Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth…As it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:26, 31.

Strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. Acts 24:16.

God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9.

And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 29: His Character-Merciful. Exodus 33:19: And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” And, Luke 1:72: To show mercy toward our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant.

I was watching last night on PBS a documentary about refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia fleeing the atrocities of Pol Pot in the mid and late 70’s. After a grueling 3 day journey sponsored by Catholic Charities, one family arrived at Dallas and seeing freeways and skyscrapers of glass, they thought they had arrived in heaven. Can you imagine, Dallas – heaven? Simple uneducated farming people with no idea of the advanced technological world they had now entered even then decades ago. One young man was an artist and painted horrifying pictures of the cruelty I cannot begin to imagine that my heart tried to shy away from. As one American physician trying to help pointed out, it was Jewish people and those who lived through holocausts who understood and whose hearts were enabled to help that kind of lived trauma. He admitted he couldn’t. I can’t. I’ve lived in such a protected bubble of a world compared with the reality of most people. And God reminds me there are no perfect people. There are His children dearly loved. And as I pray for their hearts turned to Him, I need to pray for my own heart as I pray for them. As we let God’s love grow in our own hearts for them, we welcome Him in them. No one is outside the need of God’s love. No one. What about the atrocities today being carried out in war ravaged lands and across the world from hearts becoming hardened as we see so much hate and violence and suffering? It’s not easy to love imperfect people. It’s even harder to admit we are just as imperfect but how else can we begin to see clearly our own need mirrored so starkly in others? And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” Jesus always surprised and confused His disciples as He showed tender compassion for those hurting they would have turned away from believing them sinners only. Jesus saw more. He saw His children dearly loved. Do we? Can we? Not without His help. His Character – Merciful! Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Matthew 5:7. God’s Kingdom. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show compassion on whom I will show compassion…If we are not in step with God’s good will, with whose will are we in step? There are no perfect people and we are all of us in need of God’s gracious love and mercy and compassion! I know my own limitations and the reality of our hearts in this our fallen world, I’m not oblivious to any of the awful sins; and so I’m asking God to help me as I pray for all of us so in need of God’s incredible love and grace and mercy. As we keep His love ever before us it helps us see His kingdom love working for us – His imperfect and dearly loved children. A curious things begins to happen as we see His love for us. We begin ever so slowly to live into that love and it softens our hearts and we can begin with His help to love the people we shy away from. There are people I will never meet personally but I can pray for them! As I pray for them, trusting God’s will, my own heart grows in all the ways that God heals.