365 Blessings- August 26

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7)

Easy to say, "I told you this will happen, if you are not careful." several times to a believer friend or brother/sister in Christ who is at fault and then give him/her a dose of our wisdom several times. Well, it will all come back to us some day if we are not careful.

God is no respecter of persons and if we are merciful to others, God will show us mercy in our time of need.

Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan.  "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' (Luke 10:30-35)

The Good Samaritan showed mercy and did not chide the fellow who was left half dead by robbers.

The question is whether we can bridle our tongue when we know that someone is in the wrong and needs encouragement and kind words.

Of course we can always behave like the priest & the Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:30-37)

We may have theology on our insides, but the Lord is searching for mercy in our hearts.

Easy to judge, difficult to show mercy? We must search our hearts again. And may the Holy Spirit help us in that.