Lord teach us to be merciful

A good way to understand the meaning of mercy is to see how it relates to grace:
Mercy--not getting what you do deserve / withheld punishment
Grace--getting what you don't deserve / unmerited favor

Mercy is like a judge finding you guilty, but then withholding any punishment. Grace is getting something you could never have imagined. An inexplicable gift. It's like the same judge awarding you $10,000,000.00, after finding you guilty!

In this sense, mercy can be thought of as the opposite of grace, or perhaps more correctly--the inverse. The words are normally used in Scripture as defined, though occasionally the distinctions are blurred. In Greek as in English, mercy can also mean pity or compassion. (The King James Version, for example, often translated the word love as mercy.) For the purpose of this study, we will focus on mercy as "not getting what is deserved" in the here and now.

Ex 33:19 (NIV) ..."I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."

I thought this was so good while I was studying and so timely. It is like the Lord drops his word right in your lap when you need it most. Sometimes we question what we should do in life when it comes to others but one thing that I have learned is that you can NEVER go wrong with mercy, love and forgiveness. Mercy doesn't mean that you are that person's best friend or that you hang out with them or excuse anything they do. Mercy is just the hand of God extended.
People make mistakes and do wrong things but God didn't call us to judge or punish, he just called us to love and let him be God of people, things and situations.

I am careful with who I surround myself with, but I will always extend love.

The Bible says that love covers a multitude of sins,
Love holds no record of wrong doing.
We think sometimes by putting things in the sea of forgetfulness that people are getting away with their wrong doings but that's not so. God has it all under control and we have to trust him.

Again.......... my very favorite scripture is "Show me your ways O lord, guide me in your truth and teach me" Psalm 25: 4-5

I love you all very much. May God be with you on this blessed Monday :)