Spending time with mercy

A little focused time on “mercy.”  

Hosea6:5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Matthew 9:12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Matthew 12:6 But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

 
So Hosea says it once and Jesus quotes it twice once when He is being criticized for who He is hanging out with and once when His disciples are being criticized for their actions on the Sabbath. 

 
One more Psalm 102:13 You will arise and have pity on Zion;
    it is the time to favor her;
    the appointed time has come.
14 For your servants hold her stones dear
    and have pity on her dust.   
God is moved to pity when He sees His servants having pity/compassion/mercy.  I think He is working in us a knowledge, a deep knowledge of how much we need mercy, so that, we are then vessels of mercy to other people.  

Romans 9:22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 

 
Suffering is tied to “our” glory, and mercy is tied to “His” glory.  

Stuff worth thinking about.

Israel, "one that has power with God."

For a full overview of the end times go here.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/250499355034709/permalink/639599526124688/

This is just a little snippet.   "Of course the history of the concept of Jacob's trouble begins with the crisis that Jacob faced upon his learning of the approach of Esau with four hundred armed men. This is the crisis of ultimate weakness that prepared Jacob for his desperate wrestling with the angel of the Lord's presence at the ford of Jabbok.

For Jacob, this was the ultimate, divinely appointed crisis that brought about the new priestly brokenness that would now distinguish the true "Israel" (one that has 'power with God') to be a priestly blessing to all peoples (Zech 8:23). This is very instructive in understanding such passages as Deut 32:36 with Dn 12:7 (the shattering of Israel's carnal 'power'). It is a key to the purpose of Jacob's trouble, and, of course, it is also a pattern for the individual and the true body (Acts 14:22; 2Cor 1:19; Phil 3:3). But the concept of an ultimate weakness and destitution through great tribulation in preparation for a final transforming event of saving revelation goes all the way back to Moses (see Deut 4:30).

Moses knew that although Israel would soon enter the land, the larger part of the nation lacked the kind of heart that could keep and possess the land in any enduring way (see Deut 29:4). Therefore, knowing the everlasting covenant promised to the Fathers, Moses looked ahead to a time of great tribulation that would have its outcome in a national circumcision of the heart, i.e., national regeneration (compare Deut 4:30 with 30:1-6). This anticipates what the prophets would later see as an apocalyptic 'day of the Lord'. (Note that Deut 4:30 anticipates Jer 30:7)."

Even that little bit is a lot to grasp, but let me summarize what the Lord was showing me this morning.  Jacob's new name Israel, has been used to point out what a "heroic" effort and struggle he was making in wrestling with the angel, but that is a humanistic perspective.  The God perspective is that Jacob obtained "power with God" and therefore became Israel at a time of utter helpless desperation.  A  man clinging to a piece of wood to stay afloat in the ocean and not drown, is doing so because he has come to the end of himself, he cannot swim, he cannot stay afloat without the wood.  His clinging is coming from a place of ultimate weakness and desperation so the strength with God that Jacob is displaying is weakness and utter helplessness when viewed from God's perspective.  And guess what ...that is where He is taking the true body of believers, and only from that place can we be a blessing to the world that will be going through an unequaled time of tribulation.  

Judging according to the flesh is death

Sometimes I will post honest stuff that is going on, in the hopes that someone else will benefit. This quote, “Jesus called Peter a 'rock' long before Peter was stable and mature. He leads us by calling out what He sees, not calling out our failures.” is a very nice summary of what I apologized to my wife for yesterday. After 15 years we could both easily compose a long list of faults and failures, but, to do so would not be "believing all things" like the Bible says 'lovers' do! It would be ignoring the very sound advice of 2 Cor. 5:16 to not judge each other according to the flesh.  So, my earnest desire is to "see" what God is doing in my wife and to rejoice in that and to let all the other stuff fade away. Onward!

Luke 7:47

"For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." Luke 7:47 The lesson is simple if you KNOW you have been shown great mercy you love extravagantly, unconventionally, dangerously, but if you are "forgiven little" if you are in very little need of His mercy then your heart will dispense tiny little, conditional drips of love that are calculated to please your 'pretty good, thank you' delusional self.  And "love" always includes the word "sacrifice" in its definition.

http://prayingmedic.com/2015/06/17/is-love-enough/

Psalm 86

Keeping it simple.

Our nature is to need mercy, 

His nature is to show mercy.  

Our job is to say "Thank you."

Open letter to Pastors

This is what I see in scripture.  Your job first of all is to admit that you should not be the singular leader of the congregation.  The leadership of a local body of believers is to be by an eldership.  Men gifted in differing ways working together to equip the saints.  Is this impossible no, but it will be hard and it does call for humility, but given the opportunity to teach the local gathering the truths of scripture, those who are truly called will be supportive of the change.  The second part may take care of itself.  We need to gather in smaller groups, that are more broken, intimate and vulnerable than the ridiculously large group that we currently meet in.  Lastly, waiting on the Lord, is key in how we move forward, it is costly, it is counter intuitive, it is the truth of the Word, and it brings death to the flesh, like nothing else can.  Grace, peace and mercy from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Election picks a fight with pride

Election, God's choice, of Joseph, of Jacob, of Abraham, of Isaac, of the Jewish people is meant to pick a fight with pride.  His choosing uncovers our deep, unspoken, but universal, feeling of entitlement.  Only when we are connected intimately with the truth that we NEED the mercy of God are we free of entitlement and its out-working pride.