SHOWING MERCY – PART 2
3 – The Motivation for Mercy:
A -- Because YHVH has shown me mercy:
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. -- Luke 6:36. YHVH expects me to do to others what He has already done to me. When you think about those people who really tick you off, if you are having a hard time being merciful to those people, remember what a bad person you have been with YHVH. I think of all the flack that YHVH has taken from me, all the stuff I have done my own way, done my own thing, looked at YHVH and said: [Forget it! I'm going to do this!] Yet, YHVH still loves me. What a gracious, merciful YHVH He is. I think of all the dumb things I have done wrong and yet He continues to shower me with His love and mercy and grace. I have to stop and remind myself: [YHVH, if You can be merciful to me, surely, I can be merciful to the next person.] One day some religious hypocrites brought a lady caught in the act of adultery to Yeshua where He was teaching and threw her down in front of Him. They said: [Yeshua, this lady was caught in the act of adultery and You know what the Law says; if you are caught doing adultery, you get stoned to death!] Yeshua answered: [You are right. That is the Law. The first one of you who has never broken the Law gets to throw the first stone.] And they all started walking away in silence. Another time Yeshua said: [You are so concerned by the problems in that other person's life, before you get the speck of sawdust out of your neighbour’s eyes, why don't you get the telephone pole out of your own eye?] No contest. YHVH has been merciful to me so I need to be merciful to other people. We tend to judge other people by their worse faults and we tend to judge ourselves by our best intentions. Be merciful! Why? Because YHVH has shown me mercy!
B -- Because I’m going to need more mercy in the future:
I do not expect to be perfect from now until the time that I die, therefore, I am going to need more mercy. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. -- James 2:13. Only those who give it, get it back. Those who give mercy, get mercy and those who don't give mercy, don't receive mercy back. You may say to me: [you don't know how much this person hurt me! And they continue to hurt me! I just cannot forgive them.] Then I hope you never sin, because forgiveness and mercy are a two-way street. When you refuse to forgive others and refuse to show mercy to others, don’t expect to receive any yourself. I need to be merciful, because I am going to need it again in the future. Be very careful about demanding justice, because YHVH just might give it to you. If we all got what we deserved, none of us would be here. YHVH does not give us what we deserve; He gives us what we need: And that is mercy! And mercy is giving to others, not what they deserve when they have fallen, not what they deserve when they have hurt us, but giving them what they need.
C -- Because it makes me happy:
That is what Yeshua says: Blessed are the merciful. The opposite of that is true also: [Unhappy are the unmerciful.] The most miserable people I know are people who are resentful, who refuse to give up a grudge, who are holding something over somebody else's head. They do not realize they are hurting themselves. Un-mercifulness makes you miserable. The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh. [Proverbs 11:17. Doing acts of mercy gets us out of ourselves, gets the focus off of me and on to other people and produces happiness. A tremendous way to get rid of depression is to learn to develop acts of mercy. When you are depressed and all of a sudden begin to be patient to those who are different, forgiving to those who have fallen, helping those who are hurting, doing good to your enemies, you will watch the clouds of depression lift and blow away. It gets you out of yourself and gets the focus off of you. As you give your life away, the happiness comes. You ought to be merciful, simply because it makes you happy. It is a boomerang blessing: what you give is what you get. Now let us take just a couple of moments to get practical with this:
Let us Get Practical:
How Do I Become a Merciful Person?
A -- Experience the mercy of YHVH for yourself:
You cannot offer mercy to anyone else until you have first received mercy. You cannot offer forgiveness to anybody else until first you feel forgiven. One of the reasons why some of you have a hard time forgiving other people is because you don't really feel forgiven yourself. The starting point is; I must receive the mercy of YHVH, the peace of YHVH and the forgiveness of YHVH and then I can offer it to others. You receive that mercy when you place your trust in Yeshua Moshiach as Adonai and Saviour of your life. If you have already done that and you still don’t recognize your current state of forgiveness, you need to go back and read through the New Testament again and claim the promises YHVH has given to you.
B -- Start looking at people with the eyes of Yeshua Moshiach:
Begin looking at people the way Adonai would see them. You start saying: [Adonai, help me to see that man, woman from Your point of view. How do You see that person? What are the hurts You see in their lives? What are the needs You see in their lives?] Look at them from through the eyes of Moshiach. The thing believers are going to be judged for at the judgment is how they treated other people -- for I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. -- Matthew 25:35-36. YHVH is going to ask you how you treated other people. Were you merciful? Were you like Him? Yeshua had a ministry of mercy. He lifted up the lonely. He accepted the rejected. He loved the unlovely. He helped those who are helpless and the hurting. Who is it in your life that needs mercy? That is barely hanging on? And they are about to let go? You need to show some mercy this week. Who is it in your life that you are still holding the past over their head? You won't let them off the hook. Every time they do something you don't like you bring this back up for ammunition. That is a great way to kill a marriage. Who is it that you need to say a word of forgiveness to this week. Let them off the hook, wipe the slate clean and never mention it again. It is over, it is done with and it is forgiven. That's it! Be blessed! Show mercy!
SHOWING MERCY – PART 1
James Dobson reported seeing a sign on a convent in that read: Absolutely no Trespassing: Violators Will Be Prosecuted to the Full Extent of the Law, signed; The Sisters of Mercy. As we take a look at the Beatitudes, let us find out what mercy really is, and how we can become people of mercy. Remember, the first 4 Beatitudes portray the heart attitude of citizens of the Kingdom of YHVH. The next 5, teach us what actions should come as a result of the right heart attitude. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. -- Matthew 5:7.
1 – The Meaning of Mercy:
What is mercy? There are a number of definitions that could be used, but if we consider all that the Bible has to say about mercy, it comes down to this one definition: [Mercy is love in action.] It is more than just an attitude; it is more than just feeling sorry for people and it is doing something. The Bible teaches us YHVH is a merciful Elohiym. Adonai is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. -- Psalm 145:8. Perhaps one reason we receive mercy when we ourselves are merciful is because we are, in fact, becoming more like Him. As we adopt YHVH’s Character traits as our own, we more readily understand and experience His blessings in our lives.
2 – The Marks of Mercy:
How do I know if I am a merciful person? There are four marks of mercy we need to look at together that will help us to evaluate ourselves to see how merciful we really are.
A -- If I am merciful, I’ll be patient with those who are different:
I believe that in every life some weirdo’s must fall. Maybe their elevators do not go all the way to the top floor. Or maybe they are just extremely obnoxious or rude. How do you handle those kinds of people? What does the Bible say? Now we exhort you brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. -- 1 Thessalonians 5:14. Are you patient with everyone? I'm not! The Bible says if I am merciful, I will be patient with those who are different. How can you be patient with those who are different? You take the time to learn their background. More often than not, when you understand where a person comes from, you stop saying: [Look how far they have got to go] and start saying: [Look how far they have come!] That makes you a little more patient. You look beneath the external behaviour, the goofiness and look at the internal pain. Because behind every peculiar behaviour. There is loneliness, hurt, depression or a kind of anxiety that YHVH says we need to look at. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Moshiach also received us to the glory of YHVH. -- Romans 15:7. Merciful people are accepting people. They are not quick to criticize or to judge. They realize that hurtful people are hunting people.
B -- If I am merciful, I’ll forgive those who have fallen:
When people make mistakes, do you rub it in or do you rub it out? When people let you down, do you hold it over their head for the rest of their life; never let them off the hook? That's not mercy. Forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man has a quarrel against any: even as Moshiach forgave you, so also do ye. -- Colossians 3:13. The interesting thing about forgiveness is that when you are called on to receive it, it feels so right; but when you are called on to give it, it feels so wrong. We don't want to forgive people, we want justice. Like the lady who had her picture taken at a photographer. She brought it back and said: [This picture does not do me justice!] The photographer answered: [You do not need justice; you need mercy!] If I am merciful, I will be forgiving to the fallen. It is a lot easier to criticize than it is to sympathize. It is a lot easier to point a finger than it is to lend a helping hand.
C -- If I am merciful, I’ll help those who are hurting:
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. -- Proverbs 3:27. Mercy is demonstrated through practical assistance. There are people all around us who are hurting. If we look at them and just feel sorry for them, we are not being like Moshiach but when we do something about it, that's being like Moshiach. Remember our definition for Mercy? Mercy is Love in Action. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of YHVH in him? My little children let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. -- 1 John 3:17-18. I don’t know about you but those verses stab me like a dagger. Don't just say we love people, show it! Do something real! Somebody asked comedian Flip Wilson one time: [What is your religion?] He answered: [I am a Yahveh bystander.] He didn't want to get involved. I know a lot of Yahveh bystanders. Remember the story of the Good Samaritan? The man who was mugged, thrown over to the side of the road? Two people walked by: [We cannot get involved. Sorry about what happened, but we cannot get involved!] A third guy came, took action, took him to the Inn, left his credit to take care of him and said: [I'll pay for it all.] That's mercy! Yeshua is saying: [happy are those who care enough to get involved.] There is another area of hurting people that need our help: They are those people, who for whatever reason are having doubts about YHVH. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. -- Jude 1:24. When you are hurting that is the most likely time you are going to doubt. When you are really hurting, you might say: Where is YHVH? He's not hearing my prayer. Maybe He does not care. Maybe He does not even exist! If you have never had those doubts, that is great, but you are in the minority. What is the Moshiach-like response to people who doubt? You do not debate them: I'm going to prove to you that YHVH exists! You do not demean them, put them down or disown them. You are not a believer if you are having doubts! You do not desert them. What do you do then? You show mercy, be understanding and support them. Show mercy to those who doubt when they are in pain.
D -- If I am merciful, I’ll do good to my enemies:
And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? For sinners also do even the same. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. -- Luke 6:33; 35-36. If you want to be like YHVH, be merciful. Do well to those who do evil to you. That is exactly the opposite of what society says. Society says, when people hurt you, hurt them back, get even! Gossip about them, destroy them, anything you can. YHVH says: [Not only do you need to forgive that person, but be nice to the person.] That's what Yeshua would do, but it is hard for us, is it not? You to work and the guy who is constantly criticizing you, who is really a jerk, YHVH says [do good to that person.] How would it be if every time he criticized you, you complimented him? You go to school and those people who are putting you down for being a believer, every time they put you down; you build them up, say something nice to them and encourage them. That would blow their minds! That is what being merciful all is about. You return good for evil. Why? The best way to eliminate an enemy is to turn him into a friend. Smother them with kindness. They don't know how to handle it because the world does not respond that way. They don't know what to do with it. All of a sudden, you are in control of the situation. You are on the offence, not the defence and you are acting, not reacting. Mercy is love in action; it is the way YHVH treats people. That is mercy and it is tough to do. In fact, it is very tough to do and that is why we need some very powerful motivators to become a merciful person.
I know many of you were waiting for this and it's finally available in paperback. The ebook will be available soon. I know it's easier to order through Amazon but do your local bookstore a favor and have them get it for you, especially if you have a locally owned one near you. here's the tag line from the back cover... Jerry Mitchell, author of Tradition To Truth One Man's Search For Honest Answers and God's Universe God's Rules again brings serious, thought provoking, forensic Biblical analysis to light. Digging through the language, culture and history to uncover the truth hidden by centuries of traditions and man made doctrine and shining a light on the lies that we have inherited from our fathers. Discover the truth that has been hidden in plain sight. The enemy has prevented many from finding it, until now.
When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you...
1 Kings 8:33a
No enemy can stand against Israel when she is obedient to God's commandments. She can only be defeated by her own sins, and then her afflictions are meant to be instructive, to bring her to repentance and obedience to God's Law.
Just as national apostasy begins with the sins of individual people, national revival begins with the repentance of individuals. If you want your nation to return to God, start with yourself and your own house.
A new Edition of the Lawful Literal Version of the Bible is out now
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