09-06-2019
The Gospel of Matthew is a manual on discipleship.
Matthew 28:19-20 New King James Version (NKJV)
19 Go [a]therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” [b]Amen.
Jesus begins His teaching with the Sermon on the Mount.
And Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount with a choice:
You decide whether it is the narrow gate or broad gate. (Matthew 7:13-14)
And you decide on what kind of fruit that you want to produce. (Matthew 7:15-20)
And you decide what kind of house you want to build: the foolish builder or the wise builder. (Matthew 7:24-27)
Matthew 5:7 New King James Version (NKJV)
7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
None of us are merciless. But a lot of us treat God like the Pharisees. We begin to take on this air or aura of religiosity.
Mercy and grace is the glory of God. And it is not only for you and me. It is for a thousand generations.
The 8 beatitudes precede the salt and light. The character precedes the conduct.
It is doable. It is a Christian counterculture.
The good news is we are blessed because God never shortchanges us.
Mercy is the same word as love.
The mercy of God is part of the glory of God.
Psalm 23:6 King James Version (KJV)
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Psalm 23:6 New International Version (NIV)
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Justice has been met at the cross. The mercy and love of God can now flow to you and to me.
If God is a God of mercy, ask-lah. The problem is, we don't ask enough. Why? Arrogance. Self-righteousness.
All of us need mercy. The problem is, we don't ask enough.
God's mercy is inexhaustible.
Luke 18:9-14 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be [a]humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Whatever that you're going through, come to God humbly. And God will begin to pour out His mercy to you and to me.
Freely give, freely receive.
Are there areas of your life that you have not show mercy?
Because you have not shown mercy, that becomes an obstacle and a blockade for the mercy and blessing of God to flow in your own life.
You have to show mercy.
How do you minister to the people who kill your family?
Mercy was offered but it was not taken.
At the cross, mercy and justice met.
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