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Today I am reading day 199 of Joseph Prince’s Devotional:
Day 199
Compassion With Action
Luke 7:13 13When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”
My friend, there is no trial, difficulty or challenge we face today that our Lord Jesus cannot identify with. The moment we experience a trial, right there and then, because He “was in all points tempted as we are” (Hebrews 4:15), He feels it too and is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.
Jesus’ compassion for you is the same compassion He felt for the widow at Nain when He saw the dead body of her only son being carried out of the city gate to be buried. (Luke 7:11–15) It must have been terrible for her to experience the death of her only son after having already experienced the death of her husband. What a horrible thought to be left all alone in the world with no means of support! When Jesus saw her, He was moved with compassion and said to her, “Do not weep.”
Now, some religious leaders might also be moved to approach her, but only to say, “Look sister, something is terribly wrong. Your husband died. Now, your only son has died. You must find out what is wrong. You better ask God what sin you have committed and repent. Or perhaps there is a curse in your life that needs to be broken.”
Isn’t it beautiful that Jesus did not extend more confusion or condemnation toward her? He only extended His compassion to her, telling her, “Don’t weep.” This same Jesus will also come to you when you are most distraught and say, “Don’t cry.”
And Jesus’ sympathy does not stop at “Oh, you poor thing! I am so sorry about what has happened to you.” No, His sympathy will move Him to give you the miracle you need in your life. That is why He raised the widow’s son back to life!
Beloved, rest in the truth that He who is seated at the Father’s right hand today understands what you are going through and sympathizes with your weaknesses. The compassion of Jesus toward you causes Him to breathe life into your dead situation and turn it around for your good!
Thought For The Day
Jesus, who understands what you are going through, will also breathe life into your dead situation!
Today I am reading day 320 of Rick Warren’s Daily Devotional:
Biblical Obedience: Love + Trust + Action
John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands.
Today, the word obey has a negative connotation. We view obedience as a forced, unwilling decision to do something we don’t want to do because we’re afraid of punishment.
But that’s not the kind of obedience that’s in God’s Word. Obedience in the Bible means this: love + trust + action.
It starts with love, as Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (NIV) Obedience comes from knowing that God loves you and you love him in return.
A lot of people think obedience is about fearing God, but God wants us to see obedience to him as a relationship of love. And out of love comes trust. If you trust what God is saying to you, and you believe that he loves you, then that will lead to action.
You need to have all three because action without love is just rote religion. And love without action is just mere talk.
Today I am reading day 51 of Rick Warren’s Daily Devotional:
Love is an Action
1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Do you really love someone? Let’s see how you act toward that person.
Love is more than attraction and more than arousal. It’s also more than sentimentality, like so many of today’s songs suggest. By this standard, is love dead when the emotion is gone? No, not at all. Because love is an action; love is a behavior.
Over and over again, in the Bible, God commands us to love each other. And you can’t command an emotion. If I told you “Be sad!” right now, you couldn’t be sad on cue. Just like an actor, you can fake it, but you’re not wired for your emotions to change on command.
If love were just an emotion, then God couldn’t command it. But love is something you do. It can produce emotion, but love is an action.
The Bible says, “Let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.” (1 John 3:18 NLT) We can talk a good act: “I love people.” But do we really love them? Our love is revealed in how we act toward them.
Today I am reading day 46 of Rick Warren’s Daily Devotional:
Biblical Obedience: Love + Trust + Action
John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands.
Today, the word obey has a negative connotation. We view obedience as a forced, unwilling decision to do something we don’t want to do because we’re afraid of punishment.
But that’s not the kind of obedience that’s in God’s Word. Obedience in the Bible means this: love + trust + action.
It starts with love, as Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (NIV) Obedience comes from knowing that God loves you and you love him in return.
A lot of people think obedience is about fearing God, but God wants us to see obedience to him as a relationship of love. And out of love comes trust. If you trust what God is saying to you, and you believe that he loves you, then that will lead to action.
You need to have all three because action without love is just rote religion. And love without action is just mere talk.
Today I am reading day 12 of Rick Warren’s Daily Devotional:
Do Something About That
Esther 4:4 When Esther’s servant women and eunuchs told her what Mordecai was doing, she was deeply disturbed. She sent Mordecai some clothes to put on instead of the sackcloth, but he would not accept them.
One key to discovering your destiny is to identify the needs that stir your heart. What is it that upsets you? What causes you to think, “Somebody ought to do something about that”?
Whatever it is, that is the key to your destiny. My wife, Kay, calls it being seriously disturbed. It bothers you so much that it moves you to action.
For example, Esther’s servant tells her that her uncle, Mordecai, is publicly mourning because of Haman’s plot (and the king’s decree) to kill all the Jews. When she hears what Mordecai is doing, it deeply disturbs her. She probably thinks that a lot of people will die unless she does something.
Does anything disturb you or is your life so insulated that nothing makes you say, “Somebody ought to do something about that”?
Saddleback Church became the leading church in America in the fight against AIDS because Kay read an article in Newsweek that said 14 million children had been orphaned by AIDS and it seriously disturbed her.
And she’s not alone. In our church there are over 300 ministries started by people in our congregation who saw a problem, a need, a hurt or an injustice, and decided to do something about it.
Here is a homework assignment: Make a list of the needs you see that disturb you. Then pray and ask God to show you ways you can use your gifts to make a difference.
Lord, lead me everyday 