Tag: Compassion

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A Kinder Place

OCTOBER 16

MATTHEW 7:11_If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children…

If you are in the neglected, abused, abandoned category my heart breaks for you. I trust God to show Himself strong for you. I want to bring you to the place of understanding that God’s heart breaks for you. Even if you needed some type of corrective treatment, God would never design it through neglect, abuse, or abandonment. 

We are not in heaven. We live in a fallen, sinful world. Bad and evil things happen. God’s part is to pull you out of the pit. He wants to bring you to a kinder place (which will still have trials and troubles).

Praise God for Psalm 40:2 (KJV), “He [the LORD] brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.”

God promises to use all the circumstances of life for your good. Remember Romans 8:28 (KJV), “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

God promises never to abandon you. Deuteronomy 31:6 (KJV), “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them [your enemies and God’s enemies]: for the Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”  

You’ll be a stronger, wiser, and more compassionate person because of the pain you’ve known.

PRAYER

Great God, Only You can make my pain into something good. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                                                                                 

Christ knows all my pain—He is right there with me!

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Be Grateful!

OCTOBER 10

MATTHEW 7:10_Or if he ask…

If you’ve been disobedient and disrespectful to your father, expect him to discipline you—and be grateful for it! If your earthly father has been disobedient and disrespectful to the Heavenly Father, he can expect the same … from the Father!

An earthly father’s discipline comes directly from the Heavenly Father. It is painfully designed to restore a lost relationship. This is a time for you to be patient and compassionate. This is not a time to gloat or have any pleasure in your father’s chastisement (or anyone else you see under God’s disciplinary rod). And there is never a time in life for you to have any kind any kind of superiority attitude toward your father. In the first place, you don’t know what God is up to, or His ultimate plan … which may involve you! 

Only those in authority should administer judgment. You are not in an authoritative position, your father is. Your father is under the authority of God and you are under the authority of them both. Trust God to do what is best for your father. Trust Him to teach your father to do what is best for you.

If you have a father who would give you a stone when you ask bread, find a Christian leader you can confide in to help you. 

PRAYER

Loving Father, Help me be respectful and obedient to my authorities. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                                                                              

Christ wants me respectful and obedient—He helps me!

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Priceless and Unsurpassed

SEPTEMBER 27

MATTHEW 7:6_lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

This is not a lesson against pigs or dogs. It is a lesson on the priceless and unsurpassed value of your faith and trust in Jesus. The pathway of life He has been teaching in these three chapters.

To have the teachings of Jesus poured into you only to cast them aside for temporal pleasures, is a waste. Jesus compares His teachings to that which is holy. He also compares them to pearls—of the very highest quality. To throw His words out to dogs and pigs, like table scraps is deplorable.

Once you’ve learned the truth and rejected it, or worse cheapened it by trying to live spiritually and worldly at the same time, you’ve strayed from the path. There is something you can count on—life itself will in some form or another come back and rend you under foot. You can live life like this the rest of your days, or you can cry out to God to save you. 

Luke 15:20 (KJV), “And he [prodigal son] arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”

God’s compassion is stronger than an earthly father’s.

PRAYER

Father of Compassion,  I praise You that You call me back if I go astray! In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                    

Christ’s pathway has unsurpassed value—He guides me!

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Make a List

AUGUST 31

MATTHEW 6:34_for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself…

Jesus says each day is able to take care of itself. Tomorrow doesn’t need you to worry over it. Eventually today becomes tomorrow. No power on earth that can stop that. 

Since you can’t stop tomorrow from coming, why spend all day today in worry? If God is with you today, won’t He be with you tomorrow? Of course He will!

Learn to live one day at the time; you will accomplish a great feat in your Christian walk! One day at a time helps abolish anxiety and increase faith. It also helps you learn to focus – which is an awesome feat in itself! Just focus on today’s business!

Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV), “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

The fact that you are alive today and able to read this blog is a result of God’s vast mercy! His mercy is beyond measure. Something too great to be measured. God’s compassion cannot fail because it has no end. 

Begin to incorporate praise into your prayer time . Make a list, including the smallest things, that you are grateful for today. Praise God for them, knowing that every good gift comes from His hand.    

PRAYER

True God, Praise You that this day You give me strength! In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ is faithful—His compassions never fail me!

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Top of the Totem Pole

JULY 4

MATTHEW 6:16_Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.

Hypocrisy develops in stages. The more you succumb to it, the firmer its stronghold. Hypocrisy strongholds are motivated by life is more about my looking good than God receiving glory. Truth destroys strongholds – any stronghold. When truth fills your heart— there is no room for deception.

The disfigured face of the fasting hypocrite is designed to draw personal attention. As in a theatrical production, make-up and costumes are an essential part. The more authentic the make-up the more believable the character. If the character wants to evoke compassion for great self-sacrifice, the make-up and costume are as important as acting ability. Jesus’ disfigured face descript is about understanding this is not a time for drawing attention. 

More than for strengthening the spirit, fasting to the hypocrite is a time for moving up the spiritual ladder – to the top of the totem pole. Any time God is not at the top of your totem pole – “something is rotten in the state of Denmark!” (check your Shakespeare—Hamlet).

When being the head of your Christian group is more important to you than serving God in the lives of His people, be careful – you already have your reward.

PRAYER

Magnificent God, I don’t want my life to be about me, I want it to be about You. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ should be the head—He is head of my life!