Blessed are the Merciful

I joyed to go up to the house of the Lord this Sabbath! It is amazing when one has had a short illness the blessing to once again worship the Lord with His people. I find as time goes on how I appreciate more and more the little group of like minded believes that God has put together in this place. I miss their fellowship and love when I or one of them is absent for some reason.

It was encouraging and refreshing also to take up the thoughts of Matthew chapter 5.

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

Once again Pastor looked at the Beatitude under the headings 1. The quality 2. The blessing promised

The characteristic, as the ones before, is God given, and not one found naturally in us. Proverbs 12:10 tells us that "...the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." It is usually some self centred or wrongly directed act.

The mercy we show as believers should be in appreciation and acknowledgment of the mercy shown to us in Christ. In him justice and mercy kiss. We should show and practice mercy among the brethren and look for ways to help meet the needs of God's people. This is an area often sadly lacking. And what is our motivation when we do seek to help others? Do we do "good works" in order to gain something and expect the same in return? Or are we like our Lord and Saviour, who willingly gave, even unto death, to us - undeserving though we are? I am always ashamed when I see how far short I fall in following and conforming to Christ.

But even more convicting - do we show mercy to the ungodly? Perhaps we give to the needy to care for their bodies in times of sickness, distress, poverty. But do we reach out to the SOULS of those around us? This is the greatest challenge to me at the moment. To long to see souls saved should be our great desire. To be so thankful to the Lord for what he has done for me that I would rejoice and proclaim it to all the lost I come in contact with.

Pastor made the good and lamentable point that as Christians who are called "Calvinists" we are often (wrongly?)thought to be loveless and not interested in seeing the gospel spread. How this should fire us up to show the world the message of the gospel. To praise God for what he has done and share the good news with needy people.

As a stay at home mother and wife my own opportunities to share my faith have perhaps been narrow. But the seasons of life change and as my children grow to adulthood so my sphere widens. The challenge for me is to be merciful to those I come across, to not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ and to truly love them enough to long to see them turn to the Lord and be my neighbours one day also in glory. And while I have children who do not profess faith in Christ I have a burning commitment to continue in sharing Christ with them It is a desire I have, yet often feel inadequate in doing. Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.



"For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.


But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,


Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;" Titus 3: 3-5


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