Bible League: Living His Word "Give love and mercy the same as your Father gives love and mercy."— Luke 6:36 ERV This verse has been weighing heavily upon my heart recently. Jesus admonishes us to give the same level of mercy we have been given. According to most Biblical definitions of mercy, it is our Lord withholding the punishment we deserve. Hopefully we all can agree that without Christ in our life, we sinners are doomed. Unless we receive Him into our hearts as our personal Lord and Savior, we stand guilty before the judgment seat of Christ. So here are a few questions we must wrestle with and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us about, regarding divine mercy. Do we apply a divine level of mercy to people we encounter in our daily lives? Do we remain angry? Do we think of getting even? Do we think sometimes that our Lord is not fair, according to our standard of fairness? This is what has been weighing heavily upon my heart: do I apply the same level of mercy to others, even those I do not know, as the Lord gives me? I realize we are human and that our memories work exceedingly well. But we do have a resource that is higher and more powerful than all other resources, the Holy Spirit. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will remind us of the level of mercy applied to us, complete and without fail. Remember, all of this is possible only because of the death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I think sometimes we just go along in life and forget that we are to love and apply mercy in the same way that Jesus gives it to us. Have you had someone hurt you and be unfair with you? Maybe to get a peace in our heart we need to apply grace, God's unmerited favor, and mercy toward that person. I can testify that when I have prayed and settled in my heart to allow God's mercy and grace flow through me, my life is different. Remember Galatians 2:20, "So I am not the one living now—it is Christ living in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God. He is the one who loved me and gave Himself to save me." We can only be merciful as we realize the Holy Spirit must live the life of Christ through us. We are weak and unable to control this or master living in the mercy of Jesus Christ. It is only possible as Jesus Christ lives His life through us by the power of the Holy Spirit. By Dr. Jim D. Prock, Bible League International staff, Oklahoma U.S. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading1 Chronicles 28, 29 1 Chronicles 28 -- David's Assembly about the Temple NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Chronicles 29 -- Gifts for the Temple; David's Prayer and Death; Solomon King NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 11:47-57 John 11 -- Jesus Comforts Martha and Mary, Raises Lazarus; The Plot to Kill Jesus NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.Insight John the Baptist called people to more than words or ritual; he told them to change their behavior. “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins” means that God looks beyond our words and religious activities to see if our conduct backs up what we say, and he judges our words by the actions that accompany them. Challenge Do your actions match your words? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Songs 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines.A little thorn may cause much suffering. A little cloud may hide the sun. Little foxes spoil the vines; and little sins do mischief to the tender heart. These little sins burrow in the soul, and make it so full of that which is hateful to Christ, that he will hold no comfortable fellowship and communion with us. A great sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can make him miserable. Jesus will not walk with his people unless they drive out every known sin. He says, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love." Some Christians very seldom enjoy their Saviour's presence. How is this? Surely it must be an affliction for a tender child to be separated from his father. Art thou a child of God, and yet satisfied to go on without seeing thy Father's face? What! thou the spouse of Christ, and yet content without his company! Surely, thou hast fallen into a sad state, for the chaste spouse of Christ mourns like a dove without her mate, when he has left her. Ask, then, the question, what has driven Christ from thee? He hides his face behind the wall of thy sins. That wall may be built up of little pebbles, as easily as of great stones. The sea is made of drops; the rocks are made of grains: and the sea which divides thee from Christ may be filled with the drops of thy little sins; and the rock which has well nigh wrecked thy bark, may have been made by the daily working of the coral insects of thy little sins. If thou wouldst live with Christ, and walk with Christ, and see Christ, and have fellowship with Christ, take heed of "the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes." Jesus invites you to go with him and take them. He will surely, like Samson, take the foxes at once and easily. Go with him to the hunting. Daily Light on the Daily Path Hebrews 4:11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.Matthew 7:13,14 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. • "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 11:12 "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. John 6:27 "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal." 2 Peter 1:10,11 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; • for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. 1 Corinthians 9:24,25 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. • Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Hebrews 4:10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Isaiah 60:19 "No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
    |