He felt compassion...

"But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion..." Luke 10:33


This past weekend, I got to spend a couple of days up in DC with a little piece of my family up there. On Sunday morning, we went to worship the Lord with others in that area, and at that particular gathering, they're going through different parables that Jesus taught with. This week, they were on Luke 10:25-37, the discussion and teaching leading up to the parable of the good Samaritan, as most of us know it. The interaction begins between Jesus and a man who studied Jewish law who brought up a question. This man, who was at first mainly concerned with publicly discrediting this roving rabbi, quickly had the tables turned on him and sought to justify himself as a righteous man by determining the number and "type" of people which he would need to "love" in order to be saved. He asked Jesus what was meant when the law commanded "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Who was his neighbor? And more practically, who was NOT? Whose welfare could he remove from his realm of concern in order to sleep in peace at the end of each day, knowing he'd done enough?


Upon reaching verse 33, I became fixated, and honestly, didn't hear much else for the remainder of the message. Seeing this beat-up and stripped man but not knowing who he was (he had no clothes, was barely conscious if at all, had no other means of identification, and Jesus, the story-teller, makes no effort to identify his heritage further than being "a man"), the Samaritan "felt compassion." That word is one that resonates to my core. Compassion... an absence of concern for self and an overwhelming loving concern for another. Not a static emotion, but a compulsion to meet the needs of someone else...


If you want an amazingly sobering and yet abundantly joyful reminder of the character of our God,  take a little time and get lost in a study of the word "compassion" through the Old Testament and New Testament. There are tons of direct uses and even more indirect uses. Here, I'll help you get started:


Genesis 19:15-16, Deuteronomy 30:1-6, 2 Kings 13:22-23, 2 Chronicles 30:9, Nehemiah 9:5-32, Psalm 72:12-14 (prophesying of the perfect King), Psalm 103:11-17, Lamentations 3:31-33, Daniel 9:8-9 & 18-19, Hosea 2:23, Zechariah 10:6, Matthew 9:12-13, Matthew 20:34, Mark 8:1-8, Luke 7:12-15, Luke 15:20, James 5:11... that's just a few...


The reason I have life today, and more than that, life eternal, is a result of my great Creator's compassion and NOTHING else. He is compassionate. The writers and witnesses who knew His son Jesus, the visible image of the invisible God, continually wrote of specific instances displaying His compassion toward His people, whether friend or enemy. Granted, His compassion did not and could not exceed His zeal for His own glory and righteousness to be made known, so He remained steadfastly in stark opposition to sin. The Father had to be a fair judge. An unrighteous people could not be simply "let off the hook" without payment for their guilt and subsequent sentence. But His compassion led Him to the cross. Through a complete and utter emptying of Himself to the point of death, He paid for us and saved us. "When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." Colossians 2:13-14


So why is it that so many moments pass when my outward and inward life demonstrates a complete void of this knowledge, this attribute of compassion? How often, oh Lord, do I ignore and abandon this Spirit-led prompting, or miss it altogether?? I desire and pray to be like Christ, yet days pass without holy, unyielding concern for others... We are called to be consumed by His fire, and I find my pitiful wick at times is barely smoldering, struggling to remain lit. It's almost as if I fear giving myself over to this compassion. It IS crazy, after all. To sell all and follow Him, to serve and live for the sake of others...? Completely impractical at its best and scarily dangerous at its worst. What does it mean for me to care enough for my neighbor to give everything for them? To have compassion  for those I do not even know? And who is my neighbor?


" 'Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?' And he (the lawyer) said, 'The one who showed mercy toward him.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Go and do the same.' "


Jesus in no uncertain terms answered the man. He was asking the wrong question and Christ was pointing him toward the right one. It wasn't about who the neighbor was, but the one called to be a neighbor acting in compassion toward another... ANY other. That was what identified him as God's- and not what made him right before God, for that was accomplished by the compassionate sacrifice of the only worthy One, but what betrays to all others that we bear His seal and His Name. We must have compassion, and there is no definitive scope within which that is to be practiced. The Spirit prompts compassion, and we, therefore, must be compelled to act. And if we have stopped feeling that prompting, we need to get on our knees now and plead for it... a request which no doubt will be answered with a humbling reminder of our OWN need for a compassionate Savior.


"So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;"


So Lord, I pray that You would give me Your compassion toward my neighbor... Let me see as You see and feel as You feel. May my heart be wrung and broken, my life poured out to this end, but all the while, my eyes fixed on the Giver and Restorer of all things. And I pray that as You would do that in me, others might see You, and be led to follow You... The very One who first felt compassion toward me.

living and active...

"But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, "Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert road.) So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot." Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:
         "HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER;
         AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT,
         SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH. 
       "IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY;
         WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION?
         FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH." 

The eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?" Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" [And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."] And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea." Acts 8:26-40

I'll be honest... I'm a little overwhelmed at how good God is right now. I've been thinking about blogging for the past couple of weeks, but seriously, I just have to testify to what He's been up to lately. 


Maybe you can relate to this: You know how you lose focus, you get overwhelmed with the details (big or small), you cry out in the midst of uncertainty, desperately holding on to that written hope that "He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes?" (Romans 8:28) That's where I was about two weeks ago. 


There's a lot turning upside down in my life right now (again... I know, this is getting to be a broken record). I'm in a place where I need to make some big decisions, but the Lord has yet to set fire to a bush or speak as thunder from the heavens. But I'm reminded that He knows me intimately... The reason I know that is because He has been blessing me in ways only He can these past couple weeks, and reminding me how much He's doing, though I stand here waiting...


One of my deepest delights is seeing God at work in the lives of people around me. And every once in a while, I think He just likes to show off a little of His "eternal fine-ness," as I heard it described once. People are shocked and utterly bemused by the concept of something dead becoming alive. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, a man publicly tortured and killed, that days later, begins appearing to witnesses all over. This must be impossible. Yet Jesus said over and over that He was going to die and be raised up again, that He would lay down His life and take it up again, that the temple could be destroyed and He would rebuild it in three days. He continually showed us that our impossibilities were simply His play things. I've been seeing beauty rising from ashes a lot lately...


I just finished dinner tonight with a beautiful girl. She's been such a vessel of grace to me, and I'd like to share how with you. Two Wednesdays ago, one of my roommates wasn't feeling great, and I had gotten home early from work unexpectedly, so we agreed that I would take a snack she'd made to Aletheia VCU, a weekly meeting where college students gather to enjoy some music and food, study the Bible and learn more about Christ together. Since starting my new job back in June, I haven't been able to be on campus that much, so it was nice to know I could serve those faithfully laboring in a small way that day. I dropped off these platters of cookies, and as I was walking out, two girls were walking in. We started talking, getting to know one another, and I found out it was their first time coming to Aletheia. They shared where they were from, their majors, and ultimately that they'd come to check things out. One of the girls was a believer in Christ who was eager to learn more, and the other was a friend of hers that was raised in a culturally Jewish home, but not really committed to the whole religion thing. One thing led to another (thank you, Holy Spirit! ;) ) and we ended up talking about why we gathered there, and more specifically, what the gospel was, the truth of Jesus being fully God and coming into the world as a servant to die on the cross, taking the penalty for our sins and being alive again the prove that He had the power to give us life through Him after death through our repentance and faith in Him.


Well, I was supposed to go prepare for a Romans study with a couple other girls, so after about 20 minutes or so, I had to bow out as the meeting was starting. I said bye to my new friends and headed off to the Bible student's best friend, Starbucks. ;) I remember thanking God and being so encouraged that He had given me the opportunity to be used to speak of His love that night, and how encouraging it was to share the truth with others, and reaffirm it in my own heart. That could have been enough to bless me, but He had more to do.


Fast forward to that Sunday- We were closing out after the service, getting ready to go celebrate the baptism of five brothers and sisters in the James River. I'm on stage with the band, finishing our last song after the service gets out, and I see the same girl from Wednesday there, and then she walks up to me on stage, and whispers in my ear, "I need to get baptized. I'm not sure how this process works, but would you help me? I know I want to be baptized." Acts 8 started repeating over and over in my head. She and I go to sit down in the slowly emptying room, and I ask her to tell me why she wants to get baptized. She shares a broken spirit of repentance and a desire to acknowledge that only Jesus can save her. We talk about how baptism doesn't save us, but how it's an outward expression of what God has done in our hearts, being buried with Christ in His death as we go into the water, and being raised in the newness of life in Him as we come up again from it; that every Christian is connected by this. She affirms again and again that the gospel is truth and that this is what she desires to declare publicly. After talking and praying with Josh Soto as well, she goes and changes her clothes, and we ride down to the river together, rejoicing in the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."


She was baptized that afternoon with five other members of our church, and tonight, I had the pleasure of sitting with her again, having dinner together and talking about what God's changed in her life and heart. Hearing her say things like, "I know that Christ needs to be the Lord of my life," and "It's amazing to know that He loves me even though I messed up so much," I admit I got a little teary eyed. But after that, she said to me that God had planned to have her there that Wednesday, that He had planned to have me there, and that she was able to see a joy and satisfaction in me that could only come from Him as we talked. That He spoke through my words to her, and that she was glad He had brought me to Richmond from my other job so that she could hear and see this truth and know Christ. I couldn't help but cry with joy over this beautiful new life and heart....


He is so great and worthy. He knows every moment, and He scripts every word. I may wonder where I am going in the future, but there's no doubt as to why I am where I am. May He show off even more of His majesty... He is so good.

To die is gain...

I've been mulling over this passage for weeks now... Philippians 1:18-21 - "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."


I have a beautiful friend. God has blessed me with her love and fellowship for about 6 months now. This woman loves God. Her entire life proclaims it. You should hear some of the amazing things she's been witness to. But this particular evening, I came to see her, and was immediately struck by what I saw- I could see the battle marks. I could see the stripes where the enemy's lashed out with cutting blows. I could see her heaviness of heart from fighting in the dark. Everything in her was weary, and I could literally see it in her eyes. That evening, we talked, we laughed, we sang, we cried,... we probably would have danced were it possible. And at the close of our evening together, we prayed. I can't express what that kind of prayer is, where you know that everything in you is being surrendered and that it is given to a Father who is deeply moved to compassion with regard to His children's cries. And the Holy Spirit moved even in that moment. Refreshment, relief, hope, joy, peace... I left that evening with a renewed mind, seeing her joy in Christ alone.


This incredible woman knows what it means to wage war, but I'm not talking about the kind where you ride out on a field for all to see, slay the enemy, and are brought home with pomp and circumstance. There are struggles that wage within each of us, deeply. Hers is a fight with a sly enemy that would say she has grown useless and is to be thrown aside. Another's is a struggle to give up a trust in something tangible for a greater hope in that which is not seen. Another's is a belief that the affection of that one person is worth the compromise of our purity in Christ. Or perhaps there is a fear of the absolute mockery risked to believe wholeheartedly in something for which we are assured will lead to persecution and hatred by this world we live in. Or deep, deep down, what if it's all a sham?... An attack at every heart, though it may take different forms. Am I able? Am I sufficient? Am I strong enough? Can I even fathom what it might mean to endure long suffering?... But is it really about me?? Because if it is, I can tell you without a doubt here and now, the answer to each of those questions is "No."


In that Philippians passage, Paul's heart is exposed. His crazy, fanatical, zealous heart... This man who described his own situation as riddled with hardship- Read 2 Corinthians 11 and 12, and there's a sobering reality to the condition of the man who wrote these letters. And Paul is one of a cloud of witnesses who suffered, believing daily that there were greater things to come. And how did they do this?! - "through prayers and provision of the Spirit," a joy in a purpose that could not be stamped out. Paul did not need to know the outcome of the situation he was in, whether he was to live or die (a hard thing to fathom, knowing he was sitting in prison with a death sentence looming). He was not at all focused on the circumstances themselves. He confirmed this one thing, that Christ was to be exalted, and to this end, regardless of whether that would be best served by his living or dying, he viewed this outcome as GAIN. Too often, I find myself caught in the "Why" dilemma. Why this and not that, Lord? Why here and not there, Father? Surely, this can't be Your BEST for me, can it?? I look at life and see it as obedience, waiting from experience to experience, my faith determined by my circumstances. But there is a HUGE difference between obedience in following steps and an all-encompassing heart of joyful submission! And I would contend that apart from finding daily joy in the very nature of God and the person of Jesus, we will have no will to fight the battles that come. There is a reason we are called by love to love! If our sole purpose and aim is for Christ to be lifted high no matter WHAT we're doing, in the desert or in the garden, this hope does not disappoint! For we know the One who makes all things work according to His will is faithful, even though we may be faithless... Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess!


I pray that my heart would enjoy this beautiful time. That it would not be impatient or unsatisfied. That my one goal would remain fixed on the prize of that upward call in Christ Jesus. And I pray that wherever He has intentionally and divinely placed you, you rejoice in this, knowing that HE is our source, our love, our provision, our strength. He knows where He has you, He knows the depths of your heart, and He will be exalted through your life, if you give it over to Him. He is our perseverance... our JOY to fight another day. And nothing could be sweeter.


There is a beautiful hymn that constantly reminds me of this joy, and I hope that you would be called to your knees as well, knowing that in Christ alone, your Hope is found... as for me, "til He returns, or calls me home, here in the power of Christ, I'll stand." By His abundant daily grace...


"No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLy8ksqGf9w&feature=related