Mercy, Grace and Eternity

Mercy traveled a great distance to reach the people of this earth.

Once Mercy arrived, people treated Him like He was a  heretic and a trouble maker.  Those in church leadership hated Mercy the most and wanted Him dead, so they conspired together to kill Him.  Mercy, having upset the Jewish Leaders of the day, was put to death by the Romans through the method of Crucifixion.  Mercy was nailed to a wooden Cross and suffered and died for our sins, so that whoever believed in Him and His death and resurrection would be saved!  (John 3:16)

After 9 hours of agony, much shorter than most crucifixion deaths, Mercy gave up His spirit to The Father, saying simply, "It is Finished,"  But before Mercy's death, He promised to return in the form of "the helper," or "The Holy Spirit" in order to help us know right from wrong and live our lives the way Mercy would want us to live.  Mercy's greatest instruction to us was to "Love one another as I  have loved you."  (John 13:34-35).  We should work hard every day at being kinder, and showing His mercy to others, through our love for one another, for if they come to know Mercy and believe in His great and free gift of eternal life, perhaps they too will be saved!  But if we don't follow the path of Mercy and show His mercy to others, no mercy will be shown to us.

Mercy sacrificed Himself for us so that we might live...and have life more abundant! (John 10:10b).  When Mercy rose from the dead three days later, just as He said He would, everyone was in awe, disbelief and utter shock.  "This can't be!" said the Roman's who reported it to the Jews.  The Roman's couldn't explain His disappearance, so they conspired with the Jews to say that Mercy's body had simply been stolen by His faithful followers.

It's sad.  They didn't understand Mercy, so even though they thought they knew everything they needed to know to survive in the world, they truly didn't know anything at all.

Three days and nights after He was crucified, Mercy rose from the dead!
It was then that we could finally understand grace!  For His Mercy, gave way to Grace!  (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Jesus was Mercy, and Grace ...once for all, His blood was spilled so that we might be saved from sin and eternal death, hell and damnation.  To be truthful, Mercy and Grace were there at the beginning of time in the personage of Jesus, God's only begotten Son!

During the Lord's Supper the other night, our Pastor read a passage about the bible regarding "The Last Supper," in which Jesus names His betrayer by handing Him a piece of bread.  The bible says that "Satan entered the body of Judas," (Luke 22:3).   Mercy knew it was Judas that would betray Him, but told him, "What you do, do quickly."  They took Mercy before Pontius Pilate, who washed his hands, saying he didn't want anything to do with killing Mercy, for there was no evidence to support a death sentence.  But still  Mercy was sent to die on a cross.  He rose three days later, and still lives today.  He sits at the right hand of our most gracious Father in Heaven, and He lives in the hearts of all those who believe in Him! I can't wait to fall at His feet and worship Him someday!

Our Pastor also made a comment that had me putting my sin in the same context as "betrayal."  I have to tell you, that one hit me right between the eyes, and boy did it hurt!  I had been so pre-occupied with "ME" that I had forgotten all about "HIM" and my life should always be all about "HIM" not "ME"!  As a sinner, I had betrayed my best friend!  Luckily, He is so full of mercy that all I had to do was say "I'm Sorry," truly meaning it, and I was forgiven! 

Rejoice!  Jesus Christ is Risen Today!  For Mercy and Grace abound through the one who gives us life, and watches over us each day.  Even if we are sinners, He still loves us and wants us to believe in His Mercy and Grace which came from Golgotha's Hill, and the blood that ran down the mountain on that day when my Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins.  A day is coming soon, when Jesus will return for His Bride so buckle up!  And if you don't know Jesus?  Try to get to know Him.  He might just surprise you!

God Bless all of you on this Resurrection Sunday and have a terrific week!

Is Life Making You Weary?

Are you burned out?  

I have been through it a million times as a lot of Christian's have, but whenever I get to the bottom of the mental elevator, I stop and remember the Christians in Africa who are giving their lives daily for the name of Jesus and that leads to thoughts of those in my own back yard who may not yet be saved or even heard the good news of Jesus Christ.

Humbling isn't it?

No matter what you are going through, the Lord is there, and He is carrying you through the rough times and will sit you back down on your feet when He knows you are back on the right track again, but He will always be by your side, walking with you.  So why so much despair?  Have you forgotten His miracles?  All of 'this' is temporal no matter what you are going through!  Plus, it is not God who sends these trials, it is Satan and our own sin that causes us trouble, we're just too proud at times to admit it.  But please, don't lose heart!  For Jesus tarries not!  He is on His way to claim His Bride, and personally?  Throw all the junk news you want at me, I know the truth!  Jesus is my fortress and my shield, and it is my goal, my my one yearning desire in life at least at this stage, is to endure to the end, no matter how painful. 

If you are in the doldrums and know it's sinful, try this.  Read the entire new testament in 31 days!  9 chapters a day.  This is an exersize our entire church did, and while some of us finished on time, (yeah, I was late...lol), most of us finished and most of us kept going!  

You need to be challenged.  So read your bible every day because it is by far the most reliable way to keep yourself humble, and useable by the Holy Spirit.  We are vessels that should be filled with the Spirit on a daily basis!  If we're not doing that?  We're burning out!

Allowing the Spirit to convict us when we are wrong and then repenting right away, helps us to remain sin free.  This can be done, for the bible says, "His mercies are new every morning."  Lamentations 13:12, which can be done, for "His mercies are new every morning," (Lamentations 3:22-23).  This means God's forgiveness is free for us at anytime we ask, not just at the moment of salvation!

None of us is perfect, and we need to stay in constant contact with the Lord, and stay within the boundaries He has set for us in order to keep a happy attitude in the Lord going!  This way, others who see us will wonder what we have that they don't!  They need Jesus, so don't let the SADS or the spring cleaning keep you from spending time with Jesus or mentioning Him to everyone you meet.  Even if they spit at you at the mere mention of His name, it's worth it.  

Just remember, balance is the key.  Too many commitments at church may take you away from your family more than it should....cut back.  If you're not doing anything?  Ask the Pastor of the church where you can serve!  It's not that hard!  I'm sure He will have plenty of options for you, or a few people to chat with so that you can start to serve the Lord with a glad heart every minute of every day of every week of every month of every year!

We all need Jesus, especially when we are weak, or are losing our strength or are caught in our sin, which we become comfortable with.  Taking time for yourself with the Lord is the key, and if you aren't doing that on a daily basis, you will see the old you in the mirror again and then wonder what the heck happened.

Stay in touch.  He wants to forgive you.  He wants to teach you.  And above all else, He loves you so much He gave His only son for you!  He simply needs more time with you and you need more time with Him.

Keep the faith.  And don't burn the candle at both ends, just keep it going!  Don't let your light go out!  Jesus needs you now more than ever because we're going home soon!  

I love you all, I pray for you all daily and I truly hope this blog is having an affect on those who read it.  We are in the home stretch folks!  We are on the verge of complete victory!  Don't quit now!