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Learning To Live In the Now
We sometimes live as if we’re going to live forever on this earth…but we never know how many days we have.(Ps 139:16; Job 14:5; Ecc 3:1-2)

Learning To Live In the Now
God's blessings are bestowed upon those who humbly accept the Great Commission as the primary "joy set before them," each day they are alive on earth. In fact, the Lord promises to reward those who obey His command to spread the good news. (1Co 3:7-8)

Ex 33:18-19
Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” 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.”

”He has mercy on whom He desires”
This completely annihilates any attempt by man to redefine/control God's mercy and therefore alter the Gospel of His Son. GOD decides upon whom He bestows mercy (man does not decide, for he is at the mercy of the Lord, the Judge).

Grace and Mercy
The grace and mercy found in the Bible are predominantly relating to salvation/deliverance principles. They are derived COMPLETELY from Holy Scripture, not man's sensibilities towards himself/others.

Grace and Mercy
For example, mercy isn’t like a can of paint that man gets to brush all over everything to cover up his fleshly ugliness (and then call it “by grace”). Mercy (grace in action) is neither a crutch nor an enabler (ala Ro 5-6).

Grace and Mercy
God's grace and mercy are foundational to HIS plan to save His creatures; they are NOT meant to be punch lines to man's plan to save himself (regardless if he chooses to call himself a "Christian" or not)!

Jn 10:1
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.”

Without mercy, mankind has no hope.

Our Hope Is In Christ
Christ is the greatest expression of mercy in the history of the Universe. (Jn 3:16-17; Eph 2:4-7; 1Ti 1:12-16; Tit 3:3-7; 1Pe 1:3-5; 2:9-10; Jude 17-25)

Jn 6:44
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day."

“one sinner who repents”
Joy in heaven depends upon repentance. God is merciful to the humble, granting them repentance and faith that saves. To the contrary, without repentance, none of this is granted - this is how God's mercy is articulated/bounded/constrained.

Repentance and Mercy
 (Lk 15:18-21)
This is what TRUE repentance looks like - a contrite heart before a good father who is willing to show his humble son mercy unto salvation.

“one sinner who repents”
Joy in heaven depends upon repentance. God is merciful to the humble, granting them repentance and faith that saves. To the contrary, without repentance, none of this is granted - this is how God's mercy is articulated/bounded/constrained.