Tag: mercy

A Prayer of Urgency

uI’ve been praying more than I ever have because I have been asking God more than ever to create in me a burden for the lost. And I’m starting to get His attention. I’m feeling an urgency to pray more, not that I have to but I’m wanting to. For Him to create in me a pure heart and actions that follow.

A couple of days ago God had directed me to Matthew 9:13 “For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Got it God! I asked Him ” Show me what this really means…in Gary terms.” He spoke ” I AM Mercy.” God is love, and love comes from God. Like the prodigal son who went away for a while, lived his life the way he wanted to and found out that the grass isn’t greener on the other side. God, just like a parent who would want His child back uses His people who are in Him to call out to those who are lost. Simple, but some of us have a hard time with this.

We become busy bees losing track of the time. We have to ” Work while it is day; night is coming, when no one is able to work.”

On a Thursday morning at 6 a.m. out of no where my computer started playing worship music. I staggered into my office still half asleep to turn it off. The presence of God was strong but I was so tired and did not feel like praying. As I began to walk back to my bed God spoke to me and said ” I am coming very soon.” Should I have prayed? Of course but that bed sounded pretty good and the comforts of life got to me that time. What does all this mean? It means that God so desperately loves His children so much that He wants them to be saved. It’s not God’s will that any should perish but have everlasting life.

GFJ

Aching for Mercy

Have you ever ached for Mercy? Cried out to God for a miracle or just simply asking Him to meet a need in your life? 

This Bartemais was blind from birth. He has never seen a sunrise or a sunset, the face of his mother and father or sibling’s. He had never walked by himself, always needed someone to walk beside him. This blind man that everyone mocked at as they walked by him as Bartemais sat at the town’s square everyday, pleading, begging for relief. He was waiting, expecting a miracle until one day Mercy walked by.

Luke 18:35-43

[35] As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. [36] And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. [37] They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” [38] And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Are you persistent in your walk with God enough to where if you don’t see Jesus working in your life you will give up? Or are we going to seek His face so that we may hear him just like Bartemais had to do because that was his only option?

Persistance Pays Off

[39] And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

We tend to listen to the crowd more than Jesus. But this man was desperate more than ever. He wasn’t embarassed and didn’t listen to the crowd by crying out for Him he was wanting His attention because Bartemais had heard of this man they call Jesus. This was his only chance for a miracle. Nothing or no one got in his way.

[40] And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, [41] “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” [42] And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” [43] And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. (Luke 18:35-43 ESV)

Jesus stood still. All the comotion of the crowd, the shouting the noise on the journey to Jerusalem for His brutal death, He still took the time to stop and answer a persistent plea for mercy. After years of desperation and incredible faith, Bartemais was made whole and followed Jesus. 

This story would have never been known if Bartemais would not have cried out for a miracle. He would not have been able to see the sunrise or a sunset, the face of his mother and father. He would be walked to this particular spot where he would sit and beg with no one knowing that he was aching for Mercy.

 Jesus knew what Bartemais needed. Jesus asked the question with full knowledge. But God still wants us to tell Him our needs as a constant expression of our trust on Him.

Are you aching for Mercy?

GFJ

compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.

What is mercy? There are several Hebrew words that are associated with God’s mercy:

Kapporeth

      – means “ransom,” “propitiatory,” or “the mercy seat.”

Racham

      – means “to love,” “to have compassion,” or “to show mercy.”

Chesed

      – means “goodness,” “kindness,” “mercifulness,” or “loving-kindness.”

These Greek words are associated with mercy in the New Testament:

Eleemon

      – means “to show mercy,” “to pity,” “to have compassion,” or “to be merciful.”

Oiktirmos

      – carries the concept of “compassion” or “pity.”

Act Justly. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly

act-justly

What are God’s 3 requirements for you?

ACT JUSTLY. LOVE MERCY. WALK HUMBLY.

Can it be this simple?

ACT JUSTLY.
(Your personal morality is drawn from God’s Word)

– Justly means the act of God declaring men free from guilt and acceptable to Him and counting them righteousness.

Let’s begin in Micah 6

1  “Hear what the LORD says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the LORD has an indictment against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.”

3“O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.”

5 “O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”

6 “With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?

7  “Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8  “He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:1-8 ESV)

God is reminding His people how blessed they are. After asking for the facts – why they were so constantly opposed to Him and His way of life, which was really to their best good, God gave His side of the story.

1. I brought you up out of Egypt.

2. I redeemed you from the house of slavery and hard bondage.

3. I sent Moses. Aaron, and Miriam before you to bring you into this wonderful land.

4. I protected you from the curses of Balaam and suffered him not to harm you.

5. I gave you a true revelation of Myself and My way of life. I made it clear that I do not require costly sacrifices to atone for my sin.

6. I did not require your firstborn for forgiveness of your sins, nor any fruit of your body for the sin of your soul.

7. I showed you the righteous principles of life what is good;  and all I require is for you to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before Me.

8. I revealed My laws and penalties so that you could know them and the One who has meted out punishment.

9. I cannot but demand just weights and measures, and hold every man accountable for his sins, punishing you with sickness, desolation, war, and calamity because of them.

10. You keep the statues of Omri and the works of Ahab, and walk in their wicked counsels instead of obeying Me and My laws.

We may think at times that we are giving up too much to live for Christ, really?

I am not going to list the pros and cons of living for Christ because there is no pros and cons to debate which life is better; the sinful life or the Godly life. We all know the punishment for sin is death, how can you debate over that? Not possible. While some people try to negotiate with God, why they want that sin in their life; is no excuse.

Those who are in Christ are justified by a righteous, holy God. We each are held accountable for our actions and deserve the outcome by what we have done.

LOVE MERCY.
(Show the same patience and forgiveness to the fools and sinners around you that God has shown to you.)

– Mercy, what better way of explaining mercy than someone who can forgive another by what act they had done.

As we read in Micah, God is having a controversy with Isreal. Micah in similar fashion to other prophets such as Hosea and Amos, proclaims a message of judgement to a people persistently pursuing evil.  He presents his three oracles, or cycles, of doom and hope as if he were in a courtroom.

Micha’s concern can be summarized in what God wants to see in His people: Justice and equity tempered with mercy and compassion as the result of a humble and obedient relationship with the Lord.

~ His kindness leads us to repentance.

WALK HUMBLY.
(Everything good in your life is God’s gift of love to you.)

It is a state of mind well pleasing to God; it preserves the soul in  tranquility and makes us patient under trials Biblically speaking, humility is  the opposite of pride.

A humbled life can lead to so many more opportunities in God than one can think. How can one learn without being humbled? How can one lean in the direction of God without being humble? And how can one have the right kind of relationship with God without being humble?

Being humble is key to breaking strongholds in your life as well. My years of preaching at an AA clinic; i would see this all the time, those who had pride and did not want to do anything with God, all they talked about was the rules. Their hearts would be hardened each time that they turned away the opportunity to be set free. Having this kind of attitude and pride is dangerous in a life of a Christian. We must be humble in all that we do.

6 Things God does not require in coming before Him and being accepted by Him.

1. Bowing self before Him.
2. Coming with burnt offering’s
3. Bringing thousand’s of animals to Him.
4. Offering Him 10,000 rivers of oil (v7)
5. Giving the firstborn for transgression.
6. Giving the fruit of the body for the sin of the soul.

3 Things God does require.

1. Every man to do justly.

2. To love mercy

3. To walk humble before Him

Does He ask too much from us? by living in Him, no. It’s the least we can do!

G