Spiritual Characteristics of the Kingdom of God- Part 5
“Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy”
Matthew 5:7
As these characteristics on the other side of the mountain become a natural part of our being, we start to express the true character of God. Mercy is a sense of pity plus an effort to relieve suffering. It is not pity alone; it includes action. Consider the parable of the Good Samaritan. Others may have pitied the injured man, but they did nothing. They were not demonstrating mercy. Mercy allowed Jesus to see the miserable consequences of sin. It is also what drove him to relieve the suffering sin causes both in this life and the life after death.
The characteristic of mercy develops a sacrificial love that inspires a person to do all he or she can to save another from the fiery pits of Hell. We can be thankful we have a merciful God. He knows the consequences of sin. “For God so loved the world (mankind) that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him (accepts Him as Savior) shall not perish (spend eternity in Hell) but have eternal life (spend eternity in Heaven). For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17).
Mercy differentiates between the sinner and sin. God hates sin, but loves the sinner. Mercy causes us to see people as creatures to be pitied-slaves to sinful nature- who are trapped in Satan’s world system and suffering the awful consequences of sin. Even while He was on the cross, mercy moved Jesus to pray for His oppressors, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
Stay tuned for our next blog post on spiritual characteristic number seven, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8)
What if Jesus attended your church?
The most outstanding characteristic of genuine revival throughout history is an overwhelming sense of the Lord’s presence. Revival, above all else, is a purposeful glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a restoration of Him as a living personality to the center of life in the church. During every period of revival, you will find without expectation, there has always been a tremendous increase in the emphasis upon His actual personhood and the unique power of the blood he willingly shed on Calvary.
Just imagine what it might be like if Jesus began attending your church on a regular basis. Picture the difference it would make, and you will have a pretty good idea of what revival in your church would look like.
In my example, say Jesus attends your church in bodily form for a moth or even two. Now I know that every Sunday He is with us in Spirit, but what if he were physically present and your could see Him, not just through eyes of faith but with your own two eyes? What difference would that make? Following is a list of responses, seven in total, I think you might very well observe. By design, it does not cover every base because I have reserved a key one for another blog post 🙂 It does, however, give you a good feel for what would take place.
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We are God’s Soldiers~Creating a Circle of Love
Like it or not, we are God’s soldiers in a spiritual struggle for the very survival of Godliness in America.We must deal with the breakdown at hand, as we alone posses the solution to this problem. Dealing with it is our responsibility.
God’s word has given us a framework for national revival. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 he says: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and will HEAL their land.” There are four “ifs” that must be satisfied by God’s people prior to his promise of a response. The first “if” requires them to humble themselves, the second is prayer, the third directs them to seek HIS face, and the fourth is to turn from their wicked ways.
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