Together # 20
A Together the Holds Together
A Together the Holds Together
Show Mercy and Be Compassionate with One Another
copyright by Dick Wulf, 2018
Be generous with mercy and compassion, especially to the physically and mentally incapacitated and victims of violence.
Luke 6:35-36; Eph 4:32; Col 3:12; James 2:1
Christians are told by Jesus to love everyone and show mercy as God the Father does to one extent or another for all people.
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
|
Luke 6:35-36
But, since we are applying Scripture to faith together, we will focus on showing mercy and compassion to one another within the faith.
When we think of God’s mercy toward us, we should see our helplessness to do anything about our sinful condition that makes a relationship with God and a future in heaven impossible. Without God’s mercy we are left alone in a horrible situation. Fortunately, God gives us salvation out of mercy and loving compassion.
So, to think of mercy as “kindness” is to seriously minimize something so very loving and valuable. Mercy and compassion should always be accompanied by kindness, but they are much more than that.
God loves you and has chosen you and made you his holy people. So [Literal: As God’s chosen, holy and beloved ones; Ex. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:9] you should always clothe yourselves with mercy [Literal: a heart of compassion], kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Col 3:12 (Expanded Bible)
We think of mercy and compassion as being extended to people who are facing very difficult circumstances. Our thoughts go to those Christians we know who face something rather horrible. We wish and pray for them with great concern. Examples might be a Christian friend or relative who is wheel-chair bound for life, has dementia, was raped, or is trapped in a dangerous marriage.
We are told in Scripture to extend mercy and be compassionate with any in our Christian Inner Circle or larger fellowship of believers who are in need of more than kindness and a few simple acts of help. Of course, we are kind and nice at church events to those with debilitating illnesses or are otherwise disabled or disadvantaged. But, we know that more than mild gestures of love are needed. We want to do something for these people, and usually do not know what more we can do than be accepting and include them in conversation. Many of us feel great helplessness and sorrow.
In many cases, one of us alone cannot meet the need of another Christian who is seriously disabled. We need to work together to help with many practical needs such as shopping for food and clothing, cleaning house, helping with the needs of children in the home, to name a few of the more obvious. Working together, a few Christian friends, a family, or a married couple can carry the complicated burdens and give the necessary heartfelt mercy and compassion.
After those needs are satisfied we can address the spiritual aspect of life with these seriously impaired believers. We can try to open up their lives so that they do not feel less able than us with regard to what matters most. We can point out that their situations might be viewed as even better than ours with all of our abilities intact. More on that later when we discuss defeating Satan.
Occasionally we might find ourselves judging people who instead need our mercy and compassion. We can think that he or she was stupid to marry such a physically or emotionally abusive person. Or the devil will tempt us to think that he or she lost a leg doing something for recreation that was totally unnecessary and stupidly reckless. These kinds of thoughts could come from a mean streak inside of us, but they probably arise from discomfort that we don’t have any way to make their lives better. By blaming them or someone who did something to them, we can distance ourselves from guilt that we cannot do anything about their situation, whether we can or not.
We must let the Holy Spirit take away thoughts we might have that their problem is not our problem but the problem of the person who hurt them or their own because of their actions. This is so unlike God who shows us mercy when we are totally responsible for our own sinfulness. And we need to be aware that such judgment can boomerang back on us by limiting God’s mercy toward us in ways other than salvation.
When we think of God’s mercy toward us, we should see our helplessness to do anything about our sinful condition that makes a relationship with God and a future in heaven impossible. Without God’s mercy we are left alone in a horrible situation. Fortunately, God gives us salvation out of mercy and loving compassion.
So, to think of mercy as “kindness” is to seriously minimize something so very loving and valuable. Mercy and compassion should always be accompanied by kindness, but they are much more than that.
God loves you and has chosen you and made you his holy people. So [Literal: As God’s chosen, holy and beloved ones; Ex. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:9] you should always clothe yourselves with mercy [Literal: a heart of compassion], kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Col 3:12 (Expanded Bible)
We think of mercy and compassion as being extended to people who are facing very difficult circumstances. Our thoughts go to those Christians we know who face something rather horrible. We wish and pray for them with great concern. Examples might be a Christian friend or relative who is wheel-chair bound for life, has dementia, was raped, or is trapped in a dangerous marriage.
We are told in Scripture to extend mercy and be compassionate with any in our Christian Inner Circle or larger fellowship of believers who are in need of more than kindness and a few simple acts of help. Of course, we are kind and nice at church events to those with debilitating illnesses or are otherwise disabled or disadvantaged. But, we know that more than mild gestures of love are needed. We want to do something for these people, and usually do not know what more we can do than be accepting and include them in conversation. Many of us feel great helplessness and sorrow.
In many cases, one of us alone cannot meet the need of another Christian who is seriously disabled. We need to work together to help with many practical needs such as shopping for food and clothing, cleaning house, helping with the needs of children in the home, to name a few of the more obvious. Working together, a few Christian friends, a family, or a married couple can carry the complicated burdens and give the necessary heartfelt mercy and compassion.
After those needs are satisfied we can address the spiritual aspect of life with these seriously impaired believers. We can try to open up their lives so that they do not feel less able than us with regard to what matters most. We can point out that their situations might be viewed as even better than ours with all of our abilities intact. More on that later when we discuss defeating Satan.
Occasionally we might find ourselves judging people who instead need our mercy and compassion. We can think that he or she was stupid to marry such a physically or emotionally abusive person. Or the devil will tempt us to think that he or she lost a leg doing something for recreation that was totally unnecessary and stupidly reckless. These kinds of thoughts could come from a mean streak inside of us, but they probably arise from discomfort that we don’t have any way to make their lives better. By blaming them or someone who did something to them, we can distance ourselves from guilt that we cannot do anything about their situation, whether we can or not.
We must let the Holy Spirit take away thoughts we might have that their problem is not our problem but the problem of the person who hurt them or their own because of their actions. This is so unlike God who shows us mercy when we are totally responsible for our own sinfulness. And we need to be aware that such judgment can boomerang back on us by limiting God’s mercy toward us in ways other than salvation.
For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:13
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:13
It is dangerous to judge and safe to be merciful. Let’s learn from a hypothetical tax collector in one of Jesus’ parables.
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14
|
Giving up being judgmental might be easier than putting on mercy. Mercy accompanied by compassion is much more costly. We can reduce judgment of a vulgar father-in-law easily by indifference. His ugly behavior just does not matter and is paid no attention. On the other hand, full judgment might be overcome by recognizing how he became that way in light of his upbringing or disappointments in life. However, when this vulgar father-in-law becomes senile and demanding and has to be taken care of, mercy and compassion might be harder to come by.
What if an incapacitated single-parent mother raising two boys and a girl needs others to be involved with those children for their emotional survival in ways that she cannot? Do uncles and aunts, grandparents, even cousins know that they are disappointing God by not getting involved? Do they realize they are choosing for themselves far less in heaven by not stepping up with compassion? Do they grasp that for all eternity they will have less joy in relationships than was available? Do they comprehend that they will have a more distant relationship forever with God in His heaven? Probably not, for who would have told them? Even so, they should know that they are needed and step up with compassion for their relative.
Whatever is holding these critical relatives from lending themselves for the good of these children and their mother needs to be addressed by those in their Christian Inner Circles. If it is a wife or husband who is holding back godly intervention, she or he needs someone to warn of God’s disfavor. Especially a wife or husband because they will be responsible for help not being given the children as well as the even more serious sin of not helping the spouse do what God wants done. If it is an uncle or aunt, grandmother or grandfather, some Christian close to them should know about this family situation and do whatever is necessary to get them into the action.
Since mercy and compassion can be such a challenge, God designed us to not do such things alone if it at all can be prevented. We must help one another to overcome judgment or indifference and become merciful and compassionate. This is not a Together just because it is extended from one to another, but also because we cannot do it very well without one another’s support. Remember that we must have help from one another to do almost anything God asks us to do. Let’s not think that we need to be merciful in our attitude and compassionate in our actions all alone.
Bringing in other Christians to minister merciful compassion with us is also for their benefit. At first, they may see our invitation to get involved helping someone who is infirm and often unable to get out of their home to shop or get to medical appointments as very inconvenient and uncomfortable. But, we can explain that if they knew the eternal benefits for forever in heaven, they would pay us good money just to be part of the giving of mercy and compassion.
Teams made up of Christian friends, a Christian family, or a married couple can do so much more for someone who is handicapped physically or mentally. Since in most cases the need for mercy and compassion never ends (as would helping someone with a cold), over time other Christians will have to come in and take their turn at mercy and compassion. One individual carrying the load of an incapacitated person is overwhelming, as any family member caretaker can testify. But two or more sharing the load can endure longer. Even so, a new team of Christians will likely need to take over at some point.
Showing mercy and giving compassion are so much of God’s character that we must elevate our desire to do so ourselves. That desire will drive us to get involved whenever we see the chance.
Opportunity to Become More and More Like Jesus Christ
What if an incapacitated single-parent mother raising two boys and a girl needs others to be involved with those children for their emotional survival in ways that she cannot? Do uncles and aunts, grandparents, even cousins know that they are disappointing God by not getting involved? Do they realize they are choosing for themselves far less in heaven by not stepping up with compassion? Do they grasp that for all eternity they will have less joy in relationships than was available? Do they comprehend that they will have a more distant relationship forever with God in His heaven? Probably not, for who would have told them? Even so, they should know that they are needed and step up with compassion for their relative.
Whatever is holding these critical relatives from lending themselves for the good of these children and their mother needs to be addressed by those in their Christian Inner Circles. If it is a wife or husband who is holding back godly intervention, she or he needs someone to warn of God’s disfavor. Especially a wife or husband because they will be responsible for help not being given the children as well as the even more serious sin of not helping the spouse do what God wants done. If it is an uncle or aunt, grandmother or grandfather, some Christian close to them should know about this family situation and do whatever is necessary to get them into the action.
Since mercy and compassion can be such a challenge, God designed us to not do such things alone if it at all can be prevented. We must help one another to overcome judgment or indifference and become merciful and compassionate. This is not a Together just because it is extended from one to another, but also because we cannot do it very well without one another’s support. Remember that we must have help from one another to do almost anything God asks us to do. Let’s not think that we need to be merciful in our attitude and compassionate in our actions all alone.
Bringing in other Christians to minister merciful compassion with us is also for their benefit. At first, they may see our invitation to get involved helping someone who is infirm and often unable to get out of their home to shop or get to medical appointments as very inconvenient and uncomfortable. But, we can explain that if they knew the eternal benefits for forever in heaven, they would pay us good money just to be part of the giving of mercy and compassion.
Teams made up of Christian friends, a Christian family, or a married couple can do so much more for someone who is handicapped physically or mentally. Since in most cases the need for mercy and compassion never ends (as would helping someone with a cold), over time other Christians will have to come in and take their turn at mercy and compassion. One individual carrying the load of an incapacitated person is overwhelming, as any family member caretaker can testify. But two or more sharing the load can endure longer. Even so, a new team of Christians will likely need to take over at some point.
Showing mercy and giving compassion are so much of God’s character that we must elevate our desire to do so ourselves. That desire will drive us to get involved whenever we see the chance.
Opportunity to Become More and More Like Jesus Christ
The Lopez Family was enjoying life and leisure to the envy of their neighbors. Ramon Lopez, the father, had a high-paying management job that allowed the family to have a powerful boat for fishing and water skiing. Teresa Lopez, the mother, had time for the gym, spa and massage parlor. The kids were in sixth, eighth and tenth grades and doing well in school and either sports or music.
Then Mrs. Lopez had a severe stroke leaving her unable to walk and hardly able to speak. Everything changed overnight. Everyone had to pitch in to help. After school activities were reduced to a minimum for the kids. Mr. Lopez worked it out that he could work from home half of the time. The people of St. Mary’s Church also helped with food and house cleaning. The doctors said that it would be months before Mrs. Lopez would be able to take care of herself. After Mrs. Lopez went to bed early one night, the rest of the family turned off the television to talk about how they were dealing with the long ordeal. Everyone admitted to being worn out and afraid for Mom. Then resentment began to be expressed. Why did this have to happen to their family? They missed the fun outings on the boat. They wondered how they were ever going to make it through this change in quality of life. Fifteen-year-old Eva picked up her Bible that night in her bedroom and began reading it seriously for the first time. She began at the beginning of the New Testament with Matthew and discovered that Jesus spent almost all of His time taking care of people. It dawned on Eva that her family was placed in a situation that could make them all more like Jesus. She ran downstairs and gathered up her father and siblings and challenged them to take up the cross. |
Everything about Jesus was merciful. He personified compassion. Isn’t the opportunity exciting to be made by the Holy Spirit more like the most merciful, most compassionate human Who every lived?
Whenever crowds came to Him, He had compassion for them because they were so deeply distraught, malaised, and heart-broken. They seemed to Him like lost sheep without a shepherd.
Matt 9:36 (The Voice Bible)
|
Jesus took on limitations to His life so He could give time and energy to minister to the most needy. We, too, can do likewise and make ourselves available to those who are in need of merciful compassion. Although this might begin with kindness, merciful compassion goes quite a bit further.
Jesus, as far we know from the Bible, spent little time being kind in the sense that we think of it today. Surely, He was nice to people and spoke to them kindly. But, we never read of Him smiling and asking people how their day was going. He cut right to the chase. He healed their infirmities. He gave hungry folks miraculous food. He spoke to women of ill repute. He was truthful with the arrogant. He raised people from the dead because their family needed them alive.
We cannot do all of those things, even though sometimes God may use us for one of His miracles. But, we get the general gist of what is more than kindness and crosses over to costly compassion. Desperate need was what Jesus responded to with mercy and compassion. It was mercy because it was freely given, not owed or a duty that had to be performed. It was compassion because it truly helped the helpless. People could not get well on their own. People away from their home listening to Jesus teach too long could not just make food appear. Women who were adulterous could not make themselves acceptable.
So, while most of the recipients of our love need something less than mercy and compassion, to grow to be like Jesus we must take advantage of those times in our lives when our paths intersect with those helpless to do anything about the plight in which they find themselves. Since for most of us these opportunities don’t come very often, when they do, we want to pounce on the chance to show merciful compassion. Something unique in our spirits can change to be like Jesus in His mercy and compassion only by these opportunities.
If we are fortunate enough to have the chance to have in our lives someone who is infirm, we want to show them compassion. If they cannot get to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, do we realize how fortunate we are to drop whatever we wanted to do and retrieve that medicine for them? If they are homebound and very lonely, will we take the opportunity to grow ourselves more like Jesus and visit them? It is regular compassion if we consider it as something we should do or a recreational activity to get us out of the house. But, it is merciful compassion if we do it just because they need it, even more so if it is an inconvenience.
Yet, there are situations where we are obligated and the need is beyond what comfortable and convenient effort can supply. Merciful compassion is required for a relative or very close friend. These opportunities really stretch our spirits into conformity with Christ’s spirit. An elderly parent may need personal attention and compassion that requires extraordinary love from his or her adult children. But, when that parent is caught in the grips of dementia or Alzheimer disease and the need is to listen to the same stories over and over again or continually answer the same question within minutes because it has been forgotten, the patience and time required really is a sacrifice of mercy. Such difficult mercy changes us, after which we are never again so little like Jesus in our spirits as we were before.
Christian parents who have a child with developmental disability usually have a challenge for the rest of their lives. Life will never be the same, so simple and uncomplicated. From a worldly perspective that is almost totally materialistic and hardly spiritual at all, life seems doomed. Lost are so many freedoms because they have to take care of their child who may never be self-sufficient.
Nonbelieving parents who respond to such lifelong challenge and deprivation with mercy and compassion are admirable. Know it or not, they are buoyed along by God’s grace, since mercy and compassion have their origins in God’s very nature. But, Christian parents can have eternal gains only available to those indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The extensive mercy and compassion required to raise and support their child until they cannot in old age has tremendous power to change them into the likeness of Jesus who also served until He died.
We really are a hopeless group without Jesus. In coming to earth and taking on human flesh and living as He did for others all the way until death, Jesus showed us and still shows us great mercy and compassion. We do not deserve any goodness from Him. We cannot put on Him any obligation to us whatsoever. Yet, because He loves us so, He showers us with blessings from His mercy and compassion. He is our wonderful model, and we can follow in His steps.
There are those we will meet from time to time who have had their lives tainted severely by Satan’s temptations and their own decisions. They will be trapped by their bad reputations. When we come across someone fitting this description, we want to jump at the chance to show mercy in the form of affection and acceptance they do not deserve and compassion in action for their needs. We will remember that they did not do the bad things they did without a boost from our enemy the devil. He will have inserted himself into their lives through temptations, demonic action, or merely through the evil he planted in the Garden of Eden that has festered through the centuries. Knowing this helps us adopt the mercy and compassion of Jesus and pass it on.
Such mercy and compassion may not be simple. That is the bad news. But the good news is showing merciful compassion will shake our spirits loose from self-centeredness that inhibits our love from becoming like Jesus’ love. As a example, imagine that we meet another Christian at work, in our church, or someplace else who has destroyed his or her family by having an affair, deserting his family through divorce, and marrying the lover. Mercy does not act like he or she has not done a terrible, terrible thing. Mercy extends love that is far from deserved. Compassion probably takes the form of friendship to the dismay of those who know us and are similarly disgusted at what she or he has done. Compassion may mean that we help that person to do as much damage control as possible with his children. If the children will have nothing to do with him or her because of the insistence that the stepparent who helped break up the family be included in activities, then we might have to help him or her make time to be with the children without the new wife or husband.
Opportunities to have mercy and show compassion to desperate people have tremendous power to make us like Jesus. Let’s not pass up such opportunities because they make us uncomfortable or we don’t know what to do. Let’s jump right in and let the Holy Spirit and our love for God take it from there. In spite of our shortcomings, we will be changed into the image of Christ.
Opportunity to Worship God
Jesus, as far we know from the Bible, spent little time being kind in the sense that we think of it today. Surely, He was nice to people and spoke to them kindly. But, we never read of Him smiling and asking people how their day was going. He cut right to the chase. He healed their infirmities. He gave hungry folks miraculous food. He spoke to women of ill repute. He was truthful with the arrogant. He raised people from the dead because their family needed them alive.
We cannot do all of those things, even though sometimes God may use us for one of His miracles. But, we get the general gist of what is more than kindness and crosses over to costly compassion. Desperate need was what Jesus responded to with mercy and compassion. It was mercy because it was freely given, not owed or a duty that had to be performed. It was compassion because it truly helped the helpless. People could not get well on their own. People away from their home listening to Jesus teach too long could not just make food appear. Women who were adulterous could not make themselves acceptable.
So, while most of the recipients of our love need something less than mercy and compassion, to grow to be like Jesus we must take advantage of those times in our lives when our paths intersect with those helpless to do anything about the plight in which they find themselves. Since for most of us these opportunities don’t come very often, when they do, we want to pounce on the chance to show merciful compassion. Something unique in our spirits can change to be like Jesus in His mercy and compassion only by these opportunities.
If we are fortunate enough to have the chance to have in our lives someone who is infirm, we want to show them compassion. If they cannot get to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, do we realize how fortunate we are to drop whatever we wanted to do and retrieve that medicine for them? If they are homebound and very lonely, will we take the opportunity to grow ourselves more like Jesus and visit them? It is regular compassion if we consider it as something we should do or a recreational activity to get us out of the house. But, it is merciful compassion if we do it just because they need it, even more so if it is an inconvenience.
Yet, there are situations where we are obligated and the need is beyond what comfortable and convenient effort can supply. Merciful compassion is required for a relative or very close friend. These opportunities really stretch our spirits into conformity with Christ’s spirit. An elderly parent may need personal attention and compassion that requires extraordinary love from his or her adult children. But, when that parent is caught in the grips of dementia or Alzheimer disease and the need is to listen to the same stories over and over again or continually answer the same question within minutes because it has been forgotten, the patience and time required really is a sacrifice of mercy. Such difficult mercy changes us, after which we are never again so little like Jesus in our spirits as we were before.
Christian parents who have a child with developmental disability usually have a challenge for the rest of their lives. Life will never be the same, so simple and uncomplicated. From a worldly perspective that is almost totally materialistic and hardly spiritual at all, life seems doomed. Lost are so many freedoms because they have to take care of their child who may never be self-sufficient.
Nonbelieving parents who respond to such lifelong challenge and deprivation with mercy and compassion are admirable. Know it or not, they are buoyed along by God’s grace, since mercy and compassion have their origins in God’s very nature. But, Christian parents can have eternal gains only available to those indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The extensive mercy and compassion required to raise and support their child until they cannot in old age has tremendous power to change them into the likeness of Jesus who also served until He died.
We really are a hopeless group without Jesus. In coming to earth and taking on human flesh and living as He did for others all the way until death, Jesus showed us and still shows us great mercy and compassion. We do not deserve any goodness from Him. We cannot put on Him any obligation to us whatsoever. Yet, because He loves us so, He showers us with blessings from His mercy and compassion. He is our wonderful model, and we can follow in His steps.
There are those we will meet from time to time who have had their lives tainted severely by Satan’s temptations and their own decisions. They will be trapped by their bad reputations. When we come across someone fitting this description, we want to jump at the chance to show mercy in the form of affection and acceptance they do not deserve and compassion in action for their needs. We will remember that they did not do the bad things they did without a boost from our enemy the devil. He will have inserted himself into their lives through temptations, demonic action, or merely through the evil he planted in the Garden of Eden that has festered through the centuries. Knowing this helps us adopt the mercy and compassion of Jesus and pass it on.
Such mercy and compassion may not be simple. That is the bad news. But the good news is showing merciful compassion will shake our spirits loose from self-centeredness that inhibits our love from becoming like Jesus’ love. As a example, imagine that we meet another Christian at work, in our church, or someplace else who has destroyed his or her family by having an affair, deserting his family through divorce, and marrying the lover. Mercy does not act like he or she has not done a terrible, terrible thing. Mercy extends love that is far from deserved. Compassion probably takes the form of friendship to the dismay of those who know us and are similarly disgusted at what she or he has done. Compassion may mean that we help that person to do as much damage control as possible with his children. If the children will have nothing to do with him or her because of the insistence that the stepparent who helped break up the family be included in activities, then we might have to help him or her make time to be with the children without the new wife or husband.
Opportunities to have mercy and show compassion to desperate people have tremendous power to make us like Jesus. Let’s not pass up such opportunities because they make us uncomfortable or we don’t know what to do. Let’s jump right in and let the Holy Spirit and our love for God take it from there. In spite of our shortcomings, we will be changed into the image of Christ.
Opportunity to Worship God
Some churches consider their worship services to be sufficient worship. Not Hope Lutheran Church. The pastor and leaders recognize that the Sunday worship service is just the beginning of a full week of worship. They take seriously what God has communicated in Amos 5 and Hosea 6. Worship services not accompanied by taking care of the poor, ensuring justice, and granting mercy is not acceptable before the Throne of God.
Sermons at Hope Lutheran have clearly taught the need for merciful compassion and the community has responded. Being a smaller church with an aging population, retired people have been led to take care of one another as life gets tougher and tougher. Lots of people say in retirement they have never been busier. But, they are usually talking about recreational pursuits and improving home and landscape. In contrast, the older members of Hope Lutheran are much busier than that. They minister to shut-ins and those recovering from hospital stays. Instead of golf, they are cooking and delivering food, cleaning houses, visiting, picking up medications, shopping for food and other necessities. |
Mercy is powerful worship.
I desire mercy, not sacrifice, . . .
Hosea 6:6a (NIV)
Hosea 6:6a (NIV)
God has given us power in community to show mercy to one another and be compassionate. When we do so, we worship God by reflecting back to Him his own mercy and compassion toward us sinners.
Everything about God regarding us is mercy. We are helpless with regard to death and eternal life. We don’t deserve anything from God, especially going to eternal life and heaven. God’s mercy makes possible His grace and all the good things that come our way.
Everything about God regarding us is mercy. We are helpless with regard to death and eternal life. We don’t deserve anything from God, especially going to eternal life and heaven. God’s mercy makes possible His grace and all the good things that come our way.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Ps 103:1-5
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Ps 103:1-5
Were it not for God and His mercy, we would perish.
As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!
Ps 40:11
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!
Ps 40:11
And so it is that the more helpless is someone to whom we grant mercy and compassion, the more we worship. We should want to be like God in this way and reflect His great mercy! Let us not sing worship songs in church and then pass up the chance for even greater worship by ministering to someone handicapped or helpless in some other way.
Many people are helpless in some way necessary to life but not helpless in everything. In talking about helping the helpless, we are not considering them inferior or pitying them. We are just recognizing that in some essential way they are not able to do something necessary for their welfare. And, we are remembering that God wants them taken care of in whatever way necessary.
In the same way, we who are without any handicap are just as helpless in obtaining eternal life. And we must remember that God bends down to help us in our helplessness. We have to be exceedingly thankful to have received mercy from God. We can be so thankful that we look forward to being seriously inconvenienced to take care of someone who without us will be helpless in one or many areas of life. There are many privileges for us in showing such mercy and compassion, and worship is one of them.
Most of us will be thrust into taking care of someone, perhaps our elderly parents or a relative crippled from a work accident or a child with a serious birth defect. If not, we should hope that someone in deep need will come our way so that we can worship through mercy and compassion.
Let’s pray that we will have joy in giving merciful compassion to someone with relentless needs not only once in our lifetimes. Let us know the satisfaction of such difficult worship that reflects, even though very insufficiently, the very nature of God.
How Used in Battle to Defeat Evil and Satan
Many people are helpless in some way necessary to life but not helpless in everything. In talking about helping the helpless, we are not considering them inferior or pitying them. We are just recognizing that in some essential way they are not able to do something necessary for their welfare. And, we are remembering that God wants them taken care of in whatever way necessary.
In the same way, we who are without any handicap are just as helpless in obtaining eternal life. And we must remember that God bends down to help us in our helplessness. We have to be exceedingly thankful to have received mercy from God. We can be so thankful that we look forward to being seriously inconvenienced to take care of someone who without us will be helpless in one or many areas of life. There are many privileges for us in showing such mercy and compassion, and worship is one of them.
Most of us will be thrust into taking care of someone, perhaps our elderly parents or a relative crippled from a work accident or a child with a serious birth defect. If not, we should hope that someone in deep need will come our way so that we can worship through mercy and compassion.
Let’s pray that we will have joy in giving merciful compassion to someone with relentless needs not only once in our lifetimes. Let us know the satisfaction of such difficult worship that reflects, even though very insufficiently, the very nature of God.
How Used in Battle to Defeat Evil and Satan
Sadie has a friend named Andrea who is wheelchair bound and will never be able to swim, hike and do the physical things she could until this disease took over her body in her 30's. Andrea is a single parent with children to raise. The kids’ father deserted and his whereabouts are unknown. Andrea has just enough income to get by, but not for any extra expenses.
Andrea has been strong for about as long as she can hold up. She expressed to Sadie her dismay in asking one day, “If God loves me, why has he given me this incurable disease?” Sadie had been troubled by the same question ever since her good friend came down with multiple sclerosis. About that time, Sadie began reading about the Togethers of Scripture and how they change a Christian’s spirit for eternal benefits in heaven. All of a sudden the Holy Spirit gave her a message for her friend Andrea. And this is what she said. “Andrea, you are such a cherished friend. I want you to be open to what I am about to say. The Lord has revealed to me an explanation why He has allowed Satan to take your physical health. And, if you will pray about this, it may just be that you are in a special place, not a terrible life. “Certainly, you will have a special standing in eternity because you are so afflicted by the destruction of Satan. We read in the book of the Revelation that martyrs appear in heaven dressed in white and are greatly honored. You will most likely have a similar status. Yet, that doesn’t make today any easier. But what God has revealed to me may not only lighten your load, but, hopefully fill you with great joy and satisfaction with your situation. “The first thing the Lord showed me was in Romans 8:29 which says that our most important purpose in this life before death is to be conformed by God into the image of Jesus. No other thing in life is very important next to this transformation to Christlikeness. All the physical things I can do are small next to what we both can do, which is to be transformed more and more into the nature of our Savior. “When I think about becoming like Jesus, I think of becoming more and more loving in our actions. However, what I have been seeing lately is that most of our transformation into the image of Jesus is to be changed in our spirits. When we die, we will only have spiritual bodies until God creates a new heaven and earth and gives us new physical bodies. I look so forward when in heaven you and I can swim at the beach like we used to do. We will be able to do it forever. Yet, I am aware that you in your spirit will enjoy swimming so much more than I will ever be able. For a few years now I will enjoy swimming when you cannot. But, when we swim in heaven you will be so ecstatic at again being able to do so, that I will have only a fraction of the joy in swimming that you will feel for years without end. With that heavenly perspective, which of us is better off now? Might it be you? “To understand what I have been hearing in my spirit, with my mind catching up slowly, is that it is our spirits that count. Deep inside of us is the core of who we are. And that is our spirit, descended from that first breath God gave to Adam. This is who we are. When the Bible says we are created anew in Christ Jesus, it is not talking about our physical body. When we accepted Jesus as our Savior, any sores we had remained to heal in the natural way. It was our spirit that was finally made to live in life rather than in death. “To see beyond the veil of death we have the parable Jesus told of Lazarus and the rich man after their deaths. The rich man saw and recognized Lazarus although both only had spiritual bodies. It seems from that and so many other passages of Scripture that what counts is the condition of our spirits. Today we misunderstand spiritual growth as growth in knowledge of the Bible, but it is so much more than that. Most of us are hindered in focusing on the growth of our spirits. You, believe it or not, are more free to develop your spiritual likeness to Jesus than I am. All the things that I can do with my body that you cannot are in some way distractions. “So, let’s think differently about your condition that makes both you and I so sad at times. You have a way to face this life from the perspective of heaven while I am often too grounded to this earthly life. Even if you have energy for only a few hours a day, you usually have more time to work on improving your spirit in preparation for heaven than I do. “We will go to heaven with different levels of godliness based on how we developed our spirits before death. It is like a video game where higher levels give you new and better abilities. Therefore, the time for developing our spirits for heaven’s forever life is now. Resisting sin as we have to do now makes our spirits so much stronger than they would be without such opposition. So while I am spending my energy on working and recreational pursuits, you have the opportunity to focus your scarce energy on the growth of your spirit. “Does this sound foreign to you? Well, Andrea, it did to me also. But, now from this new perspective I see deeper into Scripture, especially the words of Jesus. Remember in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said to not commit adultery and then went on to say that any lustful thoughts equaled adultery? He was pointing out to us that what counts is what our spirits are like. We are to allow the Holy Spirit give us spirits incapable of lustful thoughts. “All the things Christians are to do with one another when they get together, and there are at least 65 of them, change our spirits. For example, we are to bear with one another, looking past another’s sins and irritable behavior as God does with us. In doing so, we come to see the good in people. This changes our spirits so that we will be able to appreciate all the variety of citizens in heaven. We won’t have to look past their sins which will not be present, but we will want to be able to appreciate who they really are in Christ without sin. “Imagine sitting in a circle and hearing how God worked in a new friend who was one of the soldiers who nailed Jesus to the cross and later came to belief and salvation. Will our spirits, yours and mine, be able to appreciate him? Will our spirits be so strong from growing this side of death to look past a person’s behavior to see the person God made her or him to be? Will we be able to connect with that Roman soldier who mistreated Jesus before his own salvation arrived? Or will we sit there in that conversation circle in a daze, like we are now when someone is talking above our heads about technology or some topic beyond our ability to understand? “So, while I am taking my kids to soccer games or doing so many of the things you cannot, I will not be letting the Holy Spirit help me look past sins and irritating behavior of some new type of person. By the time I grow my spirit to bear with a Christian who has cheated on her husband, you will have done that long before and be working on some additional type of disagreeable person 25 people types ahead of me. You will have the stronger, more capable spirit with which to enter heaven. And, I will have only a ski trip. “Do you think you can find joy in the condition you are in by knowing that you can still do the things that count eternally? I hope you can. And, because you will be so far ahead of me, I hope you will help me along so that I can enter heaven with many more abilities in my spirit for having known you as my close friend.” When Sadie stopped talking, both women had tears in their eyes. |
Some people are victims of the worst kinds of evil. Satan has piled on them horrible things. We must do all we can to keep the devil from destroying the weak and infirm and helpless among us. Through extending God’s mercy and compassion to these Christians, we can defeat Satan and preserve those who are essential to the growth of the church.
It is so important that we help these people with their earthly needs. The Togethers “Meet One Another’s Needs”, “Look Out for One Another’s Good”, and “Preserve One Another’s Hope” all show us what needs to be done in the material world.
However, mercy and compassion can be extended exponentially by helping debilitated Christians understand their reality from the spiritual dimension. What more compassionate thing can we do than help incapacitated believers see the advantages that come from their condition? By doing so, we can help them have purpose for their lives, even purpose that is a little outside of our own reach because we are so necessarily engaged in the material world.
When Jesus healed a man born blind, his disciples asked Him why it had happened. In this passage from John 9, perhaps we can have a glimpse beyond the veil and see something good brought out of affliction by the devil.
It is so important that we help these people with their earthly needs. The Togethers “Meet One Another’s Needs”, “Look Out for One Another’s Good”, and “Preserve One Another’s Hope” all show us what needs to be done in the material world.
However, mercy and compassion can be extended exponentially by helping debilitated Christians understand their reality from the spiritual dimension. What more compassionate thing can we do than help incapacitated believers see the advantages that come from their condition? By doing so, we can help them have purpose for their lives, even purpose that is a little outside of our own reach because we are so necessarily engaged in the material world.
When Jesus healed a man born blind, his disciples asked Him why it had happened. In this passage from John 9, perhaps we can have a glimpse beyond the veil and see something good brought out of affliction by the devil.
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
John 9:1-3
|
The usual understanding is that the man was born blind just so Jesus could heal him at that point in time. This is most likely incorrect, as noted by Herschel H. Hobbs, an extremely knowledgeable theologian: “Did He [God] will that this man should walk in physical darkness all these years for the purpose of healing him at this time? Such a position is contrary to the very nature of God.” (An Exposition of the Four Gospels, 1968, Baker Book House Company)
So, how else can we understand Jesus’ teaching about why some people under God’s watchful eye are incapacitated? Perhaps the translation from the Expanded Bible can give a clue.
So, how else can we understand Jesus’ teaching about why some people under God’s watchful eye are incapacitated? Perhaps the translation from the Expanded Bible can give a clue.
Jesus answered, “It is not this man’s sin or his parents’ sin that made him blind. This man was born blind so that God’s power [Literal: works] could be shown [displayed; revealed; manifest] in him.”
John 9:3 (Expanded Bible)
|
Minutes later Jesus confronted the unmerciful Pharisees and pointed out that they would have been better off if they had been born blind. Why would they have been better off blind? So that they could see that they (their spirits) were not right with God.
This shows that incapacitation can reveal things that are more difficult to see by those of us who are distracted by so many capabilities. While the Pharisees were not spiritually reborn, we are. We are new creatures in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). Yet, the principle is still valid. Those who are handicapped have the opportunity to be more aware of the non-physical world because to some degree they are not so distracted as we are.
Going further, Jesus’ expression, “This man was born blind so that God’s power [Literal: works] could be shown [displayed; revealed; manifest] in him.” can more reasonably mean that God’s power would manifest itself in the incapacitated man in the way of shaping his spirit to be more like Jesus. What could be more wonderful than that the phrase “that the works of God might be manifest in him” means change into the likeness of Christ?
Let’s show mercy and compassion to those less fortunate by helping them physically. But, more importantly, let’s reveal to them their great opportunity to grow their spirits into the image of Jesus. Let’s urge them to concentrate on the Scriptures and implementing the Togethers in the ways still open to them.
How in the Sinful Environment this Together Prepares Us for Heaven
This shows that incapacitation can reveal things that are more difficult to see by those of us who are distracted by so many capabilities. While the Pharisees were not spiritually reborn, we are. We are new creatures in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). Yet, the principle is still valid. Those who are handicapped have the opportunity to be more aware of the non-physical world because to some degree they are not so distracted as we are.
Going further, Jesus’ expression, “This man was born blind so that God’s power [Literal: works] could be shown [displayed; revealed; manifest] in him.” can more reasonably mean that God’s power would manifest itself in the incapacitated man in the way of shaping his spirit to be more like Jesus. What could be more wonderful than that the phrase “that the works of God might be manifest in him” means change into the likeness of Christ?
Let’s show mercy and compassion to those less fortunate by helping them physically. But, more importantly, let’s reveal to them their great opportunity to grow their spirits into the image of Jesus. Let’s urge them to concentrate on the Scriptures and implementing the Togethers in the ways still open to them.
How in the Sinful Environment this Together Prepares Us for Heaven
A twenty-something girl whose name we will keep secret was the daughter of Lily’s friend at work. One day at lunch this friend tearfully revealed to Lily that her daughter had been raped and ever since gone downhill. Her daughter put on a lot of weight, quit her job and isolates herself at home. Lily’s friend was beside herself. She and her husband did not know what to do for their daughter.
Heavy-hearted, Lily shared this information with her husband Asher at dinner. In their late 50's, these two had been married for only a few years following rebellious divorces. After they each had repented and come back to their faith in Christ, they found each other through a common friend. Having strayed in selfishness in their previous marriages, Asher and Lily determined never to again take their relationship with God so lightly. So when they heard of the young woman who had been so violated, they saw an opportunity to perhaps honor the Lord as much as they had earlier dishonored Him. Furthermore, they wanted to catch up on getting ready for heaven. Lily told her friend that she and her husband Asher would like to befriend Lily’s daughter and, as long it would take, to show her merciful compassion to help her recover from her trauma. They wanted to intercept the young woman’s isolation and see what God would do. Although a little wary of Lily’s reference to God, the friend agreed to the plan for she and her husband and daughter to come to dinner at Lily and Asher’s home. In that way Lily and Asher could get to know the daughter and begin reaching out to her. |
In showing mercy and delivering compassion to fellow believers who are terribly disadvantaged by physical or emotional damage, we become more focused on getting our own spirits ready for heaven. By helping them with basic necessities of life and then going beyond the veil of physical life to show them their opportunities to develop their spirits, we will get in closer touch with the need to develop our own spirits. If we then go on to do so through Scriptural obedience and faith together in implementing the Togethers, almost every aspect of eternal life will be enhanced for the present, and especially for heaven.
Jesus used mercy and compassion with regard to the physical world to open understanding to the spirit world. On one occasion He fed thousands of people to meet their physical hunger. The next day they followed Him for more food. He essentially said to them, “Don’t you get it? Life is all about spiritual food.”
They failed to recognize that gains in the spirit are the end game. We fail to understand this also. God’s blessings in the material world are far less valuable than the blessings to our spirits.
However, in showing mercy and compassion up close and personal with our brothers and sisters in the faith who are helpless in some critical way, we have the possibility of discovering that what counts is the maturity of our spirits, that which deep down inside us is who we truly are.
There appears to be no limit to the vile attacks of Satan upon all mankind. It is absolutely horrible that any girl is sold into sex slavery by her parents in Southeast Asia, anyone is born blind, or anyone is wheelchair bound from some disease or accident. What concerns us here in our exploration of faith together is why God allows these things to strike those who are His or going to be His.
It is so relieving to see that as distraught as we are about the hard situations of Christians we know who are handicapped physically or mentally, God is able to take what was meant for evil and bring along something far better. We learned this lesson from the life of Joseph who had this to say to his brothers who sold him into slavery many years earlier:
Jesus used mercy and compassion with regard to the physical world to open understanding to the spirit world. On one occasion He fed thousands of people to meet their physical hunger. The next day they followed Him for more food. He essentially said to them, “Don’t you get it? Life is all about spiritual food.”
They failed to recognize that gains in the spirit are the end game. We fail to understand this also. God’s blessings in the material world are far less valuable than the blessings to our spirits.
However, in showing mercy and compassion up close and personal with our brothers and sisters in the faith who are helpless in some critical way, we have the possibility of discovering that what counts is the maturity of our spirits, that which deep down inside us is who we truly are.
There appears to be no limit to the vile attacks of Satan upon all mankind. It is absolutely horrible that any girl is sold into sex slavery by her parents in Southeast Asia, anyone is born blind, or anyone is wheelchair bound from some disease or accident. What concerns us here in our exploration of faith together is why God allows these things to strike those who are His or going to be His.
It is so relieving to see that as distraught as we are about the hard situations of Christians we know who are handicapped physically or mentally, God is able to take what was meant for evil and bring along something far better. We learned this lesson from the life of Joseph who had this to say to his brothers who sold him into slavery many years earlier:
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good,
to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Genesis 50:20
to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Genesis 50:20
As we prepare for heaven by being merciful and compassionate, we are to teach incapacitated Christians to focus on preparing their spirits for heaven, not just to wait to get there and be whole again. To be sure, this restoration of their bodies and minds is truly something to be looking toward.
The bodies we have now embarrass us, for they become sick and die; but they will be full of glory when we come back to life again. Yes, they are weak, dying bodies now, but when we live again they will be full of strength.
1 Cor 15:43
|
However, there is more for our disabled Christian friends and relatives for right now. While they are waiting to get back what they have lost, there is much more important work to do. Therefore, we must understand more about the absolute importance of developing our spirits.
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our inner strength in the Lord is growing every day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 Cor 4:16-18
|
This can be better analyzed by the translation in the Expanded Bible.
So we do not give up [despair; lose heart]. Though our physical body [Literal: outer person] is becoming older and weaker [decaying; being destroyed], our spirit inside us [Literal: inner (person)] is made new [being renewed] every day. We have small troubles for a while now, but they [Literal: For our brief and insignificant trials/tribulations] are helping us gain [or producing in us] an eternal glory [Literal: burden/weight of glory] that is much greater than [overwhelmingly exceeds] the troubles. We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. [Literal: For; Because] What we see will last only a short time [Literal: is temporary/transitory], but what we cannot see will last forever [Literal: is eternal].
2 Cor 4:16-18
|
Hopefully, if we pass this news on to those who need our mercy and compassion, we ourselves will wake up to our own urgency to focus on the growth of our spirits into the image of Jesus Christ.
Note that we are not just developing good behavior as if we are fixing a problem with some effective but temporary solution. We are going beyond changing our behavior to changing who we are. We are not just imitating Jesus, we are becoming like Him. He is more spirit than flesh, and so should we be more like Him in our spirits. Changing our spirits (who we are) to be like Jesus’ spirit (Who He is, not just what He does) is what life is to be all about.
Perhaps we can seek out people who need merciful help and compassion. Let’s show mercy and compassion and, in doing so, see how important it is to develop our own spirits through all of the Togethers as we pursue faith together.
How this Together Can Make It Really Good in Heaven
Note that we are not just developing good behavior as if we are fixing a problem with some effective but temporary solution. We are going beyond changing our behavior to changing who we are. We are not just imitating Jesus, we are becoming like Him. He is more spirit than flesh, and so should we be more like Him in our spirits. Changing our spirits (who we are) to be like Jesus’ spirit (Who He is, not just what He does) is what life is to be all about.
Perhaps we can seek out people who need merciful help and compassion. Let’s show mercy and compassion and, in doing so, see how important it is to develop our own spirits through all of the Togethers as we pursue faith together.
How this Together Can Make It Really Good in Heaven
Kay was standing there at the pearly gates as her friend Mackenzie entered heaven. They had been best, best friends before Kay died in the nursing home. Over the years of their friendship they had served the Lord together in taking care of bedridden and wheelchair-bound people in their church. They had cried over these people, prayed with them, and done what they could to make their lives better.
Kay hugged Mackenzie and both cried with great happiness at being reunited in paradise. They looked each other over, dressed in their spiritual bodies without the physical counterparts that were left behind. (Kay’s body was in a grave and Mackenzie’s was soon to be ashes in an urn.) Then Kay excitedly took Mackenzie’s hand and announced that she wanted to show one of the most wonderful things about heaven – nobody was incapacitated! |
We will not need to show mercy and compassion to others in heaven. There will be no pain, no disability, no mental illness, no tragedies. The absence of incapacitation is just why our joy will be increased to the extent that we allowed ourselves to show mercy and compassion and deal with misery so up close and personal.
It is a shame that it is so easy to wall ourselves off from social contact with debilitated people. In more impoverished societies, the misery of people crippled physically or emotionally cannot be avoided. Such people are more out in the open. Even though we are prevented the emotional anguish of seeing the struggle of these dear handicapped people, we are being robbed of additional joy to be had in heaven when horrible tragedies are absent.
Even now, when I am with people who have no pain, I am happier than others because one of my very best friends is in continual pain. When I am with him, I want so much for him not to be struggling and incapacitated from so much of life he used to enjoy. And, I hope so much that he is handling his limited life by reaching further into spiritual life. The emotional sadness I experience when with him is surprisingly worth it and not something to be avoided. It will add joy to my eternal experience in heaven.
Can we look so forward to heaven and grasp that there will be endless extra joy available over and over and over again if we now help someone who needs mercy and compassion? Let’s try to understand this, not avoid those in seemingly impossible situations. Let’s look forward to the joy after death when we never again have to feel sad for anyone ever again.
Opportunity for a Closer Relationship with God through Empathy
It is a shame that it is so easy to wall ourselves off from social contact with debilitated people. In more impoverished societies, the misery of people crippled physically or emotionally cannot be avoided. Such people are more out in the open. Even though we are prevented the emotional anguish of seeing the struggle of these dear handicapped people, we are being robbed of additional joy to be had in heaven when horrible tragedies are absent.
Even now, when I am with people who have no pain, I am happier than others because one of my very best friends is in continual pain. When I am with him, I want so much for him not to be struggling and incapacitated from so much of life he used to enjoy. And, I hope so much that he is handling his limited life by reaching further into spiritual life. The emotional sadness I experience when with him is surprisingly worth it and not something to be avoided. It will add joy to my eternal experience in heaven.
Can we look so forward to heaven and grasp that there will be endless extra joy available over and over and over again if we now help someone who needs mercy and compassion? Let’s try to understand this, not avoid those in seemingly impossible situations. Let’s look forward to the joy after death when we never again have to feel sad for anyone ever again.
Opportunity for a Closer Relationship with God through Empathy
Jesus visited me the other day and asked me to come with Him. He said that He wanted to be with someone who had the capacity to understand His joy about something. He mentioned that there were not many who would be able to empathize with His level of happiness at what He was about to show me.
Soon we were sitting on a huge boulder overlooking a park-like meadow. Wildflowers were everywhere. And, there in the middle of them, was a man dancing to music only he could hear. I could tell he was happy, but I this was a sight not too uncommon here in eternal bliss. I looked at my Lord questioningly. He bent over and whispered to me, “That man was born without legs.” All of a sudden such wonder and joy flooded over me. Before I came to heaven, I had a friend who lived life bound to a wheelchair and imprisoned in a small efficiency apartment in a rundown neighborhood. For years I cried tears of mercy for my friend and did whatever I could to lighten her load. I married a man with similar compassion and he and I ministered to my friend for 18 years until death finally set her free. Our children helped out for the last ten years. Yes, I could feel what Jesus was feeling. I understood why He chose to spend this time with me. I reached over and took His hand and we exchanged a tender smile of common recognition. |
Those of us who can feel great joy at the absence of disability in heaven will be closer to God. We will sense it. Before dying in the cruel world of disease, accidents, and violence, we will have developed our spirits to fuse with God in this way of mercy and compassion. Back then we knew Jesus was happy with us. We knew the Holy Spirit was filling us with merciful compassion. But, in heaven without the distractions of a difficult world and that deadening fog of sin in our minds, we will be able to have a certainty that we are in Christ and He in us whenever the absence of handicap and incapacitation comes to mind.
Now, before death, our joy expands when we are with our loved ones and they are happy. In heaven, it will be like that for God. All of us feeling such joy that there are no longer any victims of disease, accidents, or violence will add to the joy God feels. Adding to God’s joy will be so thrilling, just like when we add to the happiness of family and friends now.
Let’s look forward to sharing with God the joy that will come in heaven when merciful compassion is no longer needed. It will truly be wonderful, that joy filled with such peace.
Praise and Prayer Regarding this Together
Compassionate Lord Who has shown us such mercy, I and those in my Christian Inner Circle will need Your help to grow our spirits to show mercy to and be compassionate with believers struggling with debilitating conditions, whether related to basis needs or physical and emotional damage. Help us to yield to the work of the Holy Spirit for all of us to give You more glory through showing mercy and compassion that includes helping others see their opportunities, no matter their situation, to develop their spirits for relationship with You as well as for life in heaven.
Please help us all to become more like Jesus and take on limitations to our lives so that we can give time and energy to minister mercy and compassion to the most needy. Keep us from being isolated from the misery of other Christians so that we can be like Jesus and show mercy and compassion.
May our lives worship You more because we reflect God’s mercy and compassion, especially with people in our Christian Inner Circles whose need is long-term. As we take care of those handicapped, infirm, ill, or disabled, help us to do it to worship You, reflecting back to You Your own merciful and compassionate nature.
Make us strong in Your power to defeat the devil by showing mercy and compassion to those he has afflicted in horrible ways. Since permanent disability and illness will go away the moment they enter heaven, give us the wisdom and words necessary to help debilitated Christians understand their reality from the spiritual dimension. While Satan wants to destroy their faith, let us through mercy and compassion build their faith and defeat the devil.
Help us all to prepare for heaven by becoming more aware of our own need to focus on getting our own spirits ready for heaven through our working with others to see beyond their physical condition to their spiritual condition for the future when they are free of their struggle.
Ever increasing practice of the Togethers of Scripture will (1) create in you the loving essence of Jesus, (2) give Jesus the kind of love He requested, (3) provide you with the most significant spiritual lifestyle which is attainable only through Christian community, (4) offer significant worship to God by reflecting his own character back to him through your behavior, and (5) bring God’s kingdom to earth as asked for in the Lord’s Prayer. And for heaven, such growing obedience to Scripture now will later (6) qualify you for a more responsible place of service as reward in heaven, and, (7) most important of all, give you greater empathy with God for a closer relationship with Him for all of eternity.
Now, before death, our joy expands when we are with our loved ones and they are happy. In heaven, it will be like that for God. All of us feeling such joy that there are no longer any victims of disease, accidents, or violence will add to the joy God feels. Adding to God’s joy will be so thrilling, just like when we add to the happiness of family and friends now.
Let’s look forward to sharing with God the joy that will come in heaven when merciful compassion is no longer needed. It will truly be wonderful, that joy filled with such peace.
Praise and Prayer Regarding this Together
Compassionate Lord Who has shown us such mercy, I and those in my Christian Inner Circle will need Your help to grow our spirits to show mercy to and be compassionate with believers struggling with debilitating conditions, whether related to basis needs or physical and emotional damage. Help us to yield to the work of the Holy Spirit for all of us to give You more glory through showing mercy and compassion that includes helping others see their opportunities, no matter their situation, to develop their spirits for relationship with You as well as for life in heaven.
Please help us all to become more like Jesus and take on limitations to our lives so that we can give time and energy to minister mercy and compassion to the most needy. Keep us from being isolated from the misery of other Christians so that we can be like Jesus and show mercy and compassion.
May our lives worship You more because we reflect God’s mercy and compassion, especially with people in our Christian Inner Circles whose need is long-term. As we take care of those handicapped, infirm, ill, or disabled, help us to do it to worship You, reflecting back to You Your own merciful and compassionate nature.
Make us strong in Your power to defeat the devil by showing mercy and compassion to those he has afflicted in horrible ways. Since permanent disability and illness will go away the moment they enter heaven, give us the wisdom and words necessary to help debilitated Christians understand their reality from the spiritual dimension. While Satan wants to destroy their faith, let us through mercy and compassion build their faith and defeat the devil.
Help us all to prepare for heaven by becoming more aware of our own need to focus on getting our own spirits ready for heaven through our working with others to see beyond their physical condition to their spiritual condition for the future when they are free of their struggle.
Ever increasing practice of the Togethers of Scripture will (1) create in you the loving essence of Jesus, (2) give Jesus the kind of love He requested, (3) provide you with the most significant spiritual lifestyle which is attainable only through Christian community, (4) offer significant worship to God by reflecting his own character back to him through your behavior, and (5) bring God’s kingdom to earth as asked for in the Lord’s Prayer. And for heaven, such growing obedience to Scripture now will later (6) qualify you for a more responsible place of service as reward in heaven, and, (7) most important of all, give you greater empathy with God for a closer relationship with Him for all of eternity.