{"id":18822,"date":"2014-04-08T00:20:52","date_gmt":"2014-04-08T04:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=18822"},"modified":"2014-04-07T23:38:05","modified_gmt":"2014-04-08T03:38:05","slug":"relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/08\/relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"Relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have now entered the season of Lent. \u00a0For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in light of His Words. \u00a0\u271e \u2665<\/p>\n

During this season, here on the\u00a0Seeking Him<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0devotional blog, we have chosen to focus our devotionals on Jesus\u2019 instructions and admonition communicated in Matthew chapter 5\u2014the Beatitudes. \u00a0Jesus said, \u201cBlessed are\u2026\u201d and He went on to give instruction as to how to be \u201cblessed<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0To be \u2018blessed\u2019 is to \u2018be happy, or to be envied.\u2019 \u00a0 Truly for the Christian, we ARE blessed\u2014oh, how very blessed we are! \u00a0Those who observe our lives should clearly be able to tell that we ARE blessed\u2014and that we KNOW it! \u271e \u2665<\/p>\n

Please consider Jesus\u2019 instructions along with us. \u00a0We pray that our words will encourage you and spur you on to be prepare your hearts for the joyous celebration of His Resurrection! \u00a0\u271e \u2665<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. <\/span><\/strong>
\nMatthew 5:7 NIV<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The word mercy<\/span><\/strong><\/em> for me conjures up memories of scenes from movies portraying\u00a0Christ. \u00a0Dictionary.com gave this meaning: “compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner”.<\/em> How many times have we been shown mercy<\/span><\/strong> in our DAILY<\/strong> walk? \u00a0I shudder to think of how I may unknowingly have offended my heavenly Father.<\/p>\n

Then I began to think, “How do I show mercy<\/span> <\/strong>to others?” \u00a0Do I become short when I am pressed for time and someone asks me questions? \u00a0Yes, unfortunately I feel like I do sometimes. \u00a0My boss is an excellent example of showing mercy<\/strong> <\/span>and being fair. \u00a0No matter how busy she is, she\u00a0takes the time to speak with that person and make them feel valued.<\/p>\n

Christ is a perfect example of mercy<\/strong><\/span>. \u00a0When the woman who was caught\u00a0in adultery was brought before Jesus for Him to condemn and punish her, He showed her mercy<\/span><\/strong>. \u00a0He was gentle in His reproach to the men of the synagogue, to the point that they slowly turned away, one by one (see John 8:1-11<\/a>). \u00a0He did not need to be told her background…He already knew her story. \u00a0But He also knew the hearts of the men who had brought her to Him. \u00a0Jesus loves us unconditionally, and He wants to know us. \u00a0His Father will discipline us when necessary, but Jesus will always intercede on our behalf.<\/p>\n

My mom told me one day she was mad at me because of a\u00a0dream she had. \u00a0It was this: \u00a0Someone had broken into our store. \u00a0She had hit the man over the head with a cast iron skillet and knocked him unconscious. \u00a0She told me to watch over the man and make sure he didn’t leave while she went to get help. \u00a0When she came back she was shocked to see that I was dressing the man’s head wounds! She laughed and I said, ‘Well that sounds like me doesn’t it?’ \u00a0She just shook her head.<\/em><\/p>\n

I want to continue to be\u00a0that person and\u00a0show\u00a0compassion and mercy<\/strong> <\/span>toward others. \u00a0When we pray and listen to the Holy Spirit, He will direct our paths and help guide us in our choices. \u00a0This will go so far in our own relationships\u00a0with family and friends. \u00a0Remember there are those who watch and learn from your actions and reactions. \u00a0Just remember you can start a new way of thinking today. No matter how old you are, with the Holy Spirit, you can begin practicing mercy<\/strong> <\/span>and compassion toward others. \u00a0Once you begin to extend it in all situations, you will feel a new lease on life…a refreshing of your spirit.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0~\u00a0\u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0*<\/span><\/h4>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your gift of mercy. \u00a0Show us, Lord, how we can use this gift in our everyday lives. \u00a0In Jesus’ name, Amen!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have now entered the season of Lent. \u00a0For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[127,3367,1287,425,5784,1713,4531,680,3174,6011,1071],"class_list":["post-18822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-beatitudes","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-jesus-speaking","tag-matthew-57","tag-merciful","tag-mercy","tag-seeking-him-devotional","tag-shown-mercy","tag-tina-marin","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-4TA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18822"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18959,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18822\/revisions\/18959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}