Month: January 2014

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God Heals Your Hurts

He had compassion on them. MATTHEW 14:14 NIV

The Greek word for compassion is splanchnizomai, which won’t mean much to you unless you are in the health professions and studied “splanchnology” in school. If so, you remember that “splanchnology” is a study of … the gut.

When Matthew writes that Jesus had compassion on the people, he is not saying that Jesus felt casual pity for them. No, the term is far more graphic. Matthew is saying that Jesus felt their hurt in his gut:

He felt the limp of the crippled.

He felt the hurt of the diseased.

He felt the loneliness of the leper.

He felt the embarrassment of the sinful.

And once he felt their hurts, he couldn’t help but heal their hurts.

In the Eye of the Storm

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When Fear Grips Us

Isaiah 41:10

All throughout the Scriptures, the Lord encourages us not to be afraid or anxious. As His children, we have no basis for fear. Of course, there are reasons for us to be extremely cautious about what we do and where we go, but God’s people are not to live in a state of anxiety.

If you think about it, you can identify at least six anxieties that are basic to all mankind. They are the fear of criticism, illness, old age, death, poverty, and losing a loved one. Although these are universal worries, they are in reality symptoms of something deep inside that feeds our fears.

Some of the root causes are:

A basic sense of inadequacy. Because of distorted thinking, we frequently feel incompetent to tackle certain challenges or tasks that should be possible for us to accomplish.

The tendency to set unrealistic standards for ourselves. We can go through life trying to measure up to lofty expectations that are self-imposed rather than goals set by God.

An innate sense of unworthiness. It’s amazing how many people will not succeed in life because they just don’t feel they deserve it.

In the midst of our fears and anxieties, we need to remember God’s promise in today’s passage. He reassures us, “Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” It is important that we look up at Him and not around at our circumstances.

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The Great Commission

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

The so-called “great commission” of the Lord to His disciples is found in somewhat different form in each of the four gospels and in still another form in the first chapter of Acts. To get the full message of the commission, all five must be analyzed and organized together.

The most familiar statement is in Mark 16:15 above. This was in the upper room and must have followed the words recorded by John: “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21).

The commission was then further defined as recorded in Luke 24:47-48: “That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.”

Still later, on a mountain in Galilee, He told the disciples (literally): “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Not only were they to preach the saving gospel, implemented by true repentance unto remission of sins, based on His death, burial, and resurrection (Luke 24:46), but then to “disciple” people, baptize them, and indoctrinate them in all His teachings.

Finally, just before His ascension, He summarized the commission once again: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Above all, we are to go and to witness to all people in all places, as God enables. HMM

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And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people

And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows.—Exodus 3:7.

THOU knowest, Lord, the weariness and sorrow
Of the sad heart that comes to Thee for rest;
Cares of to day, and burdens for tomorrow,
Blessings implored, and sins to be confessed:
I come before Thee at Thy gracious word,
And lay them at Thy feet,—Thou knowest, Lord.
JANE BORTHWICK.

THAT sorrow which can be seen is the lightest form really, however apparently heavy; then there is that which is not seen, secret sorrows which yet can be put into words, and can be told to near friends as well as be poured out to God; but there are sorrows beyond these, such as are never told, and cannot be put into words, and may only be wordlessly laid before God: these are the deepest. Now comes the supply for each: “I have seen” that which is patent and external; “I have heard their cry,” which is the expression of this, and of as much of the external as is expressible; but this would not go deep enough, so God adds, “I know their sorrows,” down to very depths of all, those which no eye sees or ear ever heard.
F. R. HAVERGAL.

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It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Lamentations 3:27

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

We have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us; and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. — Humble yourselves, therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.

Proverbs 22:6. Hebrews 12:9,10. Psalm 119:67,71. Jeremiah 29:11. 1 Peter 5:6.

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Let us run with patience the race that is set before us

Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:1,2

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. — Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. — Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness.

Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when

I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. — Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ

Jesus. — Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD.

Luke 9:23. Luke 14:33. Romans 13:12. 1 Corinthians 9:25,27. Philippians 3:13,14. Hosea 6:3.

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WHAT SIZE IS YOUR GOD?

“For God all things are possible.”MATTHEW 19:26

Nature is God’s workshop. The sky is his resume. The universe is his calling card. You want to know who God is? See what he has done. You want to know his power? Take a look at his creation. Curious about his strength? Pay a visit to his home address: 1 Billion Starry Sky Avenue.

He is untainted by the atmosphere of sin, unbridled by the time line of history, unhindered by the weariness of the body.

What controls you doesn’t control him. What troubles you doesn’t trouble him. What fatigues you doesn’t fatigue him. Is an eagle disturbed by traffic? No, he rises above it. Is the whale perturbed by a hurricane? Of course not, he plunges beneath it. Is the lion flustered by the mouse standing directly in his way? No, he steps over it.

How much more is God able to soar above, plunge beneath, and step over the troubles of the earth!

from THE GREAT HOUSE OF GOD

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Spend Time Seeking the Lord

Hosea 10:12

We all spend some time seeking the Lord, but to be truly successful at it, we must learn to adjust our focus. The reason focus is important is that what we behold, we become. If we fix our attention on the sensual and materialistic, it won’t be long before we ourselves start leaning in that direction. I challenge you not to sit in front of the television, or partake of other forms of entertainment that allow unhealthy ideas into your mind night after night. While you might think it has no influence, it actually has a subtle but terrible gripping effect on you.

If, on the other hand, you focus your love and attention on Jesus, you will become like Him. As believers, we can focus on Him when we pray, when we study the Scriptures, and when we meditate on God’s truths. But we must go deeper, to the point that we are listening and sharing our hearts with Him. If we are open and transparent before Him, He will speak and pour Himself into us, like a spiritual version of osmosis.

When we learn to do this, we will find that our hunger and thirst for everything else begins to diminish. It’s not that our desires will disappear; they instead become redirected. You will discover you have a growing hunger for God and a longing to know Him in a deep, personal way. And you will notice your joy bubbling up and overflowing so that it cannot be stopped or stifled. Why? Because once you have begun to seek the Lord, you will recognize Him as your all in all.