Mercy

1 Corinthians 7:21,24-31 - Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.)… So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God. Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.


2 Corinthians 4:1 - Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.

Romans 13:11-12 - Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Application:

· Has God called and commanded me? Has He supplied me the strength necessary to persevere in the face of hardships and persecutions?
· Do I live contentedly in my social and economic situation, realizing that I am free in Christ?
· Do I understand the present time? Do I recognize the time for loving others is now?
· Am I putting aside the deeds of darkness? Am I putting on the armor of light?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV