God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. ~ Matthew 5:7 (NLT)
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I've been on vacation this week with no real plans, so I've ended up watching a bunch of daytime TV. Thank the Good Lord for cable, because I couldn't stand it if all there was was soap operas, talk shows and Judge Whoever! But I have gotten rather hooked on one show that just wells up tears of joy EVERY time I watch it, and that is "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition".
People videotape an application of their life story and need for help, and submit it to the show. And a few are chosen. Many of those in need are people who have given of themselves for others in need, such as being merciful to adopt children with major disabilities or AIDS, and yet find themselves with limited resources to accommodate growing families or other unexpected tragedies (one mom who'd adopted three girls with AIDS was diagnosed with cancer herself, and was so worried that the girls would be split up and not cared for properly if/when she passed away).
What this TV show does is incredible. They show mercy that goes beyond the beyond! Many, many people and companies give of their own resources and time to show mercy to people in need. It is truly touching to my heart, and it's obvious from the tears of the workers that it touches their hearts, too.
Showing mercy is a picture of God, who has compassion for the lost, the needy, the poor, the hungry. Yet we, in our humanity, find it easy to show mercy to those who "deserve it" for their acts of kindness to others, but find it difficult to show mercy to those who have seemingly sabotaged their lives and seem less-than-deserving...
~ the strung-out drug user, who's lost home and family...
~ the 650-lb person, confined to bed because of their food obsession...
~ the embezzler, spending the next 10 years in prison for their greedy fraud...
Do we feel that warm-and-fuzzy mercy for these people? Or do we look at them and throw the judge's gavel in their face and say,"You did this to yourself -- I'm not lifting a finger to help you get out of it!"...?
Praise God that He is merciful to the undeserving, because the truth is that we're ALL undeserving of His grace and mercy! Just because you live in a nice house with a white picket fence doesn't give you exclusive rights to God. Nor does your cardboard box home on the streets of the city exclude you from the loving arms of God. He is merciful to all who will come to Him for grace and mercy from their sins, for those who seek cleansing on the inside.
This coming month, there will be many, many opportunities for us to be merciful to others -- food drives for the hungry, the Salvation Army bucket for the homeless, toy drives for kids of incarcerated parents. I pray that we can open our hearts wide with the mercy of God, which looks not on deeds or misdeeds, but looks at the value of a human life...
Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Scarred and broken
Black and blue
They are precious to Him, too...[are they to you?]
Jesus loves the little children
Of the world...
Love,
Joelene
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