Mercy

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."

Mercy -compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.

There is no greater need in my life than to obtain the mercy of the Lord. I do not need wealth. I do not need fame. I do not need health. I do not need happiness. What I need, and desire more than anything else in all the universe, is to obtain the mercy of the Lord. "God, have mercy on me."

How do we obtain mercy? God has mercy on us. We must pass His mercy onto others.

When we have received the mercy of God, it changes us because we know how undeserving we are. Mercy is a reflection of God's goodness, not a reflection of our goodness. When we have mercy on others, it reflects our heart. (When we do not have mercy on others, it reflects our heart). Mercy is always undeserved. Mercy's root is the LOVE of God. God is merciful to us because God loves us.

Being merciful is a heart condition that only God does perfectly. The mercy that we extend to others, if we're even merciful at all, often times has conditions, "Do this...or do that...or don't do this or that."

True mercy, unconditional mercy, has no conditions. We are given the mercy of God simply by asking the Lord for His mercy. Jesus Christ is merciful to us now, already, before we even ask Him. God is good!

"Thank you Lord, for your mercy."

~dkg

Christmas Day

"I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul." Psalm 142

Christmas is the happiest day of the year for a lot of folk. However, it's the saddest day for some.

Personally, I know what it's like to spend Christmas Day at home completely alone, watching Christmas specials for "shut-ins." That day helped me understand the despair and loneliness that many people feel on Christmas, feeling like no one cares. But God cares! On that Christmas Day many years ago, God miracously reunited me with a precious loved one at around 11:30pm. That day turned out to be the most unforgettable, HAPPIEST Christmas for me ever!

The Lord is faithful. When we call out to Jesus, especially in our loneliness, He hears. Some ask in their despair and loneliness, "Where is God?"
I'll tell you - feel the breath coming from your nostrils. That's Him! He is with you.

~dkg

The Curse

Manger -"a long open box or trough for horses or cattle to eat from."

After he was born, Baby Jesus' parents wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him upon long, wooden beams, a dead tree, just like the cross. The first place Jesus laid his head to rest was a dead tree, and the last place he laid his head to rest was a dead tree. Ironically, Jesus was crucified on the Sabbath, "the day of rest."

Jesus Christ came into this world to die for the sin of the whole world, the curse we all inherited from Adam and Eve when they broke the law of God, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." This is why everything began to grow old and die. Sadly, sin (noun) is in our DNA; we all have an inclination to sin (verb): "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

Here's the Good News!
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Jesus took our place, he died; He gives us His eternal life. 

Consider Jesus: His life, His actions, His mercy, His ministry of healing, His words (Father, forgive them, they know not what they do), His death. Did Jesus go around yelling and screaming at people? No. Did Jesus belittle and berate people? No. Did Jesus hold their sins against them? No. 

The people Jesus became angry with were "pious religious rulers" who thought they were holy and superior to sinners. They used God for their profit and Jesus admonished them. Why? Because they blocked the Grace of God in other people's lives, they blocked the Good News of the gospel to the poor and downtrodden.

 God is not angry at us anymore! Jesus paid the price for sin so we could all have fellowship with Him. The veil of the Temple has been ripped in two from the top to the bottom and we can all enter in to God's presence. The blood of Jesus paid our debt in full on the "cursed, wooden cross," 100%.

~dkg