Mercy Blesses
Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
WHEN you think of someone who is merciful, who comes to
mind? Perhaps Mother Teresa is the 20th Century’s picture of mercy—one
who gave her life entirely to the broken and the poor. Perhaps we think of a
clergy person or we think of someone in our family—mothers are often portrayed
as merciful.
Mercy brings to
mind gracious and good people. But is there any problem in being merciful?
Society, perhaps, would see a problem. For in order to be merciful in the true
sense of the word, we must really give up a good deal of ourselves. We must
have a heart willing to forgive. We must be inclined to stop what we are doing
and adjust our “agenda” to the needs God places in our path. We must actually look
for places where we can intervene to demonstrate God’s peace and grace.
Yes, it is interesting how people look
upon the merciful. When I have taken time to show mercy to someone who doesn’t
really know me, I’m sometimes viewed with suspicion. Sometimes, the person is
incredulous that I would want to help. Sometimes they are very appreciative. Those
are some reactions mercy invokes—from critical assessment to bounteous
gratitude.
But Jesus promises the merciful will be
granted mercy from God. As in the other blessings on the Sermon on the Mount, there
is a promise from God himself (in the form of Jesus, the Son) that he will
reward those who seek after his ways and follow his example.
Demonstrating mercy brings us closer to God. Demonstrating
mercy glorifies the merciful God.
LIFE Link: Mercy becomes real when you realize Christ’s
mercy poured out for the salvation of all who believe.
Hello Pastor Bob James. So good to know you through your profile on the blogger. I am also glad to stop by your blog " Can you Really Trust God?" and the post on it " Mercy Blesses". I am eager to get a copy of your book a very title of your blog. I am blessed to go through your post and I am also glad to know that that you have travelled the World. I am from Mumbai, India and would be glad to know whether you did visit Mumbai, India earlier. Well about me I am also in the Pastoral ministry for last 35yrs in the great city of Mumbai a city with great contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor to bring healing to the broken hearted. We also encourage young people as well as adults from the West to come to Mumbai on a short / long term missions trip to work with us during their summer/ Christmas vacation. We would love to have your church young people who are interested in missions to come to Mumbai to work with us on a short / long term missions trip. God willing I am coming to States in the month of June/ July and will be very glad to visit you as I am most likely to visit Madison in Wisconsin. My email id is : dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede. Looking forward to hear from you very soon.
ReplyDelete