Monthly Archives: February 2025

COMPASSION JESUS’ WAY – 4

Christian Life, ,

Mark 6:34 NLT
[34] “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”

How do these thoughts on compassion Jesus’ way impact those of us who function as shepherds of God’s flock? Many of us, though not pastors or leaders in the local church, have a shepherding role in the lives of others…parents of children, teachers in schools…bosses in businesses, and so on.

We need to think beyond just telling them what to do. As children of God, we are all called to follow Jesus, to imitate Him, and to be an example to others.

We are examples of Jesus to others in one of two ways, bad or good.

God had this to say about some shepherds who used their shepherding function to their own advantage…

Ezekiel 34:2-4 NLT
[2] “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep? [3] You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. [4] You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty.”

Jesys called these shepherds “hirelings”.

John 10:12-13 NLT
[12] “A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. [13] The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.”

There are many “hired hands” masquerading as shepherds in churches all over the world today, growing fat on the wealth they extract from the sheep, and feeding them on lies and deception. They are the ones who “steal, kill, and destroy”.

Ezekiel 34:5-6 NLT
[5] “So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal. [6] They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.”

There are serious consequences for these hireling shepherds.

Ezekiel 34:10 NLT
[10]” This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey.”

How many of these false shepherds are being exposed for what they are…big names in the Christian world but falling like bowling pins when God shows them up for what they are.

So, God sent His own Good Shepherd to find and care for His sheep.

John 10:14-15, 27-30 NLT
[14] “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, [15] just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep….
[27] My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, [29] for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. [30] The Father and I are one.”

Every human on earth is essentially a “sheep”. Throughout Scripture, people are likened to sheep. Like sheep, we are made to follow. We either stubbornly go our own way blindly following one another, or we mindlessly follow false shepherds who lead us astray. We are rebellious at heart. We have no inclination to seek after and follow the true shepherd unless, by God’s grace, our bent to go astray is changed.

Isaiah 53:6 NLT
[6] “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”

God Himself took the role of the true shepherd by coming to earth to rescue His sheep. He died to pay for their sin. He lives to care for, protect, and provide for His sheep, calling and leading them to the best pastures and the purest water.

Ezekiel 34:11-16 NLT
[11] “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. [12] I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. [13] I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live. [14] Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. [15] I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign Lord. [16] I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!”

Just as God, historically, gave Israel a safe homeland, restoring the land of Israel to them and calling them home to their own pastures and quiet waters, so He calls all who belong to Jesus by faith into the safety of His kingdom and under His care.

Now, since Jesus is no longer with us as a human, He has entrusted to us, His under-shepherds, the role and task of caring for His sheep. He restored Peter to his shepherding role after Peter’s denial and betrayal of his trust in Him.

John 21:15-17 NLT
[15]”After breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. [16] Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. [17] A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.”

Jesus called Peter to be a shepherd in His church, a role which Peter passed on to his fellow shepherds, giving them the rule of thumb to guide them in their function and attitude towards the sheep.

1 Peter 5:2-4 NLT
[2]”Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. [3] Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. [4] And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.”

The sheep belong to Jesus, not to the under-shepherds who are accountable to Him. He appoints those whom He can trust to care for His sheep. He gives them authority to pass on His teachings, unchanged and intact, so that the sheep are fed the truth that will set and keep them free from those who would feed them unauthorised “junk food”.

Love for Jesus, our true response to His love for us, will keep us from becoming the mercenary hirelings who use the sheep to satisfy their own fleshly greed. If Jesus’ compassion for the sheep led Him to teach them “many things”, so with His appointed shepherds now, wherever we have sheep under our care, it’s up to us to be faithful to our calling. Teaching them the life and words of Jesus, the Bread of life, will heal their wounds, nourish their souls, and protect them from the toxic influence of the hirelings who have prostitued a sacred trust for their own gain.

COMPASSION JESUS’S WAY – 3

Christian Life, ,

Pulling the thorn of rejection.

Mark 6:34 NLT
[34] “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”

To feed and care for the sheep, Jesus taught them many things. He knew that knowledge and understanding leading to appropriate action are the best way to overcome the wounds others inflict on His sheep by what they say and do.

Hebrews 12:14-15 NLT
[14] “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. [15] Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.”

Today, we’ll examine another issue that harms and disturbs the peace we crave in our hearts and in our relationships with one another… one person’s habit of controlling another.

Why are some people “control freaks”?

We encounter, or even live with someone who constantly dominates, interrupts, and takes over our conversation, telling us what to do, or even criticising, condemning, or controlling our every move. Some wives, for example, are prisoners of their husband’s controlling behaviour, and children are harmed by a father who blocks and interferes with all their movements, creating resentment and fear.

What triggers this kind of behaviour?

Apparently, insecurity is the core reason for a person’s controlling behaviour. Why is a person insecure? Why does he/she need to dominate and control others?

For convenience let’s call the person “she”.

At some point in her life when she was young and incapable of processing thoughtless words that some significant person in her life spoke, words like…
“You can do better!”
“You’ll never amount to anything.”
“Why can’t you be like your brother/ sister?”
“When are you going to learn?”

…which made her feel worthless, useless, hopeless, and rejected. These are “thorns” that lodge deep in her soul and begin to fester.

An insecure person uses control to express the need to be “somebody”. They try to obliterate the feelings of uselessness and rejection by claiming the limelight.

In the way other people try to control us, they are conveying an unspoken message that causes us deep harm. “I am bigger, better, know more, can do more… than you!” Such a person is, saying, in effect, “You are nothing. I reject you.”

People who feel rejected react in different ways. Some cover their hurt with outbursts of violent anger. Some creep into their shells and become shy, weak, and over-complaint nobodies. Others resort to being dominating and controlling “know-it-alls” in an effort to feel significant. They have are so traumatised that they resort to controlling others to cover up their own nothingness.

Unfortunately, we either behave in one of these ways or we become victims of these kinds of behaviour, all expressions of rejection, without understanding the reasons behind them. Do we ever ask the question, for example, “Why do I feel so angry?” or “Why am I afraid of people?” or “Why do I have to be in the limelight all the time?”… or “Why does so-and-so make me feel so useless?”

These abnormal ways of behaving are expressions of insecurity. We don’t know who we really are. We are uncomfortable inside our own skin. We react to these feelings by covering up and burying them under unacceptable behaviour.

I believe that there is not a person on earth who has not felt rejected at some time in life. We have a society full of people bumping into each other to cover up our feelings of inadequacy.

Let’s look at rejection. What is rejection? Why is rejection so damaging?

My thoughts turned to Jesus. Suffering was the Father’s way of qualifying Him to be our Saviour.

Hebrews 2:10 NLT
[10] “God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.”

What was the nature of Jesus’ suffering? Was it the physical suffering He endured when He was crucified? Was it the indignities He suffered as a human? Isaiah and John give us the clue.

Isaiah 53:3 NLT
[3]”He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.”

John 1:10-11 NLT
[10] “He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. [11] He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.”

Contempt! Rejection! The very core of Jesus’ suffering. Rejection was the worst that humans could inflict on their God.

The Hebrew word for rejection means “vacant”.

I asked Meta (an AI service on WhatsApp that provides information on anything you want to know), for the meaning of “vacant” and what an insightful reply I received! Here is the summary. “In general, vacant implies a sense of emptiness, lack, or unoccupation.”

The Bible says that Jesus purposefully emptied Himself until He became nothing. In the eyes of His enemies He was rejected because they considered Him to be “vacant”! Even His family thought He was crazy!

When someone rejects you through derogatory words or actions, they treat you as, and leave you feeling “vacant”. There can be no attitude towards you more damaging than this. When you believe the words that make you feel empty, useless, unwanted, you eventually become what you believe. If you take these words to heart, you will be emotionally crippled by their poison. These words become a thorn that is driven deep into the core of who you are.

The Apostle Paul was also called to the same suffering, rejection by his own people and by the Gentiles to whom he was sent. Like Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles wanted to kill him, and eventually they did.

Acts of the Apostles 9:15-16 NLT
[15] “But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. [16] And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

How does one deal with rejection? You cannot undo the words that produced the feeling of rejection but you can pull out the” thorn” that caused the festering wound.

God gave Paul the answer to his “thorn”.

2 Corinthians 12:7 NLT
[7], …”So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.”

“A thorn in my flesh” is a particularly meaningful expression to Paul on his description. The insinuation that he was vacant, rejected, aroused violent reactions from his old, fleshly, sinful nature. Was Paul saying that the rejection he faced from both Jews and Gentiles caused his flesh to rise up in rebellion, defence? Did he react with anger, resentment, bitterness, thoughts of revenge? However…

First, Paul recognised, on hindsight, that his “thorn”, though initiated by the devil, had a purpose, to remind him of who he really was, a frail human utterly reliant on the Lord. He had no power in himself to overcome his fleshly reactions.

Second, Paul had to, “pull the thorn” by dealing with his anger and resentment against those who rejected him. When God revealed his thorn’s purpose, Paul understood its value, to teach him reliance on God’s grace, to stop being angry with his persecutors and to trust God in his circumstances. Anger and resentment caused the “thorn” to fester in his heart. He pulled it out by admitting he was wrong, forgiving those who rejected him, and replacing sinful reactions with a new perspective.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NLT
[9] Each time he (God) said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. [10] That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Meta added this amazing perspective on rejection…

“Rejection can be tough but shifting our perspective can help. Seeing rejection as a “vacant” space that’s available for something new and better to come in can be really liberating.”

Wow, that’s exactly how Paul responded to his thorn, once he had pulled it out. Gratitude to the Lord for the opportunity to receive His “enough” grace replaced his prayer to get rid of the thorn. God didn’t pull it out. Paul pulled the thorn out and allowed the wound to heal by changing his perspective and his attitude.

Once the thorn is out, we still need to deal with the infection, the dead cells and purulence that remain in the wound. The infection is caused by “bacteria” introduced by the thorn, the lies we believed that festered and caused the emotional
pain.

The medicine we use to counter the lies is the truth of God’s Word. We receive healing by “being transformed by the renewing of our minds.” By reading and believing what God says about us, we replace lies with truth.

Isaiah 53:5 NIV
[5] “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are HEALED.”

Healing of the wound and cleaning out the infection caused by the thorn happen by replacing the lies of the devil with the truth of God’s Word.

Jesus’ death in our place forgave all our sin, reconciled us to the Father and made us fully acceptable to Him. We are His beloved sins and daughters. What could be better than that?

Jesus said,

John 6:37 NLT
[37]”Those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.”

So, we can also shake off rejection as Paul shook off the poisonous snake and have no after effects. Through knowledge and understanding, Jesus has set us free from our pain and provided us with the food and water of the “green pastures and quiet waters”.

To be concluded…

COMPASSION JESUS’ WAY – 2

Christian Life,

Releasing the poison of abuse.

Mark 6:34 NLT
[34] “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”

Why did Jesus show compassion by teaching the people “many things”?

In my last past, I spoke about the offenses that produce anger and bitterness, and God’s way of acknowledging the cause and healing the infection.

Now let’s dig a little deeper. Here’s another bizarre illustration.

I enjoy watching “Dr Pimple Popper” cleaning out blackheads. What is a blackhead? It’s a collection of debris made up of dead skin cells, and sebaceous material, which clogs the pore and appears as a black spot on the skin.

Dr Sandra Lee, alias “Dr Pimple Popper”, knows how to clear the skin of blackheads. She uses a sharp instrument to loosen the head of the blackhead, then she applies pressure to the sides of the blocked pore and pushes the blackhead out.

While I was contemplating the way Jesus showed compassion, the Holy Spirit drew my attention to Dr Lee’s work. This is the point…the doctor applies pressure and what comes out of the patient’s pore is from within the patient, not from Dr Lee. She expels the debris and is no way affected by what she has removed.

The Spirit reminded me that, like the debris from an infected pore, what comes out of the offender is what was insude. Abusive, unkind words, accusations, whatever, are a revelation of the heart of the one delivering them, not the person to whom they are spoken.

Matthew 15:18-19 NLT
[18] “But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. [19] For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.”

The person who utters those words is the one guilty of sin.

The problem arises when the offended person believes the offending words, takes them to heart and allows them to poison what he thinks about himself, becoming offended and reacting to the offense.

The next step in this evil process is that the offended person begins to feel sorry for himself, compounding his own sinful responses to the offense with self-pity, a perfect recipe for depression. He becomes part of the sin by these sinful reactions.

How should we handle abuse from another person?

  1. Recognise its source.

You can step back and remind yourself that what comes out of another’s mouth is not your stuff. You are not responsible for what another person says or thinks even if it’s aimed at you.

  1. Shake it off.

There’s a perfect illustration of this principle in the life of the Apostle Paul. Shipwrecked on the island of Malta, he was bitten by a poisonous snake while he was gathering sticks for a fire.

Acts of the Apostles 28:3, 5 NLT
[3] “As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand…
[5] But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed.”

Paul shook off the snake and was unaffected by its bite.

Angry words spoken at us are like the bite of a poisonous snake. We can either take in the poison and be harmed by it or we can shake it off and, like Paul, be unaffected by what was intended to hurt us.

Can you see how different our issues pan out when we apply God’s Word to what is said or done to harm us instead of becoming a helpless victim of other people’s evil.

It is vitally important for us to take responsibility for our own words and actions and to distance ourselves from what others say or do. The “green pastures” of God’s truth will provide nourishment for our souls and the “water” of the Holy Spirit in us will satisfy our desire to know the truth in a world riddled with deception.

John 7:37-39 NLT
[37] “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! [38] Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” [39] (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory).”

When we” eat” and “drink” Jesus’ words, instead of ingesting the junk thrown at us, we will not be affected by another’s sin.

Jesus, our true Shepherd, has the words that lead us to eternal life. It’s up to us to follow Him rather than be damaged by wounded people who try to infect us with their poison.

To be continued…

COMPASSION JESUS’ WAY-1

Christian Life, ,

Opening the abscess of accusation.

Mark 6:34 NLT
[34] “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”

When Jesus saw the crowd, He had had compassion on them. What did He see in the Spirit? He saw flocks of sheep milling around, …but no shepherd! That touched Him deeply.

Why did He have compassion on them? They had no one to show them where to find the green pastures and quiet waters they desperately needed. Despite all the “shepherds” in their community, the religious leaders who were supposed to show them where to find nourishment for their souls, these “shepherds” turned out to be “hirelings”, people who looked after their own needs, and neglected the sheep. In fact, they not only neglected the sheep, they put burdens on them too heavy for them to bear. It’s no wonder Jesus had compassion on the crowd.

However, Jesus didn’t feel sorry for the people or commiserate with them. That would have made them feel like victims. “He began to teach them many things.” Why did Jesus show compassion by teaching them “many things”? In other words, what did Jesus do that worked?

He began to teach them God’s word, the truth about how to live according to God’s Word, and to show them where to find spiritual green pastures and living water.

This revelation got me thinking. Everywhere we go, we find sheep without shepherds. People everywhere are struggling with different issues. There are also many “hirelings” around to give them useless counsel at a price, either false shepherds in the churches or worldly counsellors who ignore God’s Word and try to “fix” people the world’s way.

People spend years studying to be psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, even social workers, arming themselves with worldly wisdom that excludes the wisdom of God who created people and knows how they function. Their’s is a come-back counsel. Their sessions can last for months and the more often they see their client, the more money they earn.

Now, not every trained counsellor is mercenary. There are many who genuinely try to help their clients but, without God’s wisdom, their counsel achieves little.

Let’s look at one common scenario. The world is full of people who have been offended in one way or another. There are flocks of “sheep” all over who carry grudges, who are angry, full of hate and revenge, bitter, unhappy, and depressed.

So, after a few trips to the counsellor, they learn that they have a disorder, an emotional “sickness” which, supposedly, can be treated with therapy or medication. A diagnosis takes the burden of responsibility for their reactions against those who offend them and turns them into victims. They attend many sessions or take many tablets that damp down their emotions but don’t fix the problem.

Some have anger problems, so they are sent to another “expert” to learn “anger management.” After a few sessions, they feel competent to manage their anger until…someone triggers their rage again by touching on something that reminds them of the original issue. They explode over something seemingly quite trivial, overreacting like volcanoes to a minor issue.

Why didn’t their anger management course provide the help they needed? The answer is simple. They were not taught to deal with the original cause of their anger.

An emotional problem is like having an infected wound in our flesh. If we leave it there, it will become an abscess full of infection. When someone inadvertantly touches it, the pain is intense. It’s no use putting a bandaid on the infected place. The abscess must be opened, cleaned out and allowed to heal.

Often, in someone’s childhood, a person of significance said or did something to cause that person emotional pain. The hurt festers inside so, to hide the infection, the offended person covers it with a “bandaid” by resorting to anger. Every time anyone touches the sore spot, anger flares up to cover it, far greater than the situation that triggered the anger and…the angry person turns the blame on the innocent person who inadvertently touched the anger button.

Now, we have two offended people. One person’s angry aggression has multiplied into another person’s hurt. Like a game of dominoes, one offended person offends another and so they fall, one by one.

Now, we have a family or a community of hurt people hurting one another, and the hireling can’t help. His diagnosis, counsel, or drugs can do nothing to heal the hurt.

God’s wisdom, in His Word, prescribes a far more effective way to deal with anger. Let me use a rather bizarre illustration.

The best way to treat an abscess or infected wound is to open it, drain the pus, clean the infected area inside and allow the natural process of healing to close the wound. A scar might remain but there is no more pain, swelling, or infection in that spot.

The same with an emotional lesion which happens when someone offends us. We rehearse it, dwell on it and let it become an infection in our souls.

The only way to heal it, like an abscess in our bodies, is to open it up by acknowledging and confessing the sins of attitude we have harboured…the anger, resentment, bitterness the offense caused, until it became a festering “abscess”.

Next, clean it out by forgiving the offender. Forgiving is simply cancelling the offender’s debt and no longer holding him/her accountable for the words or deeds that caused the offense.

As an aside, forgiveness does not excuse the offender’s action, it does not trivialise the offense, nor is it about our emotions. We don’t forgive because we feel like forgiving or withhold forgiveness because we don’t feel like forgiving. We forgive because God requires it since He has forgiven our debt against Him. In fact, Jesus paid the debt for all sin, ours and the sins of those who sin against us. To refuse to forgive is to demand justice and punishment a second time which is illegal. We think we have the right to punish the person who offended us by withholding forgiveness when, in fact, we are punishing ourselves. We feel bad, we carry the grudge. We have no peace.

The worst of all is that God withdraws His forgiveness of our sin when we refuse to forgive another.

Matthew 18:32-34 NLT
[32] “Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. [33] Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ [34] Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.”

Once the “abscess” caused by an offense is opened up and cleaned out, it will heal as we apply the balm of God’s truth to the wound. All bad feelings will be gone, permanantly. No more anger, unhappiness or depression!

The cure for an offended spirit is to forgive the offender…once for-all, permanent, no-maintence healing…never to cause pain again. There is no need for long-term therapy or expensive medication…not even for a counsellor or a mediator. The healing process continues through the application of God’s Word.

Jesus made this bold claim,

John 8:31-32, 34-36 NLT
[31] “Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. [32] And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”…
[34] Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. [35] A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. [36] So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”

Forgiveness costs nothing but the benefits are out of this world! Forgiving someone who’s sinned against you is the most healing and liberating thing you can ever do for your own soul.

To be continued…

PARTNERS WITH EVERYONE

Bible Study, ,

Philippians 4:21-23 NLT
[21]”Give my greetings to each of God’s holy people—all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings. [22] And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household. [23] May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”

True to his nature, Paul left no one out of his circle of love and togetherness. He knew the people by name. He greeted them personally. He worked with them and for them individually and collectively.

True, he singled out some for special mention in some of his letters because they stood out in his mind for their love and loyalty to him and their labour in the work of God’s kingdom with him…but, for him, everyone was special, everyone was part of God’s family, and everyone was honoured and greeted with affection.

It’s not possible that the church in Philippi knew all the believers in Rome. How would they have been personally acquainted with those of Caesar’s household, for example, who were new believers in Caesar’s palace, the fruit of Paul’s witness in prison? How could they have know every believer in every church across Europe and Asia Minor?

It didn’t matter to Paul that these people had never met face to face. All that mattered was that they were one family, one body through their faith in Jesus. They were united in spirit, all facing the same trials in a hostile environment, all filled with the same Spirit, and all going in the same direction.

Paul’s greeting to all and from all without exception speaks volumes about a true and loving leader who wanted to bind them together by the personal assurances of love and participation in each other’s lives. They may not have been in physical contact, geographically connected, but they were one in spirit through their faith in Jesus.

So, Paul says, “Hello” from us to you and from you to us, God’s holy people, brothers and sisters, eternally joined as members of God’s forever family.

Should this not be our attitude to fellow believers all over the world? We cannot physically connect with them but we can be one with them in spirit through our prayers for them. If Paul instructed us to pray for the saints everywhere, does it matter that we don’t know them?

Ephesians 6:18 NLT
[18] Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for ALL BELIEVERS EVERYWHERE.

It’s in the Spirit, who is the omniscient and omnipresent God, that we pray for believers everywhere and can be confident that God hears and answers our prayers for His universal church because He is God. He wants us to partner with Him in accomplishing His will on earth as in heaven. Praying for the church is the perfect way to express our love for God’s people and our unity as Christ’s body on earth.

Let’s cultivate a perspective of togetherness. Let’s consider God’s people as one global family joined by God’s Spirit in us. Let’s experience together, as one body, the trials that God uses to shape us into one holy people, a witness to the world of His kingdom in us that prepare us for our eternity together in His presence.

Hebrews 13:1-3 NLT
[1] “Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. [2] Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! [3] Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.”

Although we don’t all suffer what others suffer, we are with them in our hearts, sharing their hardships as we pray for grace to endure, for God’s protection and provision in hards times, and for the witness of their live in places of terrible spiritual darkness so that, in all our circumstances together, we may present a powerful witness to God’s glory all over the world.

1 Peter 2:9 NLT
[9]”…You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”