Showing posts with label Mercy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mercy. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Listen and Hear!

By Pauline Foreman

There was a Man named Jesus, you see,
He was born to save you and me;
Born of a virgin, begotten of the Spirit,
Everyone who has an ear should want to hear it.

We were made in His image,
But through sin we were blemished;
Nevertheless, He had a plan,
To redeem sinful man.

He went about healing the blind, halt, and lame,
His love and compassion soon gained great fame;
They came from the north, south, east, and west,
He delivered them all from all their tests.

He that has an ear – listen and hear.

Opposing forces came against this Man,
But for the love of people He took a stand;
He defeated the devil on every hand,
And took the punishment of sinful man.

For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross,
So that mankind would not have to be lost;
When life to you seems dark and grim,
Take up your cross and follow Him.

Wherever He leads, be willing to follow,
And your life will never be hollow;
Your void He will fill,
Give new life, He will.

He that has an ear – listen and hear.

Repentance of sin is where you begin,
Baptism in His Name is the next step to claim;
He promised to give you the Holy Ghost,
You will be filled to the uttermost.
In another tongue, you will speak,
When it is Him wholeheartedly you seek.

He that has an ear – listen and hear.

To give your life to Him is very smart,
Righteousness to you He will impart;
A broken and contrite heart He will in no wise cast aside,
But is faithful to complete the work He began inside.

No longer a slave to sin,
You will have peace within;
Every time you kneel,
He will begin to heal.
All the hurts of the past,
Will be gone at last.

Read your Bible and you will find,
How to be like Him – so good, so kind;
He is high and holy, yet so meek and lowly,
To be like Him is a process – slowly.

Continue to run this race,
He will guide you at His pace;
For the race is not given to the swift or strong,
But to the ones that endure the whole course long.

He that has an ear – listen and hear!


Sunday, June 30, 2013

Heavenly Kisses

By Marjorie Kinnee
Editorial

Text: Psalm 85:10-11 - "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven."

Mercy is God's business. At man's best, his kind of mercy is flawed, dependent upon God's example to be of any effect. Proverbs 16:6 says, "By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD, men depart from evil." As God's mercy comes down to us, we begin to see the truth of our lack and our need. A repentant heart is the seed bed of truth.

David's condition was grave, his sin was egregious. In his prayer, (Psalm 51,) we can identify twenty-one key words or phrases. They are the facets of true repentance...
  1. Have mercy,
  2. Blot out my transgressions,
  3. Wash me thoroughly,
  4. Cleanse me
  5. I acknowledge my transgressions,
  6. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned,
  7. I was shapen in iniquity,
  8. Thou desirest truth in the inward parts,
  9. Purge me, and I shall be clean,
  10. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,
  11. Make me to hear joy, and gladness,
  12. Hide Thy face from my sins,
  13. Blot out all mine iniquities,
  14. Create in me a clean heart,
  15. Renew a right Spirit within me,
  16. Cast me not away,
  17. Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,
  18. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation,
  19. Uphold me with Thy free Spirit,
  20. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness,
  21. Open Thou my lips.

David's spiritual condition was desperate. Without God he was in total darkness, as if he were dead. Hedged in by his sin, he had nowhere to go. His prayers went no higher than the ceiling; God wasn't listening. Condemnation lie in wait like a predator. His strength and hope had perished. He saw and heard the snide remarks and derision of all those around him. Sitting in misery and affliction, David felt cut off, estranged from every good thing he'd ever known.

But God! (See II Peter 3:9.) As the mercy of God flowed down toward David's need, truth rose up to meet it. "It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Right there, at the conjunction of mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, David found himself squarely in the center of a heavenly kiss! Though his sin had separated him from God, mercy like the morning dew embraced the truth of what true repentance is. It is the great reconciler! You too can find the joy that comes from placing yourself in the center of a heavenly kiss!

"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." (II Corinthians 5:20)