GENUINE COMPASSION

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“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Matthew 9:35-36

In His intense work of the ministry, Jesus sensed the huge need people had and the lack of servants willing to share the message of salvation. So He asked His disciples to pray for workers. This means that Christian leadership needs people who are willing to carry the burden of others. Making Jesus available to others is the foundation of true compassion. Also, this passage from the Bible teaches us five important points to carry out in order to develop a genuine compassion:

1. “Jesus went through all the towns and villages.” Walking by the towns, Jesus realized first-hand how people were feeling. This was the way that He could know their most urgent needs. We need to go to the places where the people are hungry and thirsty for God.

2. “Teaching in their synagogues.” Teaching removes the veil and shows with clarity the revelation of what God wants for our lives. Through the words spoken by the prophet Hosea the Lord revealed the reason for their spiritual condition:

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children” (Hosea 4:6).

If they had the knowledge of the Word of God, the Lord would have protected and preserved them in priesthood, by taking care of their descendants. We must dedicate time to train people in the Word of God so that their lives can be on the right path.

3. “Proclaiming the good news of the kingdom.” Preaching the Gospel confronts a person’s sin, and it is the only way to bring them to repentance. The one and only thing that is able to transform people’s lives is the Word of God. That is why it is so important to teach it in a simple way and to be a living testimony of God’s work, so that others will long to surrender to the Lord.

4. “Healing every disease and sickness.” The compassion of the Lord was so huge that he did not just give them the message of salvation, but He also healed them of all sickness and disease. We must exercise our authority, in the name of Jesus, to bring people to deliverance from any demonic oppression.

5. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them.” Jesus knew that the job was too much for only one person, so He encouraged them to ask God in prayer to send more workers into the harvest field. Then He taught them by his example, that the easiest way to help the multitudes was through forming a team of twelve people. In fact, the first thing Jesus did was to choose twelve people to help Him carry the burden of the job.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
I went to officiate a funeral for the daughter of the Pastors in Stockholm, Sweden. It was for a girl who was twenty-five years old and went to be with the Lord. Even when she had to struggle for years with her illness, she never used it as an excuse to miss her meetings. She always dedicated time to train her disciples. I was really impressed at the ceremony when eleven of her disciples (one was absent due to her job) walked to the front. They began to share testimonies of how the Lord had rescued them through Lin’s life and her message of hope. They testified that now they believed in themselves once again, and they shared their desire to continue serving God. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. Lin left this world in peace because she was able to leave a legacy for her team of twelve disciples.

TODAY’S DECLARATION
“Jesus reached me, saved me, and knitted my faith with compassion.”

Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume Three.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING

    • Old Testament: Isaiah 11-13; Proverbs 20:16-30
    • New Testament: Luke 21:29-38; Hebrews 3

GENUINE COMPASSION