DIVINE COMPASSION

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. (Matthew 14:14, NIV)

Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. (Matthew 20:34, NIV).

Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” (Mark 1:41, NIV).

Have you even noticed the connection between the times when the Bible says that Jesus was “moved with compassion,” and the dynamic flow of God’s healing or delivering power? The word translated “compassion” in all of these verses means much more than feeling pity for someone’s condition. This term is very descriptive and powerful. It speaks of a deep yearning that comes up from the center of your being. Biblical compassion is more than an emotion. What Jesus was feeling was the deep, insatiable, almost overpowering, desire to set a person free from their affliction. This kind of compassion always moves a person to action, and that action releases the power of God on the scene.

Certainly in our modern language, we use the term compassion to describe what we feel when we see people in various kinds of distress. You might feel compassion for the needy, the downtrodden, those who are hungry or in need of medical attention. All of that is fine, but today I want to direct your attention to another kind of compassion–a compassion that flows through you right from the heart of God.

I believe that the same flow of compassion that preceded many of the miracles of Jesus, flows through His disciples today. After all, Jesus said that those who believe in Him would do the same works that He does, and even greater works. I think it’s important for us to stay sensitive to the flow of, for lack of a better term, God-compassion, that rises up within us. This compassion may arise in a time of prayer, and lead you to pray for people and situations that you may or may not even know about personally. This compassion may rise up and lead you to lay hands on a desperately ill person and see them recover. Compassion may lead you to give beyond your limits, or simply share a word of encouragement.

Whatever the case, if you will respond to this compassionate flow you will become a conduit for the life of God. Some of the most powerful times of ministry that Karen and I have ever experienced have been preceded by this sense of God’s yearning toward an individual. I haven’t always even known exactly what the Lord wanted to do, but there was no mistaking what He was feeling toward that person. In every case, if I have been obedient to do what God showed me to do in that moment, I got to be a part of something truly miraculous.

Let’s let our prayer lives be led by His compassion. Let’s go into each day asking the Lord who He wants to touch through us today. Then simply keep your eyes on Jesus, and stay sensitive to His instructions. You will be amazed at what He wants to do through you.

YOU ARE ON GOD'S MIND

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV).

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).

This verse from Jeremiah has been on my mind all day. I posted these two translations because they handle the word translated “thoughts” or “plans” differently. The verse can be accurately translated either way, and some translations use both words together. God is thinking thoughts toward us, and those thoughts include plans, designs, or dreams that He holds in His heart for us.

No matter how long I do this, no matter how much I study the Bible and attempt to communicate it to people, I never cease to be amazed by this very thing–God has us on His mind. He thinks about us, dreams about our success, our peace, and our prosperity in all areas of life. That, my friends, is amazing.

Some people may tell you, or at least imply, that God is busily planning your demise. These folks think that because every one of us is imperfect to say the least, God is contemplating the best way to punish us and snuff us out. I’ve got news for you. If God wanted us snuffed out, we would long since have been snuffed. This verse says that God’s plans are to prosper us, and not to harm us. Doesn’t He know that we have messed up big time? Yeah, He is aware of that fact, but He already took all of our sin upon Himself through His Son so that we could be forgiven, our lives redeemed and restored, and so that we could be reconciled to Him (2 Corinthians 5:18, 19). He loves you that much.

People that think that God is planning our destruction have missed some vital information about His true nature. Furthermore, they have underestimated the power of what Jesus did at the cross. I am not criticizing these folks; they have simply not understood the true meaning of the Gospel–the good news. The truth is that God loves you dearly and He has a great plan for your life. All that is left is for us to accept what God says about Himself as the truth, and to begin to interact with Him on a daily basis. He will gladly show us Himself, His plans, and bring those plans to pass in our lives. You are on God’s mind, and that’s a good thing!

THE POWER OF WORSHIP

Recently, we have been taking some extra time to fast and pray, and to seek God about His vision for Rocky Mountain Christian Ministries in 2010. One of the things that I have personally enjoyed the most, is having the opportunity to spend a little extra quality time worshipping the Lord. Some of the most satisfying times that I have in my Christian walk come when I make the space in my life for times of personal worship.

Take this morning for instance. I had ended up with several hours to kill while our Subaru was having some warranty work done. I had several options for how I spent that time. Since I had to bring the car to the front range for this work, there is always a long list of things that I need to do or buy while I am in “The Big City.” Anyone who lives in Gunnison, or another small town, will know what I mean. Trips to the city can be hectic to say the least. But since we are in this time of prayer and fasting, I had decided to use these hours to worship, pray, and generally soak in God’s presence and His Word.

As soon as I dropped the car off and got back to my room, I started thinking about all the people I needed to contact, the things I needed to do, and the places I really should go. My mind was instantly crammed with the same kind of busyness that yours is every time you decide to give the Lord some extra time. But this time I stood my ground. I first made a little list of the “urgent” things that I needed to do later today. I find that making such a list allows my busy brain to let it go. Then, I just put on a little worship music and started in. It is always amazing to me how fast you can become aware of the presence of God once you decide to set other things aside and just focus on Him.

I find that there are very few things as cleansing and satisfying as spending time worshipping God. If you are looking for a way to increase your ability to hear God’s voice, to quiet your troubled mind, receive a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit, receive healing for your body or soul, or to simply regain your sense of direction, look no further than spending time worshipping the Lord.

I believe that worship is one of the most powerful experiences that is available to us as believers. Just the fact that God has made Himself so available to us, that you and I can have a tangible, genuine, personal, interaction with Almighty God at any time of the day or night, is amazing! The fact that the blood of Jesus has already opened the way for us to come into our Father’s presence is a wonderful truth. And, the fact that God Himself is seeking people that will simply worship Him in Spirit and in truth tells us that He really wants to share this experience with us.

I think it is important to remember that worship is not complicated. In fact, worship is not so much an action as it is a heart attitude that can be expressed through a number of different activities. The most common act of worship is simply setting your heart and mind on the Lord, and then letting your adoration of Him flow out of your mouth. This is often done through song, but certainly doesn’t have to be done that way.

Most of the time we begin the process by thanking God for who He is and what He has done. It seems that a natural progression then takes place leading us from thanksgiving into praise. Praise usually takes the form of bragging about God’s greatness out loud. Through thanksgiving and praise, we adjust, or sharpen, our focus until God fills our field of view. That is the point where we usually become acutely aware of His presence. We suddenly realize that God is right there with us and has been the whole time. At this point, we are often overwhelmed by a sense of His greatness and goodness.

I think that one of the most common misunderstandings about worship is that it somehow attracts God to us like a shark to blood in the water, or a preacher to doughnuts. This really isn’t true. In all things it is important to remember that our actions do not move God; God has already moved toward humanity in Christ - He is always on, and always available. When thanksgiving and praise move our hearts to the place where we become aware of His presence, the natural response of the human heart is a sense of awe accompanied by a bowing of the heart and the knee - this is worship.

So, I encourage you to make the space in your life for times of worship. You can begin by taking advantage of the times that we gather for worship as a church. At RMCM, we incorporate worship into almost every one of our meetings. In addition to our weekend services, and our Wednesday night service, we have special evenings of worship that are available to you. Beyond church gatherings, I would suggest that you make time for individual worship, or gather with your family and friends. We are believers. We are worshippers. In 2010, let’s build an even stronger culture of worship into our personal lives, our homes, and our church.

WHY FASTING AND PRAYER?

Frequently in Scripture, we find fasting and prayer together. For example, we know that prior to starting His earthly ministry, Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting, and presumably seeking His Father’s face. In Daniel chapter 9, when Daniel wanted to better understand the meaning of Jeremiah’s prophecy, he sought God through prayer and fasting. In Acts 13, the whole church at Antioch was “worshipping the Lord and fasting.’ It was during this time of fasting and seeking the Lord that the Holy Spirit commanded the church to separate Paul and Barnabas to the work to which He had called them.

It is very clear that throughout biblical history, times of prayer and fasting have been extremely important to finding and fulfilling the will of God, both on an individual basis and corporately. But this is where we sometimes get confused about WHY fasting is so important. If we see these biblical examples, and begin to think that God answered prayer, or revealed truth, because of the great sacrifice that these saints made, we miss the point entirely. If we think that our pain and suffering is what gets God’s attention, we immediately shift the focus from God to us, and move into a legalistic approach to fasting.

While it is true that fasting is a good means of humbling ourselves before the Lord, and in that way opening our hearts to hear His voice, that is a very different idea from thinking that our pain catches His attention and moves Him toward us. We believers must be careful to approach every spiritual practice from a solidly New Testament perspective. That means that we never forget that the blood of Christ, and His blood alone, has already opened the way for us to have clear and open relationship with our Father God. Now then, we approach God on the basis of what Christ did at the cross, but we realize that our flesh, our desires, and our busyness, can often hinder our perception of what the Holy Spirit is trying to say to us. For that reason, we set aside some special times to tell the flesh that it doesn’t get to run our every waking moment. We tell our bodies, that although they are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and therefore important and sacred, they are not top dog in our lives. Our bodies are not evil, they are redeemed by the work of Christ, but they have not yet experienced the fullness of that work as they will in the resurrection.

So let your fasting experience bring a sense of humility to your heart. Let your hunger be an opportunity to resist the impulses of the flesh, and seek God with all your might. Use this time to soak in the Word, and the presence of God. You will come out healthier, stronger, and more spiritually sensitive.

Fasting

At RMCM, we are taking this first full week of the year as a time of fasting and prayer. We are doing this as a means of consecrating this first portion of the year to the Lord, and also as a way to seek Him for His vision for us in 2010. Here are a couple of thoughts on fasting that I hope will help you have a great week of seeking God.

Fasting is not something that Christians do as a sacrifice to get God’s attention, His favor, or His blessing. Favor and blessing are provided for the believer by the blood of Jesus, and appropriated by the believer through faith.

Fasting does not move God; God has already moved toward us in Christ. Fasting moves us–it humbles us, and puts us in a position to more clearly hear what God is saying to us.

Fasting demonstrates the fact that we live by the Spirit and by faith, not by the flesh. When we fast, we set food, and other distractions aside, not just for the sake of setting them aside, but in order to clear the way for some quality time with God.

Over the course of the week, we will be sharing a few ideas about fasting, as well as some keys to effective fasting. I hope all of you are off to a good start in setting this first full week of the year aside to God.

Karen and I would be very interested in your thoughts and experiences during this week. Drop us an email, and let us know how it is going.

Pastor John