Power of Compassion

          

Key Scripture:  “This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. “ I John 3:17

Power Point:

A child can break your heart as no one else can can’t they? When there is a betrayal of your trust it can bring such deep wounds. I love that God wants us to see that no matter how deeply we wound Him, He is always full of compassion for us. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, Holy Spirit paints the most perfect picture of what God will always do when His children run back to Him.  He sees us from the beginning of our journey and waits expectantly for the journey to turn us back to Him.

Our poodles do the strangest thing at times.  When someone they know is coming, they begin to bark and get excited when that person leaves their house and begins the drive to our house. I’ve actually seen videos on TV where they filmed the dog and the owner at the same time. When the master began to think about coming home, the dog would wake up and go to his place of waiting by the door. Somehow they know when we’re coming home.

The Hebrew word for compassion means to be moved from the very depths of your being. Jesus was the perfect picture of compassion. He had compassion on the widow whose son had died and as they were going to the grave, He brought him back to life. He had compassion on His people because they were like sheep without a Shepherd-so He taught them Truth and became their Shepherd. He had compassion on the multitude and created a miracle to feed over 5000 of them.

His compassion was the fuel for a great part of His life, as it should be for ours if we really want to be like Jesus.

When we are a great way off, He sees us and has compassion on us from the very depths of His being. He waits, because He knows we’re coming. He runs to us and kisses us with all the passion that is in Him.  If you’ve ever worried about God’s reactions to your failures you never need to be again. Just read this parable and realize that He is waiting for you, back at the very place you left Him. 

The minute you turn your feet toward Him, He sees it. Even before you actually set yourself in motion, He knows you are coming. Like the father in this parable, He’s scanning the road for the sight of you.  He’s listening for the sound of your feet . And when He sees you, be prepared for the hugs and kisses and extreme compassion, and a big welcome home.

Power Thought:

Compassion is extreme kindness. It is a heart in which mercy resides.