Mercy and Grace

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Mercy and grace both began in the Old Testament (OT), but mercy exceeded grace then. Grace, however, takes the lead in the New Testament (NT) as one of the blessings of God that characterizes this Covenant. Although not many more, there are other differences between mercy and grace. But before we continue let us define them. In both Testaments, I believe God defines grace as unmerited favor and compassion. The meaning of mercy, however, is versatile. In the OT, I believe God defines mercy as merited favor and compassion—almost the opposite of grace. But in the NT mercy is used interchangeably with grace.
One had to earn mercy in the Old Testament. If you wanted God's sure mercies then you had to work for them. It is written that God made a Covenant with the children of Israel in which His Divine Mercy was contingent upon their obedience to His Commandments (New International Version, Deuteronomy 7: 9-13). In the New Testament sometimes you have to earn mercy other times not. Grace you never have to earn in either Old or New Testaments.
Sometimes in the New Testament, mercy has the same meaning as grace—unmerited favor and compassion. An example of this is illustrated in the story Jesus tells of The Good Samaritan, who was merciful to someone who, by being outside of his faith, was undeserving (Luke 10: 25-37). Sometimes in the NT mercy is still based on the same point system of rewards as it was in the Old Testament for example Jesus says to His disciples during one of His lessons: "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:28). Christ is merciful to His disciples by rewarding them for their duties performed. And so will God be merciful to the rest of Christ's enduring followers by rewarding them according to their services rendered to Him, or their faithfulness.
Not because He has to, but because God is merciful, He rewards us when we obey His commands. God does not have to reward us for our faithfulness to Him because God is Sovereign. After we have been obedient to Him, we have only done our duty, so we did not profit (Luke 17: 7-10). But because God is merciful, He rewards us for our loyalty to Him.
God did not command His people to be gracious in the Old Testament, only merciful. God was merciful to you and favored you in the Old Testament because you kept Covenant with Him—whatever blessings you received from God is what you earned, in other words you got out what you put in. And because God favored you He commanded you to extend certain mercies to those who kept Covenant with God along with you. They deserved your mercies by being in the same Covenant of God with you.
God Himself was gracious to only a few in the Old Testament (Please see God's Sovereignty), so I guess that's why He never commanded His people to be gracious to each other or to outsiders. Christians, in the OT, were allowed to hate their enemies, and commanded to fight them. God even allowed the children of Israel to take revenge on each other (Deu. 25:19, I Kings 16: 7-13). Grace was in very small quantities in the OT.
God commands us to be both merciful and gracious in the New Testament. Jesus teaches in the New Testament "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy"
(Matt. 5:7). And as to grace, He teaches "Love your enemies," (Matt. 5: 43-48). Another example of grace is when Jesus healed the Canaanite woman's daughter, when God had only sent Him to the Israelites (Matt. 15: 22-28).
In the New Testament, God commands us to be gracious because He has been vastly gracious in that He loved the entire world. God's love for the world is evident in that He gave Christ for all people (John 3:16). It is written that "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us; For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith" (Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:8). So in keeping with His Own Character, God commanded His people to be merciful in the OT; and both merciful and gracious in the NT.
I have found that God never commands us to do anything He isn't willing to do or hasn't already done Himself; that is the justice of God and Christ, and He commands us to be like Him. It is written, "Be ye holy, because I am holy" (I Peter 1:16).
God is more gracious this Covenant because of Christ; He does not want His Gift to be in vain. Jesus, God's beloved Son sacrificed His Life by lowering Himself from being like the angels, and living in glory to becoming like man, and living on the earth. Because Jesus lived as a Man on the earth, He is able to sympathize with the weaknesses of man and his temptations; this qualifies Jesus to help us (Hebrews 2: 5-18, 4:15). The Scripture says that Jesus mission on earth was to do the will of God, to "Bind up the brokenhearted…and comfort all who mourn" (Isaiah 61: 1-2, Luke 4:18).
The next time that we talk about God's blessings of "grace and mercy" towards us, hopefully we'll remember to bless others with our grace and mercy too like God Commanded.
Yours in Christ's Love,
Denise


PS When were you filled with the Holy Spirit?





 

The Goodness of God

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

The end of summer brought with it changes that got me thinking about the goodness of God. I had doubts about writing to you this season until the Lord placed the song "Tell It" on my heart, where the songwriter says she won't be silent about the goodness of the Lord. Another song says "I've got so much to thank God for…."

Recently upsurges of violence followed by cataclysmic events have been taking place. These are changes that lead to reflections of the unwavering faithfulness and protection of God.

Present conditions within the human race fulfill the Scriptures that say "perilous times shall come" and that "the love of many will grow cold" (2 Timothy 3:1, Matthew 24:12). In all of this, my comfort is the assurance of God's Love—His salvation, provision, protection and deliverance out of great afflictions. God's love is available to anyone who entrusts Him with his life through enduring faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and commitment to His Word. As ever…

Yours in Christ's Love, Denise

PS When were you filled with the Holy Spirit?

 

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Moving...

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

Researching new location for Fall 2011...will keep you posted.

Yours in Christ's Love,
Denise

God’s Sovereignty

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

I am more behind now in my Study the Bible for a Year Program. Before I had only about a month of work to catch up, now I am nearly two months behind. But my knowledge of God has increased considerably from the last two times I studied His Word that I am not entirely regretful. After fighting with some demons, I bring you what I believe to be the Word of God for this season. Smile. Remember it is written that Jesus said we would have trouble (Matthew 13:21).

It has occurred to me, after studying Samson, that God might use you to disobey His Written Word. For a grand purpose; reminiscent of the days before the Law, when people only lived by faith, God would use you to disobey his Command. Abram lives during such times, and purely by his faith in God. Sarai his wife is fair, and Abram does not want the Egyptians to destroy him for her. So he tells Sarai to tell the Egyptians that she is his sister. According to Scripture, and contrary to Abram's statement, Sarai is "Terah's daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife." Nahor, Haran, and Abram are the only children born to Terah. Abram and Sarai did get married, so to exclude her from Terah's genealogy would have been a major omission proving that Sarai is not Abram's sister (Genesis 11:27-12:13).

He lied. And although Father Abraham lied, God does not charge him with sin. (God later changed their names to Abraham and Sarah—father and mother of nations [Gen. 17].) He gets away with lying, because God had not yet given the Law; people lived by faith in those days. And since there was no Law, Father Abraham's faith was imputed to him for righteousness; even the lie that he had told (Romans 4:22).

"The just shall live by faith" (Habakkuk 2:4, Heb. 10:38). Also pre-Law, we see Joseph practicing a principle that God gives, and Jesus teaches more than two thousand years later in the New Testament. Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery. But because he has faith in God, God promotes him to governor of all Egypt. When Joseph's brothers realize that God had made him the man responsible for their survival during a worldwide famine, they regret ever selling him and become afraid of him. Joseph is first to recognize them after about twenty years of separation, and although now in a position to do them harm, for the wrong that they did to him—"Eye for eye,…, " of the Letter, which God had not given yet—Joseph forgives his brothers and treats them kindly.

But after their father's death, Joseph's brothers said "Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him (Gen. 50:15, New King James Version). Instead Joseph continues to practice forgiveness and tells his brothers that he is not in the place of God to take revenge on them—a very New Testament Principle. (Leviticus 24:20, Mat. 5:38-45).

By faith, Joseph time traveled and practiced a New Testament Law, thousands of years before God made it a Command, which solidifies what is now written, "The just shall live by faith."
His faith in God took him from his generation, through the Law days and into the New Covenant, which we live in today. Wow! Who knows, maybe God received inspiration for His Law of Forgiveness from Joseph? Please see Genesis 37-50 for the whole story.

Samson, however, lived under the Law; after God had already made a covenant with Israel. God fulfills His promise to their forefathers and gives the children of Israel a land of their own, but there are people still living in the land. Before they even get to the land God Commands, do not marry the people of the land; do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers (Deuteronomy 7:3, II Corinthians 6:14). We are told though, that it was God's design for Samson, an Israelite, to marry a woman of the land, a Philistine, so that He would have "an occasion to move against the Philistines" (Judges 14:4).

God makes an exception to His Covenant, and arranges for Samson to marry a Philistine woman; a type of union that His Written Law forbids. We are never told in Scripture that Samson's parents knew that God had acted against His Word and had arranged the marriage of their son to a Philistine woman. Samson tells his parents about his beloved, and they are not thrilled. I can imagine them sitting him down and giving him a talking to, and with good reason, because as far as they know their son is about to break the Law of God.

They might have chided and corrected, 'Samson it is written that God forbids you to hook up with those women.' It is actually written that they ask him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines" (Judg. 14:3)? But he insists on marrying her, so his father goes and talks marriage with the woman.

God gives us His reason for the union, but how could He go back on His Word, His Law, when the Scriptures say that God is faithful to His Word, not a man that He should repent, that it is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for any of God's Word to fail, and that "the [Scriptures] must be fulfilled" (Deu. 7:9, Numbers 23:19, Luke 16:17, Mark 14:49)? The answer: because God is a Sovereign. Like earthly rulers who make and then change their laws, God fulfills His Word and emends them too (Rom. 7:4, 6).

In the story of Samson, we see the principles of God from two different eras at work: the pre-Law days and the post-Law days (the New Covenant, which we live in, and enjoy because it is better [Hebrews 8:6] ). Observe that in each dispensation so far, God requires people to have faith in order to please Him; from before the Law with Father Abraham and Joseph, to the days of the Law with Joshua and David, and then to Christ and His followers of the New Covenant. From Old to New Testament it is written, "The just shall live by faith" (Habakkuk 2:4, Heb. 10:38). (The Old Testament is worded a little differently.)

Following the Great Flood, God tells Noah that He would "require the life of man" from man; then the sons of Israel massacre all the males of Shechem. Contrary to His Word, God does not require the Shechemites lifeblood from the Israelites. He actually does the reverse. God does not even mention the slaughter of the Shechemites in Scripture. The next thing you know is that God tells Israel and his sons to move from that place and even protects them on their journey to Bethel. After that God gives them a blessing (Genesis 9:5, 34:25-31, 35:1-15).

Another example of God's sovereignty is seen in the lives of David and Bathsheba who sinned grievously. According to the Law, they should have received the death penalty, but they did not. God reduced their sentences: took the life of the child conceived in sin to pay for Uriah's lifeblood, and sent trouble to the house of David (II Samuel 11-12).

The Covenant was Old, which means that grace and mercy were limited, yet Jacob's sons received God's magnanimous pardon, protection and blessing! How much more today, when more grace and mercy are available, will God change His Laws and pardon transgressions because He favors you, or as in the case of Samson because God is looking at the bigger picture?

Is God releasing us to sin? No, it is written that "God [forbids]" us to sin, but if we do sin and we repent, God is faithful to forgive us (Rom. 6:2, I John 1:9). The Scripture says, "Blessed is he, whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered" (Psalm 32:1, Rom. 3:31, 6:15). Knowing then that God Commands our perfection, we should not consciously live in sin. But God, being a Sovereign, and for a great purpose, may lead us to break His Laws, or pay no attention to an infraction, as we see in the lives of Samson and the sons of Israel. Or as evident in the lives of David and Bathsheba, God may lessen our punishment.

I believe that God superimposes His Word regarding the Shechemites lifeblood with the Everlasting Covenant which He makes with Father Abraham and his descendants because God is Sovereign. God arranges Samson's unequally yoked marriage because God is Sovereign. God shows David and Bathsheba divine favor and pardon because God is Sovereign. Lastly, don't try this at home. You don't always know God's plans. He might show you grace and mercy. He might not. We do not know when and with whom God will bestow His coveted beneficence.

One thing all our subjects had in common—the Lord was with them. The Scripture says, the greatness of the Lord is unsearchable, his ways past finding out! (Ps. 145:3, Rom. 11:33). It is also written, "Fear God, and keep [His] commandments: for this is the whole duty of man (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Why should you test God?

When were you filled with the Holy Spirit?

Free Book Downloads:
Please visit, https://www.createspace.com/pub/community/browse.gallery.do
Type Denise Nelson in the for box, and select Go.
You will see two books in the Book Result Window.
Select Spiritual Warfare or your book of choice.
Download your preview and read.
After reading, please go back and rate.

You may also order your books at Createspace.com or Amazon.com.

Yours in Christ's Love

Denise

Catching Up

And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishermen.

Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."

They immediately left their nets, and followed Him.

When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.

And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after Him.

~Mark 1:16-20, New King James Version

After asking the Lord to help me find a Christian teaching tape I had wanted to listen to about marriage one Sunday afternoon, He led me to a tape about something a little different, not quite what I had in mind, but I listened anyway. During his sermon, the pastor testified about a young man and woman whom the Lord had healed, the one from brain cancer, the other from lung cancer. It suddenly occurred to me, and I wondered why I couldn't get through to certain people in my life, I had tried to contact; there were always some peculiar challenge. Unsolicited parties were always available though, it seemed.

Don't get me wrong, I know that God commands us to love everybody, and I obey but, naturally, there are some we could only ever love as Christians, not romantically. For example, after learning about Isaac through his servant, Rebekah's mother and brother asked Rebekah if she would go with him to be Isaac's wife. Rebekah said, "I will go" (Genesis 24:58). Rebekah said yes and went because she knew that she could submit to Isaac (Genesis 24: 32-59). In contrast when Naomi told Ruth to go back to Moab and start over her life with her own people, Ruth said no because she disagreed with her people's way of life. They were heathens (Ruth 1:1-17). It is not that Ruth didn't love her own people, it is that she could only love them as a Christian. She refused to make unions—friendships or marriages with them. Ruth said:

Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me (Ruth 1:16-17).

Both these women made quality decisions about whom they would and would not marry—romantic decisions—and they both became the ancestors of the most important and famous man in the history of the world, Christ Himself.

Well I didn't know what to do about the divide between my loved ones and I, except pray, and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. In one of my Bible study sessions, I heard somebody say PRAY. I knew it was the Voice of the Lord, but I didn't know what to pray for and how, so I prayed in the Spirit—the way I normally do when in doubt. The Bible says, "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26). Then I started to get weary and angry about not knowing God's Will, or even my own desires, but rather than doing something rash I began to pray with my understanding for the salvation of my loved ones whom, for reasons unbeknownst to me, I was rarely ever able to contact. One had even disappeared from fond memories.

Knowing that God loves us and is in full control of our lives (Ecclesiastes 9:1), I questioned why He was allowing this familiar impediment. The Lord gave me the passage of Scripture above from the Gospel According to Mark as a friendly reminder to me that whatever else He has planned, His main priority is to save mankind.

I still don't have all the answers, but I plan to continue to seek and trust God. Also I continue to ask the Lord for the interpretations of mysterious dreams I've had about one of my loved ones, and pray for his salvation too. It is written, "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all saints—" (Ephesians 6:18).

I thank the Lord for what clarity He did give me so far and I will ever trust Him for more.

I'm almost a month behind in my Study the Bible in One Year program due to some recent travels to the North, so godda run—a lot of catching up to do, till next time then…

Yours in Christ's Love,

Denise

PS When were you filled with the Holy Spirit?

Trusting God

Happy New Year and Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,

I hope everybody had a Merry Christmas and got all the gifts they wanted in Christ. I also hope that you have begun the New Year, 2011 in the fear of our soon coming King. What's new? Well I have made my New Year's Resolution, and it is to study the entire Bible this year. It's not the first time that I have studied the Holy Scriptures in a year, but it is very exciting this time, because the Lord blessed me with a new translation of the Bible over the holidays, and it is specifically designed to study the Bible in a year. Wow! I would love to hear some of your New Year's Resolutions.

My fourth project with another gift the Lord blessed me with is well underway. God gave me a new set of knitting needles for Christmas. The Lord has been doubly faithful to me where these knitting needles are concerned. "[God's] faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds" (Psalm 36:5). Not only did the He give me the long awaited tools that I needed for a project I had in mind, He also gave me the exact set I desired as well. It was a long time coming though, and there were many obstacles in the way, but I finally have the knitting needles I had dreamed about—the Denise Interchangeable
Knitting Needles. The Lord had even given me options. There were other kits I could have had, but I chose the Denise's. Yes, I had options; I could have chosen any set I wanted! But I chose the set that is ironically named after me.

I remember when the Lord first gave me the desire to knit. It was last summer, and I had gone shopping for needles; the needles I had desired, and which were suggested by the tutorials; but they were not on the shelves. The disappointment I felt is indescribable. But I prayed to my Heavenly Father for help, and resorted to a pair the store carried. The Lord told me how I could customize them for my first project. With much effort, we were able to make use of them for three projects. Meanwhile I continued to trust God for better. I had found a pattern for a hat I just had to knit, but of course I didn't have the right needles, so I had to let it pass.

As I was finishing up my second book, Spiritual Warfare, which is available in stores, I took a break to pray for the knitting needles I needed to knit the hat. While praying I heard the Lord say "Print the pattern." I received comfort and confirmation when I heard the Voice of the Lord, and immediately I printed the pattern. A few weeks later, God blessed me with finances, and I went out to the store again, thinking I could knit the project then. For fear that my needles would not be there I went shopping, apprehensively. Once in my anguish I wondered why God had given me the desire for this new hobby, when there were so many tribulations to acquire the resources for it.

I got to the store and sure enough, the knitting needles I wanted to buy were not on the shelves. My disappointment turned to grief. It was my birthday. I remember tearing up as I was leaving the isle. While dawdling in the store picking up other items I had intended to buy (all of which were there), I heard a disconcerting announcement over the stores PA regarding the Crafts Department. After being rushed at the register, I finally made it out of the store and heard the customer who was ahead of me laughing. I perceived ridicule, and drove home sadly, but I continued to trust God. Whenever, I saw others with the needles I wanted, and felt anxious about them, I would pray, as it is written:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

~Phillipians 4:6-7, The New King James Version

During one of my night devotions, the Lord said to me "Let not your heart envy sinners:" The passage goes on to say "but [be thou] in the fear of the LORD all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off"
(Proverbs 23:17-18).

The Scriptures helped me to trust God even more. The following month my mother said she would bless me with a set of knitting needles for Christmas. She had noticed me practicing techniques for the hat, and admired my work. Today I have a new kit of knitting needles, and like I said before my fourth project with them is well underway.

The Lord even blessed me with accessories to go with my new knitting needles, which I didn't even dream of. I remember the passage of Scripture, Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,(Ephesians 4:20). As for the hat needles that I went to the store to buy, I found out later that they are also ideal for beginners to knit socks with; the next project I have in mind. I still don't have them yet, but I continue to… trust God.

When were you filled with the Holy Spirit?

Free Book Downloads:
Please visit, https://www.createspace.com/pub/community/browse.gallery.do
Type Denise Nelson in the for box, and select Go.
You will see two books in the Book Result Window.
Select Spiritual Warfare or your book of choice.
Download your preview and read.
After reading, please go back and rate.

You may also order your books at Createspace.com or Amazon.com.

Yours in Christ's Love

Denise