Mercy- Its like a big hand reaching out to hold you

Yesterday, I felt convicted by failing to be merciful. In the book "Lord Only You Can Change Me," that my boyfriend and I have been going through, Kay Arthur shares four ways in which we can show mercy.

1. When you see a person in need and you can meet his needs, do so. (James 2:16-16)
2. Fully forgive anyone who is indebted to you in his behavior or attitude (Colossians 3:12-15)
3. If you are going to be merciful, then you need to give understanding rather than judgment. Ask         yourself, "Have I sat where they are living?" (Ezekiel 3:15, Luke 6:36-38)
4. Be merciful toward the character of others. We have different personalities, different temperament types. Therefore, you need to be merciful and respond to others in the light of their personality needs.
• As is paraphrased by Kay, 1 Thessalonians 5:15; Hebrews 10:
• Some people need assurance. Give them assurance.
• Some people are insecure. Affirm them.
• Some people are weak. Support them.
• Some people are timid. Encourage them.
• Some people are reserved. Spur them on to love and good works.

How often am I quick to assume my way is the best way? When I get frustrated, the first thing to go is showing mercy.
Now, I would like to specifically refer to:

Luke 6:36-38

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Anxiety

My skin tingles with the nervous anxiety before an exam. I need to do better, I need to pass. These thoughts take over my mind, cloud me from focusing. Last night I turned my thoughts over to God, with a clear conscious. This morning I did MUCH better than the last exam, but still below the class average in Biochem.

Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

In order to do well, I must give my worries to God by having strength through him. By redirecting my thoughts to the things that are important, I can be happy. Giving of oneself yields a fruitful reward. For those of you who do not understand, I am not being hard on myself, I am freeing myself from anxiety through Jesus who gives me peace.

2 Corinthians 8:5-15
And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

Mighty to Save & 4 Spiritual Laws

Today I've decided to write about MIGHT.

Check out this video: Mighty to Save by Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB-yX5p0p4I

The Holy Spirit today gives Christians the strength to be hopeful in Christ and not fall into temptation. So what is temptation? Temptation is enticement or allurement to do something that may bring harm on yourself or others. You can be tempted by cheetos that negatively affect your health, can be tempted by pleasures that may become a distraction from a purposeful life, and other temptations that have no negative consequences but no good ones either. Temptations in the Old testament are defined by the ten commandments, and in the new testament- after Christ- the beatitudes. If we are strong in God's might through the Holy Spirit that we accept through belief in Christ's sinless existence on Earth and resurrection for us, many temptations become lost to us. But in order to live with the Might of Jesus, we must observe and live by the

Four Spiritual laws:
http://4laws.com/laws/english/flash/

Job 36:5
"God is mighty, but despises no one; he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.

Job 36:19
Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts sustain you so you would not be in distress?

Psalm 42:4
These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.

Psalm 59:9-13

You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.

God will go before me and will let me gloat over those who slander me.
But do not kill them, Lord our shield, or my people will forget.
In your might uproot them and bring them down.
For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride.
For the curses and lies they utter, consume them in your wrath, consume them till they are no more.
Then it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob.

Jesus, the cultural rebel

Often I feel like people think Christianity is conservative, but in Jesus's time he was a rebel. Not a rebel by today's standards of breaking the law, but rebellious in terms of cultural standards. Often in the Bible, Christ does something completely unexpected by the people. This chapter, John 20 shows how Jesus's own mother is so unbelieving in his return that she doesn't even recognize her son immediately after Jesus rose again from death on the third day.

John 20:1-29
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for? Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Do bones live?

To be honest, today I just flipped open the Bible and decided to write about what I opened to. I landed in Ezekiel Chapter 17.

Ezekiel 17:1-3
The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then he caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" So I answered, "Oh Lord God, You know."

Further on, the verses lead up to God bringing the bones to life through Ezekiel. Without faith, nothing happens, unless God is specifically trying to prove a point. Today, God doesn't prove himself because Jesus did that for him, and our free will allows us to make mistakes and sometimes not get the punishment we truly deserve.

As I am at Penn State for the next 2 days, these verses touched my heart:

II Corinthians 9:8,10,11
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, While you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

II Corinthians 10:1,3
Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ- who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

II Corinthians 10:12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

Does God Speak?

Since the coming of Christ, we are not aware that God speaks verbally to man. Believers in Christ however, ARE given the Holy Spirit.

New Testament-post Christ
1 Corinthians 2:14
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

Old Testament
Deuteronomy 5:24
And you said, “The LORD our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them."

Genesis 28:13-15
There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Psalm 67:1-2
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

Numbers 11:16-17
The LORD said to Moses: “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. ¹⁷ I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.

Image: courtesy of Joe Warnstrom

Believing lies and reflecting an imperfect standard.

I’m not going to use generalized phrases, but I’m sure others can relate to the feeling of inadequacy. According to dictionary.com, inadequacy is the state of being found insufficient or having defect. Dwelling on inadequacy is not healthy, but believing inadequacy given to you by others is not ok. The only OTHER you should compare yourself to is Jesus Christ… What would Jesus do?

So, what, you may ask, did Jesus do? By coming to earth as the son of God and resisting all temptation of the world he humbled himself to be blamelessly nailed to a cross for mans’ sin. For those who believe in Him, (I emphasize that this is a relationship, not a religion in which a standard mode of action is “par”) but Jesus Christ Himself strengthens us in our weakness and loves our weakness because our reliance on Him brings us closer.

So, am I believing a lie that I'm inadequate? YES. Does Jesus think I'm inadequate? Not now. Since I believe Jesus Christ is my personal savior, God turned away from Jesus on the cross because our sin was put on Him. This allows us to be looked at with love from God even through our imperfections. If you beat yourself up regularly, you are believing a lie.

Psalm 73:25-26
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Philippians 3:13-14
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

^{John 3:3-8}
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." "How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

John 3:16-21

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.