Posted on 04/13/2023 4:29:42 AM PDT by metmom
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy" (Matt. 5:7).
Mercy is a characteristic of true believers.
Like the other beatitudes, Matthew 5:7 contains a twofold message: to enter the kingdom you must seek mercy. Once there, you must show mercy to others.
The thought of showing mercy probably surprised Christ's audience because both the Jews and the Romans tended to be merciless. The Romans exalted justice, courage, discipline, and power. To them mercy was a sign of weakness. For example, if a Roman father wanted his newborn child to live, he simply held his thumb up; if he wanted it to die, he held his thumb down.
Jesus repeatedly rebuked the Jewish religious leaders for their egotistical, self-righteous, and condemning attitudes. They were intolerant of anyone who failed to live by their traditions. They even withheld financial support from their own needy parents (Matt. 15:3-9).
Like the people of Jesus' time, many people today also lack mercy. Some are outright cruel and unkind, but most are so consumed with their quest for self-gratification that they simply neglect others.
Christians, on the other hand, should be characterized by mercy. In fact, James used mercy to illustrate true faith: "What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself" (James 2:14- 17). He also said mercy is characteristic of godly wisdom: "The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy" (3:17).
As one who has received mercy from God, let mercy be the hallmark of your life.
Suggestions for Prayer
Thank God for His great mercy.
Ask Him to give you opportunities to show mercy to others today.
For Further Study
Read Luke 10:25-37.
Who questioned Jesus and what was his motive?
What characteristics of mercy were demonstrated by the Samaritan traveler?
What challenge did Jesus give His hearer? Are you willing to meet that challenge?
From Drawing Near by John MacArthur Copyright © 1993. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.
Studying God’s Word ping
It’s alarming to see the lack of mercy in America and the world in these end times. By Christ we knew this was coming, but still the world’s level of sociopathy and narcissism is shocking.
Prayer For Mercy For The Nations
Father, You alone are the almighty God Who is abounding in mercy and loving-kindness. Father, You have shown great patience and long-suffering to so many people down through the centuries and yet we know that Your justified and perfect wrath will one day fall on the nations of this world if we continue to disobey Your laws and turn our backs on the God of our Salvation and His anointed Christ and Saviour Son.
Lord, we have strayed far away from Your ways and have become like a flock of straying sheep without a shepherd. Lord, we have become a rebellious people and we have followed the devises and desires of our own hearts and indulged in the sinful lusts of our fallen flesh. We are not worthy to be called your children. Lord, we confess that we have offended a holy God and we have disregarded Your holy ways. We have been quick to follow in the paths of unrighteousness and have wandered far away from the road of righteousness, that You in Your grace have designed for us to walk in, and Lord, there is no health in us, nor do we deserve Your pity or Your kindness.
But Lord, You have proved down through the centuries that You are a forgiving God and a God of tender-kindness. Slow to anger and of great long-suffering mercies. Oh Lord, we confess our faults and failings, our sins and our rebellions prideful hearts and we pray that You would restore us.
Forgive us Lord, and teach us Your ways. Raise us up again to be a nation that loves and trusts You, and Lord, we pray that one day very soon, You would send You Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come and take up His eternal rule on earth. Lord, we pray for that day when the earth will be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.
Lord, in Your justice remember mercy we pray. Pity Your creation and draw many out of the miry clay back into Your arms of loving forgiveness. In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Source: https://prayer.knowing-jesus.com/prayer/prayer-for-mercy-for-the-nations-957
We don’t show mercy because we haven’t experienced mercy.
To me this is one of the most comforting verses in Scripture.
Not from the world, granted.
But we have from God and based on that, it is why we are expected to show mercy, so the world can see that God is merciful.
I have.
I got out of bed this morning.
Amen
Mercy is what the believer receives every moment of every day. Because we receive God’s mercy we are expected to show it, not for the world’s benefit, but God’s, and then the world.
Psalm 103:14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
To me this is one of the most comforting verses in Scripture.
...........
Amen. God is so merciful. For that I’m so thankful.
Yes, His mercy:
“But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;”
Psalms 103:17
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