Read: Micah 7:18, Ps. 145:9, Matt. 5:7, Rom. 12:1, Titus 3:5 Reflect: Maybe you have seen the bumper sticker that says, “Have the day you deserve.” It is tempting to hope and believe that good will come to those who do good and that “bad people” will get their just desserts. Fortunately (for us), God doesn’t repay evil for evil and good for good in the same way we think other people deserve. None of us would go unpunished! But praise God! He abounds in uncommon generosity toward his creation, withholding the sentence of death because of His Son. And because of that, Jesus expects we should be merciful to others with the very same heart. He wanted us to be transformed into people who would extend God’s mercies to those who recognize Him as well as those who do not. Act: Journal about your thoughts about mercy. What does biblical mercy mean? How does God embody it to you? To others? Through you? How do your thoughts align with His? What does Paul mean when he urges us to offer our very bodies as sacrifices in view of God’s mercy? Pray: I could never thank you enough, Lord, for your mercy toward me. Forgive me for the times I seek a worldly type of justice, thinking others should get what they deserve while thinking I should be the recipient of grace. Forgive me for thinking I deserve your loving kindness and others do not. Help me to love mercy the way you love mercy, to even delight in it. Transform my heart and mind toward compassion. Because you have had such great mercy on me, I offer myself a living vessel of your mercy toward my neighbors.

Read: Isa. 58:4, 6–7, Matt. 23:26–28, Luke 6:36–37, John 7:24, James 2:1–13 Reflect: Think of a time when you assumed something about others and ended up looking foolish because you were way off base. Maybe you even got into a disagreement or fight over it! How humiliating! Both Jesus and James warn us that first impressions and outside appearances are not always accurate, can lead us astray, and even cause us to behave in ways that do not reflect God’s heart. Act: Today, mind your thoughts and impressions of others as you go about your day: watching or listening to the news, driving by people on street corners, interacting with others at school or work. What assumptions do you make? If your thoughts tend toward judgment, stop and take them captive: make those thoughts bow to Jesus. Put on love and mercy. Train your mind to see others through a lens of compassion and assume positive intentions until proven otherwise. Pray: Oh Lord, I confess that the path of my thoughts toward judgment is well-worn. Forgive me for jumping to negative opinions when I don’t even have all the facts and assuming I know all about a person or group of people. Transform me by renewing my mind. Help me to exercise the mind of Christ. Give me opportunities to practice mercy today and opportunities to talk with those I may not agree with.

Read: Deut. 15:7–8, Prov. 11:25, 14:21, Micah 6:6–8, Matt. 25:40, 1 John 3:17 Reflect: Alicia is a mentor of mine (Rae) who lived on the mission field as a young, single woman long-term. One day, her roommate arrived home chattering excitedly about a woman she’d met on the street who was wearing rags and began pulling clothes out of the closet to give her. Alicia was surprised when she emerged from the closet with her favorite blouse: “But that’s your favorite blouse!” Her roommate replied, “I know! It will look so beautiful on my new friend!” One aspect of loving mercy is giving our best, not just our leftovers and no-longer-wanted. Consider the unintentional but silent message that might be conveyed when we only donate worn out clothing, expired pantry items, or the coins we scrape out of our car seats. Is your giving to others reflective of God’s generosity towards you? Are your charitable acts limited based on what you think someone else does or doesn’t deserve? Act: Today, give your best away with the kind of mercy that delights in the receiver. Join us for the corporate fast tonight and bring something with the intent of giving it away as the Spirit leads. Pray: Jesus, you have given me so much that I could never earn or deserve. Thank you for your mercy and generosity. My instinct is to want to pay you back somehow. Like Micah, I wonder what extravagant gift I could give you. You have chosen the people among us whom the world disregards and pushes down further to be your beneficiaries through me! Your ways are a marvel! Please highlight something I have that would express your love, delight, and mercy to someone else I would meet today. I open my ears to hear and eyes to see what you would point out to me. Show me to whom and when to give it, along with what to say, if anything at all. Prepare my heart to meet you in the lowly of this world tonight at the Skate Park and throughout this day. Remind me of the mercy you’ve had for me and help me see others through your eyes.

Read: Rom. 12:1–2, 1 Cor. 3:16, 6:12–20, Gal. 2:20–21, 2 Tim. 2:20–21 Reflect: Our modern notions of “my body my own” forms the basis for a host of ways we indulge ourselves. But through Jesus’ blood on the cross, He said our bodies belong to him and He calls us to a high standard because they are His temples. Whether male or female, in what ways do you think of your body as your own? How have you chosen to “do whatever you want” with the body that belongs to the Lord, that He dwells in? Do you think of your body’s normal desires as things you can fulfill anytime and anyway you choose? Act: Commit your thoughts and your body to the Lord today and ask for metanoia. Give him full reign over how you utilize this tent He has given you for just a little while. Respect His purposes for it and the limits he places on how you use it. Pray: I confess that all too often, I don’t even ask you Lord, “Am I pleasing you with my body, the one that you dwell in?” Have I misused the gift of life you have given me in any selfish ways this week? Show me any unconfessed or unhealed areas of my life regarding my body that need your intervention. Sanctify my body for your purposes and let every action bring glory to you.

Read: Gen. 1:27, Ps. 139:13–16, Isa. 49:1, 58:9b, Jer. 1:5, James 1:27 Reflect: We value the sanctity of life – both born and unborn - because we believe all humans are made in the image of God. The Didache was a first century "new believers manual” and stated plainly, "You shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill one who has been born." Athenagoras of Athens condemned all forms of murder and violence, equating abortion, infant abandonment, cannibalism, and watching people die at the hands of gladiators. It is easier to take a stand against such a horrific and normalized practice, but harder to consider a merciful response not just for the unborn children. Consider women you know who have had abortions, some out of sheer convenience or unwillingness to commit to raising a child; some out of pure desperation and impoverishment, or even fear because of their domestic situation. Act: Lay aside judgment for a moment as if all are evil and allow merciful tenderness to rise up in your heart towards both moms and their children. Ask God to search your own heart for self-centeredness that values your own comfort over the lives of those you cannot see. Pray: Lord of life, Lord of all. You have created humankind and all living beings with such delicate attention to detail. Forgive us for shedding innocent blood in the name of convenience. We confess our self-centered lives that do not consider holy and precious the lives of those we cannot see. Deeply impress on us the infinite value of life that you came and laid down yours to save. I pray for the women and men who have made the choice to end unborn life for whatever reason, asking that you bring the light of the good news to them. I bless them, in the name of Jesus, with health and restoration.

Read: Psa. 82:3-4, Isa. 58:9–10, Matt. 18:5–6, James 1:27 Reflect: Jesus’ church has long condemned infanticide – the practice of actively or passively killing unwanted children. Christians would rescue babies left outside of temples and would search the dung hills and garbage heaps of Rome for those left to die by exposure. Early church catacombs are filled with very tiny graves with the epitaph “adopted son or daughter of...” For the past half century, Roman Catholic and evangelical churches have rightly been very active in condemning elective abortions. Could we become as active in supporting impoverished single moms and their children – including those who need support, mentoring, fostering, or adopting? Act: Consider the children you might know who came from “unwanted, unplanned, or inconvenient” pregnancies. Perhaps the mom and child(ren) were left by the father. Or perhaps the mother didn’t feel she had the wherewithal to raise children. Maybe one or both are incarcerated or addicted. Or maybe the children suffer within their family with the knowledge they are considered unwanted. In what ways might you mercifully lean in to support parents or children in such circumstances or speak "Beloved” to their identity? Pray: Forgive us if we think we are being pro-life stops at opposing abortion. Open our eyes to children in our community who are vulnerable, impoverished, or not well cared for. Show me who I might bend my heart, time, and treasure toward. Bring into my life children who need more help or parenting than their own mom or dad can provide them right now. In the name of Jesus, I speak “Beloved Child of the Father” over those I know whose identities are warped because they have not been properly cherished by their own parents.

Read: Isa. 58:11, Matt. 6:19–21, Acts 4:32–37, 20:35, 2 Cor. 8:9–15, James 2:14–16 Reflect: We live in an age that has trained us to gather well more than we need, eat more than is healthy for us, and hold on to things while others around us go without. But this is actually not a new problem; many of the Early Church fathers spoke clearly about human excess well before our time and challenged believers to be merciful. Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours but theirs. When you are weary of praying and do not receive, consider how often you have heard a poor man calling, and have not listened to him. -John Chrysostom, 347-407 AD Act: Consider fasting from purchasing anything for yourself for a day, a week or even longer. Walk in the steps of others by living with what you have on hand: the remaining gas in your tank, whatever food is in your pantry or fridge. Perhaps there are excessive Christmas gifts that just need to be returned or gifted to somebody in greater need, rather than finding a place for them. Consider fasting food for this whole day. Pray: Oh Lord – would you help me repent from any compulsive buying habits I might have. My house is filled with so many things that aren’t just unnecessary; sometimes they weigh down my soul as I manage or try to protect them from loss. Show me how to live lightly, with open hands, and a trusting heart. Teach me to refrain from accumulation of what isn’t necessary so I can give mercy and necessities to those without.