Good morning friends. This week many things have come to mind on what to teach on. We have had the privilege to meet many pastors and assistant pastors and heard great Godly messages. Friends, we witnessed great things happen, but I still feel I am led to teach on How Christ wants us to live. I believe He wants me to teach on heart issues.
There are so many false teachers in the world now as we have been forewarned from what the Bible says. Lets look at some. Words from the messiah: Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Mat_24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. Mat_24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Mar_13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. We all agree that the Bible is the truth, yes? All of God’s Word was inspired from the Holy Ghost, yes? God is the same yesterday, today and forever? He is no respecter of persons? I ask this because I want to be sure we are all on the same page Lets look to see what Apostle Paul said about false teachers and preachers. 2Co_11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 2Co_11:26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils bymine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; Lets look at the last part of this verse. What Paul is saying is this: in perils among false brethren; People who pretended to be Christians, teaching the necessity of observing circumcision, and other ceremonies of the law, in order to salvation. these, as the apostle always warmly opposed, so they were sworn enemies to him, and ever sought to do him what mischief they could. Gal_2:4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: 2Pe_2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 1Jn_4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Lets look what the book of Revelation says: Rev_16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. Rev_19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. Rev_20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Why am I bringing this up? Church, I bring these verses up because there are many false preachers and prophets out there right now. For this reason, I have asked you to be very carful of whom you listen to. Who you watch on TV and on line that claims to be teaching the Word of God. It is the very reason I have asked you to turn in your Bibles week after week to make sure I am not preaching a false teaching. When I ask you to be in your Bible daily it isn’t because I want you to read. It isn’t because I am trying to be bossy. It is because I love and I want everyone to be able to know when they are being taught falsely and you accomplish that by getting into the Bible everyday. Amen? It is the very reason I use a lot of scripture. And many times those scriptures are broken down so that we all have without a reasonable doubt what they are saying. It is why I ask everyone to pray before getting into God’s Word for understanding. I also ask that you meditate on the verses you read. I do the meditating for you when I prepare these messages. How do we gain our faith in Jesus? How do we do that? Friends you know, When we came to repentance when we were saved, born again, it isn’t just for that day. We need to repent daily. It should be an everyday thing that each of us do. Colossians 3:5 KJV Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: Paul is talking about dying to self in this verse. Our bodies have many parts. Colossians 3:17 KJV And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Romans 10:1-21 KJV Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. (2) For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. (3) For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. (4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (5) For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. (6) But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) (7) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) (8) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; (9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (11) For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (12) For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (14) How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? (15) And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (16) But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? (17) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (18) But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. (19) But I say, Did notIsrael know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. (20) But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. (21) But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Friends, who does God wish not to go to Heaven? Hosea 4:6 KJV My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. John 3:16-18 KJV For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life 18 KJV For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (18) He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Mat 18:11-14 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. Who? Was that you and me? :12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? Have we not gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Listen church, Jesus is referring to you and I at one time in your life. Maybe it is you right now. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. Friends these are the words of Jesus, not mine. . (9) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (10) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (11) Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of personsought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, (12) Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? (13) Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (14) Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. Friends, that day of Jesus return is right here. I am telling you, prophecy is being fulfilled like never before. If you have not made that commitment, I urge you to do it today. Today is the day of salvation God’s Word says. Like I have said many, many times, we have never been promised tomorrow. Don’t think you are invisible. Some of you, like me might have had near death experiences. If you hadn’t made that choice to follow Jesus and whatever caused you to almost die ended up happening, where would you have spent eternity? In hell and the Bible is very clear. The Bible is very clear that we need to confess with our mouth that we are a sinner and that we must confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. What if something happened this afternoon and you became brain dead, or couldn’t speak. That would be a tragedy. John 14:6 KJV Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. That verse tells me that there is only one way to Heaven. Good works cannot save you. Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Friend, I don’t know your heart. I do know we serve an awesome God. Trust Jesus Christ today. You may be listening today and made a commitment sometime years ago to pick up your cross and follow Jesus, then fell into temptation. Don’t feel alone. Many of us have, me included. You may have fallen on this message and never have made that commitment. I don’t know your heart. If the Holy Spirit is convicting you heart, Here’s what you must do. Admit you are a sinner. We all have been there. Romans 3:23 KJV For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 5:12 KJV Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 1 John 1:8-10 KJV If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Be willing to turn from sin (repent). Luke 13:5 KJV I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Acts 17:30 KJV And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: My friend Jesus is ready, willing and able to do this for you and for me., You must believe that Jesus Christ died for you, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us. Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Through prayer, invite Jesus into your life to become your personal Savior. Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If anyone here today has never asked Jesus into their heart and wants to pray the prayer of salvation I would love to lead you through, but remember it needs to come you’re your heart. Today is the day. If you might have prayed like this once before and know you have fallen away from God, please, lets pray Salvation prayer If you might be reading this online, here is a sample prayer. Heavenly Father, Thank You for loving me so much that You sent Jesus here to earth more than 2000 years ago to die for me. Lord I believe this in faith, because Your Word says so. Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner and I ask You to forgive me of all my sins. Lord, I ask You to live in me and be the Lord and Savior of my life. I surrender all of my life to You and ask that You guide me into Your perfect plan for my life. Thank You Jesus and in Your name I pray, Amen John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. If anyone made that choice today, congratulations, you are now a joint heir of Jesus. You are now a Kingdom child. I also would like to hear from anyone that made that decision as I want to help you get started. Jesus loves each and every one of us, more than we will ever know. He died for you and me. Next week I would like to teach on what we as Christians need to be doing after we have made that choice. I hope through this that we found out that Jesus is the real deal. His Word is true. The message in His Word is true Amen? Prayer Communion
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To Have the Compassion of Jesus: Part 5
For over a month now we have been studying having the compassion of Jesus. Though we could go a lot further with this in many different areas, I think we are supposed to move on to something else. Today I am going to conclude this study with some of the things that we have already covered, but there will be some new scriptures. First, let’s start with what compassion means and do you have it, and what does it mean to you in your life. Have you felt someone was being compassionate towards you lately? Do you feel compassionate towards others more than you want them to feel compassionate towards you? Why do you feel the way you do? Let’s look at a verse we used at the beginning of this series. Please turn to Matthew 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Prayer If you remember, we looked at the definition of compassion: Compassion means having a sense of deep sympathy and the heartfelt feelings of sorrow for someone hurting physically, mentally or emotionally; an unselfish need to reach out to help relieve the unfortunate misery of a person in need. The feeling of regret and pity, showing a kind, loving attitude. What kind of compassion did Jesus, our Savior have? Jesus had the perfect righteous compassion. Let’s look at Matthew 20:34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. Jesus was perfect in every way possible and free of carnal sin. (The sin we are born with, dating back to Adam and Eve when they sinned mankind's first sin.) The life of Jesus was not tainted with jealousy or immorality as yours and my lives are. Christ was righteously pure and full of positive faith because He was doing the perfect will of the Father who sent Him to save mankind. Jesus being perfect had pure unselfish motives when He felt compassion toward others. Unlike the people of the world, Jesus Christ cared more for our lives than He did His own. (His precious sinless life was laid down for our sins at the cross of Calvary.) Jesus compassionately understood people’s feelings. Let’s turn to Matthew 14:14 Matthew 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with (what?) compassion toward them, and He healed their sick. Jesus was motivated to win souls, (why?) Compassion! John 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. John 6:40 And this is the will of Him (God) that sent Me (Jesus), that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. Jesus wanted to share the Father’s love, why? Compassion! John 15:12-14 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Friends, hear me on this. Hear the Holy Spirit. We have to be willing to lay down our lives for others. Not one person should be left on the earth that doesn't have the chance to make the decision to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. Nothing in our lives should be more important than that quest. We are in a spiritual war for people's souls and we must not let up one minute or back down. From time to time we may have to withdraw our forces to recoup and heal up our battle wounds and scars, but as soon as we are able to fight, we have to get right back into doing our righteous duty. Even from a hospital bed people have been led to Jesus, and by opening up your mouth so can you! If we love our fellow mankind then no matter how badly we get hurt and wounded we must not give up the fight. Satan will throw everything that he can at us but we must not quit. If one door is closed then we strive to walk through another door. We must not always assume that every door closed was Satan's doing but realize that the hand of God is with us leading the way. We just have to trust Him to be doing the right thing even when it seems like He is not. We have to trust and walk by spiritual eyesight and not worldly carnal eyesight. This past month, Leanna and I could have very easily given up. Between health issues with both of us, loosing my dad hours after I got Leanna home from the hospital, discouragement of sowing money into a site that very few seem to take advantage of, major car repairs, when we seem to be just about getting by, we could have said the heck with it all. But, we know and at times have to remind each other that God is still in control. We keep trusting in Him. That is what we all need to do when we see or hear another brother or sister going through a tough time. That is what Jesus had to do with the disciples when they got down on their faith. We also need to be in prayer for others going through trials or not. It is that important. Jesus showed compassion with great courage. I think it was in the second part of this series, I discussed Jesus’ half brother James, preaching to the Jews that were scattered because of fear after Jesus was put to death. Let’s see How Jesus was affected when His chosen people were scattered abroad without a shepherd. Please turn to Mathew 9:36. Matthew 9:36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Suffering from sin that Satan brought into the world we, as Adam and Eve go through some of the same things. Let’s look at Genesis 3. Genesis 3:1-7 KJV Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. Let’s look at this word. Subtle: crafty, sly, artful, crafty, deceitful, and treacherous. And notice, the serpent, Satan was already there. Even though in Genesis 2:15-17 says And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (16) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Back to Genesis 3:1-7 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he (Satan) said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (2) And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (3) But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (4) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (5) For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (6) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. (7) And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. Now this is Satan's plan: 1) He tempts us to doubt and question God's Word. 2) The devil strives to get us to look at the problem rather than God. 3) By making us think that wrong things look easier than what we should do in the Lord’s eyes. 4) Satan affects our emotions by making us feel like a failure. 5) The devil gets us to delay in doing what we know to be right so the job never gets done. He makes us afraid with fear! 6) What is the job at hand for believers? Winning souls for the Kingdom of God! Have any of you experienced any of these attacks? I can tell you that I have had them just as clearly as can be. Some I have overcome with ease, because of my trust in Jesus. There have been some trials that I still struggle with right now. Let’s look at how Jesus felt compassion when He saw people who were suffering: Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Here is Jesus’ commandment to His followers. Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Matthew 11:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Are we carrying out these commandments? I tell you my brothers and sisters, if you want to see God do miracles in your life, you need to be. We all do. Not just me, but each and every one of us. If you want to know how, let me teach you. Write to me or ask me after this service. Let’s look at a man possessed being freed of demons. Mark 5:2-13 KJV And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, (3) Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: (4) Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. (5) And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. (6) But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, (7) And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. (8) For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. (9) And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. (10) And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. (11) Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. (12) And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. (13) And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. Praise Jesus my friends. And we, when we are saved, can do the same thing when we have the faith. How do we get that faith? Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of God and also by being in prayer. We can all be casting out demons, healing lepers, raising the dead, laying hands on the blind so that they see, healing the lame, all in the name of Jesus. We also need to have that same compassion as Jesus had and still has today, sitting at the right hand side of God the Father. Jesus did all these things because of His compassion for them, you and for me. Jesus felt compassion at the risk of His very life. Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says. Hebrews 12:2-4 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Friends, this is why we don’t ever give up the fight to win souls. Even though we may at times get wearied in our minds, yet we know that we have not resisted unto death to win souls for the Lord. We should have and use Godly compassion. Through some of the studies that Leanna and I have shared, I have said that Jesus taught by example of how to be compassionate. Matthew 9:36-37 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Jesus taught people to follow Him and teach others how. Mark 6:34 And Jesus, when He came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and He began to teach them many things. Jesus taught believers to pray for workers and laborers. Matthew 9:38 KJV Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. Here is a major verse. The Lord taught us compassion by giving all He had. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Brothers and sisters, Jesus wants you and me to develop compassion towards others. I can list many times where we are commanded to love our brothers and sisters. Love our spouses. Love our neighbors. Love our enemies. Turn the other cheek. Do unto others as you would like done unto yourself. These are hard things to do with certain people. But do you know what? It can be done if we truly want the compassion that Jesus had. Here is a list how. A. By constantly dwelling upon His Word filled with spiritual teachings. 1. Read, study, and study some more. 2. Act and live out our lives by the teachings, letting them become a part of us. B. Spending time among Godly people. 1. Going to church and attending regularly. 2. Having dinner with believers and getting to know their personal lives and sharing your faith and testimony. 3. Ministering to their needs and watching their Godly examples. C. Here is where I truly want to see each and every one of us. Spending time looking and seeking out the lost and lonely. 1. Getting to know them by inviting them out to lunch and spending time with them. 2. By visiting the nursing homes, hospitals and even grocery stores as well as jobs. Clubs and classes are excellent places to look. 3. Become aware of anyone that is isolated and lonely like the sick, disabled or senior citizens not yet in nursing homes. 4. Get to know your neighbor by showing up with a tray of cookies and invite them over for coffee. Leanna and I at one time shared goodies at Christmas time with many neighbors. 5. Here is a tough one, but an important one, and Jesus mentioned it. Visit the jails and minister to prisoners. These are just a few suggestions, but you know what? If you are serious about doing God’s work, He will guide you with what gift He has given you. In closing, I really want you to think about these points I am about to bring up. I want you to think about where you are in all of this. Where are all of the souls that should be saved today after 2,000 years of Bible training? Are people any different today in their desire to reach the lost than they were in Jesus’ time? What keeps us from reaching out with compassion to win souls for the Kingdom of God? Lack of real courage and compassion? Does the desire to win souls permeate your whole being and when we see people that we strongly sense are lost, do we reach out to minister to their needs? How can we say that we care about the lost when we make no real effort to even try to reach them? How many people truly try to even talk to their neighbors, and who are our neighbors if not all of mankind? If we become too engrossed with our own problems and comforts, we will never be able to reach out to the lost. Set aside TV and computers for a time and go out of your way to reach the lost. Jesus set the example by going out to the multitudes, didn’t he? Can we believers do anything less with our lives? Should we let comfort keep us from striving to reach out to the unsaved? We can all pray for the lost and that the Lord will send laborers into the field and I pray that we all do, daily. If we have trouble teaching people, can’t we at least invite people to come to church to be taught? Be an encourager of those who are going out in the field because they will be under demonic attack. They will need to be spiritually covered with all of our prayers. Let compassion to save the lost motivate you into action. Some of the people were filled with ingratitude and self-centeredness, yet Jesus revealed His compassionate heart when He showed His mercy by feeding and healing them. Jesus felt a burning desire to save them spiritually, but He knew their immediate needs had to be met first in order to reach their hearts. The eternal needs could then be met after their physical needs were satisfied. Feeding their bodies made the people look with love and become more receptive to receiving the message. In other words they had to trust the messenger first before they could trust the message. The Lord was tired, and yet He placed His own needs and comforts aside to minister to other’s needs. Can we do any differently? I have learned much these past few months in trusting God. When we go through trials and troubles, the Lord teaches us how to handle problems so that we then have the knowledge and sympathetic compassion to help others. As we see their problems, we remember how we felt and how we were able to make it through. This then opens the door to winning souls for the Kingdom of God, because the Lord can use our painful past to minister healing into the lives of other people. We become the laborers of the Lord harvesting souls for the Kingdom of God. If we are failing to see people as God does, it is because we haven’t yet learned to develop Godly compassion. Jesus had compassion for those weak in faith and yet He still reached out to save them. He fed the five thousand by taking care of their physical needs first and then their spiritual needs. Find a way to help others first and then you will reach their hearts. I challenge your attitudes and actions to become motivated to minister with compassion into the lives of people and show them their need to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Start viewing people from a biblical perspective and come to understand the mind of God when it comes to winning souls for His Kingdom. Remember my friends, there may be a finger pointed at each and every one of you, but I have them pointed back at me too. Let’s let God take full control over our entire life and be so on fire for Him that people around us can’t help to take notice and want so badly what we have. Let’s win back what the enemy has stolen from us. It starts with a change in me and you. It starts with prayer. It starts with a deeper relationship with Jesus. It starts with a greater knowledge of God’s word. It starts with a change in our speech. Cursing and blessing. And also starts with a change in our actions. Are you up for the challenge? Let’s pray |
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