God Decides

It is a good thing to fear God. Those who do not fear him, are those who should fear him the most. They are arrogant and rebellious in the face of God. LORD have mercy on our arrogant drug using nation. Have your way Lord, I trust in you.

 

Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Rom 9:14  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

 

There was a time that I turned from God, but His great mercy drew me back. It was when I knew that I could not do anything without faith. By faith I returned to God and to a church that preached the word of God as truth. I never heard the Bible preached as absolutely true before. The haze that covers so many people in this sinful world was parted before my eyes, when I learned that there is a God who is absolutely good and a devil who was the opposite; a way of truth and a way of darkness. The veil of gray fog was lifted and I received God's forgiveness through Christ Jesus. It is possible for some to have strayed away and to be received back again, as a prodigal son by God's mercy, but He decides, for many stray away and never return. He received me back again. I fear God, I reverence the creator, I love my Abba Father and by his grace he loves me. How can it be that he would send His Son to die for me? Thank you my Lord and my God for choosing me as I turned back to you. This is repentance and His grace.

Jesus Wept

There are many people who are spiritually dead, but someone may be praying for them, a mother or a sister, a relative or a friend. That sinner, the homosexual, the drug addict, the prostitute, had someone caring about them before Jesus came into their hearts and made them alive by the power of God. Jesus showed that he cares for us as he responded to two sister's whose brother Lazarus was dying and was dead.

John 11:32  Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
John 11:33  When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
John 11:34  And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
John 11:35  Jesus wept.
John 11:36  Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!

Jesus would command that Lazarus come forth from the grave. He showed that he was the Lord over life and death.

Joh 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Joh 11:26  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

He also showed a human heart of compassion in the heart of the Son of God. He was moved by the weeping of the people. Even though he knew he was going to raise up Lazarus, he still felt the sorrow of those around him and he too wept. Jesus wept, the shortest verse in the Bible that speaks a very large message to us. What does this mean to us today? It means that we have a friend in Jesus. When we moan and groan in our spirit, he feels our suffering. When we pray, he hears our prayers.

Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Jesus knows are sufferings for he has experienced them.

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Keep praying for the lost or the afflicted and know that you are not alone. If you are a friend of Jesus, he is with you and he cares because Jesus wept for us and he will respond to our heartfelt needs. Pray knowing that he hears your prayers and feels your pain. He really does care.

Compassion

Mar 6:31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
Mar 6:32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.
Mar 6:33 And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.
Mar 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.

Joh 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

Jesus had compassion, something we all need.

compassion: moved with love and pity

Love must be shown in a positive way. Jesus was moved with compassion for  the hungry multitudes and miraculously fed the five thousand with loaves and fish. Pharaoh's daughter had compassion on baby Moses, a Hebrew child who would become the one to deliver his people. There is the parable of a man with a great debt that he could not pay and the master forgave it. The same man had no compassion on a man who owed him a much smaller debt. This is how we sometimes are to others. Our sins were forgiven, a great debt that we could not pay, but we cannot forgive someone who offends us. The master says that we must forgive others or we will not be forgiven. The good Samaritan had compassion on the wounded Jew and took care of him. The prodigal son took his inheritance and wasted it ending up in a pig pen, starving. He could have been rejected by all, but when he repented and returned to the father to be a servant, the father ran to meet him and restored him as his son with a banquet and great honor. His brother was angry at the prodigal brother. Sometimes we see people who do bad things and we are angry when God has compassion on them. We do not want to let them forget their past. We are to forgive and to love them.

Jud 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Jud 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
Jud 1:23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Lam 3:22 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Lam 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Jesus had compassion on us, forgiving us, blotting out our sins because he loved us. We are to care about others and to do the right thing. It is God working through us that makes a difference. Let us be the compassion of Christ as we see the need.

Mercy, judgment and truth

Mar 3:1 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
Mar 3:2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
Mar 3:3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
Mar 3:4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
Mar 3:5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
Mar 3:6 And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

Hardness of heart, a heart of stone as hard as the stone tablets that were engraved with the law. Jesus came to them with healing mercies and truth. They wanted to kill him as if to beat him to death with the stone tablet. Using the law to condemn with hateful hearts and there are so many like this in the religions of the world. Jesus had compassion on a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath in the synagogue. There are churches that meet on their Sabbaths and there are synagogues that gather the people on the Sabbath to hear the law preached, but what of mercy and truth? What of mercy and judgement?

Psa 85:9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
Psa 85:10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Psa 85:11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Pro 14:22 Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.

Deu 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Isa 42:3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

Jesus brought judgment and truth to the hard hearted Pharisees. They had no mercy, for they proceeded to find a way to kill their Messiah. That is what happens when law is not mixed with judgment and mercy.

Jer 4:1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
Jer 4:2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
Jer 4:3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
Jer 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Mat 23:24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

We must not be hard hearted using the law to destroy, but we are to have hearts of mercy and compassion, using good judgment from God. Beware of thoughts that destroy and words spoken that tear down others. Seek to bring healing to souls and bodies through our Lord Jesus Christ. Be a blessing as He blesses you and do not limit the moving of God in our midst.