For They Shall Receive Mercy

Scripture is so consistent in it's teaching. In several places we are told that we must forgive in order to receive God's forgiveness and that the measure we use will be measured back to us. So here is one more verse to add to the burden of proof; Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. Dear friends let us love one another for God has loved us ... and he so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but so that the world might be saved. Jesus lived a life of love ... in order to show love he often did the unexpected. Can we like Christ live the life unexpected? ... for his walk challenged the ways of the world and religion. Radical life is kingdom life. It is not mindlessly following a set of rules. It is being connected to the the source. It is a branch that draws it's life from the vine. What is kingdom life?

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts,

as we also forgive our debtors,

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

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My heart is full this morning with a desire for kingdom come in my life and in this world. The more we experience God's goodness the more we want. It is life and health and peace .... it is mercy, justice and sanity. It is forgiveness, reconciliation and wholeness. It is the love that does not let us go. It is righteousness and goodness. Evil is overthrown in kingdom coming.

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And so we say Come Lord Jesus .... make my heart your throne. Let me lean into you. Dispel the darkness and with it all corruption. Let us live sane and ordered lives. Help us to see ourselves and others through the loving eyes of God. Grant to us your peace.... for the scriptures are clear .... there must be an asking for a receiving ..... and oh the abundance of what God has. Ask large .... come boldly to the throne of grace for he delights to give the Spirit to those that ask .... and pray believing that even if we ask for this mountain to be removed and cast into the sea, it will be done for us. Let the Lord arise and his enemies scattered.

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Cast down every foolish pretension and every lie. Make with us your home. Be Emmanuel, God with us. Hosanna, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. Let all the peoples praise you, O God let all the peoples praise you, for his mercies are everlasting ... great is his love for us!

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And he says to us; I desire mercy rather than sacrifice. Kingdom come is Good Samaritan living. It is having a heart that is quickly moved to pity. It is the person willing to be interupted and willing to extend themselves when God lays a need in their path. It takes us off the course of religious business as usual into radical action. It was what took Peter off his Jewish roof top to the home of an "unclean" Gentile.... Yes he was concerned about offending his Jewsih brothers .... God had to over ride Peter's concerns by telling him three times not to call unclean what God had made clean. And the gospel went to the Gentiles.

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Many years ago, God dealt with me about the way I kept Sabbath. My sales team took a yearly bus trip over the weekend. All though I was the leader I told them I could not go up with them. It was doing business on Sunday. They didn't understand. One Sunday one of my customers called me and invited me to a quilt show. I told her thank you but Sunday was my "family day" ... part of me was lazy about spending a day with a near stranger .... and God spoke to me about it. He showed me it wasn't about dollar signs ... it was about spending time with people. I think Jesus would have gone on the business trip and to the quilt show.... and for the right reasons.

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My lessons have not ended there. God continues to expand my thinking about what obedience to him really looks like.... and appearances can be deceiving .... for man looks on the outward appearances and God looks on the heart. Motivations reside in the heart .... we can do the right thing for the wrong reasons but we can also do what looks wrong for the right reasons .... God is interested in us having the right reasons. But here's a caution .... show mercy mixed with fear. God was not looking for me to chuck the Sabbath day and it's observances when he had me reconsider my ways .... neither was he telling Peter to live a careless life of sin as the Gentiles did. This is not about a pendulum swing between law and lawlessness ... it is about walking in the Spirit and being sensitive to God's leading ... for without that sensitivity we must fall back on cold inflexible rule keeping as our guide. So Christianity becomes just another dead religion. But the Spirit is life and the scriptures are living and active like a double edged sword. Like Peter, we may not wish to offend .... but there are people need saving. Then be ready to explain yourself ... Peter had to. And the Jewish Christians of that day recognized God's hand in the matter.

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See a king will reign in

righteousness

and rulers will rule with justice.

Each man will be like a shelter

from the wind

and a refuge from the storm,

like streams of water in the

desert

and the shadow of a great rock in

a thirsty land.

Then the eyes of those who see will

no longer be closed,

and the ears of those who hear

will listen.

The mind of the rash will know and

understand,

and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.

No longer will the fool be called

noble

nor the scoundrel be highly

respected.

For the fool speaks folly,

his mind is busy with evil:

He practices ungodliness

and spreads error concerning the Lord;

the hungry he leaves empty

and from the thirsty he withholds

water.

The scoundrels methods are

wicked,

he makes evil schemes

to destroy the poor with lies,

even when the plea of the needy

is just.

But the noble man makes noble

plans,

and by noble deeds he stands.

Isaiah 32: 1-8