Blessed Are the Merciful - Matthew 5:7

In this world full of hustle and bustle with people looking out for number one, we are not really taught to be merciful. The Spirit of the Lord is a good teacher of mercy. The Lord Jesus' heart is full of mercy. Let's have a look at being merciful.

Matthew 5:7 in the New King James Version of the Bible reads,

7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.
This world can be so hard, cold and lacking in love. I live in Sydney Australia. It is quite an unloving city and many thousands live on the streets homeless. I am told that New York is even worse. This makes me really sad.

I guess you see how merciful people are when you are in need. It is a hard thing to beg for money or other things, so when I am without money I just go without. But one time I had a friend that used to beg when he was out of money. It would only be about one in fifty people that gave him money. People simply assume that he gets unemployment benefits from the government and if he has spent all of that on drugs or alcohol then they will not give him any more.

It is quite a different life being the person that gives begging people money. The smiles and happiness that I see in their faces when I give to them makes it all worthwhile.

Jesus says to give to those who ask of us.

Matthew 5:42 reads,

42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
When you apply this verse, and obey it, it means that you go through quite a bit of spare change in your life.

Giving is a wonderful thing to do. God loves a cheerful giver. I never used to tithe until an apostle picked me up on it. Now I send money to poor pastors oversees and still keep up giving to the poor in my city.

When judgement time comes to Earth you will want to be in the camp where God is showing mercy. If you have not been merciful the Father does not have to show mercy to you.

Noah must have been a wonderful guy. He not only escaped the judgement of God but warned people for a hundred years while he built the ark and told them to be righteous. Though no one was saved from his message, it takes a real heart full of mercy to continue to preach.

Many people mock me for giving to those who beg. Many Christians say I am a fool for giving money to the homeless. Yet, I know if I was really in a tight spot I could go to the street people and they would help me out.

Thank God for the people with mercy that donate their time to charities and who give big money to places that do great merciful work in the world. Great is the reward for the people who are merciful when times get very dark. For God will apply mercy to their situation.

Only a close relationship with the Lord can grow your mercy and compassion. Do you need to get closer to the Lord?

If you have enjoyed my article you can read the book "The parables of Jesus made simple" for free here in its entirety or just selected parables in chapters at http://www.parables-of-jesus-christ.net/ The book will be published in book form in January 2011