Mercy Me

The last month or so I’ve noticed a change in me, God is working on the inside of me and I’m changing. I’ve never been one who had the gift of mercy but lately it seems as though it’s coming up in me quite frequently.

I’ve noticed I get to the point of tears when I go to the balcony at church and look over the people down below. I see the “big picture” and my heart breaks for the ones who are hurting or don’t know Jesus. This is quite unusual for me to say the least. It is a powerful image from the balcony for me – I went there again today and the same thing happened. I prayed and cried for Jesus to work and heal His children. I watched them take communion and kneel at the cross, it was so moving to me. I prayed for the lost, the least and the hurting.

I just seem to want to help people. I am a co-leader of a small group in Celebrate Recovery and the people there are hurting and struggling. Many times before in my life I would get impatient with people who didn’t get it together. I wouldn’t feel sorry for the homeless – instead I just wouldn’t notice them or just excuse it away and think they brought it on themselves, etc. I know it’s been wrong for me to feel that way. Recently, I’ve prayed a prayer I didn’t have the nerve to pray before and that is: “Jesus make me like you. Make me love what you love and hurt over what you hurt over.” And he’s changing me!

Today what really struck me is I realized I can’t wait to leave this fallen world and fall into my Savior’s arms. I just want to see Him face to face, to be with Him in eternity. This is a new thought and feeling for me. I’ve not wanted this before in such a real way.

I want Jesus to be my center, the core of my being and to live out of that place. I want to live life intentionally, to be present to each and every person I’m around and to reflect Jesus to them in a real way.

My Vacation

“For since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes have been made clearly intelligible through the things that have been made. (His handiworks). Romans 1:20

Standing on the beach, wind blowing through my hair, the sound of the waves splashing up on shore, the sand under my feet and the misty fog that comes with a warm morning, I’m still amazed at the awesome way God reveals things to me.

I watch as the waves of the high tide sweep away all the marks of the past. The footprints that were there in the sand just a second ago, are now gone. I bend over to write in the sand and a wave comes, now my letters are very faint, another wave and they are completely gone. The waves don’t just take away or clean up, they also at times leave gifts on the shore. They leave shells and sponges for me to collect and investigate. They reveal sand dollars that were just underneath the sand in the water, but as the waves pull back and the tide goes out, all of these treasures are revealed for me to enjoy.

The same way God is with us, every morning He sweeps through with new mercy, we pray and He forgives and forgets our sins and leaves us with a clean slate. The Holy Spirit blows in our lives and shows and teaches us practical applications on the Word to use in our everyday lives. God does even more than this though, He leaves us with treasures, gifts we can enjoy. He blesses us with favor as we go through our day, with people that love us, friends and family, a home, a job, children-He is so good to us! He gives us Spiritual gifts that are so precious-anointing that allows us to accomplish what we never could on our own.

The ocean is so huge, I strain to see something out there. Looking closely I see a boat, that I know is large, yet seems so small in the distance. The clouds seem smaller, the sea gulls and the other birds are small. I again am in awe of how this relates to God in my life. God is as vast as the ocean, He is huge, all consuming, compared to Him everything is so small. He is more powerful than the tide and more cleansing than the water. He is a great and mighty God.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork. Psalm 19:1