MERCY

Mercy – A Building Block of Faith – Jude 20–25

One day while I was making my chaplain rounds in the hospital, a doctor asked me to help him understand the concept of forgiveness. Forgiving and actually being able to forget are so hard to do. So I thought of God’s Mercy as it relates to me being forgiven.

[Jude 20-25 NIV]
[20] But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

[21] Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

[22] Be merciful to those who doubt;

[23] snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

[24] To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-

[25] to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

As A Christian:

Forgiveness involves mercy and Jude opens my mind to the idea of exhibiting mercy.
• I FORGIVE because I have been forgiven.
• I LOVE because I am loved.
• I SHOW MERCY because I have been shown mercy.

There is the cry for mercy manifested in salvation from sin, fellowship with the Holy Spirit and the realization of a new creation.

[Ps 51:1-4 &10-13]
[1] Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

[2] Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

[3] For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

[4] Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak

[10] Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

[11] Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

[12] Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

[13] Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.


Building Up A Holy Faith:

This is a faith that is not in mankind, nor things, or myself. All these will fail at some time in my live. The result will be anxiety, frustration, depression and guilt, all symptoms of a faith in those things of this world. This is not a Holy Faith but a faith that is an empty and worthless faith.

Not so with God. God will never fail me. A faith in God is a Holy Faith which is complete, full, total, of great value, and priceless. The reason is that first God is the focus of this faith and second God offers eternal rewards that are beyond the ever-changing conditions of this creation. Thus that which makes my faith Holy is not me, but is determined by the object of that faith, God.

Building Upon The Rock:

Jesus Christ is the rock of my salvation. His banner over me is love. This banner or protection is seen in the Cross. It is through the event of His Cross, His Death, Burial and Resurrection that I receive His Love, the Mercy of God. Without the foundation rock of the Cross I will receive what I deserve, the Justice of God. However, through this event, the Cross, I can build a new life upon the Mercy and Love found in Christ.

As a recipient of Gods’ Mercy I realize that God through His Spirit is now in me as a comforter, a helper, a guide, working with me and for me. This knowledge helps me to maintain my faith, allowing self to surrender to Christ who brought me from sin and opened the way to receiving the Mercy of God.

God’s mercy was in Christ on the cross working, as God’s Justice was being spent upon Christ as He showed me how much He really loved me. I can choose to receive mercy or justice. The question comes down to what is of more value. Jesus said, "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's shall save it.” [Mark 8:35-36 NAS]


Mercy granted will create a new creature that will obey the commandments of God and proclaim the great joy found. When Jesus went about healing people they went away praising God and spreading the goods news to others.

As one who has received mercy, healed, saved from my sins, I need to become obedient to God’s commands. Through my faith in what I have from God, I will extend mercy to others. I will learn to forgive, to share salvation and to strengthen others all the while taking care that I do not stumble myself. Loving the sinner but hating the sin is the lesson.

[Gal 6:1-3 NIV]
[1] Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

[2] Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

[3] If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

So when it comes time to consider the concept of forgiveness, faith and mercy, Jesus asks me, what is it that I value most, self or Christ? Will I bear the cross of justice or take up the mercy cross of Jesus Christ? Jesus wants me now, today, just as I am, not tomorrow but right now, just as I am. Let Him create in me and in you a new creature in faith, with mercy and a new life eternal.

Jesus said, "…Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
[Mark 16:15-17 NIV]

- EEHealy

The Spiritual Man of James

Observations:
Conflicts abound all around us and even within us. In the world, in business, in homes and in the church conflicts are a part of everyday life.

Advice flows from all directions. Everyone seems to have an answer. From TV shows, books being peddled, articles written in newspapers, internet websites, friends, family, co-workers and the list goes on. Here is the answer! The call goes out to wanting ears and needy hearts.

It really boils down to only two main sources. There is the world with many truths to pick from but resulting in no peace and no real resolution.

Then there is God who is “The Truth” which brings the promise of eternal peace and unchangeable resolve.

In the Bible letter of [James 3:13 to 4:10] the Holy Spirit of God inspired the writer to reveal some basic principles on how man can cope with conflict while living each day. These principles are true and trustworthy if only read and applied from within the person. For it is the spiritual man that needs to be grounded in the truth of God so that he can overcome the false truths of the world that so often result in the feelings of failure and frustration.

What is the foundation of your motives?

James 3:13-4:10 (from New International Version)

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.

16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

To have peace and victory over the conflicts of life the foundation of the inner person must be on solid ground and rooted in the truth. It becomes a choice each person must make regarding the source of the wisdom we will follow. We can follow the wisdom of the world or the wisdom of God. This is the foundation for all our future choices and planning in life. As a result our motives will be set in the wisdom that guides us and our life will have peace or conflict, failure and frustration or victory.

Look at yourself, your inner person before you take action.

James 4
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?

2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.

3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."

James writing to Christians reminds them and focuses upon the key relationship each Christian has with the creator.

Based upon the truth that the Spirit of God indwells each Christian I must realize that there becomes an inner conflict.

This conflict comes about when I choose not to allow my own spirit to be guided by the Holy Spirit of God.

Thus to be a “Spiritual Man” I need to transform the inner man. This transformation can take place when I focus upon the Truth of God as revealed in the Bible and apply that truth to my life from the inside or inner man.

If I claim to be following God I need to apply and obey the word of God in my life. I can not live in two worlds and obey two masters. I must choose to obey God and His word or I will by default follow the way of the world.

The action plan for success over conflicts.

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

The first step towards becoming the Spiritual Man of God is to come to myself and submit to God. Once I submit then I can be prepared to resist the conflict. To submit is stopping on the path I have been traveling. My feet are now firm and ready for a new direction.

That new direction is back to God. I must turn and head towards God. Only then will I benefit and receive God's helping hand.

This principle is seen in the account of the prodigal son who came to himself after a life of self-indulgence. He realized his error, his bad choice and he headed back to his father. [Luke 15:11-32]

Then when his father saw him returning, the father ran to greet him and welcome him back. There are two applications here that we need to consider.

First, the father did not seek the prodigal son out. He did not follow after him and try to persuade him to return home. No, he let him go because that was the free will of the son to choose.

Once the son chooses to return, only then did the father reach out to receive the son. This tells me that God will not chase after me as I go away from Him, but that He will always be watching and waiting; ready to welcome me back once I come to myself and change my direction back to God.

Second, there is a practical principle that I can use when dealing with relationships. For example, sometimes a parent comes to me with distress about a child that has grown and left home. The adult child goes off to college and it appears that they have forgotten all the training the parent has tried to impart over the years.

They are now on their own and that freedom to make life choices may result in choices that cause conflict and problems. The parent wants to continue to be a parent and tries to reach out to help. The parent in many cases injects his will upon the young adult and in many cases the result is one of rejection and resentment.

The parent needs to take the Biblical lesson of the prodigal son and apply it to the family relationship. Do not seek or follow after your child. Give the son or daughter the freedom to choose their own direction. As with the father of the prodigal son, as with our Father in Heaven, once we come to ourselves and turn back towards home, then we can see the father running to greet us.

We are all prodigal sons and daughters sometime in our life when we walk in the ways of the world. To be Spiritual is to be rooted in and upon the Truth of Gods’ word.

THE QUEST FOR TRUTH

Many years ago, the Appolo 8 crew, speaking before the United States Congress, stated the importance of continuing to search for the truth about unexplored space. The quest for truth always has occupied the minds of mankind, and perhaps this is what God had in mind when he spoke to Adam and Eve, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." [Gen 1:28 NIV]

Today, man often pursues another quest for truth, the spiritual truth of God and his dealings with man, his plan for man's eternity. This search must be made in God's Word, the Bible. Jesus said to his disciples who were searching for eternal life, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life". [John 5:39 NIV]

The Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, witness to Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God. The Scriptures are the route to eternal life for mankind, not the mere reading or the searching, but the living in the full realization of their indescribable value and richness. To do less is to fail to realize Christ is the power of the Scriptures, for the knowledge will have little power until we fully accept Christ and allow him to speak to us by way of the Scriptures. "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." [2 Tim 3:14-17 NIV]

The Bible is the book that defies complete knowledge in man's lifetime. So long as it is studied diligently, new truths constantly are being found. The Bible is ageless, and answers the same questions for man in every age. So long as the world stands, the Bible will be there for man to explore, in quest of the truth. For what is truth but the word of God. "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." [John 17:17 NIV] And what is the way of truth but Jesus The Christ, for Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." [John 14:6 NIV] Yes, we must search for the truth… at any cost, for man's eternity depends upon his finding the truth of God's Word and living it. -Abiding Word

ARE YOU EVER IN HOT WATER?

The devil will see to it that troubles come into our lives and that we will have all kinds of trials for our faith. Now some of these sorrows we will bring upon ourselves, and some will be the result of people and things around, but the question arises of what to do when such happens. A good attitude towards difficulties has been worded, "If you find yourself in hot water decide that you needed a bath anyway." But how do we do this?

PRAY PROPERLY: Nothing accomplishes more toward subduing inward doubts and fears than sincere and earnest petitioning of the Father for forgiveness of mistakes and for strength and help to overcome future temptations more gracefully. Examples are abundant on the pages of God's book of men and women praying to the Lord at times when things were not going as they had hoped they would and of the Lord hearing and answering their petitions. It will be well to remember never to enclose ourselves in coffins of self-pity as long as we can pray. (Psalms 66:18; Proverbs 28:9; 1Thessalonians 5:17; James 5:16-18)

SPEAK KINDLY: The tone of one's words as well as the words themselves must ever be kind unless greater evil comes. Kindness is that which turns away wrath, both within the person using it and upon the one hearing and seeing the words and actions. In Proverbs, the noble and praised woman is described as having the law of kindness in her tongue. Too, we need to remember that Christians do not use kindness because the situation demands it, but because there is no other quality dwelling on the inside of the mind that can show itself. We do not simply show kindness; we are kind. (Proverbs 31:26; Ephesians 4:32)

LEARN TO LAUGH: Life is serious, but we should not take ourselves too seriously. We should try to make others enjoy us by laughing at our mistakes, but not at theirs. It is good to laugh with other people, but it is not good to laugh at them. By all means a sense of humor must be developed or we will harden with age instead of mellowing with the years. The wise man, Solomon, said that there is a time to laugh as there is one to weep. As Christians, we must never appear giddy and light-headed but are to show the world how to enjoy life to the fullest extent.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!
The dwelling in memory of past successes and attainments may prevent us from achieving more splendid triumphs and successes in the future. We are constantly tempted to make the past our standard of perfection, and so to reduce our consideration of the future and of the present. Contentment with the past is fatal to all progress. Our hope for the summit lies in forgetting the past and pressing onward and upward. -LGieger Abiding Word

PEACE

"..And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

What is this peace of God that passes all understanding? Surely it is not peace with the militant, for hardly in the history of man has any slackening of war been evident with nations, with poverty, with sin,

The peace of God that passes all understanding is peace of the soul with God, and it is a quality and extent far above the comprehension of man. God's peace is able to quiet storms of fear, absolve conflict, and eradicate remorse. Through the righteousness Jesus affords, faithful men can have peace, peace with God and man.

Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, He made peace with God for all men who believe in Him, confess His name before men, transform their lives to that of the spiritual, and seek forgiveness of their sins in accordance with Christ's commands. Do you have this peace? You can.

Peace has been defined as a condition of freedom from disturbance, whether outwardly, as of a nation from war or enemies, or inwardly, within the soul. In early times of man, to a nation harassed by foes, peace was a primary blessing from God. In New Testament times, Christ and his disciples taught peace as spiritual goals, as a gift from God made available to man through His Son, Jesus Christ.

The peace Jesus brings to man essentially is spiritual peace, peace of soul with God. Yet, there is a paradox here in the peace that is available to us through Jesus Christ. Luke 12:51-53 presents the thoughts of Christ when he records, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division; for from hence-forth there shall be five in one house divided three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother..."

The peace of Jesus Christ often brings division, not that it is the purpose of our Lord to bring discord or division to man. But Jesus was wise and he realized that the effects of His coming would include discord and division when a part of the family would accept Him and have faith in Him while the other part would reject Him and oppose Him. But it is the hardness of man's heart, not the preaching of the gospel, that causes this hostility.

In our society, "bearing down" on the preaching of the Gospel of Christ brings discord, discontent, and disturbance. People want to be left alone to nurture their own thoughts. To society at large, the conforming to the mold of Christ is distasteful. As a result, many people mistake their belief in Jesus Christ as religion, when in reality it is little more than superstition. Their acceptance of Christ is based upon more tradition and conformity than upon a converted heart that is willing to submit to Christ.

Inner peace can never dwell within man so long as his will is not broken in favor of Christ, for always there will be conflict between what he knows Christ expects of him and what he desires for himself. He cannot be content to dwell "in the world" knowing Christ's Gospel, and he cannot be content to dwell "in the Spirit" because of his appetite to serve the fleshly man.

Christ speaks of coming with a sword, the Word of Truth, a weapon that will cut deeply into man's old habits, old ways of life, and will carve out for man a new life...if he will fight with the sword rather than against the sword.

Peace, perfect peace! It is man's greatest gift from God, but like all gifts from God, man must reach out and take it from Him. No gift of God is forced on man; neither is peace given to those who resist God. -PON Abiding Word

INTRODUCTION

Greetings and Welcome,

This is the beginning of my Blog call THE ABIDING WORD.

I take this title from the scripture;

[1 Peter 1:22-25 NAS]
22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.

24 For, "All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off,

25 But the word of the Lord abides forever. "And this is the word which was preached to you.

I thought I would also begin with another verse I was directed to by my Grandmother many years ago when she gave me my first copy of the Bible.

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approvel, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." [2 Timothy 2:15 NIV]

So, where does this fit in the whole story?

I also have a YAHOO BLOG for my other writings at [http://360.yahoo.com/eehealy].
More will follow...

Visit my web site to read more about my interests.

EEHealy
www.EdHealy.com

-Abiding Word