Christianity Oasis Forum

[xxJILLxx]

Mercy vs. Grace


Grace is what God gives that we don't deserve. Mercy is what God doesn't give that we do deserve.

For example. Suppose I was speeding on the highway and a policeman pulls me over. If he doesn't give me a ticket, then he gave me mercy. If he gives me a $100 bill, then he gave me grace.

As sinners, we deserve punishment. But, by God's mercy, He withholds judgement.

Luke 18:13 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.

We don't deserve God's goodness, but instead He has lavished grace upon us.

Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

By God's mercy, we escape hell. But by God's grace, we receive everlasting life.


Mercy holds back something we deserve and grace gives us something we dont deserve.

SO many people have this confused. And we think when we witness to someone to show them mercy... but in reality we are to show them GRACE! It is not for us to judge and hold back punishment for their lifestyles but it is for us to administer GRACE to those souls.

Mercy~ holds back
Grace~ gives forward

Gb
♥Jill

[xxJILLxx]

Do you understand just how good God is to us? Just how good He is to me?

I am full of gratitude! God is a good God!

He blesses me abundantly.

i dont have to pay for gas for a whole year and i dont have to pay for electric for 5 months!!!!!

Just rent and car insurance!



Luke 6:38
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

and again and again!

His Word is so precious!

I have more than enuff. God give me wisdom of my spending. May all my spending enhance the kingdom of God! It is all yours. Thank You Father for having a wonderful plan during this hard time! He is sooo GOOD! He is sooo GOOD TO ME!



Gb
♥Jill

[Leaps4Joy]

hey you?




Yeah you Jill! :D


I loves you!!!

[mlg]

God is faithful to those who love Him

luv ya

[xxJILLxx]

God's compassion

(Exodus 33:18-19 NIV) Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." {19} And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Exodus 34:5-7 NIV) Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. {6} And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, {7} maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

(Psalms 34:18-19 NIV) The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. {19} A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;

Ty Father for your compassion.

I love You
Gb
all
♥Jill

[xxJILLxx]

Rebuke is not very easy to receive, is it? I don't like rebuke. I mean, I really don't like rebuke.

Proverbs tells us the wise man values rebuke, while the fool rejects reproof ( Proverbs 12:15 and Proverbs 10:17).

Receiving, much less loving, rebuke goes completely against the natural sinfulness of our hearts. When someone has a word of rebuke for us, something rises up within me to protect my pride. It is hard to "stoop" to a rebuke because it challenges something we hold dear - SELF. A rebuke seems to say to SELF, "You don't know every-thing, and in fact, here is an area you need to look into! You don't have everything as together as you think."

As long as I am walking with God, until I learn to accept rebuke and walk in humility, I'm going to keep on getting it, so I might as well learn to value rebuke!

self-justification. When a rebuke comes and puts a dent into our idol of self, our flesh wants to rise up and prove the error of the rebuke. Of COURSE we just couldn't be wrong! Perhaps in response to a rebuke an account will need to be given, yet our attitude should not be self-preservation, but a desire to walk in righteousness

our hearts should be so eager to be conformed into the likeness of Christ that we are willing to receive any help that will accomplish that purpose. "Let the righteous strike me; it shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; it shall be as excellent oil; let my head not refuse it." (Psalms 141:5,NKJV)

Another response of the flesh is to turn and attack the person giving the rebuke. (Proverbs 9:8) Responding with attacking shows where our hearts are. If we can just make this other person look worse, then we won't look so bad. We're quite content to point out that, while this person is so intent on the speck in our eye, they really ought to deal with the log in their own eye. This attitude is part of the lie of comparing ourselves among ourselves instead of to Christ.

It is a MERCY to be told "you're wrong!" It isn't a curse. Remember, if our goal is to grow in Christ and walk in HIS ways, it won't matter to us how the truth comes to us. The response of the Spirit is gratefulness for the Lord bringing to our attention our need for change. "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent." (Rev. 3:19, NIV)

The flesh also responds to rebuke by feeling all hurt and wounded. Ouch! That hurts to even think about! It is so easy to take up an offense before even realizing it.

When we received rebuke with an attitude of "I'm hurt; that wounded me," we're still focusing on self.

Yet another fleshly response to reproof is ignoring counsel and rebuke. "Mockers don't love those who rebuke them, so they stay away from the wise." (Prov. 15:12, NLT) "He is on the path of life who heeds instruction, but he who forsakes reproof goes astray." (Proverbs 10:17) Proverbs 17:10 also speaks to the wisdom of valuing rebuke; "A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding than a hundred blows into a fool."

A Spirit-led response to reproof takes heed. It is not interested in preserving self, but in walking in truth. "The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom and before honor comes humility."

[xxJILLxx]

Starting to get excited about the van ministry He's leading me into at the youth group. Next month it will be official. I pray every thing goes well

Our youth leadership seems to be growing as well, but i dont know if i like what i see. I am a lil confused of their hearts.

I see them rising up to take a stand and be leaders, but i dont see them leading, i dont see them making bonds with the youth. More like they are there and watching.

For example:

At our last youth outing, the pastor had instructed us on unity and told all of us to go around and forgive one another for any wrong doings and kinda break the ice and start being in union with one another.

Ok so as i was doing as instructed with the whole group, i saw 4 of these leaders sitting down on the floor in a circle praying. Now mind you i dont see anything wrong with that except that, that was not the time that we were supposed to be doing that. In act of submissiveness to leadership we should be carrying out what the leader has instructed us to do so. I didnt approach the leaders, just an observation that the Holy Spirit was giving me...

So then i think well maybe its just me, maybe i am thinking judgemental thoughts and i shouldnt be.. maybe i am thinking to highly of myself.

But it wasn't like that, it was the HOly SPirit bringing it to my attention for observation maybe showing me an area were they need to grow.. being submissive to leadership, making bonds with the youth etc etc

So now almost a month after the outing i still see no growth in their bonds with the youth, they are not interacting with them. I give them some suggestions, like the one girl likes to do prophetic painting during worship service and paint what the holy spirit shows her. SO i suggessted in an attempt to bond her with the other girls, maybe this is something she could mentor to them with.. The hands went up and it was no no i cant do that... So they are rising up ofr the leadership title but dont want to be a mentor or leader?

This is my confusion, I wonder who are they there for? Is it just a title they seek?

We are to watch according to their fruits, i think their heart is in the right place wanting to be there, but we are there as leaders to serve, not to be served.. and i hold my tongue and observe and discern and hope that they grow more in their bonds with the kids.

Then i consider their age, they are in their early 20's just coming out of youth themselves.

SO am i being judgemental? or am i dsicerning their spirits?

that is the question

Gb
♥Jill

[xxJILLxx]

Dancing today!

Dancing around my apartment because He is sooo good!

I just love Him sooo much!


Thats all, Its enuff isnt it?

Gb
♥Jill

[xxJILLxx]

You are so beautiful,
and I desire to see your face.

You are so beautiful,
and I desire to worship you at your feet.

Come Jesus rest your head on my shoulder this time, I see your tears Jesus, I see your pain from those who reject you. Come rest, let me take some of your burdens for a change. HOw can anyone not love you?
I apologize for all those who rejected you. I feel your heartache for them. I know you still love them. I know the enemy has them blinded. Let me do some work for you and remove the scales from their eyes and clear the cotton from their ears so they can hear Your sweet voice and see Your perfect countenance.

It says in the bible, the Son of man has no place to rest His head. Son of man rest your head on my shoulder. How your heart burns with love for them. Father give me your compassion, may your compassion indwell throughout my being and in all my words and actions. May I have your temperance. May i seek out all things to bring you honor, My King. Let me stroke Your hair this time and whisper reassuring words to You. I take this time to bless You.

Thank You Jesus
I Adore You,
♥Jill

[xxJILLxx]

The words echo in my mind "if you realy want to know what the future holds , turn to the Word of God."

It's dark out there.

The only restraining power that exists on this earth is the Holy Spirit.

I do not want to be here for 5 minutes after the Holy Spirit is gone from here. I cant even begin to imagine.

Jesus staked everything on the Holy Spirit, He relied on the Holy Spirit.

God made provision that we do not have to go down in defeat for one split second, turn to Him.

We are heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ Jesus.

Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.

Do we realy know what it means to be in fellowship with the Holy Spirit? ... yielding your will to the will of the Father?

Its not myself and some of Thee

Its none of self and ALL OF THEE!

He will take the most ordinary person,
He doesnt ask for silever vessels,
He doesnt ask for gold vessels,
He asks for yielded vessels.

He gives me wisdom
He gives me courage
He gives me power so i can stand alone in darkness and overcome it.

I am drawing on unseen resources.

Revelation that something is happening and all the forces of hell cant stop it.

All forces of hell will not be able to stop the great power of the HOly Ghost

I'm in the perfect will of God standing where I am today.

It costs much but it is worth the cost
It costs everything
If you realy want to know the price it wil cost you everything.

Jill died along time ago, My life is Yours... I was born with nothing and have nothing and am nothing.
If you can take "nothing" and use it God, then take "nothing"

I have got nothing but You are all i need.

I give You Honor , i give You praise, i give You Glory.

[xxJILLxx]

It has been a very long day.

Then i think why? Why did i reach? NOw i am in the middle of a mess that i had no idea id be in.

But u know what?

God loves messes!

And it is worth it, it is worth one more soul!

He can clean up this mess and bring a blessing to this family.

Thats why, thats why i reached.
But again God loves messes, He likes cleaning things up and fixing things. And again for one more soul it is worth all the work.

but for now im exhausted and going to bed.

Gb

[xxJILLxx]

Sometimes i just feel so empty... the glance of a guy, a wink, "the nice guy", i value my worth on such sometimes... i struggle in this area. i latch on too quickly... insecurities flood my mind. I dont know why i do that. Maybe past abuse, maybe self esteem issues, maybe co-dependency issues, maybe just want to feel loved by someone, maybe all the above.

just rambling, trying to understand why i feel the way i do when i know i shouldnt, i should be secure with His love, with HIs affection, with His presence.

love you all
Gb
♥Jill