Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Cost of Discipleship Pt 44 - Mercy!


Chapter 6 - The Beatitudes

Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Bonhoeffer- 'These men without possessions or power, these strangers on earth, these sinners, these followers of Jesus, have in their life with him renounced their own dignity, for they are merciful. As if their own needs and their own distress were not enough, they take upon themselves the distress and humiliation and sin of others. They have an irresistible love for the down-trodden, the sick, the wretched, the wronged, the outcast and all who are tortured with anxiety. They go out and seek all who are enmeshed in the toils of sin and guilt. No distress is too great, no sin too appalling for their pity. If any man falls into disgrace the merciful will sacrifice their own honor to shield him and take his shame upon themselves. They will be found consorting with publicans and sinners, careless of the shame they incur their by. In order that they may be merciful they cast away the most priceless treasure of human life, their personal dignity and honor. For the only honor and dignity they know is their Lord's own mercy, to which alone they owe their very lives.'

My thoughts-

Mercy.

'mer·cy
[mur-see] Show IPA
noun, plural mer·cies for 4, 5.
1.
compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner.
2.
the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing: an adversary wholly without mercy.
3.
the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, especially to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty.
4.
an act of kindness, compassion, or favor: She has performed countless small mercies for her friends and neighbors.
5.
something that gives evidence of divine favor; blessing: It was just a mercy we had our seat belts on when it happened. '

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Mercy.

Without the mercy of our Lord and Savior we have NO hope.

Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

The mercy our Lord shows to us is the SAME mercy we are to show to others.  The merciful are blessed because they will be shown mercy. If we refuse to be merciful, there will be no mercy shown to us.


Just as we are to forgive so we will be forgiven, we must have mercy if we want mercy.

The trouble is, we find ourselves being so incredibly unforgiving and unmerciful. We are not our Savior, but creatures He created. Creatures that fail so often to be what we know in our hearts He desires. Creatures that HAVE to TOTALLY rely upon HIS mercy, HIS forgiveness to save us! We cannot save ourselves, not even help to save ourselves, we have to completely rely upon Jesus Christ our Lord. The only thing we can do is SURRENDER to Him! When we surrender to Him then He can work in US. And by Him, by the Holy Spirit we will be able to be merciful, we'll be able to be loving, forgiving, and ONLY through HIS power, not of our own.

Please Lord, love through us! Use us as You desire, for Your purposes! All for YOUR love! May we be among the merciful so we may obtain mercy!

In YOUR LOVE ALWAYS!


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