Skip to main content

Mercy, Mercy

It was sunny and quite warm for September, so I decided to go outside and sit under a tree during my lunch break.  As I was sitting under a tree listening to music and knitting, and enjoying time with God, a lady came up to me, and said she wanted to be sure I was OK.  Since I had been in the same place for what seemed to her to be a long time, she thought I might be sick and need help.  I assured her I was fine, and she went on her way.  I was humbled and amazed that someone would take the time to stop and check on me to see that I did not need help.  I was also ashamed because I have seen the lady around a few times, and had thought her to be unfriendly. As I finished my lunch, God reminded me not to be quick to form opinions about people; to wait and keep an open mind until I know them better before I make determinations about their character. James says “mercy triumphs over judgment”.  For me, I want to extend mercy as often as I can. I want to keep in mind that not one of us is as good as we can be; neither are we as bad as we can be. We are all in need of God’s mercy.  So my friends let’s choose to be as merciful to others as God has been to us. Showing mercy is a way of extending love to others.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Live Fearlessly

                                   As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the    road.  Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride.  As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping.  I could have and should have but I didn't. Why?  I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid.  It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into  overdrive.  Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting.  Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy.  As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid.  Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know.   As I was driving away from a misse...

Tragedy: A Christian Response

I want to start by telling you a story.  We were new parents.  When Our oldest, a son, was about eighteen to twenty months we had another baby, a girl with brown hair and huge eyes.   One day as I went to feed her, my son who may have been two at the time wandered off to another part of the house.  The next thing I heard was a thud.  I grabbed my baby girl and ran to see what happened.  There was my son with a table on top of him.  He had pulled it over on himself and more blood than I had ever seen was running all over.   We put him in the car and dashed for the ER.  It was not a fun trip. He had a skull fracture and many stitches.  Fast forward about fourteen or fifteen years, I’m at a stop light and watch my youngest daughter about ten start across a street on a bike start across a street just as a truck comes around a corner into the path of the bike.  She hit the side of the truck and bounced onto the road....

Just A Word of Praise!!

  On Sunday, after church, we went to a town about thirty minutes away.   On the way we drove through an area where they were working on the road.  It was no big deal.  We had lunch, bought some food for the week, and drove back home.    Later, as we were on our way to church for the evening service, I heard the ominous flapping sound that a tire makes when it’s flat.  Yikes!  I pulled over and while I was debating how I was going to change a tire.  A car coming in the opposite direction drove by and stopped.   As the driver appeared from the vehicle, I recognized him as a neighbor and fellow believer.  He approached the car, and asked if I had an air compressor to inflate the tire.  My answer, “Yes, but I’m not sure how good it is.  I’ve never actually managed to inflate a tire using it. I may not be using it properly.”   I produced it from the trunk of the car and handed it to him.  Within...