Mercy?

[theBelovedDisciple]

I would like to pose a question...


Can one Truly 'exhibit' Mercy upon others... without ever 'tasting' Mercy in his/her life?


When I speak of 'tasting' mercy I'm referring to the Mercy, God shows to His Child.. that revelation of His Mercy which He demonstrates upon a lost soul that is going down that broad path .. the highway to Eternal Damnation.. brining them up out of the darkness into the Light.. setting them on the Narrow path.... That mercy thats demonstrated when God 'forgives' your trespasses and sins and your 'born Again' from Above..

I'm not referring to the mercies this world offers.. for as Proverbs speaks..

the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel....

Jesus the Christ was God in the flesh... and He demonstrated and exhibited Mercy upon many... many who did not deserve it... many who cried out of heart that had been abandoned, abused, used, and forsaken, or left for dead...... He did this and He was God.. are we not to do the same?



From a personal standpoint I was 'lost' at one time.. I was a drunk, and idolator, I was shackled by demonic powers that had me in a prison of fear and condemnation. My heart had been broken and had no hope in this world.....I tasted His Grace and Mercy.. Now as a Christian and follower of Him..

I'm to demonstrate that same 'love' , Mercy, Christ showed to me..

When I was lost He didn't turn me away becasue of how bad I was or what I had done....

He didn't associate with me because I was a 'sinner'...

Instead He kept 'loving' me Uncondtionally until His Spirit broke thru that day and showed me Who He Truly Was.. and that In Him there was Freedom and Forgiveness.. and in Him there was Hope.. and there was Mercy...


Can one 'truly' exhibit Mercy without tasting of it in one's own life.



Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

[crossnote]

No. Neither can I show a blind man color. We must have experienced God's mercy via His forgiving our great debt of sin and wretchedness before we are truly capable of 1/2 that mercy.

[walked]

Nice thread and thoughts theBelovedDisciple, God bless you more and more.

I agree that when Gods shares or gives mercy to us in an area of our life, we will be more apt to share or reproduce that aspect of Gods mercy with others around us, and we can more potently share that mercy with others on/in our path when we have personally experienced it changing our life.
But, I don't think we have to personally experience aspects of Gods mercy before we can share or reproduce the many aspects of Gods mercy with those around us.

Christ Jesus spoke of Himself as only doing what He saw/sees His Father doing or done.
In the same way we too can and should also do as we see God the Father or Christ Jesus doing or done. By studying/feeding on and disciplining ourselves to Gods word He will reveal to us all of the aspects and attributes of Himself and His mercy to us, He can and will change our lives and make us affective witnesses of His mercy by us feeding and trusting His word just as much as He can and will change us and make us affective witnesses of His mercy by our life's experiences.

So, although I agree with the original post in that we can potently share Gods mercy that we have personally experienced, I hope we will not limit ourselves to only sharing the mercies that we have encountered through personal life changing events but also share and reproduce all of the deep and endless mercies that God reveals of Himself to us when we feed on His word and discipline ourselves to it. It is His letter/instruction manual to us and we can short cut and help others around us short cut many painful life experiences by doing our home work and reading that letter/instructions allowing God to reveal deep and abundant attributes of Himself and His mercies, enabling us to emanate those same attributes and mercies, which at the same time will transform and renew us into Christ image and also enable us to be a lighthouse beacon leading others around us to Him too.

[theBelovedDisciple]

Thanks for the posts so far.. some good thoughts...

The reason I've brought this up is that over the past 12+ years I come across some people who seem to be very religous.. they are in church every Sunday.. even sometimes twice a week.. They talk about God .. even Jesus.. they have Scripture memorized to the 't'... yet when they are around the 'lost'.. it could be somebody who is in bondage to alcohol, or some other vice. Maybe its a person who has been married and divorced more than once.. somebody who society deems unfit... or not worthy... when they are around these people they always seem to 'talk down' about them... shrug them off as 'sinners'.. not associating with them for fear of 'falling into sin' or defiling themselves . I guess you could call it modern day Phariseeism......

On occasions I find myself almost doing the same.. Then Jesus reminds me of where I was at once in my life.. He reminds me that He did not shrug me off or toss me aside because I wasnt good enough or not worthy enough. He reminds me that He sought me out and found me and had mercy on me and loved me until He broke thru my hardened stubborn heart. He gently reminds me to do the same to those 'around' me.. the lost, the hurt and the downtrodden.. 'sinners' as they are called.... He gently reminds me to 'renew' my thinking and to understand what His Heart is.. and its Mercy.. and He didnt come to destory men's lives but to save them....

This is why I brought up this thread.. Can one really love and be mericiful as God commands without tasting His love and mercy prior hand....

Jesus on the Sabbath saw a man whose hand was withered and it was in the synagogue. He healed the man and the Pharisees were very upset cause He healed on the Sabbath.. He got very angry at them for the 'hardness of their heart'.. telling them if one of them had an ox or ass that fell in the ditch.. wouldnt they go rescue it... how much more valuable is the human/soul/spirit...

is there a danger in becoming so caught up in 'religous activites', rules and regulations.. that you leave the 'heartbeat' of God behind.. you become hard- hearted and filled with Spiritual Pride...

Jesus always seems to bring me back to reality when I on occasion start to get that type of attitude.. and I thank Him for it.. He hates 'spiritual pride'.. He despises it so much..

One can only look to the Cross... the Cross is there ... and as the one song says.... " come as you are"... there is where you find Redemption and Forgiveness.. 'new life'.... and Mercy... it doesnt matter if your rich or poor.. healthy or diseased... it doesnt matter how lost a person is... its there and there is Power in it!...

[DPMartin]

Mercy! Awesome!


The religious justify themselves by what they choose to do. The secular justify what they do by choosing themselves. But the Lord’s choice is ever lasting Life to all souls no matter what they have done. And are justified only by God’s Love for them through Jesus Christ. Which is Mercy and Truth. All the Ways of the Lord (not some not most) all the ways of the Lord are Mercy and Truth. Not condemnation, not blame, nor interpretation. Condemnation blame and interpretation are the way of Adam and Mercy and Truth are the Ways of our Lord and savior. Which should be our Way since He is the Way for us.

[chad]

I think Gods mercy towards believers and non-believers is far greater than we as christians can show.

Sometimes when God has shown us his mercy and Grace and we have accepted Chirst as our saviour, it is easy to forget that we were once sinners, no better than someone who has not found found Gods Grace and salvation.

As we read the word of God, and God starts to sanctify us and draw us away from the things of this world into holiness, we forget what it is like to be lost and to live in the world.

IMO, it is good to be in that position, that God is working in our life and drawing us into holiness, but not good if we start to become prideful, and look down at the lost.

Yes, 'spiritual pride' does exist and sometimes instead of showing the love of God, we extend judgement to the lost instead of Grace. It can and does happen.

Chad

Thanks for the posts so far.. some good thoughts...

The reason I've brought this up is that over the past 12+ years I come across some people who seem to be very religous.. they are in church every Sunday.. even sometimes twice a week.. They talk about God .. even Jesus.. they have Scripture memorized to the 't'... yet when they are around the 'lost'.. it could be somebody who is in bondage to alcohol, or some other vice. Maybe its a person who has been married and divorced more than once.. somebody who society deems unfit... or not worthy... when they are around these people they always seem to 'talk down' about them... shrug them off as 'sinners'.. not associating with them for fear of 'falling into sin' or defiling themselves . I guess you could call it modern day Phariseeism......

On occasions I find myself almost doing the same.. Then Jesus reminds me of where I was at once in my life.. He reminds me that He did not shrug me off or toss me aside because I wasnt good enough or not worthy enough. He reminds me that He sought me out and found me and had mercy on me and loved me until He broke thru my hardened stubborn heart. He gently reminds me to do the same to those 'around' me.. the lost, the hurt and the downtrodden.. 'sinners' as they are called.... He gently reminds me to 'renew' my thinking and to understand what His Heart is.. and its Mercy.. and He didnt come to destory men's lives but to save them....

This is why I brought up this thread.. Can one really love and be mericiful as God commands without tasting His love and mercy prior hand....

Jesus on the Sabbath saw a man whose hand was withered and it was in the synagogue. He healed the man and the Pharisees were very upset cause He healed on the Sabbath.. He got very angry at them for the 'hardness of their heart'.. telling them if one of them had an ox or ass that fell in the ditch.. wouldnt they go rescue it... how much more valuable is the human/soul/spirit...

is there a danger in becoming so caught up in 'religous activites', rules and regulations.. that you leave the 'heartbeat' of God behind.. you become hard- hearted and filled with Spiritual Pride...

Jesus always seems to bring me back to reality when I on occasion start to get that type of attitude.. and I thank Him for it.. He hates 'spiritual pride'.. He despises it so much..

One can only look to the Cross... the Cross is there ... and as the one song says.... " come as you are"... there is where you find Redemption and Forgiveness.. 'new life'.... and Mercy... it doesnt matter if your rich or poor.. healthy or diseased... it doesnt matter how lost a person is... its there and there is Power in it!...

[theBelovedDisciple]

Lamentations reveals to us the God's Mercies are 'new' every morning...

Wow!

What a place to be... in the Shadow of the Almighty... where His Mercies are new every day!

When 'one' walks in bitterness and anger.. that 'poison' or 'gall'.. that tends to poison our spirit... stealing the joy and hope in the Lord.... then being merciful and forgiving on a daily basis almost are non existent..

but when walks in Communion with Christ.. their Redeemer on a daily basis... having 'tasted' of His mercy.. then one can 'be merciful' and 'forgive' on a daily basis... is this out of our own power... no but thru the Power of the Holy Ghost... with Christ at the Center.... Sometimes its hard and I mean very hard.. but all one has to do is to look at that Bloody Tree .. and look at what Christ said to His enemies.. and those who mocked Him and put them there..

Father , forgive them... for they know not what they do....

This forgiveness and mercy that rings 'loud' from that bloody tree... and friends.. that message that has 'rang' from the Cross down thru the ages.. TODAY.......still has its incredible power that it did then.....