THE
COMPASSION OF GOD
A
person who is not born again sees God as an angry being waiting to strike them
down and send them to hell. Although we all deserve hell, it is not God who sends us there nor is it His
desire. We, on the other hand, send
ourselves to hell by rejecting the sacrifice that God made. God is a God of
Judgment, but He is also is a God of mercy. The Bible tells us that mercy
triumphs over judgment, and that where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.
God’s grace enables us to become overcomers for His Kingdom. God’s mercy is Him
giving us a second chance; it is His unmerited forgiveness. The Lord does not
desire to send mankind to a burning hell; in fact, hell was not created for
mankind but for the fallen angels.
2Peter 3:9; 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.
Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, say’s the Lord GOD, I have
no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but
that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn you, turn you from your evil
ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
As we see from these
Scriptures it is not God’s will that someone die without knowing Him as their
Savior. A majority of people’s view of God has become distorted by experiences
that have left them wounded and bitter. This mentality can be traced back to
the Garden when Adam partook of the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve’s first
response was to hide themselves from the Lord after they had sinned. We do the
same thing today when we fall short of His glory. Instead of running into His arms when we
fall, we turn from the very One who wants to help us back up.
God
is the greatest giver of all. The Bible
tells us that God gave His only begotten Son so that we could have eternal
life. But someone with the wrong mindset
can misunderstand this love and end up rejecting the very thing that has come
to save them. Take for instance a young lady who may have grown up in a home
being sexually abused by her father. For the rest of her life hundreds of
demons will ravish her thinking, not to mention the myriad of emotional scars, that
can lead her to believe that God does not love her and allowed this to happen.
Her understanding of love is someone wanting nothing to do with neither her
mind nor her interests, only her body. She will more than likely walk around
feeling rejection, bitterness and shame. This is one of the most horrible cases
that anyone could ever endure. The only way she could ever come to know the
love of God is to drop all her walls and allow this invisible force touch her
life. Once she has done that, then true love and healing can have its place.
Unfortunately most people never learn to drop their walls. They think
that God will somehow overtake them without them ever having to surrender
themselves to his touch. Most believe that they are predestined to failure and
everywhere they go everything always seems to fall apart. Most people don’t understand that God, in His
infinite wisdom, created us to have a free will. This means that He (God) is
not like the cruel father of the young lady who forces himself upon her,
violating her will. God will never force himself upon you; His desire is for
you to freely love Him without reservation.
To fully understand the compassion of God we usually have to do a lot
of deprogramming to grasp this beauty. So you might be asking yourself, “Well,
what is compassion?” First, let’s look at what compassion is not. Compassion isn’t hateful, angry,
rude, self-seeking, degrading, immoral, insincere or greedy. Compassion isn’t anything negative.
Compassion is quite the opposite; it is being full of love. So many of us have grown up in environments
that leave bitter stains in our hearts and minds when it comes to accepting
love. Once someone has embraced the love of God, a whole new light begins to
shine around them. A heart that could have never been mended has once again
been made complete. The birds begin to sing again, and everything seems greener
and the world is even brighter .Our Heavenly Father is Passionate about His
children and when we come to experience that compassion it literally transforms
us into a new creation. Let us look at
the Biblical definition of Compassion in the Greek.
Thayer Definition:
Compassion
G4697 1) To be moved as to one’s bowels, hence to
be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be
the seat of love and pity).
Bowels 2) G4698 1b) the bowels were regarded as the seat of the
more violent passions, such as anger and love; but by the Hebrews as the seat
of the tendered affections, especially kindness, benevolence, compassion; hence
our heart (tender mercies, affections, etc.)
1c) a heart in which mercy resides.
As we see God has immense love for us He is
overwhelmed with love and joy for His creation. This is overwhelming for the
mind and must be a revelation that is first present in the heart to ever even
begin to comprehend. Many believers are still learning this today and they have
had an ongoing relationship with the Lord for years. It is the Mercy and Compassion
of God that keeps Him from reacting in anger toward us when we do sin. That
ought to be proof to the world that Lord Does love us; the fact that he hasn’t
destroyed the Earth because of the wickedness that daily goes on in it.
Lamentations
3:22-23;
It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not
consumed, because his compassions
fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
I
love that scripture it gives so much hope to those who daily miss the mark. Every
morning when you awake there is a new mercy waiting just for you! And His compassion gives you that next
breath.
Compassion
was the reason for at least four of the miracles recorded in the ministry of
Jesus. The Bible records that on four different occasions Jesus was being moved
with Compassion when he saw the people in need.
Jesus felt the very Heart of the Father when he came into contact with
the wounded.
Matthew
14:14;
And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion
toward them, and he healed their sick.
Matthew 20:30-34; And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way
side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on
us, O Lord, thou Son of David.
And the multitude rebuked them, because they
should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O
Lord, thou Son of David.
And Jesus stood still, and called them, and
said, what will ye that I shall do unto you?
They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be
opened.
So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and
immediately their eyes received sight, and
they followed him.
Mark 1:40-41; And there came a
leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If
thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his
hand, and touched him, and said unto him, I will; be made clean.
Luke 7:12-15; Now when he came nigh to the
gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his
mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion
on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
And he came and touched the bier: and they
that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee,
Arise.
And he that was dead sat up, and began to
speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
Not only did Jesus show forth Compassion he also
demonstrated the Will of the Father
in Healings and Miracles. Many people question the will of God when it comes to
their sickness. Most find it easy to believe that they are forgiven of their
sins but they do not understand what salvation really is. Salvation is not only
just being forgiven of your sins it is fully embracing the work of the Cross.
So therefore the Compassion of God is not only for our emotional healing it is
evident that when we are sick or are in desperation for a healing touch He is
willing to show forth His Compassion. Some think that Compassion isn’t showing
emotion but is very full of expression.
Jesus clearly demonstrates this in the Bible in the Parable of the
prodigal’s son; which is a type of you and me when we walk away from Him. Luke 15:20; And he 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. When an unbeliever or someone who
has fallen away comes back to the Lord He the Father is waiting with arms wide
open ready to fall on us to embrace us and kiss our neck.
The Bible further more
shows us that Compassion is to be our nature as a born–again believer. We as
children of God are to demonstrate just like Jesus the heart of the Father to a
world full of Darkness. It is our primary nature to show forth the Kingdom of
or God not only in Power but also in our Character and feelings. Jesus said
that the world would know us by our Loves one for another not by our Miracles or
by our fancy preaching but by our love (John 13:35). I believe that this is one of our
greatest assignments to allow the Spirit of God to carry out within us,
demonstrating the Love of God.
1Peter 3:8-9; Finally, you
all be of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for
railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that you are thereunto called, that
you should inherit a blessing.
1 John 3:15-18; Who ever hates his brother
is a murderer: and you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
Hereby perceive we the love of God,
because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But whoso hath this world's good, and see’s
his brothers have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him,
how does the love of God dwell in him?
My little children let us not love in word,
neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
We are called to love
not in word only but in our actions that display the truth. It is easy to say
you love this person or that person but when it comes to getting our hands
dirty that’s when the truth comes to light. We are called to be Apostle’s of
Love not flamboyant celebrities who never reach down and touch broken lives.
Many great
Men and Women throughout the Bible understood the power of Love and what
capability it had when properly demonstrated. Most great revivalist where
mainly anointed not because of their “elaborate prayer life” but because they
became burdened with the Heart of God
for their City and Nation; this resulted in a powerful move of God. I believe
that the coming move of God will be manifested through hearts that have been
broken for the Nations. God is
searching to and fro seeking a heart to use to demonstrate His Glory.
Next Month we will go deeper into the heart of
God and continue with the Compassion of God.
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