All tagged mercy
Jesus suffered and died to redeem us from sin, but what is sin really? Is it a rule that we break or more than that? Certainly, it is bad that a rule has been broken, but at its core there is something more, we are rebelling against God by so doing; we are separating ourselves from His will. Sometimes we sin knowingly, but quite often we do so without really understanding what we are doing, and occasionally we do so by simply turning away from doing what is right. So, is there a way to “sin no more?” Let’s consider these questions today.
What is our mission? What has God asked us to do? Is it to feed the bodies of hungry people, or to feed their souls? Is it to cloth the naked with soft wool, or to cloth them in the white robes of salvation? Is it to quench the thirst of parched mouths, or to give them living water to satisfy the spirit? Jesus sent His disciples into the world to deliver the gospel, and today He sends us too. Although we mercifully feed, clothe, and quinch the thirst of the needy, our primary mission is to minister to lost souls… to deliver the gospel message!
When I came to Jesus it was in full submission to Him, but have I served Him over all else in my life? Have I been the servant that God expects me to be, or has my commitment to Him become a convenience on my part? These are my thoughts this morning and as I seek the answers to them, I find that they often serve to convict me. I gauge my faith and belief against that of Jesus and find myself lacking. It is in moments like this that I cry out for mercy, grace, and to be covered in the blood of the perfect lamb, Jesus Christ. Will you join me in this quest for true faith, and a plea for mercy?
Am I a sinner? Can I lead a life of innocence? Am I seeking to be pure? Will God forgive me when I sin against Him? These are the questions man has always asked himself and which we are asking ourselves today as we contemplate sin in our lives, and the world around us. Let’s join together as one today as we listen to the words of the Apostle Paul and seek out our own salvation which God has planned and now works in us.
Are we too ashamed to speak to God, much less ask Him for something? Are we too embarrassed by our condition or too ashamed of our sin to reach out to Him for help? When should we bring our needs or our contrition before Him in prayer? When should we ask for forgiveness?
Did Jesus live die and rise from the grave, resurrected, to save you from your sins? Of course He did, but that is only part of the picture... the tip of the iceberg. Jesus did all of this to save not just you or me, but the world... and regardless of who we are, any one of us is but a small part of that.
I was lifted up by the message and scripture of my devotional reading today. The scripture reading that blessed me so immensely was from 2nd Corinthians. And, as I read this scripture, the words of my devotional reading this morning echoed in them. They spoke to me of Jesus being the pattern of prayer, selfless, and the great intercessor who stands at the right hand of God... In this I could see a lesson in how we should all pray for others… it was a lesson in love, and in comforting others.
This morning we study the story of the Canaanite woman who pursued Jesus, asking him to cure her daughter who was vexed by a devil. She knew that she wasn't a Jew, and thus unworthy of His attention, but she persisted in her worship of Jesus until He saw the faith she had in Him and granted her request.
Has some act of mercy ever led you into unexpected prayer? Have we ever performed something spontaneous and good for someone, then found that while doing so you found that you had been led into a place spiritually that you hadn’t anticipated, and yet it blessed you immensely? The things we do for those in need can have legs and sometimes they travel far into our spirituality. A simple act, a meal, a drink, an article of clothing, or any other act of mercy we perform, can drop us into some very deep waters of faith. When this happens we might be thrilled by the blessing, but sometimes we can be forced to look beyond our mercy at who we really are, or to see a deeper sin in the situation, and it will scare us.
Godlike Sympathies; I was touched this morning by how incredibly merciful, loving, and sympathetic God truly is. I thought of Jesus nailed to the cross and my eyes filled with tears; not so much for the suffering He endured (which always brings me to tears) but for the love, mercy, and sympathy that He and His Father have for mankind, and the grace that they continue to pour out on us. We saw it on Calvary, and we continue to see it every day in our own lives. Does it make us want to be like them?
Do we worry about what tomorrow brings? Do we fret over whether we will have enough to eat, or the other necessities of life we might require to survive? Well if we look closely at what Jesus taught us to pray for in the Lord’s Prayer, we will see that there is no mention of the physical things we will need for tomorrow; He only teaches us to pray for what we need right now. As a matter of fact Jesus tells us to pray specifically for today’s needs. Do we pray as He has taught us?
Today as I read my morning devotional, E.M. Bounds went on to speak deeper about the peace of God and the effect prayer has on worry and stress. So I am contemplating two of his thoughts as I read Philippians 4 once again.
Are you one of those people that will give someone the shirt off their back, but you won’t accept a gift yourself? Does it make you uncomfortable when someone does something for you; so much so that you have to repay them in some manner before you can rest? Then grace is probably your worst nightmare!
Jesus didn’t come to earth to redeem us because He felt sympathetic love for us, He came at His Father’s request to do a job, and that job was to defeat sin, overcome death, and to glorify God Himself. His task was to mend the rift that had occurred in the Garden of Eden between God the creator, Eve the woman, and Adam the man, whom He had created. He would do this by the only way possible... offering the blood sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus.