You Just Wait! (by Pastor Tom Pauquette)

Jude 20,21
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

The Epistle of Jude is, perhaps, one of the most underappreciated books of the New Testament. It’s kind of hiding between the books of John the Apostle in the back of our Bibles. The book is so small that it doesn’t even have chapter numbers, only the verses are numbered. You’d think its brevity alone would make it a favorite among American Christians who like to read our Bibles in short spurts.

In the two verses above, Jude calls us to build ourselves up in the most holy faith by praying in the Spirit. There is no substitute in the life of the believer for Spirit-filled prayer. Times of intimacy in prayer with God’s Holy Spirit will do more to strengthen your faith than any other single activity as a believer. In fact, if you have not yet prayed today, it would be better for you to stop reading and spend the next few moments in intimate prayer than it would be for you to read the musings of a bald man. Hopefully, you will find time for both.

After calling us to build ourselves up by way of prayer, Jude calls us to keep ourselves in God’s love. That’s an interesting perspective, isn’t it? God’s love for us never changes. His love is infinite and unconditional. What could he mean by calling us to keep ourselves in it? While it’s true that’s God’s love for us never changes, our awareness of and experience in His love is in constant change. Our sense of God’s love (and mercy) in our lives is something the devil himself would like to steal from us forever. Jude calls us to make choices which keep us in a state of experiencing, embracing, and enjoying God’s great love for us.

Then Jude hits us with the big one. He says that we should do all of this, “as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” Waiting for mercy. You mean there’s more? How amazing is that? How amazing is it that in addition to the mercy we have already experienced and embraced, Jesus Himself is bringing more on the day we pass from this life to the next. Jude says “you just wait!”

Enjoy God’s mercy in your life today. Sing back to Him your appreciation of it and your need for even more of it. There’s lots of God’s mercy to be enjoyed today. But beloved, you just wait — there’s a day coming when you will experience the fullness of God’s mercy as you see in a single moment the depth of your pardon. Jesus Christ is bringing you eternal life. You just wait!

Mercy Suggestion: People are waiting for you to arrive with simple expressions of God’s mercy and kindness. They are in hospitals and nursing homes and prisons and jails and… Some are simply waiting by the phone or checking email to hear from you. Wouldn’t today be a great day to end their waiting?

God’s Greatest Works (by Pastor Jason Coker)

Psalm 145: 3-9

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

His greatness no one can fathom.” (v3)

David is at it again. Here he is, harp in hand, singing of the greatness of God. Only this time David says God is so great that mere mortals cannot even comprehend it, no individual expression of praise can possibly contain it. Its not enough for one man to sing of the Lord’s power and might, no, David says,

“One generation will commend your works to another;

They will tell of your mighty acts.” (v4)

David has glimpsed the greatness of God, and has seen that it is beyond the ability of mere individuals to proclaim it. Indeed, David sees generation after generation spilling forth praise, still unable to contain the vastness of God’s glory. Individuals aren’t enough to proclaim his greatness, generations aren’t enough! Will even eternity be long enough for the people of God to exhaustively proclaim the wonder of his great works! I think not. (Rev 19:1-9)

So David joins with the generations of the people of God, responding to their call and answering their summons to give God Glory,

“They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,

And I will meditate on your wonderful works.

They will tell of the power of your awesome works,

And I will proclaim your great deeds.

They will celebrate your abundant goodness

And joyfully sing of your righteousness.” (v5-7)

But what exactly are God’s “wonderful works,” David, what are his “great deeds?” Is it his creation of the universe, the awesome power of thunder and lightning and earthquakes, or the splendor of the sun and moon? Or, perhaps it is His mighty deeds on behalf of his people, the liberation from bondage in Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea, or the miraculous provision of water and manna in the desert? Certainly these come to mind when dwelling on the greatest works of God.

Yet, in addition to these, David has something even greater in mind and it is to this greatest of all acts of God that David know turn his attention in the middle climax of this song,

“The Lord is gracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger and rich in love.

The Lord is good to all;

He has compassion on all He has made.” (v8-9)

David knows, there is no act of God quite so great as his unfailing tendency to have compassion and mercy on people. For this reason, generation after generation, we seek to praise him into eternity.

Reaching Out in Mercy
Later in this Psalm, in verse 14, David says, “The Lord upholds all those who fall, and lifts up all who are bowed down.” Who do you know who has fallen in some way? It could be a severe failure or a simple unfortunate circumstance. Look for someone in a fallen or downcast condition and find a way to lift them up; send them a card or e-mail, or better yet pay them a visit. Touch someone today who is in need of being lifted up.

Go And Tell – by Pastor Bob Stiles

Mark 5:18-20
As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

In this passage of Scripture, we see Jesus Christ getting into a ship to leave a place after he had cast 6,000 demons out of a certain man. The man was so grateful and thankful for Jesus setting him free, that he wanted to go on the ship with Jesus and follow Him wherever He went. But Jesus would not let him go on the ship with Him. Instead, Jesus sent the man back home on a mission. And on this mission, the man was to go home to his wife, to his children, to his neighbor, to his relatives, to friends and tell them the great things that the Lord had done for him and how the Lord had compassion on him.

Everywhere this man went, he told everyone what Jesus had done for him. I can just imagine the astonishment that people had when he shared his story. They all knew this man! They remembered how this man had deserted his family to live among the tombs in the graveyard. They remembered how this man was running naked, and they remembered how violent this man was to others and himself. But when he encountered Jesus, he became a changed man. Take a moment to reflect on your own life. What was your life like before you encountered Jesus? What was it like before you were touched by the grace and mercy of God? Can you see the change that Jesus has brought about in your life? The Bible says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

Just as Jesus sent this man out on a mission, so He’s calling us to go and tell what the Lord has done for us and how He had mercy on US! Not only will our own testimony have a powerful impact on the people we know, but there’s something else to consider. We’ve been focusing on extending the mercy of God to others in simple ways. There’s no telling when a simple act of kindness done in Jesus’ name will have a profound effect in a person’s life, so profound that they have an encounter with Jesus where they are set free! Imagine if your simple act of mercy, whatever it is, resulted in someone giving their life to Jesus. Imagine if that person went on to share with the people they know what Jesus did for them, and others gave THEIR life to Jesus. Just imagine! Be encouraged today to go and tell what the Lord has done for you and how He had mercy on you!

Mercy Suggestion: Thank your boss, or co-worker for all the wonderful things they do for you. It’s seems to be easy to focus in on the negative aspects of our work, especially with our co-workers or boss. Instead, look for the positive things they do, and complement them on that. If you’re a student, thank your teacher for the things they do. If you stay at home, compliment a family member. Look for the good in people! You’ll be surprised at what a kind word will do for people! It brightens their day!

The Eyes of Mercy – (by Elder Mike Olshefski)

John 5:3-7
Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

After thirty eight years, how many people do you think walked passed this man? How many had offered to help him or even a sincere word of encouragement?

Around us everyday, there are many who are lying on their mats that are “the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.” But when we think of these afflictions we tend to assume that they are all of a physical nature. Not all are! There are those who have lost their sight of Jesus or sadly have never “seen” him at all. Others have fallen lame in their relationship with Him or have become spiritually paralyzed. Only though the eyes of mercy can we notice these types of afflictions.

The man in the scripture, even though was an invalid, had become part of the landscape until one man, Jesus, noticed him and asked the question, “Do you want to get well?” How many people lying on their mats had become part of our daily landscape at work, home or in our neighborhoods? Why haven’t we stopped and asked them, “Do you want to get well?” One thing that comes to mind is that we as humans tend to look through the eyes of judgment which enables us to choose who we feel comfortable showing mercy to. This was never the case with Jesus. He looks through the eyes of mercy directly at the heart and past all of the outside physical attributes, lifestyles or circumstances. He is interested in only the heart and we need to be too.

It should not matter to us to what we assume or see in the outside shell of someone. As servants of Him, we are to make disciples of all nations (and that means all people…too!). God’s mercy cannot flow though us if we build a dam of judgment or pride. Once that dam is destroyed then, and only then, His mercy will flow freely to through us to those who so very much need it.

As in the above scripture, it took one man to notice, one man to stop and talk, one man to encourage and one man to show mercy that resulted in God’s amazing healing. That one man, Jesus, gives us the model of showing mercy to those who are passed by day after day thirsting for someone to reach out to them no matter what their situation and show genuine mercy.

Today, ask God to destroy the dam of judgment. Then, go and genuinely ask someone “Do you want to get well?” Step back and watch the amazing healing mercy of God flow freely from Him through you to that person lying on their mat.