clearly outlines Jesus’ role as Creator of the physical world: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:1-3, John 1:14).

Also inherent in this passage is the fact that Jesus Himself was not created, but rather existed eternally with God the Father (for more information on this vital point, see Was Jesus a Created Being? .) Ephesians 3:9 and Hebrews 1:1-2 affirm that God created the physical world through Jesus Christ, but Colossians 1:16-17 further clarifies that Jesus also created even non-physical things such as positions of authority: ”by Him all things were created … visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”

This does not mean that God the Father was not involved with creation, or cannot also rightly be called the Creator. This is seen in the creation of man when God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). The use of the plural pronouns indicates the involvement of both God the Father and the Word, who was the pre-incarnate Jesus (John 1:14). Hebrews 1:1-2 states that God the Father created the worlds through Jesus, showing that they were, jointly, the Creators. Further evidence for the unified creative role is found in Ecclesiastes 12:1, which says, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth…” The underlying Hebrew text is actually plural here and says “Creators,” acknowledging both the Father and Christ.

Therefore, the biblical conclusion is that Jesus Christ was the agent of creation at the will of the Father, and that both the Father and Jesus were involved in the planning and design of the universe. A succinct way to express this properly is to state that God is the Creator, with the term “God” referring collectively to God the Father and Jesus Christ. This linguistic convention is used in Genesis 1:26 and elsewhere throughout the Bible to denote both beings. For a more detailed discussion of the roles of God the Father and Jesus Christ in creation, please see Who Is Our Creator?

https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-questions-and-answers/what-does-it-mean-that-jesus-is-creator

You Can’t Have a Closed Heart If You Want to Understand Jesus : Pope rancis

In order to understand Jesus, we cannot have closed hearts, but rather need those that are courageous and forward-looking.

Pope Francis stressed this during his daily morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta as he asked those gathered to ask themselves to consider their own faith in Christ, reported Vatican Radio.

“How is my faith in Jesus Christ?” he urged them to reflect, as he reflected on today’s readings.

Recalling today’s Gospel from St. Mark, which recounted the miraculous healing of a paralytic in Capernaum, Francis stressed that ‘no one can buy faith,’ for it is ‘a gift that changes our life.’

Must Open Our Hearts

In order to really understand Jesus, he underscored, we cannot have a “closed heart,” and rather, need to follow the path of forgiveness and humiliation.

To illustrate what it means to really have faith, the Pope turned to the people of Capernaum, who were ready to do anything to get closer to Jesus, taking whatever risks may have come their way. So confident they were in Him and His healing, they overcrowded and surrounded the home where the Lord would heal. He also reminded them that the roof had to be opened for the paralyzed man to be lowered into the home.

Need for Courageous, Forward-looking Hearts

“They had faith,” the Pope exclaimed, “the same faith as that lady who, also in a crowd, arranged to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, Jesus’ robe, when He was going to the house of Jairus, that she too might be healed.” He observed this was the same faith of the centurion, who wished for his servant to be healed.

“Strong faith, courageous, forward – looking,” the Holy Father said, “hearts to faith.”

Closed Hearts Cannot Understand Jesus

In the paralytic’s story, the Jesuit Pope said, “Jesus goes a step further,” of not just healing, but forgiving.

“There were those there who had their hearts closed, but accepted – up to a point – that Jesus was a healer – but forgiving sins is strong! This man is over the top! He has no right to say this, because only God can forgive sins.”

Only Jesus knew what they were thinking, the Pope reflected, and said: ‘I am God’? – No, He did not say that. [He said,] ‘Why are you thinking these things? Because you know that the Son of Man has the power – this is what makes him special [It. è il passo avanti] – to forgive sins: ‘Arise, take up your mat and be healed.’”

The Holy Father observed that here, “Jesus begins to speak the language that at some point will discourage people, some of disciples who followed him – for, hard is this language, when he speaks of eating his body as a way of salvation.”

All doubt: but are you a disciple that stays, or goes away?

He urged those gathered to reflect whether Jesus does, really, change their lives.

When Jesus shows up with a power greater than that of a man, “To give that forgiveness, to give life, to recreate humanity, even His disciples doubt, and [some of them] go away.” Jesus asked a small group, ‘Do you also want to go away?’”

“Faith in Jesus Christ: how is my faith in Jesus Christ? Do I believe that Jesus Christ is God, the Son of God? And has this faith been life-changing? Does my faith make this year of grace begin in my heart, this year of pardon, this year of growing in nearness to the Lord?”

No One Deserves Faith

Faith is a gift, the Pope stressed, noting, No one ‘deserves’ faith nor can buy it. Therefore, we are to always be humble, repent and pray: ‘Forgive me, Lord. You are God. You ‘can’ forgive my sins.”

The Pontiff prayed that the Lord “make us grow in faith.”

The people, he noted, “sought Jesus in order that they might hear Him, because he spoke “with authority, not as the scribes speak.”

Also, he added, they followed Him because He healed people, because he performed miracles – but in the end, “these people, after seeing this, went away and they were all amazed, and glorified God.”

Praise

“Praise: the proof that I believe that Jesus Christ is God in my life, that He was sent to me to ‘forgive me,’ is praise; if I have the ability to praise God. Praise the Lord. This is free – praise is gratis.”

He noted the Holy Spirit gives us this feeling and ability to express this, bringing us to say: ‘You are the only God.’

The Pontiff concluded, praying that the Lord “makes us grow in our faith in Jesus Christ, God, who forgives us, who gives us a year of grace – and this faith leads us to praise.”

 https://zenit.org/articles/popes-morning-homily-you-cant-have-a-closed-heart-if-you-want-to-understand-jesus/

How Can I Know if the Holy Spirit Is Leading Me?

Ask yourself: Are you striving to become more like Jesus Christ, allowing God's Spirit to change you at your core?

Tom Pottiger/Unsplash

Just as a campfire can be returned to life by fanning the flames and putting on fuel, so too can God’s Spirit. Increased prayer and study, service to God, turning to Him and drawing near all can help us to nurture that fire within.

When a person reaches a point where they become interested in committing their life to God, they enter into the covenant of baptism. Buried in the waters of baptism (Romans 6:4), the believer’s past sins—acknowledged and repented of—are forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ on their behalf (Hebrews 9:15-22). Coming up out of the water a new life in Christ begins (2 Corinthians 5:17) made possible by the Spirit of God dwelling within them through prayer and the laying on of hands (Acts 8:6; 2 Timothy 1:6).

According to what we see in Scripture, that concludes the act of baptism, but the spiritual growth process that follows is one that continues for a lifetime. It is not a one-time commitment, it is a lifetime of pruning, of overcoming sin and becoming more and more like Jesus Christ every day. The covenant of baptism simply represents the first step.

It is that process of pruning, overcoming sin, and becoming more and more like Jesus Christ with every day that is an indication of a life that is being led by the Holy Spirit.

Whether a person is being led by God’s Spirit is an extremely important question, because baptism and receipt of the Holy Spirit isn’t enough to become a part of the family of God. That’s not the litmus test. The apostle Paul writes in the book of Romans that those who are “led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God” (Romans 8:12-15). Being led by God’s Spirit is important, because a person can receive God’s Spirit and through negligence or inaction quench its fire in their life (1 Thessalonians 5:19). God doesn’t desire individuals who are not actively living His way of life in the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and other locations). The apostle Paul also wrote to Timothy and admonished him to fan the flames of that Spirit in his life (2 Timothy 1:5-7).

We are called to change. Yielding ourselves to God’s Spirit in our lives and allowing it to change us at our core, transforming our mind, speech and actions, is a necessity. In Galatians 5, there is a contrast made between the lusts of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit (the things witnessed in the life of someone who is led by God’s Spirit). In Galatians 5:22-23, we see that if an individual is increasing in godly love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, they are putting to death the carnal lusts of the flesh and allowing God’s Spirit to lead and transform them each day.

As time goes on, there will be less of the carnal responses and more of the responses God desires: love, patience, self-control and the like.

So to answer the question posed:

1. Have you received God’s Spirit by the laying on of hands?

2. Are you overcoming your sins?

3. Are your thoughts, speech and actions becoming more and more like Christ with each passing day?

If you answered yes to all three of those questions, then you can reasonably conclude that you are being led by God’s Spirit in your life. Keep nurturing that Spirit and growing spiritually, and listen for its promptings in your life.

If you answered no to these questions, it is an indication that either you haven’t received God’s Spirit, or that you are not properly yielding yourself to it in your life.

The good news is, it’s not too late.

Just as a campfire can be returned to life by fanning the flames and putting on fuel, so too can God’s Spirit. Increased prayer and study, service to God, turning to Him and drawing near (James 4:8) all can help us to nurture that fire within. Once it is kindled anew, it is important for us to continue down that path and continue to zealously feed that fire.

Learn more about being led by God’s Holy Spirit in our free study aid, The Power of the Holy Spirit .

https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-questions-and-answers/how-can-i-know-if-the-holy-spirit-is-leading-me