Disciples Show Mercy Like Their Father
Luke 6:36
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Pondering Point
It is SO easy. TOO easy. It's so easy to withhold mercy from people who have hurt you, especially when you are in the throes of pain they’ve caused or brooding over such pain. It's easy to crave others getting what they deserve. What is not easy is showing mercy toward your enemies, even if they are only enemies temporarily. Yet that is what God asks of us, AND that is just what God does too, forgiving countless sins at the request of His only beloved Son Jesus who prayed that our sins not be held against us (and who continues to intercede for us at the right hand of the Father today). It is what He did for you. And it wasn’t easy. Ask Jesus. It cost Him His life.
Do you know what else can be easy? Forgetting how merciful God has been toward us. This week is an encouragement for us to do hard things, something asked of us by God: Show mercy and act like our heavenly Father who shows mercy to people who don't deserve it. It is a week to pray for a deepening of a heart within us to become more like Him.
Prayer for the Week
Father God, I am grateful that You do not remember my sins when You forgive. I don’t want to remember my sin in such a way that holds me back. Nor do I want to forget my sinfulness when dealing with others who sin against me. Teach me how to forgive those who trespass against me as You forgive me my trespasses. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Micro-Group Connections:
A Disciple’s Lifestyle
Micro-Group Moment:
Considering a life of VIGILANCE as
a case for participating in Micro-Groups:
Matthew 26:41
Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Pondering Point
Sean Parker, the first president of Facebook now calls himself a “conscientious objector” to social media. In an interview with Axios, he begrudgingly admitted, “God only knows what it's doing to our children's brains. The thought process that went into building these applications, Facebook being the first of them... was all about: “How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?” And that means that we need to give you, we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while, because someone liked or commented on a photo or post or whatever. That's going to get you to contribute more content and that's going to get you… more likes and more comments. It’s a social-validation feedback loop, exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you're exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.
~ J.M. Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, p. 38
Vigilance
The quality of being alert and watchful
Discuss with fellow Micro-Group Members one or two of the following regarding the book quote:
- Have I settled for a mediocre version of faith and relationship with God?
- What consumes large amounts of time in your life?
- This notion: That which you give your mind to (what you let be its focus) will shape the trajectory of your character.
Concluding Prayer Prompt
Based on the bullet points above, offer a prayer that strenghtens the efforts your spirit working with the Holy Spirit or overcoming your flesh.
Micro-Meditation
Psalm 51:3-6
- For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me. - Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge. - Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time
my mother conceived me. - Yet you desired faithfulness
even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom
in that secret place.
Read the verses twice.
Mark words or phrases that catch your attention.
Meditate: Talk or write with God (journal) about those words. Ask Him to impress things on your heart and mind. Write them down.
Pondering Point
King David had a strong conviction that God had a right to judge him (verse 4). But the first lines David penned here (verse 3) are a cry for mercy from the One who had every right to deny him the very mercy he prayed for.
What determines your attitude/stance toward God as you approach Him?