To be or not to be: Merciful
Micah 6:8 (NKJV) 8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you, But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Hebrews 4:14-16 14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
How often do we consider the mercy of God? We know that grace, in its simplest form, is unmerited favor. In other words, God gives us what we can not earn and do not deserve.
Conversely, mercy is God sparing us from what we deserve. And what do we deserve? We deserve the penalty of death. But while we were dead in our sins, Jesus came, paid the penalty, and reconciled us to the Father. And that is called mercy.
The issue for many of us is that we are eager to receive mercy, but we are not always ready to show others the same. Why? I think we simply cannot find it within ourselves to forgive multiple times, but often this is what mercy requires.
Additionally, we want mercy to be conditional upon the one who offended us being penitent, perhaps even begging us for forgiveness. But pay attention to Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:7 (NKJV) 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Showing mercy is not dependent upon another’s words or actions. How hard is that? We simply cannot live into the righteousness of Jesus without appealing to Him daily for HIS strength, HIS guidance, HIS unconditional love.
May we who have received abundant mercy from God, choose to give mercy to others for no other reason than because we can.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
To Be or Not To Be: Righteous
Psalms 34:7-19 7 The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9 Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
I love these verses. I have talked often about the pathway of holiness. You see, in Psalm 14, Psalm 53 and Romans 3:10 we are told none is righteous, no not one. None except Jesus, that is.
Remember, Isaiah 64:6 says our righteousness is as filthy rags. This means we have no right standing before God apart from Jesus. So how do we clothe ourselves in righteousness? It is a daily choice to follow Jesus. The pathway of holiness is the way we achieve this choice.
Ps 34:11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
May we return to fearing God, seeking God, speaking good, and declaring that Jesus is Lord, now and forever.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
He Brought Me Out
Psalms 40:2-10 (ASV) 2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay;
And he set my feet upon a rock and established my goings.
3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God:
Many shall see it, and fear,
And shall trust in Jehovah.
4 Blessed is the man that maketh Jehovah his trust,
And respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O Jehovah my God, are the wonderful works which thou hast done,
And thy thoughts which are to us-ward:
They cannot be set in order unto thee;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering thou hast no delight in;
Mine ears hast thou opened:
Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I am come;
In the roll of the book it is written of me:
8 I delight to do thy will, O my God;
Yea, thy law is within my heart.
9 I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great assembly;
Lo, I will not refrain my lips,
O Jehovah, thou knowest.
10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart;
I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation;
I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great assembly.
Psalms 107:13-15 (NRSV) 13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress;
14 he brought them out of darkness and gloom,
and broke their bonds asunder.
15 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
Isn’t it odd how life takes its twists and turns? We plan, we save our money, we try to do the right things, yet the control we have over our own circumstances is sometimes tenuous at best.
David was well aware of the difficulties life throws our way. He knew where to turn when he was in despair, and he knew how to reach God in prayer. If we can learn nothing else, we must gain the understanding that God is our very present help in time of need—in good times and in troubled times we should praise the Lord.
What does praise in the time of discouragement accomplish? First, we take our focus off ourselves and turn it to God. There are no circumstances so great that God is overwhelmed. Secondly, when we praise God even in times of trouble, we are declaring our faith for all to see. What a great witness to sing with true joy even in the storm. Finally, we are lifted up by the mighty hand of God.
I am closing today with another hymn of the church.
He Brought Me Out
4. I’ll sing of His wonderful mercy to me,
I’ll praise Him till all men His goodness shall see;
I’ll sing of salvation at home and abroad,
Till many shall hear the truth and trust in God.
Refrain:
He brought me out of the miry clay,
He set my feet on the Rock to stay;
He puts a song in my soul today,
A song of praise, hallelujah!
May we share today the deliverance of God, giving hope to the hopeless and peace to the those in conflict.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We Must Believe
Hebrews 11:6-9 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise
Jeremiah 29:11 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Faith and hope-are they two sides of the same coin or are they completely different entities? When I think of the Old Testament saints, I am amazed by the faith they displayed. If we need to see to believe then we do not have faith, for by faith we believe in the unseen and hope in the impossible.
Faith, a strong belief or trust, when paired with hope, a confident expectation, is what keeps us going when we are tempted to give up. I know of no one whose life has been untouched by disappointment or disease. But God, in His mercy, gives us the ability to face whatever comes our way.
May we let our faith and hope grow and continue to grow, so that we can accomplish God’s will.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Live in Peace
1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 (NIV) 12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
Peace—inner calm, tranquility, absence of conflict.
Oh, how I love Paul’s words to the Thessalonians. Everything in these few verses provides us with a blueprint for living with and caring for others. Encourage, help, be patient with, do not pay back wrong but strive to do what is good. I have found that looking for good in others brings out the good in me. When I seek to see people through the eyes of Christ, I do not see their flaws, but I see people loved by God and therefore worthy of my love.
For years, I interpreted verse 18 to mean give thanks in spite of everything. That must be what he meant, right? No, when we are believers, Christ followers, we not only see life differently, we live differently. When we can begin to give thanks for adverse circumstances, then we are engaging in Kingdom living here on this earth.
May we today and every day rejoice always, stay in an attitude of prayer, and give thanks, for this is the will of God.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Seeking Holiness 