God's stamp of approval: The merciful...

"Blessed are the merciful...."Matthew 5:7

"Blessed are those who are merciful, for they shall receive mercy."--Matthew 5:7.  Jesus here tells us that if we expect to receive mercy, we ought to be merciful in the fifth beatitude.  It is the merciful that have God's stamp of approval.

The merciful.  In writing about this, I have discovered something about this verse that I never knew before.  And here it is.  When we think of mercy, we tend to think of God not giving us what we truly deserve.  My initial impression with this verse was similar to that of forgiveness that if we expect to receive it, we must show it.  However, what I have discovered is that the mercy Jesus is speaking of does not necessarily have to do with forgiveness.  According to the definition of the Greek word, the word for mercy here means someone who is "greatly concerned about someone in need." (BDAG 316).

The merciful.  The image above, although from a movie is a good visual of someone who is showing concern for someone in need.  This is the type of mercy that is being spoken of.

The merciful.  But I would also like to briefly relate to you something that is not from a movie but something that happened last month in real time.  I went to breakfast at one of my instructor's home along with several other students from here at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver.  While we were there, one of the older men that was there passed out due to some heart trouble.  One of the students that was there, Megan, happens to be a nurse and she was able to demonstrate her great concern for someone in need by putting her qualifications to work.  Furthermore, another student led a prayer off to the side on behalf of this man.  Reflecting on all this, it is awesome to see an example of so many students displaying mercy as taught here by Jesus.  It's an awesome thought to know that at that time, we had God's stamp of approval.

The merciful.  God did have mercy on us in this aspect as well.  God saw that we too were in great need.  God was concerned for us and did not want anything to happen to us.  So in response, God sent His Son Jesus. If we expect to have God's stamp of approval, we are expected to be merciful in every way.

The merciful.  Honestly, there is not terribly much to elaborate on here than what already has been said.  The concept here is fairly simple.  If we expect to be approved of God, we must show mercy as God has shown us mercy.  

The merciful.  With the definition in mind, we must understand, based on this verse, that if we show great concern for someone in need, we too will receive the same treatment.  In other words, if we show concern for others, others will show concern for us when we are in need.  This is one thing I think is so cool about God's commands and following them.  Following God's commands pay dividends in this life as well as the next.  So it pays to be merciful.  How cool is that?

The merciful.  So with all this in mind, my encouragement to you is this.  If you know of someone that is in need, go to that person and see if you can help them.  But most importantly, if you know of someone that is in need of your forgiveness, show concern by forgiving that person.  Or you might be the one in need of forgiveness, do not hesitate to ask for that forgiveness.  Bottom line is that the merciful have God's stamp of approval.  Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!