What Is Mercy

 Issue 27          [November 14, 2010]

Ruth went to her mailbox and there was only one letter.  She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter:

 Dear Ruth:
  I'm going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I'd like to stop by for a visit.
Love Always,
  Jesus

  Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. "Why would the Lord want to visit me? I'm nobody special.  I don't have anything to offer." With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets.  "Oh my goodness, I really have anything to offer.  I'll have to run down to the store and buy something for dinner." She reached for her purse and counted its contents, Five dollars and forty cents. "Well, I can get some bread and cold cuts, at least." She threw on her coat and hurried out the door. A loaf of French bread, a half pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of milk...leaving Ruth with grand total of twelve cents to last her until Monday. None the less, she felt good as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arm. "Hey lady, can you help us? " Ruth had been so absorbed in her dinner plans, she hadn't even noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway.

  A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than rags. "Look lady, I ain't got a job, ya’ know, and my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and, well, now it's getting cold and we're getting kinda hungry and, well, if you could help us, lady, we'd really appreciate it." Ruth looked at them both.  They were dirty, they smelled bad and frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to. "Sir, I'd like to help you, but I'm a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I'm having an important guest for dinner tonight and I was planning on serving that to Him."

"Yeah, well, okay lady, I understand. Thanks anyway."
The man put his arm around the woman's shoulders, turned and he headed back into the alley.  As she watched them leave, Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart. "Sir, wait!"  The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them. "Look, why don't you take this food. I'll figure out something else to serve my guest." She handed the man her grocery bag. "Thank you lady. Thank you very much!"

   "Yes, thank you!"  It was the man's wife, and Ruth could see now that she was shivering. "You know, I've got another coat at home. Here, why don't you take this one? "Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it over the woman's shoulders. Then smiling, she turned and walked back to the street without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest. "Thank you lady! Thank you very much!"

   Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front door, and worried too. The Lord was coming to visit and she didn't have anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox. "That's odd. The mailman doesn't usually come twice in one day."  She took the envelope out of the box and opened it.

 Dear Ruth:
It was so good to see you again.  Thank you for the lovely meal. And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat.
Love Always
 Jesus

The air was still cold, but even without Her coat, Ruth no longer noticed.

     I’ve currently finished a newsletter titled the miracle of mercy. But I really didn’t get a chance to discuss all the avenues of mercy. Many times we think of mercy, we only look at one side, we look at God’s mercy towards us. The problem is, that its only half. The years that Jesus walked on this Earth, and all the parables in the teachings, he tried to get us to understand that to be Christian we have to be Christ-like, and to be Christ-like, we have to be LIKE  - CHRIST. If we are to be Christian, Christ-like, and we are to be like Christ. If we are to be like Christ, then we have to show an attitude of mercy towards others. We have to show the fruits of the spirit. The fruit of the spirit are these; love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, and temperance.

     In todays society it is hard to keep this flesh constantly under subjection. We are so caught up in our own activities and surroundings that we forget about our fellow man. We become so engrossed with our own lives we tend to dismiss our fellow man who is in need, because it becomes an “inconvenience” to stop and help them.

     Consider the parable of the two men who owed a debt which they couldn’t pay. [Luke 7:41]One owed 50 and the other owed 500 but they were forgiven equally. Jesus asked Simon to which will love him most? Simon said to him which he forgave most. This creditor was a man who was obviously not self-wound, but was one who had mercy upon the debtors.

     In Matthew 18:24 it discusses a man who was shown mercy concerning his debtor but when the role was reversed he had no compassion to extend toward his debtor. Can you guess what happened? He reaped what he sowed.

     It is easy to discuss mercy when we are on the receiving end and are in desperate need of it. The problem lies when we cant pass the mercy along to others. Can we truly expect God to show us mercy when we ourselves cant get past our flesh and show the same to others?! 

     I expect to be forgiven of my past sins toward God and my fellow man but shouldn’t I also learn to forgive those who have trespassed against me? When they are with or without God. They are still the same. Forgive your brother is stated in the Bible 7 x 70 in a day. I want to take it a step farther and I believe I’ll be ok in saying that we should also include those that are without God. How can we expect them to see the love of God if we don’t SHOW them the love of God. Remember to be a christian we have to be Christ-Like.

 It is rumored that Napoleon had one of his soldiers sentenced to death for some particular crime he had committed. The soldiers mother came to Napoleon crying, and pleading to spare the life of her son. Napoleon made the statement that the young soldier did not deserve mercy. The mother looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks saying "isn't that what mercy is?!"

     Remember to forgive those that have done you wrong, no matter what it is. Don't allow your hatred and what THEY to send you to Hell. That person can ask God to forgive him but you allow those wounds to fester and never heal, they end up walking the Street of Gold while you allowed yourself to end up in Hell for eternity. Forgive and ye shall be forgiven!
     Mercy is a priceless treasure for them that recieve and costs nothing to give away......

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Scripture For Your Basket:
Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Romans 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.

Romans 11:30-32 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

The Holy Bible, King James Version. Pradis CD-ROM. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1994.

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Editors Comments:
    I hope you enjoyed this brief discussion on mercy. Many times in our life it is hard to take those learning lessons and apply it to our own life, but when we do, we can see the evidence of good fruit being brought forth.
     As the old cliche' says "when life throws you a lemon, make lemonade" take that lemonade, grab some glasses and pass them out to your neighbors. When the time comes that you need a drink, someone will be there to hand you a glass. "What goes around, comes around. Its not a Biblical saying but it is the gospel truth.