Do you like candy? I sure do, especially chocolate. There are many kinds of candies, some are soft and chewy and others are hard and crunchy.  But they have one thing in common, they satisfy our sweet tooth. Most people like some kind of sweets. Some like only candy and some like cakes more than pies.  But me, I seem to like them all!  However I am picky and like some brands better than others.  You probably have your favorites too.

You’re probably wondering what sweets have to do with your spiritual growth and how I came up with the title: “The M & M’s of your Life”. 

Well it all began when shopping for some candy and saw all the different varieties on the shelves at the store.  Now please don’t panic, I really didn’t buy that much.  Even though I like a variety, I do limit the amount I buy so in turn it helps me limit the amount I can have each day.  Its all about discipline.  However as I was standing there looking at all those packages, I thought, “does eating sweets have anything to do with us having a sweet disposition?  Well, probably not and we know that at times too much sugary sweets can just make us hyper to the point we are not able to function too well.

Okay, enough about candy, let’s get to the real reason for writing about the M & M’s of Life.  Three words quickly came to mind when I was thinking about the M and M’s of Life; Mercy, Motive, and Miracles.

MERCY:  It is not just sympathy for someone, feeling sorry for the situation they are in but rather, it’s an active sense of compassion, it’s helping them.  Jesus teaches that the law requires mercy (Matt 23:23) and that God desires it (Matt 9:13).  We are the vessels He wants to bestow mercy upon (Romans 9:23). God is rich in mercy because of His great love for us; for it is by His grace we are saved and made to sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus  (Ephesians 2:4-6).  We learn in 1 Peter 1:3 that we are blessed of God who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

The dictionary describes mercy as: a price paid, wages; compassion shown to an offender; a blessing resulting from divine favor or compassion.  The wages of sin is death, and without mercy from God through Jesus we would have no life.  It was by Jesus’s death that He paid the price, the wages for our sins.  Again I say, it is only through God’s abundant mercy and in Jesus’s death and resurrection that we have access to eternal life (1 Peter 1:3).

Motives play a very important part in our walk with God.  Motives are the inner impulses that produce our outward actions.  So it is our heart that determines our actions and our words.  The condition of our heart is based on what we have placed in it.  It is by our hearing, our seeing, and our thinking that produces results in our lives. It all has to do with how we spend our time; what we watch, read and listen to; whether it is what the world says or what God says.  It is what we do in those three areas (watching, hearing, thinking) that we fill our heart.  Matthew 12:34 teaches us that it is out of the abundance of our heart that we speak (live).

We must understand this basic concept:  Whatever we think is based on what we watch and hear.  What we think we will eventually speak; and whatever we speak will eventually be what we have.   Each day we make these choices.

Miracles are the result of God’s intervention in our lives.  Miracles change lives; whether it is in the form of Salvation, healing, finances, friendships, our conduct and words, or our plans and purpose.  Of course none in that list will accomplish to their full potential until we make Jesus our Lord, for it is IN HIM that all miracles exist.  The definition of a miracle in the dictionary is, an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs; an unusual event.  I believe that miracles are  “natural events” in God’s presence.  It is His nature to bless and in those blessings we receive the miracle-changing-power in our heart that transforms us into His Image.

Miracle are also a result of our heart.  It is with the heart that we believe. Therefore it is our faith in God that brings the miracles of God into our lives. We know this to be true because it is God’s will that all men be saved. We also know that not everyone believes or is saved; it is by their choice not His.   It is our believing and speaking out our faith that activates the power of God to intervene to produce the Salvation/Promises/Miracles in our lives.  We must have faith in God to please Him, for it is our faith in Him that we are sanctified (Acts 16:18).   We also know according to Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please Him.

So my challenge for you this week is to search your heart and see if you are walking in mercy toward others.  Are you grateful for the mercies of God in your life?  Do you recognized them?   Check to see if your motives are righteous in what you do and say.  Even when we do the right thing, if motive is wrong it will negate the blessing.  Look for the miracles God has given you in your life.  Count your blessings, name them one by one, and see what the Lord has done.