Not Karma - Mercy

 

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.

Give and it will be given to you.  They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over.  For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.

Luke 6:36-38

One of principles of Christianity is that we received mercy from God and, therefore, we are to be merciful to mankind.

 

Did you ever notice that mean people sometimes stay mean?   We are nice to them and they return our kindness with meanness. 

 

This may make us think that the Bible got it wrong about getting back what we give. But then someone who we hardly know will do something kind for us, and there it is: Pressed down, shaken together, and running over - the mercy we gave coming back to us.

 

It’s not karma.  It’s mercy.

Equipped For Battle

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 

Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 

and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; 

in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:13-17

The full armor of God includes truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the Word of God.  

When we choose to live our lives with these gifts from God, we are equipped to withstand the forces of evil which attack us and our testimony.  And, sometimes, just being known for these characteristics is enough to warn off those who would want to mess with us.

Get equipped for battle - pray and study God's Word. 

 

Enrolled In Heaven

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.  For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain it will be stoned.”

And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels, to the general assemble and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Able.

See that you do not refuse Him who is speaking….

Hebrews 12:18-25

Before Jesus came, only the High Priest could enter the inner area in the Temple known as the Holy of Holies where the Spirit of God resided.  It was so sacred that the Priest's robe had bells and pomegranates sewn along the bottom, so that those on the outside could hear the tinkling bells and know that the Priest was alive.  And, just in case something went wrong, there was a rope tied around the Priest's foot so they could pull him out.  No one ever entered the Holy of Holies for fear for being struck dead by God.  

Then God sent Jesus to us so that we could enter into fellowship with Him.  

Jesus came and died for our sins and arose from the grave and ascended into heaven.  Jesus was the ultimate and final sacrifice, once and for all so that everyone could come to God without fear.   

This scripture paints a picture of how God views us and welcomes us into fellowship with Him.  We are part of the general assembly and church of the first born who are enrolled in heaven.  

And, this is why we should not refuse Jesus when He calls us.   

 

Those Lost Sheep

 

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Jesus to listen to Him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

And so He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the other ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he puts it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance." 

Luke 15:1-7

The lesson here is that we should never underestimate the power of God.

When we look at people we only see the exterior; we do not see the heart.  We may think some people are so far from God that there is no hope for them and what's more we may think, "Well, they are not the people we want in our church."

But Jesus does not see what we see.  He sees people who are hungry for the love of God and who are ready for a life change.  And, then He pours His love on them and welcomes them into the family of God.  

We are a part of this when we extend the hand of Christian fellowship to others.  Some may show up at our church, others may be at the supermarket or park or where we work.  Everyone is the same with God, He loves and cares for everyone. 

So, look for lost sheep and tell them about the love of God. 

Be At Peace

 

When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Proverbs 16:7

Wow!  This sounds impossible, but here it is.  We are called to make peace with our enemies.  

I am thinking we do this by ignoring much of what our enemies try to do to us.  And, we can try peace offerings like treats or offering to help them out with some project they are working on.  

We may not be friends, but we can work on a peaceful co-existence. 

God Is Not Partial

 

Opening his mouth Peter said, “I most certainly understand that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.” 

Acts 10:34-35

There you go.  How is it that Christians are labelled as intolerant, when the Bible clearly states that everyone is welcomed by God?  God is not partial; He does not favor anyone group of people over another.  He loves all humanity. 

I think where the conflict comes is that some people read the Bible and do not like what it says and decide that God is against them.  The truth is God is for all of us, what He is against is life destroying sin and evil.  Christians who embrace the teachings of the Bible should not be labelled as intolerant any more than Hindus or Buddhist who embrace those teachings. 

So, it is a case of “don’t blame the messenger.”  We come carrying the love of God for all humanity and our beliefs that are based upon the Bible.  If people do not like what the Bible says then they do not have to join us.

But, because we embrace and believe the teachings of the Bible, we will continue to share the message of one way to God, through His Son, Jesus, and we will continue to love and pray for all people.

Minister Yes Mingle No

 

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?  Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?  Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,

        “I will dwell in them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

        “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.  “And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you.  And I will be a father to you.  And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18

The people of God face the question of what relationships they should have with unbelievers.  When the Apostle Paul spoke to the Corinthians about this he quoted the message to “be separate” which God gave to the Old Testament Prophets Isaiah and Hosea.

This is good advice for Christians.  There are those who want to stop us from speaking about Jesus, those who want to lure us into sin, those who would like us to fall from grace and even some who would like to kill us. 

We know that the best defense is a good offense.  A good offense is to keep our distance.  We can be friendly, but not necessarily friends.

 

We can share the Gospel with unbelievers and invite them to church and see what happens.  And, perhaps they will become believers because God’s arms are wide open and waiting to receive them.