Matthew 5:3-7 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. ESV
This isn’t just about receiving mercy. This is about becoming the kind of person through whom God’s mercy flows.
Giving mercy releases mercy from heaven through you. Learn to be a river rather than a reservoir in every area of your life!
This always starts with giving. You can’t say to the fire give me heat and I’ll give you wood. You can’t say to the bank, give me interest and I’ll invest. If you need more energy in your body don’t hold on to yourself trying to be still so energy doesn’t escape you. Exercise! Invest! Expend energy and you’ll be more energetic!
Giving doesn’t diminish our lives. It increases us. Like saturated sponges we can’t absorb more until we’re squeezed out. God asks us to first give what we have and then we receive more.
Proverbs 11:25 A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. NIV
Notice it’s not that a prosperous person is generous. It says that a generous person will prosper. This is why giving has always been a part of God’s plan. It unlocks something from heaven into and through our hearts.
Giving mercy releases mercy from heaven through you, causing you to become the kind of person through whom God’s mercy flows.
God wants his people to be alive in their hearts. He wants them to have feelings of affection toward him and mercy toward each other. What’s going on in your heart?
First we must connect with God’s mercies daily, as they are new every morning Lamentations 3:22-23. Why are they new every morning? God wants us to live lives that are connected to Him daily, so he designed us to leak. Get filled up and go leak out all God placed within you all day long. Then tomorrow, get filled up again.
The parable of the old, cracked pot. A young girl was a water bearer to the king. Every morning, she would walk to the river carrying two pots on a pole that balanced on her shoulders. One of the pots had a few small cracks in it and would leak about ½ of the water it held by the time it reached the palace. One day the pot developed the courage to speak to the water bearer saying, “I’m so sorry for my lack of perfection. I’m ashamed of these cracks that leak half of the water you’re carrying to the king.” The water bearer consoled the cracked pot suggesting the pot turn its attention to something more pleasant like the beauty of nature along the path. That day the cracked pot found herself feeling much better about her existence as she marveled at the beautiful flowers on the path rather than the deficit of leaking water until, again, only half of her contents remained when poured out for the king. The water bearer took the cracked pot into the king’s palace and showed her the beautiful flowers that existed on the pathway were used to decorate the palace. She explained that the flowers only grow on one side of the path, the side that had been watered daily by the cracked pot. “Stop worrying about being a crackpot!” God uses your weakness to express his grace as beauty in his Kingdom.
His mercies are new every morning. Don’t worry about leaking, just keep getting filled up! When you focus on the flowers rather than your flaws it changes everything.
In the Old Testament, one of the most common words for mercy comes from the same root as the word as meaning womb. Something beautiful is being born in your heart. Mercy is like a Maternal Compassion where we are deeply moved to care for and offer life-giving love.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Praise be to…the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. NIV
2 Corinthians 1:4 He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. MSG
When we focus on the suffering of Christ we are delivered from our sins. When we focus on the suffering of others we are delivered from ourselves.
GP2RL: Search daily for someone in need in some way and do what you can to help them.
