I was surprised in church on Sunday to hear “Mercy” as part of the message, and it really stirred my heart. The message came from Jude ( what chapter? go there and then I will tell you).
One of the things I think I am good at is extending Mercy to someone else, however I stink at extending it to the body of Christ! I have been working through this area in 2007, and I have made progress with the Lord’s strength. But it really gets under my skin! C’mon! we are supposed to know better…well we don’t, and we are human and we fall alot, and get back up and try again. God extends that mercy to us but also to every part of the body of Christ. In Jude 22-23, it is clear that we are to extend mercy to those who are doubting, those who are falling away. rescue them and turn them back, and extend Mercy with fear (if necessary), taking extreme measures in discipline. The last one set me back a moment, because where is the mercy in that?? But this is God’s word and I believe HE knows what HE is doing. So I thought more on this. We are to speak in love, rebuke the same way…and if someone just refuses to turn back…seperating myself from them doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t be nice to them when I see them. I think it is just punishing your child for running out into the street…the end result is death, and we love them so much that we don’t want that to happen to them. This is a tough issue for me, and would love to hear some thoughts …. How would you describe Mercy with fear ( I have trouble seperating it from being an oxymoron)?
ponderings of a princess... 