Monday: Mercy (1)

For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon or destroy you.
Mercy: Something for which to be thankful!

Good morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and it is Monday and Independence Day is over for this year, but we should remember every day that because of our Lord Jesus who had mercy on us, we can be free on a personal basis, and because of so many brave men and women our country is still free.

I need to bring this up today, just to sort of round out my messages of last week. We heard a little bit about two or three TV or movie stars passing last month. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays, and a whole lot about Michael Jackson dying, and it has been going on and on and on ... oh the king of pop is gone. Yes, the man who could not be happy with the color GOD MADE HIM died, and we have heard it over and over again. But did we hear anything at all about those listed below?

These American military members died in service to our country in June. Thank You, Jesus, for these fine men and women who gave their lives for our country ... Brothers and sisters, please pray for their families ... thank you, Pastor Dan.

Died in Iraq:
Sergeant Justin J. Duffy
Specialist Christopher M. Kurth
Specialist Charles D. Parrish
Lance Corporal Robert D. Ulmer
Staff Sergeant Edmond L. Lo
Sergeant Joshua W. Soto
Captain Kafele H. Sims
Specialist Chancellor A. Keesling.

And these members of our U.S. Armed Forces died in Afghanistan in June:
Sergeant Jones, Ricky D.
Specialist Munguia Rivas, Rodrigo A.
Command Master Chief Petty Officer Garber, Jeffrey J.
1st Sergeant Blair, John D
Sergeant Smith, Paul G.
Staff Sergeant Melton, Joshua
Sergeant 1st Class Dupont, Kevin A.
Specialist O'Neill, Jonathan C.
Chief Warrant Officer Richardson Jr., Ricky L.
Specialist Silva, Eduardo S.
Lance Corporal Whittle, Joshua R.
Major Barnes, Rocco M.
Major Jenrette, Kevin M.
Staff Sergeant Beale, John C.
Specialist Jordan, Jeffrey W.
Specialist Griemel, Jarrett P.
Specialist Hernandez I, Roberto A.
Sergeant Obakrairur, Jasper K.
Staff Sergeant Hall, Jeffrey A.
Private 1st Class Ogden, Matthew D.
Private 1st Class Wilson, Matthew W.

Monday is the day we pray for our leaders and our military and we need to really pray for them and for the families of those who are coming home in a flag draped coffin. I surely wish I knew if our men and women in our military today had the support of their Commander in Chief, Our President. You might recall that when a senator he voted against all the funding for what they are doing, PROTECTING OUR COUNTRY SO WE NEVER AGAIN HAVE AN EVENT LIKE HAPPENED ON 9/11/2001.

Mercy (1): Deuteronomy 4: 31 - For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which He confirmed to them by oath. (NIV)

American Heritage Dictionary: Mercy: Something for which to be thankful.

A couple weeks back after a Sunday Service at the Bridges one of the flock ask me what mercy means. My first answer to him was the example that Jesus showed to us on the cross. In other words I give him the best example right up front. But he wanted to know more, so I have prayed about it, and this week will write about it and next Sunday I am, Lord willing going to teach on the subject of Mercy. There is a lot in the Bible about Mercy, and it teams up with Grace and is all about forgiveness. So sit back, pull those seat belts tight and lets take a look a mercy and where we might be if God had not sent mercy upon us ...

Mercy (1): Let me start with a question today. How many times have you asked for mercy, or pleaded for mercy, and how many times might it have been granted to you? And I am not just talking about our Lord today, however with that said, Jesus showing us mercy while He was on the cross was just another example to us for the way we should live.

Years ago, and I mean years ago when I was growing up and I would mess up and I knew I had punishment coming from my mamma or my dad, I would ask for mercy. Oh, I might not have said, mamma have mercy on me but it was about having mercy. I remember one time that I was grounded, not permitted to leave the yard ... I forget what I had done that upset my dear late mamma but I was being punished. We did not call it grounded back then, we called it punishment. I also know that when my dad would arrive home the punishment was for sure going to grow, so if I wanted mercy my best hope was to talk mamma into not telling my dad. I forget what I did, but knowing me, I more than likely talked back to mamma ... sassed her as she would call it. Anyway I went up and got some money out of my hiding place and left our yard and went to the corner store and bought two ice cream cones. When I came in the house I was licking on one and hiding the other behind my back. Well mamma knew I just left the yard for the evidence was in my hand and all over my face. So as she started to tell me that my dad was going to be told, I pulled from behind my back, her ice cream cone, my bribe. I said I am sorry for sassing you mamma, and I got you this ice cream cone. Wow, it worked, for mamma started to cry and I knew she was going to show me mercy. We talked as we ate the ice cream and then she told me that I had an extra day in the yard but she would not tell my dad. Ok, I can deal with the extra day ... I would work on that the next day.

So my parents many a time showed me mercy, most often on report card day for I, the son of two school teachers, took the submarine course in school. My grades were below C level.
I also learned over the years that I needed to show mercy, and not just to our kids when they would get into trouble. Along the way we had family service stations and I also managed a school bus fleet where I did the hiring of the bus drivers and mechanics and also had to do the other deeds with employees when things went wrong. I also had to take care of the student problems which would mean taking them off the bus from time to time. And yes, as much as I like to follow the rules all in black and white, mercy did come into play. I can remember a driver taking off for dear hunting knowing he would get a day suspension for doing it as it was not approved. He told me that he was not coming, he did not hide it or call off sick, he could have done that. He said he was going hunting and I did not have enough sub drivers to give him that day off. So when he came back he came in and said to me ... am I getting a day off for yesterday, and I said yes. I said, do you have a doe permit, and he said yes. So I gave him his day off on the first day of doe season. Mercy was shown, and the punishment was made. You see you can do both.

This week I am going to look at different places in the Bible and talk about the mercy and grace of our Lord. I would also like to hear from you ... has anyone showed you mercy? Have you shown others mercy? How about a policemen, were you stopped for speeding and that nasty smoky showed mercy by reducing the speed you were doing to save your license, or did you even talk your way out of a fine?

Mercy is so important in life, if it were not, God would not have shown it, nor would He have sent His son to die for us. For my friends, if you have never looked at it like this before ... God forgiving us of our sins, is mercy, mercy in the highest form. Let's pray.

Dear Father in Heaven, have mercy on us today, we are not worthy of being forgiven, but we ask that You show mercy on us as You forgive us. Lord, I pray today for our leaders and for our President, and Lord, I must be truthful, he is the first president that scares me. Lord, I pray first for his soul if he is not already saved, then for his service for our country. Lord, I pray for the families who gave their lives for America, and not just those I listed but all who have given it all for our Nation. Lord bless these families. I thank You for these men and women and their families. Bless also those who are serving now, and Lord heal those who have been wounded in battle or even in training. Lord, I love America and I am sorry that we have fallen away from You, and I want to see us come back... Lord, Lord, I love You, and I need to stand up for You more than I do, and I am sure others feel the same way. Help us Lord, to be getting out the word about Your mercy and grace. In the name of Jesus I pray ... Amen.

Now brothers and sisters, I want to ask you for your prayers, we have rebuilt our food pantry and now we need to fill the shelves, so pray, warriors, pray. We need to stock up. Will your church put a food cart in for us? Remember, people who need help with food like to eat just like we do ... every day, not just at Christmas. On this line, I do not ask often, but today I am asking ...

You have heard me say day after day, share your blessings. If you are not from this area, maybe you could support a food pantry in your area. Listed below is our information. Love ya, dan.

Carry The Light Ministries
Pastor Daniel W. & Dolores C. Lehman
16 Dewalt Drive.
Mechanicsburg, Pa. 17050