Matthew 12:1-21: "I Desire Mercy"

Matthew 12:6-7
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

6 But I tell you, Something greater and more exalted and more majestic than the temple is here! 7 And if you had only known what this saying means, I desire mercy [readiness to help, to spare, to forgive] rather than sacrifice and sacrificial victims, you would not have condemned the guiltless.

If you have been in Christian services, mercy is a word that is prevalent.  As Christians, we understand that being saved means Jesus releases His mercy upon all of our mistakes (sins)...past, present and future.  

In faith, we trust that God in His mercy has forgiven us, and my friends, if we have been sincere in giving our lives to Him, He definitely has forgiven and forgotten those missteps!

But...do we offer that same mercy to each other?

Matthew 10:8

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely (without pay) you have received, freely (without charge) give.

 

Matthew 12:7 amplifies what mercy looks that, to help, to spare, to forgive.  Freely His mercy has been given to us, and freely we should give it to each other.  The preceding verse talks about the mercy which spurs us to perform miraculous feats, and that is wonderful.  

 

But... I want to focus on freely giving mercy to the person who talks behind your back, spreading lies and disunity.  What about those who have misused their power to make your life difficult?  

Jesus doesn't say give mercy to your best buddy, and forget about those who have injured you in some way.  As a matter of fact, I believe mercy is only applicable when a wrong has been committed.  

 

So...The next time someone who has hurt you is struggling be ready to help, to spare and to forgive, because you have freely received mercy.  Now, freely give it!!!

 

Jesus, empower us to give mercy freely.  For Your glory, and in Your name, AMEN!!! 

Mathew 1: The True End and Scope of Life

Matthew 1:21
Amplified

She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus [the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, which means Savior], for He will save His people from their sins [that is, prevent them from failing and missing the true end and scope of life, which is God].


What makes this life meaningful?

...the perfect job

...the perfect marriage

...the perfect family

...the perfect friendship


I propose that this life is made meaningful as we find God and develop a personal relationship with Him.  Jesus was sent to this earth, not only to save us from our sins, but to bridge the gap between us and our Heavenly Father.  

The true end and scope of life is God!

A developing relationship with God will impact all other earthly relationships.  Let me caution you, that just because we are choosing to relate to others according to God's heart, doesn't mean that the other people involved will respond with God's heart.  

Our world is full of broken and scared people, susceptible to the influence of the evil one whose only desire is to steal, kill, and destroy.  

The best way to insulate ourselves is forgiveness!  Forgiveness is the heart of God!  

Forgiveness looks like praying for those who have hurt us.  

Forgiveness looks like proclaiming God's destiny over our "enemies."  (We truly only have one enemy, the evil one)

Our relationships may not always play out the way we imagine, but the impact of God's influence is evident in our lives when we do not count the hurt others have heaped upon us against them.  

Remember what Jesus said as he was dying for us...



Luke 23:34
Amplified Bible (AMP)

34 And Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing His clothes among themselves.

Zechariah 7-8: Here is Your Part: Tell the Truth. Be Fair. Live at Peace with Everyone.

Zechariah 8:19
(Amplified)

Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah times of joy and gladness and cheerful, appointed seasons; therefore [in order that this may happen to you, as the condition of fulfilling the promise] love truth and peace.

God doesn't want us to go through life with a sour, "woe is me," attitude.  The verse above instructs that while fasting, attitudes should be filled with joy and gladness and cheerfulness.  Zechariah goes on to say that loving truth and peace is the prerequisite condition to fulfilling the promise.

Looking back a few verses, I see God has promised that He is "sowing peace and prosperity."  I normally haven't been quoting from Bible translations other than the Amplified, but the Living Bible says it so well. 

Remember, I have paralleled the rebuilding of the temple with the rebuilding of the true temple inside each of us.  Imagine our personal temple, where the Spirit of the Lord dwells, as being rebuilt after being ravaged by the consequences of sin as you are reading the verses below.

Zechariah 8:9-19
Living Bible (TLB)

⁹ The Lord Almighty says, “Get on with the job and finish it! You have been listening long enough! For since you began laying the foundation of the Temple, the prophets have been telling you about the blessings that await you when it’s finished. 
 ¹⁰ Before the work began there were no jobs, no wages, no security; if you left the city, there was no assurance you would ever return, for crime was rampant.
¹¹ “But it is all so different now!” says the Lord Almighty. 
 ¹² “For I am sowing peace and prosperity among you. Your crops will prosper; the grapevines will be weighted down with fruit; the ground will be fertile, with plenty of rain; all these blessings will be given to the people left in the land. 
 ¹³ ‘May you be as poor as Judah,’ the heathen used to say to those they cursed! But no longer! For now Judah is a word of blessing, not a curse. ‘May you be as prosperous and happy as Judah is,’ they’ll say. So don’t be afraid or discouraged! Get on with rebuilding the Temple! ^14-15 If you do, I will certainly bless you. And don’t think that I might change my mind. I did what I said I would when your fathers angered me and I promised to punish them, and I won’t change this decision of mine to bless you. ¹⁶ Here is your part: Tell the truth. Be fair. Live at peace with everyone. 
 ¹⁷ Don’t plot harm to others; don’t swear that something is true when it isn’t! How I hate all that sort of thing!” says the Lord.
¹⁸ Here is another message that came to me from the Lord Almighty:
¹⁹ “The traditional fasts and times of mourning you have kept in July, August, October, and January are ended. They will be changed to joyous festivals if you love truth and peace!

Reading this, I find my heart being stirred with excitement!  My part, your part, is to tell the truth, be fair, and live at peace with everyone.

In the past, I allowed my heart to be injured because of lies and half-truths spoken about me.  Now, I realize, that fear is powerful relationship killer, and it was fear that influenced those speaking.  It was fear that caused me to be hurt.  Fear, was the enemy!

I cannot control whether others choose to do their part in telling the truth, being fair, and living at peace with everyone.  BUT, I can choose to do my part empowered by God's grace. 

The Lord is so absolutely good to me.  While riding on my bike on April 29th, a snake crossed my path.  He was moving so fast; he was scared to death of me.  Later, that afternoon, I read Chuck Pierce's prophetic word,

“Your feet will walk in a different direction this year. For even though you felt shaking ground last season, now you will walk on ground that ...is being solidified. There will be many on your path that will flee from the anointing that is now rising up in you, from your feet. I will shod your feet with peace, in a new way. Then the enemies that have tried to get on your highway will move out of the way. For many enemies have stepped onto the highway that you’re walking, but because you stood in the shaking, now the wind of My Spirit will clear your path ahead (Isaiah 35).”

The enemy, symbolized by the snake was fleeing from me.  Spiritual enemies may attempt to influence people, but God's wind is clearing my path.  By the way that day was lovely with a breeze blowing!!!

To tie all of this together, I am grabbing hold of this symbolic message from the Lord.  No more will fear cause an injury to my heart.  I have been living in such great peace and blessing and joy.  My promised future is unfolding before me.  I am praying for those who are controlled by fear and have been prayerfully blessing them.  My heart is choosing to continue telling the truth, being fair and living at peace with everyone.

I will reap God's promises.  I am reaping God's promises and, I pray that you will reap them too!!!

With much love in Jesus, Beautiful Grace!!!

Ezekiel 18 & 19: Accountability for Sin

Ezekiel 18:19-20
Amplified Bible (AMP)

 19 Yet do you say, Why does not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son has done that which is lawful and right and has kept all My statutes and has done them, he shall surely live.

20 The soul that sins, it [is the one that] shall die. The son shall not bear and be punished for the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear and be punished for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him only, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon the wicked only.

Ancient tradition held that the sins of the fathers (or mothers) were passed onto their children.  These children paid the price of their parents' indiscretion.  I think about the verse in Deuteronomy 5:9, which specifically says that the sins of the father will be passed onto the third and fourth generations. 

The verses in Ezekiel and Deuteronomy seem to contradict each other, but do they? 

We all have sinned and fallen short of the perfection of our Holy (set apart from imperfection) God.  Jesus came to take our mistakes, sins, missed marks, bent and crooked nature upon Himself, so they we would not die separated from God.


Isaiah 53:11
Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹¹ He shall see [the fruit] of the travail of His soul and be satisfied; by His knowledge of Himself [which He possesses and imparts to others] shall My [uncompromisingly] righteous One, My Servant, justify many and make many righteous (upright and in right standing with God), for He shall bear their iniquities and their guilt [with the consequences, says the Lord].

 

 

 

So no matter how sin comes upon us, Jesus is the Remedy!

 

 

There is no doubt in my mind that the sins of the father do set his son (or daughter) up for potential temptation with that same sin.  There is an unseen world at work.  Spiritual forces are allowed access to a family line because of the choices of the parent for right standing with God or not. 

But laying aside the spiritual realm, think about behavior and think about how a child learns from his/her parent.

A parent models either righteous or unrighteous behavior for a child, and children watch then mimic what they have experienced. 

Think about the parent who loses his temper when feeling overwhelmed.  The child watches and learns how to react when faced with overwhelm...temper tantrum.  A child's behavior then can be reinforced or punished to increase or decrease its occurrence. 

So spiritual forces, good or evil go hand in hand with natural means of learning behavior. 

The sins of the father or mother are passed to their children in this way, BUT Jesus breaks the cycle IF we give Him access to our baggage (sin issues). 

The slate is clean, a fresh start awaits!  It doesn't matter how good or evil our parents' behavior.  What matters is that sin is washed away because of Jesus, and grace is released in order to empower us against the temptation to follow in the unrighteous footsteps of our parent or to live empowered to walk out the right behavior of our mom and dad!

Ultimately, each person decides his own fate...accept Jesus gift of grace or not.  Jesus loves us; that's why he died to make this grace available.

Do we still mess up?  Yes, but a heart after God will continue to ask for and require the grace made available by Jesus, transforming our behavior moment by moment.  It's a process we ALL go through. 

What's awesome is if we accept Jesus gift of grace, we are now seen by God as righteous, even as we are being formed into righteousness.

It's a beautifully, powerful mystery! 

Thank You, Jesus, for not holding us accountable for the sins of others.  Thank You for empowering us to say, "No" to all forms of unrighteousness.  You are AWESOME!!!

Jesus Culture - Kim Walker - See His Love

Verse 1:




See His love nailed onto a cross



Perfect and blameless life given as sacrifice



See Him there all in the name of love



Broken yet glorious, all for the sake of us







Chorus:



This is Jesus in His glory



King of Heaven dying for me



It is finished, He has done it



Death is beaten, Heaven beckons me







Verse 2:



Greater love no one could ever show



Mercy so undeserved, freedom I should not know



All my sin, all of my hidden shame



Died with Him on the cross, eternity won for us







Bridge:



Such love, such love



Such love is this for me (repeat)



Don't miss His amazing Love.  Heaven beacons you!!!

Mountain Removal: Praises & Prayers

Dear Friends,




Several weeks ago, the oncologist I spoke with was a nice man, but I could feel the pressure he was placing on my spirit as he declared multiple times. "This is how we're going to treat your cancer." He verbally considered my prayerful decision of a bilateral mastectomy as "not logical." I want a doctor who respects me and my beliefs, so I spoke to my family practice physician on Monday, who recommended an oncologist "who would appreciate a patient who knows what she wants."



This past Wednesday, I spoke to my breast surgeon to get her recommendation of an oncologist who felt continued treatment was not necessary. (Remember, 50% of the oncologists at the conference said further treatment was not needed) She brought up the oncologist whom my family practice doctor recommended saying, "I don't like him," but she didn't elaborate. She didn't give me the name of another oncologist, but continued to say, in reference to the oncologist I saw initially, "He is the smartest man I know." I believe Intelligence without the guidance of God's Spirit can be a dangerous mix.



On Thursday, I sat at the kitchen table considering the reality that I don't have an oncologist with whom I am comfortable. I said out loud to Strongman, "I don't know what to do." Then I said out loud to Jesus, "Jesus, I don't know what to do. Help me." I wasn't upset, just a little perplexed. I decided to go downstairs to check my computer for any emails. Approximately, five minutes after telling Jesus that I didn't know what to do, my cell phone rang. My prophetic friend called me from work, she felt an urgency to call immediately, just to tell me about an oncologist who a co worker's wife saw for breast cancer. He is a miracle believing, born again Christian! Sounds like my kind of doctor.



Jesus, truly is my Shepherd Who leads me in perfectly. We sang a song in church on Saturday night declaring Psalm 23 whose words mean more to me now than ever before. I couldn't help but dance in praise of my Best Friend Who continually imparts peace, direction, and wisdom to me. This Man Whom I Love, answers my cries for help and guidance. He deserves ALL of my worship in this life and in the life I will share with Him throughout eternity!!!







Praises:

• For the generous monetary gift we received on Saturday. We Love you guys!!!

• The nutritional/lifestyle advice I received on Wednesday was a confirmation of much of what I already am doing.

• The infectious disease nurse practitioner's eyes lit up when she saw how great my left side looked.

• I completed two weeks of half shifts completing desk work without difficulty.

• I am exercising and getting stronger each day.

• I have lost weight, and am eating a lot of food. It's amazing how much more food a person can eat, when choosing low fat, healthy foods.

• I am scheduled for my regular job this afternoon.

• Although well-meaning Christians indirectly insinuate that cancer is the result of wrong doing on my part, their opinions have not affected my soul. I know the heart of my Jesus. He leads me perfectly with the Love of a Bridegroom; He doesn't drive me with whips forcing me to go His way. That is not the God I serve.

• For Jesus Who leads me perfectly!!!

Prayers:

• That my spiritual ears and eyes would be open to Jesus' leading constantly.

• That I would be able to work without undue fatigue, which I have been battling at times.

• That the days of my life would be steps towards my destiny in Jesus, not just days spent.

• That those who come into contact with me would see God's glory through my words and actions.

• That my soul would continue to be protected from "well-meaning Christians." Jesus, touch them and reveal Your heart and Your ways. Make their hearts like Your heart.

• That I would be able to see the born again oncologist quickly. I want closure to this bump in the path of my destiny as soon as possible.

Thank you all for all you do. Prayers, hugs, kind words of encouragement reflect the Love of Jesus!



Blessings to you all!



With Much Love...

Beautiful Grace :)

Book Review: Tilly

As my readers know, I volunteer for my local pregnancy center on a weekly basis. A few weeks ago, Donna, the client services director recommended that I read the novel, Tilly, by Frank E. Peretti.

I enjoyed the easy to read format, but more than that, the deep content revealed in its pages. The theme of this story is forgiveness, restoration, hope, and the power of Jesus' blood to wash away our most grievous sins.

Sin always comes with a price tag, and its cost may be our emotional health, BUT Jesus mercy and grace prevail!!!!

This book is not for the very young reader, because of the images of abortion portrayed through words.

Read this book if you desire an increase in compassion for women who have been deceived by the world to think that abortion is a personal "choice."

Book Review: The Shack

The Shack by William P. Young is the retelling of one man's experience with God- the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This experience doesn't hold to "traditional" mindsets about Who God is and our man-made definitions of Him.

When I began to read about the alternative forms in which God manifested Himself, I wasn't sure if I would continue reading the book. The Holy Spirit prompted me to continue reading and give it a chance.

The Shack is not a book on theology; it is one man's personal experience with God, the God Who loves enough to go through fantastical lengths to accomplish healing, forgiveness and restoration.

Fountains of Living Water: Let Them Eat Cake!

I had a dream last night about a woman who was sitting at a kitchen table with a piece of white cake with coconut frosting in front of her, as well as a walkie-talkie on the table before her. (This woman is someone that I know in the natural realm who has the bad habit of grumbling and complaining.) All this woman could do was grumble about the last time she ate at a particular restaurant. She complained that they purposely withheld the cake from her. She was so distracted by the the apparent injustice, that she didn't see the cake right in front of her.

As she continued to complain, her grandson, who was filled with joy, played with his friends across the street. He had a walkie-talkie which he occasionally used to call the woman's name in an attempt to change her focus. In an attempt to clear up the reception, I took the plug and raised it up in the air and attached it to the metal light frame. The voice of the child was now very clear and he was calling the woman's name, but she did not hear him. Not only did she have the cake before her now, but she also has a child who loves her dearly. The woman was preoccupied to the point where she could see none of these blessings.

This world is full of hurts and injustices, and all of us have been hurt at one time or another. The deepest hurts and injustices have come by the hand of those we have trusted, and we have been wounded to the very depths of our souls, BUT I believe the Lord is saying..."It is time to let go of the past injustices and forgive those who have hurt you. For by rehearsing the past, you are blinded to the blessings right in front of you."

It really doesn't matter who was wrong and who was right; That's for Jesus to decide. What matters now is that forgiveness flows from our hearts...a daily, moment by moment, choice to forgive. Jesus, empower us to forgive from our hearts!!! Amen!!!!

Colossians 3:13 (Amplified Bible)
"Be gentle and forbearing with one another and, if one has a difference (a grievance or complaint) against another, readily pardoning each other; even as the Lord has [freely] forgiven you, so must you also [forgive]."