Kingdom culture - compassion

Rhett Topliss

Focus scriptures: James 5:11, Luke 7:11
I wanted to begin with the premise that our core belief and understanding of God will influence our behavior towards others. Children’s understanding of God is so simplistic and innocent! But we can lose this along the way in life’s journey & experience; our core belief in a Good God can be stained with the mud of ours and others trials, misfortunes & pain.
James 5:11 reminds us that God is essentially (full of) compassion & mercy, even if our life experiences or feelings seem to contradict this. The ‘end’ intended of the Lord was Job’s eventual good & blessing.
The names of God reveal his character; we need a balanced view of God; the terrible God of Sinai was also the whispering God of Horeb. ‘El Shadddai’ the Almighty – all sufficient one, is also revealed (By the Hebrew ‘Shad’) as a nurturing and loving God.
The encounter at Nain demonstrates to us the loving and compassionate nature of God. We looked at the plight of the poor widow in question and Jesus wonderful response & supernatural intervention.
• Jesus felt a deep heart reaction
• Jesus spoke words of comfort and reassurance
• Jesus action was a wonderful intervention to restore the situation
NT teaches us many things issues that provoked the Lords compassion, i.e. shepherd less, sick, blind, lepers, ect Rom 9 reminds us that compassion for God (and us) is an action of the will, 2 Cor 1 describes God as the ‘Father of compassion’ – we can take great comfort in that personally.
Often God brings us into situations where we must minister to others in the midst of our own troubles & pain Q Why do you think he does that?
Stephen Grellet’s quote reminds us that ‘We shall not pass by this way again’ so we need to be aware and awake to the opportunities God places before us. (Discuss the importance of this thought)
Finally, Eph 5:1 encourages us to ‘imitate God as dear children’ we glorify the Father by letting his loving heart live through us to others.
Lets live in the grace of God & demonstrate his compassion.
Ps Rhett