The Mercy of God

 Death is a reality that haunts all of us. If you believe that death is the final end, the day the lights go out for ever, you may live in fear, or you many persuade yourself that you have a limited time to enjoy yourself or achieve great things, and that is all.

But then you find that life is not all happiness. You find pain, disappointments, traumas. There must be something more!

The closer we come to then end of our lives, the more the certainty of death creeps into our thoughts.

If you have a Christian background, you hope you might go to heaven, but God is far away, up there somewhere. How do you know how God will judge you when you meet your maker face to face?
You might think you have been a good person, but if you are honest, you will know you have not been a real saint.

Then you read the Bible and you come to the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus explains what God is looking for in your character.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Mt 5:8 NIV

You know you look at bad stuff on TV and the internet. You don't qualify.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Mt 5:7 NIV

You have been bullied by your family, at school or in your workplace, but if you are honest, you know you have also treated other people badly. You have often not been merciful.

I talked to an elderly lady who was a devout Catholic, but she had suffered much in her family life and her marriage had been terrible. She was chronically traumatised and very bitter, in spite of her efforts to be a good Catholic.

At the mention of death, she responded with dread. I spoke to her about forgiveness, about mercy. About hope, about heaven, about a better life to come.

Her heart began to soften. Her rage faded away little by little.

I visited her and we talked on the phone. I kept talking to her about our heavenly hope. There is only one way to heaven, and that is through faith in Jesus.

If you cry out to Jesus for mercy, he will hear you.

Anyone can reach God. If you are not sure about God or Jesus, you can simply cry out from your heart.

“Jesus, if you are real, if you are really the Son of God, show me who you are, help me out of my desperate situation.

Jesus, if you are real, come into my life and change me. Have mercy on me.”