Does your compassion lead to action?
30 Mar 26
Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One
Readings:
Judges 1
Judges 2
Luke 7:1-30
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7).
Does your compassion lead to action?
Perhaps you’ve heard about individuals crashing a wedding. How about a funeral? Jesus interrupts a funeral procession because His heart was touched. Luke writes about the Son of Man, “When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep’” (Luke 7:13). Our Lord extends mercy to a widow whose only son has died (Luke 7:12). Most likely she would have no means of support, not having a husband or son to care for her. Jesus makes Himself ceremonially unclean by choosing to come in contact with the dead. Yet He “touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise’” (Luke 7:14). Similarly, we ought to grant compassion to the needy who come upon our path.
Employment Point: Turn your compassion into action by extending mercy to the needy.
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Reflections
“Now the tribes of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with them. When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, “Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well.” So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family.”
Judges 1:22-25 NIV
- This reminds me of Rahab who helped them capture a city as well. Perhaps these people are ones whom the Lord chose to spare, the ones who had shown mercy to the Lord’s people. Therefore we ought to show them mercy as well, regardless of who their identities are.
- Anyone who is not against us is for us and we will never know who the Lord may use for His glory.
“After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.”
Judges 2:10-11 NIV
- this is sad that the Lord’s commandments to teach their children all about the Lord was not done. Even though that whole generation followed and did what the Lord commanded, their future generation was not made known of what the Lord wanted them to follow, to love Him and not any other gods. Made things worse when it was the Baals which they served, totally evil.. 😥
“Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress. Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.”
Judges 2:15-16 NIV
- how gracious is our Lord. He may be angry for these generation of people who failed to follow His commands, yet He never let them go. The judges are chances given to them to help guide them out of the rut, pick them out of darkness and the ones who shine like light in the tunnel.
- I think this is the same for us too. When we meet atrocious people or people who are just plain evil, we are not to judge but to show mercy like how we are being shown mercy. If the Lord can forgive a murderer who was also crucified with Him, who else can we not forgive and grant them another chance.
“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.””Luke 7:9 NIV
- our faith has the ability to save us. It’s a reminder for us not to underestimate this power of the Lord.
“When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.””Luke 7:13 NIV
- And here, we saw how the Lord was full of compassion for the widow. As how we have known Him all this while, He does have the tendency to care more about the widows and the fatherless. To show compassion to the needy.
- we are not called to live a comfortable life by ourselves and give no regard to the people around us. Which was also why in the past, people were made to sell their possessions and share with the poor. I kind of think if the Lord were to ask us to do this now, many may not be able to pass this test. The poor will not have an issue for they will be provided for but the rich may have problems living a different kind of lifestyle that they have from the past.
- Would you be able to give up all you have to share with the others?
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Holiness versus Hardness
BY OSWALD CHAMBERS
March 30
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. — 1 Timothy 2:1
The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that our interest in prayer is merely sentimental. We read books that say prayer is beneficial, that it quiets the mind and uplifts the soul, and this makes us feel good. It makes us feel right to say we pray. But prayer, in God’s eyes, must go together with intercession. One is impossible without the other.
To intercede in prayer on another’s behalf is to seek the mind of God about that person. Too often, instead of worshipping during prayer, we construct arguments about how prayer works. “I don’t see how you’re going to do this,” we say to God. If we’re arguing with God like this, it’s a sure sign that we aren’t worshipping. We’re hurling demands at his throne and dictating what we want him to do. When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic toward him. And when we become hard toward God, we become hard toward other people.
Are we worshipping when we pray, lifting our minds up to know God’s thoughts? Are we living in a holy relationship to him? Or are we hard and dogmatic?
“He was appalled that there was no one to intervene” (Isaiah 59:16). If there is no one, do the job yourself. Become the one who worships God and lives in holy relationship to him. Commit to the hard work of intervening in prayer on others’ behalf, and remember that it is, truly, work. But it is work that will sustain you, as the Lord’s “own righteousness sustained him” (v. 16).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
When a man’s heart is right with God the mysterious utterances of the Bible are spirit and life to him. Spiritual truth is discernible only to a pure heart, not to a keen intellect. It is not a question of profundity of intellect, but of purity of heart.
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Reflections
Reading this devotional reminds me of the situation I am in where one of the members may not be able to go for a trip together due to a reason which is unknown to us all.
The morning when I was due to receive the reply about whether the member can go ahead, I told the member that I remember and will keep the member in prayer and I prayed to the Lord for Him to reveal His will. My wish is of course for the member to be able to join but it is no longer what I wish but His will be done.
I have learnt that many things are not within my control and what more other people’s life. But then again, His track record showed me that He cares and loves much more than I do. So it is best that I just trust Him to do His thing.
In the middle of the service, I suddenly felt a heaviness in my heart and I knew that it was a no reply. Committed the member into the Lord’s hands and told the Lord, it is Your will. I have the peace that whatever happens, I let go and let be. I know that if He wanted to He had the fully ability to turn hearts and change the whole situation. I just need to trust Him and the whole process, be it a yes or a no. But one thing I won’t do is to stop praying. I know He hears and I know He knows. I still submit the outcome to Him but I will intercede when I can.
So yes, true enough. I checked my phone after service and saw the message. I realised it can get frustrated, disappointed or even discouraged but I realised each of these moments is also a learning point for me. To exercise patience, to trust and to never stop praying. May that be the same for you too.
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Lent devotion Day 41/53
taken from YouVersion, Lent for Everyone
Lent for Everyone is a devotional created and written by N.T. (Tom) Wright. For each day of Lent, there is a reading chosen from the Gospel of Matthew, plus a reflection by Wright. These readings have grown out of a project encouraging Lent reading in Northern England. This is the second in a three-volume series based on the Revised Common Lectionary of the Church of England.
Today’s reading:
Matthew 26:14-35
HOLY WEEK: MONDAY
Some of the sharpest, most bitter arguments the church has ever had have been about the meaning of the meal which Jesus shared with his friends the night before he died, and of the similar meals his friends have shared ever since. In the sixteenth century, in particular, these arguments exploded in several directions as Christians accused one another of perverting or even undermining altogether the point and purpose of this meal.
That is tragic, of course, but the present passage indicates that we should not after all be surprised. The story of Jesus sharing the bread and the wine, in those four brief verses 26—29, is surrounded by the discussion of the betrayal that was about to happen (verses 14—16, 20—25) and the warning that all the disciples would abandon him, and that Peter, particularly, would deny him (verses 30—35). Perhaps it is always so.
Perhaps, whenever something truly and massively important is afoot, it becomes the place where attack is concentrated, where Jesus' friends will be distracted by so many immediate muddles and concerns that they risk missing the glorious thing that stands quietly in the centre, the gleaming diamond in the middle of the rubbish-heap.
And diamond it is — with many facets, reflecting light all around. This meal, this Passover-with-a-difference, was the way Jesus chose to explain to his followers what his death was all about. They hadn't understood what he'd said to them up to this point, but this meal, and their repeating of it there- after, would soak it deep down into their imaginations. What you do, and particularly what you eat and drink, changes the way you think and feel. Jesus wanted them, and us, to know at a level much deeper than mere theory that his death was the true Passover, the time when God acted to rescue his people from slavery once and for all, and that we are not merely spectators but participants and beneficiaries. When we come to the table, as Paul said to the Corinthians, we truly share in his body and blood (1 Corinthians 10.16). We are shaped and formed, together and individually, as Passover-people, as rescued-from-slavery people, as dying- with-Jesus people.
For a community to be formed and shaped in that way is perhaps the most powerful thing that can happen to a group of people. Again, that's why it's so easy to distort it, to allow squabbles and muddles and even betrayals and denials to creep in and spoil it. Sometimes the church has made its sharing of this meal into such a wonderful work of art that everyone is thinking about how clever the art is rather than about how awesome Jesus is. Other Christians have over-reacted to this, and come to the meal, when they have to, almost casually or flippantly, like someone whisking through an art gallery with a cheerful comment about the pretty paintings. We all need, constantly, to find our way back into the heart and meaning of this meal. As Jesus makes clear in verse 29, this meal is the prelude to the coming of the kingdom — which must mean that Jesus himself, and Matthew in shaping his gospel the way he has, saw his death, interpreted in this Passover-fashion, as the final act of kingdom-bringing.
Certainly that is the implication of 28.18. Jesus' death is the final overthrow of the powers of darkness, which is why his resurrection then establishes him as the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth. However puzzled we may be (if all this is anywhere near the truth, we should hardly expect to understand such a huge and mysterious thing straight off), we are called to share the meal, to stay focused on Jesus as the rescuer, the kingdom-bringer, and so to encourage one another to be kingdom-people. To be Jesus-people.
TODAY
Help us, gracious Lord, to come to your table in gratitude and love, that we may be formed into your people and be strengthened in your service.
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Let’s pray:
Father we thank You for reminding us about the true meaning behind every holy communion. It is a reminder that You have given up Your life and Your blood for the ransom of many and as we partake this Holy Communion, may it be to us not something that we do out of habit but something that anchors us to the night of passover. Your great redemption of our lives and our sins, cleansed once and for all. Thank You Lord. In Jesus’s name. Amen 🙏🏻
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