"Lord Have Mercy!"

“Lord, Have Mercy!”

February 25, 2013 at 11:51am

     Do you take the Lord’s name in vain?  Like me, if you are saved, your automatic response is probably “No way!”  One day, after being accused of such a sin, I asked God to tell me what He thought.  I was surprised.  It embarrasses me to have to admit, even to myself, how many times God has to let me know I am breaking the third commandment.

     Unless you are actually talking to God, asking for his help, or talking to him like he’s a friend standing beside you, chances are good you’re using his name in vain, no matter what cliché you use to express surprise, anger, frustration or any number of other things.

          ‘Lord, have mercy!’ and ‘Ooh Lord’ are common phrases used without thinking.  Unless you are truly asking God for mercy, you just used God’s name in vain.      

     ‘Oh my God!’ is so blatant that it does not require explanation.  I usually comment ‘Mine, too’ and hope the offender will get the message.

     Since asking the Holy Ghost to show me when I am cursing, it is surprising how many times I do it, and how often other Christians do.  I have heard it from the pulpit, in homes from people I consider above reproach in other areas, everywhere.   We probably do not even hear the words we are saying.

     Another issuxe is the phrase ‘blessing someone out’, which is just a polite term for ‘cussing someone out’. 

Consider this:  Jeremiah 23:10 ‘…for because of swearing (cursing) the land mourneth;’  It’s bad enough that unsaved people use God’s name in vain, but we as Christians are doubly guilty of cursing God, and of causing our country to fall!   II  Chronicles 7:14 ‘If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’
            If you call yourself a Christian (Christ-like), do not blame all of our country’s problems on the unsaved.  We share in the blame, more so because we trample underfoot the name of God and Jesus Christ our Savior, whom we profess to love.                                                                       
    It’s time we, as children of the living God, who paid for our sin of cursing him, pay attention to what we say and confess our sin.
     If you have never realized you are destined for hell, if you have never asked God to forgive your sin of unbelief, now is the time to admit you’re a sinner, condemned to die, and thank God for Jesus, who paid your debt so you could live!  John 3:18 ‘he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God.’Romans 10:9 ‘That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.’ There is no magic prayer that will save you.  It must come from the heart.  Talk to God as if he is right there listening to you.  He is, you know.  Then tell someone about it!

God Will Let Me Into Heaven Because

February 25, 2013 at 11:49am

Why should God let you into heaven?  Now that’s a question!  What’s your answer?

     Because you’ve worked enough, been good enough to deserve a place beside Adam and Eve, Jesus, even the beggar Lazarus?  Titus 3:5 ‘Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us…’

     Because you give time and money to church and missionaries, to the TV preachers, to the homeless? Because you’re better than those hypocrites who make a show of being so good when someone’s looking? Because you can quote more Bible verses than your neighbor, your brother or sister, even your pastor? Because you go to church every time the doors are open?   Luke 18:10-14 ‘Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee (often hypocritical religious leader), and the other a publican (tax collector).  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying “God be merciful to me a sinner.”  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.’

     Because you believe in God? John 3:18 ‘… he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.’ James 2:19 ‘The devils believe also (in God) and tremble.’

Because you’ve been baptized or confirmed? Because you’re a church member, or take communion? Acts 18:8 ‘…and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.’  Acts 2:47b ‘And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.’  Belief comes first, then you are baptized, added to the church roles, and take communion.           
    Because you’re a Baptist (or Methodist,   or Catholic, or Pentecostal or Mormon, or Jew or Muslim or…)?  Romans 3:9 ‘What then?  Are we better than they?  No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles (everybody who isn’t a Jew), that they are all under sin;’
     None of these reasons will do.

     If you realize you need to trust Jesus instead of yourself, tell him you were wrong, that you want to trust his death, burial and resurrection as payment for your sins. Ask him to forgive your sin of unbelief.  John 3:16 ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life’. Thank him for the Holy Spirit who will help you live for him from now on.  John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:’   There are no magic words that will save you.  It must come from the heart.  Talk to God as if he is right there listening to you.  He is, you know.  Romans 10:9 ‘That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.’