Compassion For The Lost
DAILY VITAMIN
- Compassion For The Lost
"BRETHREN, [with all] my heart's desire and goodwill for [Israel], I long and pray to God that they may be saved." (Romans 10:1 AMP)
In His wrath against the children of Israel, God was willingly ready to disown them, when He used the words ''thy people'' while conversing with Moses, instead of the usual 'My people' (see Exodus 32:7); and at this stage, He was also ready to offer Moses a blank cheque to become the nation Israel was meant to be, and perhaps if that had happened we would have been familiar with the word Mosites and not Israelites as God's people.
But note, even at the sight of this massive offer, Moses never failed to remember purpose, to remember what was his obligation to God's people, even to the extent that he indirectly wagered his own salvation on the platter of the conditions that God would forgive the backsliden Israelites (v. 32). He was willing to either be forsaken together with them or be accepted altogether alongside this lost souls- showing the greatest criterion of a true leader: Selflessness....and this he did in his talk with God.
Now, placing ourselves in Moses' position, how many times have we been so selfless in actions, in utterances, in prayers to think of others as we have for ourselves? How often do we say to God..'Save my non-believing family as you saved me'?
When last did we repeat the old preacher's words who said to God 'Give me the salvation of my country or I die'? When last did we think less of ourselves and more of the other guy? God seeks men who would stand in the gap (Ezekiel 22:30); and to be sincere the greatest gap-filler is a mediator, and the greatest mediator has to be a selfless man.....a man like Jesus whom even at pain was still concerned to pray for the lost.
In Acts 10:38, we are told that Jesus was so filled with power by the Holy Spirit that He couldn't but go ahead performing God's agenda concerning the salvation of men. He had compassion for them, and delivered them from their chains into God’s liberty. That's why the first thing the Spirit grants us is the compassion for the lost. Because without that, we won't go the distance to do what God expects of us concerning the lost. (see Romans 10:1).
Remember how Jesus reacted when He saw the widow of Nain. The Holy Spirit empowers us to do God's will regarding mankind. Religious people may suggest that it ends with churchy activities and the likes alone, but it is much more. While that is good, it's not enough. Every service to God doesn't end with God alone, it must be extended towards men. And that was what Jesus did.
Everything that leads to the expansion of the Kingdom in the hearts of men is what the Holy Spirit came for. He never limits Himself to church activities alone. In fact, tell them that if all they engage the Holy Spirit for is within the church walls, then they have failed. Because He brings multitudes and entire cities to seek God, and we don't achieve that by being passive, but by engaging the will of the Father at all times to rescue the lost.
So the question truly should be, "How much have you been like Jesus?" How much compassion have you shown for the lost?
- Compassion For The Lost
"BRETHREN, [with all] my heart's desire and goodwill for [Israel], I long and pray to God that they may be saved." (Romans 10:1 AMP)
In His wrath against the children of Israel, God was willingly ready to disown them, when He used the words ''thy people'' while conversing with Moses, instead of the usual 'My people' (see Exodus 32:7); and at this stage, He was also ready to offer Moses a blank cheque to become the nation Israel was meant to be, and perhaps if that had happened we would have been familiar with the word Mosites and not Israelites as God's people.
But note, even at the sight of this massive offer, Moses never failed to remember purpose, to remember what was his obligation to God's people, even to the extent that he indirectly wagered his own salvation on the platter of the conditions that God would forgive the backsliden Israelites (v. 32). He was willing to either be forsaken together with them or be accepted altogether alongside this lost souls- showing the greatest criterion of a true leader: Selflessness....and this he did in his talk with God.
Now, placing ourselves in Moses' position, how many times have we been so selfless in actions, in utterances, in prayers to think of others as we have for ourselves? How often do we say to God..'Save my non-believing family as you saved me'?
When last did we repeat the old preacher's words who said to God 'Give me the salvation of my country or I die'? When last did we think less of ourselves and more of the other guy? God seeks men who would stand in the gap (Ezekiel 22:30); and to be sincere the greatest gap-filler is a mediator, and the greatest mediator has to be a selfless man.....a man like Jesus whom even at pain was still concerned to pray for the lost.
In Acts 10:38, we are told that Jesus was so filled with power by the Holy Spirit that He couldn't but go ahead performing God's agenda concerning the salvation of men. He had compassion for them, and delivered them from their chains into God’s liberty. That's why the first thing the Spirit grants us is the compassion for the lost. Because without that, we won't go the distance to do what God expects of us concerning the lost. (see Romans 10:1).
Remember how Jesus reacted when He saw the widow of Nain. The Holy Spirit empowers us to do God's will regarding mankind. Religious people may suggest that it ends with churchy activities and the likes alone, but it is much more. While that is good, it's not enough. Every service to God doesn't end with God alone, it must be extended towards men. And that was what Jesus did.
Everything that leads to the expansion of the Kingdom in the hearts of men is what the Holy Spirit came for. He never limits Himself to church activities alone. In fact, tell them that if all they engage the Holy Spirit for is within the church walls, then they have failed. Because He brings multitudes and entire cities to seek God, and we don't achieve that by being passive, but by engaging the will of the Father at all times to rescue the lost.
So the question truly should be, "How much have you been like Jesus?" How much compassion have you shown for the lost?
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