Being Merciful
Showing care and concern.
2 Tim. 1: 16 The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:
17 But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.
18 The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.
Because he showed mercy to Paul, Paul in return asked that God give him mercy.
He treated Paul as a brother and treated him with all respect despite the things that were going on with him. Despite the fact that this was Paul, and Apostle of the church, I believe that this man was by nature merciful and would have given the same care to any Christian that would come into his care.
Does my mercy apply equally to all my brethren and children? Am I quicker to extend my mercy to one individual over another?
Rom. 11: 29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
God is happy to give us his grace and is merciful in giving us salvation. I must in turn have the mind of God in passing this gift in showing mercy to those around me that are affected by my example and words.
Jonah 4: 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
This is what it means to be merciful…
(1) Slow to anger. (2) Great kindness. (3) Forgiving.
Jonah saw that this was the mind of God, but because of his anger, he was not willing to show the same mind and have mercy on the people of Nineveh.
