Mercy

God Has Time For You!

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Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they 
do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 
Luke 23:34 KJV

During the long hours of the suffering of Jesus, He hung from nails driven through His hands and feet. Blood streamed down His face from the thorns that pierced His scalp. No one expected Him to do more than simply endure., but Jesus was busy with an amazing number of things. He was busy, not because He hoped to gain anything, but because He was moved by compassion for those around Him. During those six hours, Jesus promised the repentant thief who was dying next to Him a place in paradise and made sure that Mary would be cared for by His disciple John. Even in His agony, Jesus showed the world the power of the love of God, so much so that after He died, one of the soldiers who had crucified Him, came to believe that He was the Son of God. But of all the things Jesus did, none mattered more than His final prayer “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do!”, and that prayer is still being answered today. If we are angry with the sight of children starving in war torn villages while dictators plan the next attack from their headquarters, remember that there is an even greater power than their guns and bombs. There exists today a stronger force far stronger than fear and hatred. When Jesus bowed His head and died, both friend and foe thought He was finished. But ever since His final breath escaped, the power of His forgiveness has been transforming our world, one sinner at a time!

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God’s Kindness Changes One Life at a Time

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Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, 
not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 
Romans 2:4 ESV

It is easy to become overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness, when reading the headlines of the latest cruelty, perversion or political movement that seems to hate even the merest vestige of Christianity. Such temptations to despair sometimes can get our eyes off of what God has called us to do and call us to respond with harshness, criticism or sarcasm. But Jesus had another way when He faced an unreasonable and seemingly hopeless mission. The path that Jesus took, unleashed the power of God’s kindness.

Yes, Jesus wept over the city, but then He walked down into it and gave His life. No, Jesus did not stop teaching the hard things about the Kingdom of God, but when they nailed Him to the cross, He didn’t hurl angry accusations against His opponents, instead He prayed, “Father forgive them.” How foolish and weak that must have sounded! Forgive? What good would forgiveness do? How could that change the situation? The answer came not only on the third day, when they found Jesus alive again, it also unfolded on the day of Pentecost when three thousand of the people He had wept over repented and believed. Soon all of Jerusalem was shaken, and tens of thousands became Christians. It all began in a moment on a hillside, when judgement seemed the more logical response, but Jesus chose the power of kindness, and that kindness has changed the world. Kindness doesn’t win military victories, elections or Hollywood awards but God’s kindness changes the world one life at a time. I know it has changed mine!

Rejoicing in God’s Mercy

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities, Psalm 31:7 NKJV

Every month as the moon orbits around the earth it has an apogee and a perigee. At its perigee it is the closest to the earth and at its apogee the farthest. Every true Christian has come to orbit around Jesus and like the moon we have those times when, as one of my favorite songs goes – I’m…

"So close I believe You're holding me now," Reuben Morgan

But then there are those times when we reach the other side of that orbit. Even though we are still in our orbit around Jesus we feel distant – sometimes because of our own sins, but sometimes because of the sins of others against us.

That is when we can discover as David did, a time of rejoicing, when by the gravitational pull of God’s mercy, He pulls us close again. Jesus was a “Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” Isaiah 53:3. In His orbit, He was once so far from God that He cried out, “My God – My God – Why have You forsaken me?” Matthew 27:47 That is why He, of all people, can know our soul in adversities. He understands what it means to feel far from the Father, but on the third day everything changed. The stone rolled away to disclose that He was no longer forsaken on a cross. He had risen from the dead and He brings for us a mercy, that can know our souls in the very depth of our adversities and our hearts when we feel the very furthest from God. That is when we can break out into the joyful words of this Psalm, “I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy!”

How is your walk with Jesus Christ today? Whether you at your apogee, in sorrow, shadows and problems, or at your apogee, feeling the wonderful presence of Jesus, God still is holding you by the pull of His mercy and love. Trust Him, because You are His. He has bought you with a price. He has promised to never let you go!