25 March 2020

ACTS OF MERCY (Lenten 28)

By John Ollis

So, how is your Lenten Journey going? I do trust it has been life changing already for you, and that the fruit from the journey will produce such change in your life that YOU WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN.
Potentially, there are at least two things that can result from this Journey, one positive and one negative. I will talk about the positive thing in my next blog. I have majored on  these past 3+weeks on experiencing more and more of our inheritance as Believer that was purchased for us through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The danger I see is that we could become very SELFISH and just major on ME ME  ME.
The Church Fathers who designed Lent said there must ACTS OF MERCY in other words, the closer we draw to Jesus, the more we should feel in our hearts not only for a lost and dying world going to hell, but become more aware of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
None of us were around or are old enough to remember the Great Depression, perhaps our parents told us stories, but it is hard as a child to really understand or appreciate those terrible days. Yet, potentially this Novid-19 virus problem is or will become even much worse that those days.
We live in a Retirement Village and have created a Residents group on FB, as we really cannot meet anymore because of the distances we must keep from each other, but can through social media and our phones (of course) available to each other including doing some shopping for each other. We also have a Resident who has just returned from a cruise and she is totally isolated for 14 days.
Can I suggest you ask the Lord to lay a person on your heart, and when the Lord reveals that person’s name begin to pray for them, and also act the Lord how you could be a blessing to them.
Many years ago we used to sing a hymn with the words:
Lord lay some soul upon my heart and love that soul through me
And may I bravely do my part to win that soul for Thee
Lord lead me to some soul today and grant that I may be
Endured by power and love to win that dear soul for Thee
To win that soul for Thee will be my constant prayer
That when I’ve won Thy full reward, I’ll with that dear one share

MAY OUR LENTEN JOURNEY BE FILLED WITH ACTS OF MERCY.