The Miracle of Mercy

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

Showing mercy is extending the kindness of God.  A lifestyle of mercy is promoting the compassion of Jesus and being rich in forgiveness.  What favor there is for those who are merciful –for they shall be shown mercy.  The reason mercy is sometimes a “miracle” is that it’s supernatural.  The most common human reaction to an offense would be to retaliate or become resentful.  But as believers – we live the miraculous lifestyle of mercy!

With courage, take inventory of your relationships and choose to be relationally generous. A paraphrase of this scripture could be, “Happy are those that give people  exactly what they don’t deserve relationally!  Who aren’t seeking revenge, who forgive, who don’t hold grudges, who put away bitterness, who are not waiting to be paid back from someone in their past”.   If you think about it, you’ve probably never met a happy bitter person!   You’ve never met a happy person who is holding a grudge!

I have met people who are extraordinarily mistreated, have gone through circumstances I wouldn’t’ wish on my own enemy, and someone they have emerged on the other side, and they are happy.  Those people understand what it means to be relationally generous.  They have decided to extend to their family members exactly what they didn’t deserve. Even though they were never paid back, they never extracted revenge, and never got an apology.  Even though the person who offended them never owned up to what they did, they are still happy!  Jesus responds to this and says, “I understand this lifestyle of being relationally generous. Happy are the merciful for they will receive mercy”.

Today is my day to receive God’s mercy for myself, and then extend it to others.  I choose to live a relationally generous life, and make allowance for other people’s faults.  I will forgive those who offend me.  I drink in the joy of the Lord, for I know that His favor and glory rests on those who operate in this beautiful Kingdom principle.   I am one who always shows mercy!

Have a great day,

Love in Jesus,

Audrey