You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘compassion’ tag.
Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8
A master potter knows clay. He knows how to mix the clay to just the right consistency. A master potter never begins forming the piece of clay and thinking “Hm, I wonder how this will turn out? Will it be a large vase, or a plate, or a mug? Let’s just throw it out here and see what happens!” Nope. Not going to happen. Not for master potter.
The master potter sets out to make a clay vessel that is practical, beautiful and flawless. Yep, flawless. Because one small flaw in the vessel can make it weak and completely useless. The master potter goes into the project knowing exactly what the end result will be. He knows there will be flaws, but he’ll work them out. Flaws don’t bother him because they are expected and can be solved even if it means starting over again.
The master potter knows that a good vessel takes time and he’s willing to take all the time necessary to make sure this project before him turns out as planned. He’s not willing to leave the work undone or done poorly because his name is on the vessel. Everyone in town looks for his vessels because they know his time consuming work.
Our Heavenly Father is referred to as the potter and we as the clay. As master potter, our Father knows what he wants us to look like. He wants us to look exactly like Jesus. He knows it will take time. He knows there will be flaws that need to be worked out. Worry, addictions, guilt, rebellion, anger, hatred, judgmental attitudes…all flaws that can be worked out with time and the strong fingers of his mercy, grace and love.
People that don’t understand the art of molding clay into useful vessels don’t understand. They see imperfections in the clay and think it’s worthless and that it needs to be thrown out. Our Father knows that no clay is worthless. He knows that with time and passion he can work out any flaw. From the clays perspective it will be painful, but the potter knows that the end result will be worth his time and worth the clay’s pain.
One more thing about the master potter. His hands are on the work from start to finish. He never leaves a project to start another one. You are always in God’s hands. He is always forming you and shaping you. He is always using the events of your life to work out the flaws. He’s willing to take the time. He wants you to look just like Jesus.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for your great love. I thank you that your love is willing to take the time to work out the flaws in my life. I look at myself and can’t imagine these flaws ever being gone. Thank you for your patience with me. Thank you for your love and grace. Give me the strength to endure the working out of the flaws in my life. Help me to look more and more like Jesus every day. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15
Have you ever taken the time to sit and listen to any of the promotional television shows? Each show has a product or ‘system’ to sell that will make your life easier physically, relationally financially or career-wise. The problem with most of these shows is that they can’t possibly take into account your particular life circumstance, your past, your family situation, your feelings or your hurts.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a show on TV that gave you ten easy steps to having whatever you wanted or needed in life? The unfortunate reality is, it’s not going to happen. No one can possibly give you an easy answer to all the things that are troubling you. There is no quick-fix to the disappointments, the pain of abuse, the fear of the future or the shadows of your past, those ghosts in the closet that you have kept hidden for years.
Worse yet, no one fully understands how you feel. You may be lucky enough to have one or two friends that can understand somewhat the feelings you are going through. They may be able to cry with you, listen to you and support you, but nobody can climb inside your body to know exactly how you feel. No one, that is, except Jesus.
Jesus alone knows and understands exactly how you feel and understands your weakness. In fact, the Bible says he personally has experienced every temptation, every rejection, every struggle you have. The difference is that Jesus never gave in to those temptations, never let the rejection keep him captive, never allowed the attacks of other people to affect how he viewed himself.
Even though he knows how to overcome all those obstacles, he’s not going to hold that over you. You’ll never hear Jesus say, “Suck it up! I resisted. I overcame. You just need to be strong. You just need to reach deep within yourself and resolve to be better”. Jesus won’t criticize us because even though he was victorious over the struggles of life, he knows we are weak. He knows we fail.
Jesus is our great high-priest. A high-priest was the person that would go before God with our sins and seek God’s forgiveness on our behalf. When Jesus goes to the Father with our sin, he says something like, “I know he’s failed again. I know she’s having a hard time with forgiveness and that addiction, but I know how he/she feels. I was there. I know the struggle and the power life can have over them.”
There aren’t ten easy steps to perfection. But there is one easy step to forgiveness in Jesus Christ. There is one person in this world who understands every time you’ve failed. Every time you’ve given in to an addiction, a struggle, anger, hate or any of the other things that attack. Jesus understands. He longs to hold you in his arms of grace. He’s only a prayer away.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I don’t fully understand how you can understand me when I don’t understand myself most days. There are so many days when I wake up in the morning determined to conquer the obstacles in my path, only to fail miserably. Thank you for knowing how I feel. Thank you for accepting me anyway. Forgive me for my failings and empower me to get up and keep going. In your name I pray, Amen.
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22
It’s amazing to me how much power we have to affect the lives of others as well as ourselves. We think of God as being all-powerful and we as being weak human beings and, comparatively of course, that’s true. The all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God is no match for our frailty as human beings.
The other side of that coin is that we are made in the image of God. As such He has given us the tremendous power to choose. The most important choice we make everyday is whether to believe what God says about us or to believe what we and others say about us.
This battle has raged in our lives since conception! There is research to suggest that the tiniest of embryo senses the love of its mother. Then, from birth the formation begins in earnest. Our parents love and compassion, or anger and frustration tell us (often unintentionally) that we are good or bad, smart or stupid, and while most parents would never admit this, worthy or worthless.
We enter school and learn quickly whether we are part of the ‘in crowd’ or not. If we are we have worth, if not, then destiny will take its course and most likely we will spend our lives wishing we could be something we are not and overlooking the jewel that we are.
Solomon tells us a cheerful heart is medicine for a crushed spirit. A cheerful heart is a heart that knows who I am and knows that although I may fail, I am a child of God. I have worth. I am just exactly how He wants me.
For many of us our spirit was crushed years ago. The phrase ‘dries up the bones’ has the word picture of the very marrow of the bones being dried up. When our spirits are crushed we wither away from the inside until we are nothing but a shell. No one sees dried bones. They are covered by the skin, the mask we put on every day.
Dried bones so often can start with a single, well-placed word of condemnation by a parent, a friend or a spouse. Jesus says, “If you speak in anger against your brother you are guilty of murder”; James says that “If we never stumble in what we say we are perfect.” Paul says, “Let no unwholesome word come from your mouth;” and the list goes on.
How you feel about yourself and others is shown in the words you speak. How you feel about yourself is often determined by your reaction to their words. The best cure for dry bones, the healing salve for a crushed spirit is Jesus. Don’t listen to the voices that have so long told you that you can’t, or won’t succeed. Stop believing the lies that have been impaled on your heart for so long.
You are God’s greatest creation. Jesus died for you because He loves you. Now that He sees how you turned out…He’d do it again. Listen to the heart of God concerning you. Today make the choice to believe what He says about you. Let the healing salve of His love soothe your crushed spirit and bring life to your dry bones.
PRAYER: Father, I’m brought to tears when I think about the lies I’ve listened to all these years. I’m ashamed of the times I’ve probably been responsible for crushing a few spirits of those I love as well. In Jesus name I ask that you would forgive me for the damage I’ve done and heal the damage others have inflicted on me. By the power of Your Spirit I’m resolved, starting today, to live in the awareness of Your love and presence in every aspect of my life. Amen.
A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:13
Christian author and speaker Charles Swindoll states, “I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.” Each of us chooses how we will react to life and all that comes with it.
When people encounter trials in life they may try to blame someone, an ex-spouse who cheated on them and left them for some other, younger prize, a boss that refused to trust them, abusive or non-existent parents, a tough childhood.
Other people blame God. “If God is a God of love and justice why did this happen? If He is so powerful why can’t He change this situation I’m in? He must not love me or He’s angry at me, or He’s too weak or too uninterested to act.”
Still other people blame themselves. “I’m no good. I’m a loser, I will never amount to anything.”
The problem with these kinds of attitudes is that they don’t only affect the person harboring these destructive thoughts, they affect everyone around them. Everyday people wake up and make a decision (consciously or unconsciously) about the day they will have. Chances are, the decision they make will come true. If today is going to be sunny and warm with flowers all around and birds chirping, then that is probably the way the day will go.
If they decide the day will be cold and stormy with frequent flashes of lightning and hail, then you’d best hope you aren’t in the path of the storm.
Just as a negative attitude is contagious, so is a positive one. But positive attitudes that will bring change to your world have to have a solid base. ‘Happy all the time’ emotions are shallow and flaky. People will see through them right away. But a heart that is at peace in all circumstances brings calm to a situation and can even bring joy.
Positive attitudes are a choice each of us must make. Real happiness is a choice we make based on our faith belief that God is bigger than any problem that comes our way. Positive attitudes based solely on human emotion are sure to fail because they are based on human strength which will never stand during the storms of life.
As you go about your day today, chances are you will run into crabby people along the way. Hopefully you aren’t one of them! Choose from the moment you get out of bed that today will be a good day. Show it to the crabby lady behind the convenience store counter with a kind word and a smile (no matter how bad her service is).
Show kindness to the sarcastic and demeaning policeman as he pulls you over for speeding, causing you to be late for work.
Show humility to your boss when you try to explain why you are late…again.
Show patience by not kicking the dog when you get home because it’s been one of those days!
The happiness you show others will brighten their day as well as yours, plus it brings glory to God. Don’t let your reactions to others be based on the fickle, shifting sands of human emotion. How you react to them will either make their day better or worse and it’s all under your control.
PRAYER: Father I ask that you would help me to be a source of happiness and joy to each person who crosses my path today. May my life shine in such a way that Your name is glorified and the pain of others is lessened just because they crossed my path. I pray these things in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 