Compassion
God’s Word.
WHAT DID GOD SAY TO ME THIS MORNING
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Unmerited.
Compassion.
These are the words that stood out to me this morning as I was reading the Scriptural Surprise in Hosea.
Unmerited means not deserved, undeserved. Not earned. Not merited. Without cause.
Compassion means sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. It means you’re putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and really feeing for them.
God sent His son Jesus. He put himself in our shoes as the son of God and lived sin free so that through our faith, we could be saved by his grace, his unmerited favor. And we didn’t even deserve it because we had (have) sinned against God and turned from His ways. But through compassion, sympathetic concern for His creations, and an unfailing love, God sent Jesus to save us.
This morning I simply want to give thanks to God for grace I don’t even deserve. None of us deserve it. Hosea 11:8 in part says, the Lord had a change of heart, his compassion was stirred.
God’s grace on sinners (like you and me) is a result of His own unmerited kindness and love.
As a society, we often times aren’t acting like God at all. Now we are made in His image, but for some reason, many of us don’t show compassion to others. We don’t put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and feel for them. We gossip about them. We laugh at their stumbles in life. We treat people as if we have never sinned ourselves. In John chapter 8, there was a woman who was caught in adultery. And the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought the woman in front of the crowd. They told Jesus about it and recited the stoning laws to him. Then they asked Jesus what He thought. They of course were trying to trap Jesus into saying something they could use against Him. But I just love Jesus so much!! Like, for real! Because I could have been that woman being brought to the crowd. You could have been that woman being brought to the crowd for your sin. They were asking Jesus and He was writing in the dirt with his finger. In my spiritual imagination, I could see Jesus rolling his eyes at them! LOL! I know. I know. Maybe you can’t imagine Jesus rolling his eyes, but I really like how John 8:7 reads in The Passion Translation and The Message Translation when Jesus responded to them (use your spiritual imagination while reading this):
Angry, they kept insisting that he answer their question, so Jesus stood up and looked at them and said, “Let’s have the man who has never had a sinful desire throw the first stone at her.” John 8:7 The Passion Translation
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt. John 8:7 The Message
When you read these, it’s kind of hard not to see that we are not to be throwing stones at people for their sins. But yet we do. Yesterday, my college alma mater’s president found himself on the news due to some sinful behavior. What I witnessed on social media had me shaking my head pretty much the whole day. People were making jokes, creating memes, and just throwing stones at this man. Now truth be told, I was absolutely shocked at the news story, but then again, why was I shocked? The bible says in Romans 3:23 that EVERYONE has sinned. We ALL fall short of God’s glorious standard! The only real difference is that some people’s sins make the news or gets put in front of crowds like the adulterous woman, and others like mine and yours don’t get put out there. Humph. Yeah, you don’t know all about my past behaviors, but God knows ALL about mine and all about yours, whether your neighbors know or not.
Yesterday I went through all kinds of emotions because I was so disappointed in people’s responses. Here we are throwing stones and gossiping verses praying fervently for this man and all others who fall short. That means we should be praying for ALL people at ALL times, because we ALL need it. Romans 3:23 says we all fall short, but the next verse after that is what we put our faith in.
Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins. Romans 3:24 New Living Translation
So if we are made in God’s image and we are believers in Jesus Christ, we should be modeling Him and showing compassion for ALL of us who find ourselves stumbling and falling short. We should be praying, not posting. Repenting, not reposting. Giving God the glory, and not gossiping. We should be showing compassion, kindness and love to ALL! God loves us ALL and He will welcome us ALL back when we repent and re-covenant ourselves to Him. Our relationship and repenting conversations with God is what we should be posting about, if anything.
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Check out your assignment questions for today. Take a moment to reflect and then answer the questions in your journal. Pray. Listen. Write. Obey.
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Your Assignment For Today:
What did God say to YOU in your conversation with Him this morning?
How will you show compassion like our Lord and Savior today?
What do you need to repent (turn away from) and ask God for forgiveness? (Just know that God is waiting on you to turn from it and turn to Him).
Check out today’s Scriptural Surprise!
SALVATION PRAYER
If you’re not a believer and have a desire to be, openly confess and declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). When you pray that prayer out loud, you are saved. Get connected with a good, bible-based church in your community and start having a conversation through prayer with God every day. And let me be the first to welcome you to your new life with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. YAAAAY!!!!! You made the best decision you could ever make! Feel free to email me at info@onassignmentbyGod.com and let me know about your newfound life or if you need prayer for anything.