Paradise Cafe Discussions - A Place For Bible Research And Christian Encouragement

Jehovah is gracious and merciful--Ps. 145:8

Today we get to talk about one of GOd's wonderful
qualities. A quality we are to cultivate and immulate also :love:

Mercy is defined as ''An expressioon of kind consideration
or pity that brings relief to those who are disadvantaged;
tender compassion...... :heartbeat:

Mercy is spoken of through the scriptures in many ways
and always with the proper motive.... :heartbeat:

''Take good care not to practice your
righteousness in front of men in order to
be observed by them; otherrwise you will :heartbeat:
have no reward with your Father who is
in the Heavens. :heartbeat:

Hence when you go making gifts of mercy,
do not blow a trumpet ahead of you, just as
the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in
the streets, that they may be glorified by men.
Truly, I say to you, They are having their reward in full. :heartbeat:

But you, when making gifts of mercy,
do not let your lleft hand know what
your right hand is doing, :heartbeat:

that you gifts of mercy may be in secret;
then your Father who is looking on in secret :heartbeat:
will repay.'' Matt: 6: 2-4...

attitude is important.... :love:

''or he that exhorts, let him be at his :heartbeat:
exhortation; he that distributes,
let him do it with liberalness; he that
presides, let him do it in real earnest;
he that shows mercy, let him do it
with cheerfulness.'' Romans 12:8

Mercy itself is very important....
From the beloved book of James.... :heartbeat:

''For the one that does not practice mercy
will have his judgement without mercy. Mercy
exhults triumphantly over judgement.'' James 2:13 :heartbeat:

Mercy and kindness are closely linked together in terms
of acts of loving-kindness with a free- heartedness and
generosity of spirit. It is kindness not motivated by pity
as much as a reflection of God's great generosity, and
as we practice such we realize we are reflecting Jesus Christ also--Lord and Saviour..... :heartbeat:

''Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, :heartbeat:
for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart,
and you will find refreshment for your souls.

For my yoke is kindly and my load is light.'' Matt. 11: 29-30 :heartbeat:

a poem on mercy from a most unexpected place--
Charles Dickens from Victorian England responding to the
poverty around him--trying to rasie the awareness of
all and the plight of the times--a valuable lesson for us today.... :heartbeat:

THINGS THAT NEVER DIE

The pure, the bright, the beautiful :heartbeat:
that stirred our hearts in youth,
The impulses to wordless prayer,
The streams of love and truth,
The longing after something lost, :heartbeat:
The spirit's longing cry,
The striving after better hopes--
These things can never die. :heartbeat:

The timid hand stretched forth to aid :heartbeat:
A brother in his need;
A kindly word in grief's dark hour
That proves a friend indeed;
The plea for mercy softly breathed, :heartbeat:
When justice theatens high,
The sorrow of the contrite heart--
These things shall never die. :heartbeat:

Let nothing pass, for every hand :heartbeat:
Must find some work to do,
Lose not a chance to waken love--
Be firm and just and true.
So shall a light that cannot fade :heartbeat:
Beam on thee from on high,
And angel voices say to thee--
''These things shall never die.'' :heartbeat:

--Charles Dickens...

Oh so beautiful, wolfie! Mercy and graciousness is a lesson probably learned best from seeing and experiencing the opposite - have you ever thought that? Seeing others' hard and heartless actions or words causes me to reflect it back on myself and sometimes there's a real insight into my own failings. I say "sometimes" - lol -because it seems one can be blind somehow to one's own attitude until it's displayed in the extreme by someone else. It's a real "slam-on-the-brakes!" moment and I've had many. I think it's God's Spirit correcting us, bringing into our minds the truth that Christ Jesus displays... the way we should act and react - if love is our true motivation - and now we know that love should be our ONLY motivation!

So we really need to keep in touch with our heavenly Father because the more we're in communication through prayer, the more we'll be corrected. At first we're corrected kind of after-the-fact; then discipline comes quicker - hopefully 'cause we're listening better(!) - until we actually start letting God's spirit think for us before we speak. :quiet:

I was surprised by the Dickens poem - but then his 'Christmas Story' was all about being merciful, wasn't it? And old Mr. Scrooge learned it - or had it scared into him - the hard way! Oh well, however we learn the lesson isn't the important part as long as we really learn The Lesson.

Thank you, sis, for the precious bits of yourself you inject into these Bible verses day after day - they are priceless and you are invaluable!:hug::cheekkiss::friends:

Love to you and to ALL. :grouphug:
:bee:

Hi willa and Iso :hibye: :love:

Thank you guys for your comments. I am so glad you enjoyed the poem. I Love it and feel it has so much of the heart of Charles Dickens. I didn't know he had written poetry until just recently. His stories were so tragic and yet always with some joy at the end. I agree Willa--he knew real pain in his life to be able to empathize so completely. If the pain of another is your own pain it makes a difference in how we respond. Jesus had that ability and quality--I can hear it in the words he gave to the man who said ''you could heal me if you but want to'' and Jesus said ''I want to.'' That says it all in my mind :love:

thank you both for your kind words--I LOve you guys :hug: and all :grouphug: