Tag: mercy

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Tears On Your Pillow?

O LORD, rebuke me not in thy anger, nor chasten me in thy wrath.

2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

Psalm 6:1-2

Have you ever hurt so bad in your spirit that your whole being ached? It is one thing to hurt because of our own sinfulness as we endure the ugly consequences of our disobedience to God. But, it is another to hurt at the hands of others. To feel oppressed and terrorized is indeed a most fearful state, and to feel as such is common to all humanity at some time or other in life. However, it is precisely then the people of God have a refuge unlike any other in the world. Proverbs 18 says, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”

In Psalm 6, David cries out to God with the oldest prayer of God’s people – “Lord have mercy”. It seems his soul is burdened, though we are not sure just why. Perhaps because of his own sinfulness, yet he doesn’t confess his sin in this particular Psalm. However, he does confess to the Lord his weariness. His soul aches from all his troubles to the point where he can feel it in his bones (v 2,3). This Psalm is numbered among the so called, 7 Penitential Psalms (6,32,38,51,102,130,143) which offer contrition and lamentation along with a remembrance of God’s mercy and faithfulness, and a plea for forgiveness.

Are you hurting so bad you can’t even find the words for you pain? Or perhaps you’ve hurt so long, that you are now numb to the pain. Staying humble before God and crying out to him in the night is critical to not getting lost in despair. God’s people must never despair of hope. Though there may be darkness all around us, we must remind ourselves that “joy comes in the morning” (Ps 30). There is always hope for God’s people.

Even as David lamented to God of his pain, so too we can hear the cries of Jesus to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. They both knew the Lord heard their prayers (v 8,9). They both knew He would give them them strength to face another day. You can too. If your life is filled with tears on your pillow, lift your eyes to the Lord. His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting.

Shalom,

Pastor Brad

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Invincible?

Waves of Mercy pentecost-1024x493For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God

Ephesians 2:8

 

Do you ever feel completely helpless? I hope so, it keeps us humble. A healthy developed self confidence wants to accomplish things on its own, and if the person is a man, he really doesn’t want to ask for help; it’s a guy thing. However, if we become too self confident we may start to feel invincible – a dangerous place to be.

People who think they’re invincible tend not to believe in God. They see faith in God as a sign of weakness. But, the real weakness in thinking they can do anything without the mercy of God. Life in and of itself is a gift from God, and it’s because of His daily waves of mercy that we accomplish anything at all. St. James tells us not to be deceived; it is God who gives us birth and that every good and perfect gift is from Him (James 1:16-18).

Our birth is a gift from God, and our re-birth into faith in Him is also a gift. We can’t come into this world but by the mercy of God, and we wont go out of it and into Heaven without that same mercy. In His great mercy God has given grace to all who will see it; the grace to believe in Jesus Christ.

Do you see His grace? Is your faith in the one who made you, or the deceptive thinking believing you can somehow be good enough to earn Heaven? Sure goodness counts, but only when we seek His goodness within us through faith. We can’t make our selves into His likeness, but by faith through grace, He can make us like Him. All it takes is a faith-filled surrender, and a remembrance that we’re not invincible.

Grace and Peace,

+Pastor Brad

Prayer

Lord of Mercy and Grace, forgive my foolishness of thinking I can do anything by myself. Help me to see all of life is your grace helping me to become more like you. Amen.

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What Goes Around, Comes Around

 

Waves of Mercy pentecost-1024x493It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice.

For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever.

Psalm 112:5-6

There’s an old saying I’ve always liked, “What goes around, comes around”. I guess I like it because it reminds me that things won’t always be the way they are. You know what I mean, things won’t always be so unjust. Our world is unjust in many of the affairs of people; lying, cheating, stealing, there’s seems to be no end to it. But, those who practice such kinds of injustice will eventually experience such injustice themselves, if not in this world, certainly in the next; though it will actually be what they deserve.

The proverb tells us that whatever behavior we spread around will eventually come back to us, good or bad. So, God’s people are to be beacons of righteousness in this dark world. Verse four of Psalm 112, says the righteous, “… rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous. The righteous are to be God’s waves of mercy to our lost and hurting world.

Who doesn’t want to be remembered forever? Scoundrels are a dime a dozen and are quickly forgotten after they die, for they gave nothing back to the world. But, the truly good people, the righteous saints of God, those we remember. The Psalmist tells us the hallmarks of such people; they are generous and just, and they are not moved from the righteousness of the Lord. I want to be remembered as that kind of person and I’m sure you do too, but it all begins in our spirit. Jesus said people reap what they sow, and we can only sow what’s in our spirit. May our spirits be graceful, merciful, and righteous, both now and forever, because…what goes around, comes around.

Grace and Peace,

+Pastor Brad

Prayer

Righteous, Eternal Father, thank you for your waves of mercy in my life. Help me to be graceful, merciful and righteous in this world, and may my spirit be counted among the righteous, now and forever. Amen.

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Unblock the Dams

Waves of Mercy pentecost-1024x493Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.

Micah 7:18

True love doesn’t stay mad for long. Think about the last time you got mad at something someone in your family did. Your anger was based in your feelings of hurt. Something they did wasn’t what you expected. You couldn’t believe they would do that. But then, after a little while, you look at them and realize they’re your family, you’re flesh and blood, and while your hurt may remain a while, you forgive them because you love them. The truth is we are all God’s family, and we should have love and mercy for everyone.

If we humans can find the mercy to forgive and go on loving, think about how eternal God’s love must be for His children. As our Father, He hurts when we sin against him or each other. Yet even in our sin, His waves of mercy never stop flowing. He doesn’t cut us off from our eternal inheritance of life in Him. In fact, He doesn’t give His forgiveness begrudgingly, or hesitantly, but delights to show us His mercy. It flows from Heaven in waves.

God’s mercy is from everlasting to everlasting and nothing or no one can stop its flow to us, but we can stop it from flowing through us to others. God will always find a way to show His mercy to others, but when we build a dam in our emotions not giving His mercy to others we lose a blessing. As you remember His mercy toward you today, won’t you remember that same mercy toward those who have hurt or disappointed you too. Our lives are channels through which the mercy of God flows out to our hurting world. Don’t build a dam in your feelings – let the waves of mercy flow.

Grace and Peace,

+Pastor Brad

Prayer

Merciful Father, thank you for delighting in your unfailing mercy towards me. Help me to unblock any unforgiving feelings, and make me a channel of your mercy to others Amen.

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I’m Diving In

Waves of Mercy pentecost-1024x493But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us,even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)

Ephesians 2:4-5

Without love, there is no mercy. Think about that for a minute. Have you ever wondered if God really loves you? Of course you have, we all have. But, scripture tells us over and over how much God loves us. His love was the reason for our very creation, and even through our sin He never stops loving us. How do we know this? Because of His mercy.

You cannot separate mercy from grace, and neither can be separated from love. St. Paul tells us God’s richness in mercy flows from His love, and that out of that mercy flows His saving grace. The same is true with us humans. If we have true love for another, we will have mercy on them and that mercy issues forth in grace. It’s the only response of loving people. It’s how we imitate God.

Do you know how much God loves you? I hope so. His great love has caused His saving grace to flow out in waves of mercy, washing clean the souls of all who plunge themselves in the cleansing tide. The river of God’s mercy is deep and wide and it wants to carry you away in His love. Go ahead and dive in. I promise you’ll be glad you did. Here’s a song to listen to as you dive in!

 

Grace and Peace,

+Pastor Brad

Prayer

Merciful Loving Father, thank you for loving me, saving me, and keeping me. Help me to live in the flow of your mercy as I drink from the river of life, and teach me to show your mercy to others. Amen.

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Waves of Mercy

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:1-4

Love doesn’t always look like what we think. We often think love looks like hugs and kisses, and smiles, but it can look completely different. On the morning of Pentecost, it looked like waves of mercy, blowing into the upper room and filling those who gathered in faith, overflowing them with the Spirit of God.

The gift of the Holy Spirit was a gift of mercy. Ever since the tower of Babel humanity had been separated by their languages, which caused them to scatter and create differing cultures. But, on Pentecost morning a new universal language was given – love. The Father showed how much He loved the world when He gave His only son for the life of the world. Now, He has given us His Spirit too, that we all may be one.

Mercy is the expression of God’s love. St. James tells us every good and perfect gift comes from the Father who does not change (Jas. 1:17). The gift of the Holy Spirit was for them that day, and for us too, and for all who will believe. The waves of God’s mercy are abounding with His love. He wants to fill us up till we overflow. And, when we overflow with his Spirit, His love and Spirit will flow out in mercy to our lost and broken world. And so we pray – come Holy Spirit, come.

Grace and Peace,

+Pastor Brad

Prayer

Father of all Mercy, fall on me today, for I need you. I need the fullness of your Spirit. Come in your strength, come in your power, come in your own gentle way, but come sweet Spirit, I pray. Amen.

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The Living Gospel

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity.

Philippians 4:8

The Hallmark of the Christian faith is love. Some would argue with me and say it’s faith. But, faith proves nothing if we don’t have love. On the other hand, love proves our faith. St. James said in his epistle, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you” (Jam. 1:27) Likewise, St. John, when speaking about love said, “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” (1 Jn. 3:18)

St. Paul rejoiced that the Philippians showed their love to him in tangible ways. Most likely, they sent a love offering of money and supplies to him. Their actions showed they not only believed in the gospel he shared with them, but they truly cared. We live in an individualistic world where not nearly enough attention is given to teaching and preaching acts of loving service to others. We spend far more time teaching the gospel as a faith to be believed, rather than a way of life to be lived out.

There is nothing more powerful than a ‘living gospel’, an act that shows someone the love of Jesus through a work of mercy or compassion. How are you doing at living out the gospel in your own life? If we’re not careful we can spend all our time working, worshipping, and raising our family, all done through faith in Jesus Christ, and without realizing it, we haven’t spent any time showing others around us how much we care…assuming of course we do care.

In his book Lifestyle Evangelism, Joe Aldridge said, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care”. Think about it, if that’s true of our closest relations, it’s has to be true of the community around us. As Christians we must take the time to get involved in our communities. We must serve others in the name and love of Jesus Christ. When that happens we share a ‘living gospel’, not just great words.

Some people say they can’t do works of compassion in the community. They just don’t have the personality to get out there among the people, or they say they’re afraid to serve the underprivileged. The resurrection of Jesus Christ teaches us that we can do anything in His power. So, go ahead, give it a try. Openly show someone the gospel is alive; it’s what Christ did for you through someone. And remember, Christ is risen…and so are you!

Grace & Peace,

+Pastor Brad

Prayer

Merciful Father, teach me to show love and mercy to others around me that I may be your hands your feet to a lost and broken world. Amen. Alleluia!

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Raised from the Ashes: Lent – Day 34

2 Enter not into judgment with your servant, for in your sight shall no one living be justified.

 

 

Psalm 143:2

Read Psalm 141 & 143

Lent 2016 Daily Devotions-4

The Motivation of Mercy

It’s human nature to try and justify our actions. We take offense if someone challenges our way, and we try to defend our actions or way of thinking. That may work with others on some level, but the problem is it never works with God. He alone is judge over all the world, and He alone knows the intentions of the human heart. We all stand before God with no justification for our sinful ways or desires, unless of course we place ourselves in the hands of the one who is justified – Jesus Christ.

The good news for everyone is that Jesus, as St. John calls him, is an Advocate for all who will come to Him; there is no other hope for humanity. It is in His advocacy that we find mercy. We don’t receive what we deserve because He received our chastisement on the cross (Isa. 53: 5). But such mercy is often misunderstood. We must look behind the mercy to see the motivation of God.

Why Mercy?

When we read the Psalms we often hear a spirit of woe. Life was hard, and the psalmist, as one who strived for righteousness had many enemies. However, no matter the affliction, the Psalmist always turned to God for help. God was his refuge and strength (Ps. 141:8). In the Old Testament we see through shadows what Jesus shows us clearly in the New, that God is our loving Father. The motivation for God’s mercy is not because of the justice He owes to Jesus, the perfect one, but it is borne of His love. The Father loves His Children.

When we pray what is perhaps the most ancient prayer, “Lord have mercy”, we are calling on our loving, Heavenly Father to remember his love for us. “Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.” (Ps. 25:6). It is out of that love, the steadfast love of the Lord that never changes, we find His mercy, and we find it new every morning because He is faithful (Lam 3:22-23).

Do you need mercy today? Have you been justifying your actions or thoughts rather than confessing them? We all do from time to time. That’s just another great reason why the Church calls us to observe Lent, so that we may repent and be healed, healed by the mercies of God.

Tomorrow marks one week before Good Friday. Today marks one week before Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. The end of our Lenten journey is drawing near. Let’s let mercy reign in our thoughts and hearts as we prepare to enter Jerusalem with Jesus this Palm Sunday, as we prepare to walk through Holy Week with Him, experiencing his great mercy and love… a love that raises us from the ashes.

Grace & Peace for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Matthew 5:6

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Raised from the Ashes: Lent – Day 17

 

“For he himself knows whereof we are made; he remembers that we are but dust.”

Psalm 103:14

Read Psalm 103

Lent 2016 Daily Devotions-4

He Remembers

Some people live as though they think they will live forever, as though they are indestructible. They never seem to live with eternity in mind. Their present lives are all that matters and they indulge in any and all behavior with no thought of consequence. Oh, how easily we forget that we are but dust.

We need times that remind us of our mortality. We are now sixteen days into Lent, a season given to us by the church to do just that, remember that we are but dust. But, there is someone who always remembers how fragile we are. Verse 14 tells us our Father always remembers that we are but dust. He created us from the dust of the earth, and knows that we will all one-day return to that dust.

The Purpose of Repentance

Remembering our mortality is easier when we live lives of repentance. In repentance we humble ourselves before our maker, so that He can raise us up to immortality. When we repent of our sins and failures, we experience the mercy and compassion of our God who does not deal with us as we deserve. And, in His forgiveness, He draws us near in His embrace to life in Christ.

The psalmist reminds us that our Father does not reward us according to our wickedness (Vs. 10), nor deal with us according to our sins. He always treats those who love Him with mercy and compassion. When we confess our sins, He is not only faithful and just to forgive us (1 John), but He also removes our sins, “as far as the east is from the west” (Vs 12).

Why We Need Lent

In the season of Lent, I’m reminded of my sinfulness not to make myself feel bad, but that I may know the love and compassion of my Lord. I love that. Lent is about remembering. We need to remember that we are dust. We need to remember that God forgets our sins in the sea of his forgetfulness, as the prophet Micah reminds us, “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Mic. 7:19) And, we need to remember that if He remembers we are but dust…we also can trust He will remember to raise us from the ashes.

Grace & Peace for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Matthew 5:6

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Raised form the Ashes: Lent Day – 12

Lent 2016 Daily Devotions-4

“For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.”

1 Cor. 4:20

Read 1 Cor. 4:8-21

Cheap Talk

Talk is cheap, unless of course that talk gets you in trouble, then it could prove very expensive. I think that proverbial saying says what St. Paul was telling the Corinthians. The great Apostle was a spiritual father to the Corinthians (Vs. 15), and as such had earned the right to talk to them straight about their spiritual lives.

As you read the letters to the Corinthian church, you will see the church struggled in about every way imaginable, and you will hear Paul’s straight talk as he tells them the truth in love. They stopped maturing in their faith and fell into many sins. Such a state was a detriment not only to their own lives but to the witness of the church to effect change in the culture around them.

Can We Change from Our Sinful Ways?

St. Paul reminded them, as he sent Timothy to minister on his behalf, that they hadn’t received the gospel just to continue in their sins, but to be changed. The gospel is the power of God to save (Rom 1:16), and not just save “in” our sin, but to save us “from” our sin (Matt. 1:21). The New Testament continually calls us to a life above sin, both in the words of Jesus, and the Apostles. Perhaps the best example is Jesus’ words to the woman at the well as he tells her, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” (John 8:11)

Sometimes we think our Lenten journey will help us learn to avoid sin, by spending more time in prayer and fasting. While I’m sure our resolve to avoid sin is strengthened through such Lenten disciplines as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we must remember that that is not the object of Lent. The object of our Lenten journey is to grow closer to Christ. The answer to losing our desire for sin (which is innate in our fallen nature), is growing more in love with our Savior.

The people of the Corinth church needed to be reminded of how much Jesus loved them, and just how his death, resurrection, and gift of the Spirit was to deliver them from the dominion of sin. It wasn’t enough for then to just say they believed (Cheap Talk), and to continue living unchanged, and it’s not okay for us either. We must live in the kingdom power that not only saves, but transforms.

Lent is a part of our spiritual tool box given to us by the church to help effect our transformation into Christ’s likeness. When we pray, fast and do works of mercy we imitate the Apostles who imitated Christ. Paul knew his life was to provide a living example for the people to follow. So too, we want to imitate the lives of the saints who’ve gone before us, as we ultimately conform our lives to the imitation of Christ. The closer we grow to Jesus Christ, the more He transforms us. His transformation will indeed, raise us from the ashes.

Grace & Peace for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

“Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Matthew 5:6