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The compassion of Jesus involves many things, which is always rooted in His love for us. His compassion looks like deep, tender care and affection. It looks like Him holding us close when we're hurting, suffering, overwhelmed, brokenhearted, scared, or weary. It can look like healing; spontaneous, a process, or however He chooses. It also looks like Him walking with us on long, hard, and painful journeys. It looks like Him whispering hope and love into our hearts. It looks like Him leaving the ninety-nine to go after the one.
You may be walking through a "dry place" in your life, perhaps having a difficult time....a time when it seems that all your opportunities have dried up. It appears that your financial needs are not being met and your future looks bleak. You may even feel like your prayers are not being heard. Circumstances rise up against you and you don't see a way out. Such were the circumstances in Samaria in 2 Kings 6:24-30. The entire city was in severe famine being surrounded by the armies of the king of Syria who was determined to destroy them. The enemy wanted to take their city and possessions. They could not leave the city to trade or get food from the fields or goods.
Is God good? We say, "Yes! Of course, He's good," until something happens that we disagree with and blame God for. The other day a woman asked me on social media why did her husband die of cancer. I told her I was sorry for her loss and then simply said death entered the world through Adam and Eve, so we will all experience natural death at some point. She said she understood that but didn't understand why her husband wasn't healed because she had faith that he would be. This is a much deeper issue than could be worked out in a few words on social media. However, asking "Why God" is never the right question. Asking Him where do I go from here or what do You want me to do now are valid questions.
God has you covered. My times are in Your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies. Psalm 31:15 NKJV We are in a time that may feel out of control, but God still has things covered! He has not forgotten you or the promises of things to come. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly. Isaiah 60:22 NIV What is the current time and season? We are in a time of transition and a season of change. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. Hosea 2:15 NLT Many are in a time of trouble, but this season of transition is designed by the Lord to prepare you. God is preparing us to enter a new spiritual door of hope.
We've all heard that "God has a wonderful plan for your life." Most believers can't tell you what it is beyond the pablum of religious generalities (evangelism, missions, Kingdom). The theological paradigm looks like blindfolded believers depending on the Holy Spirit nudging them to stop or go, turn left or right. It sounds like, "I have no idea where I'm going, I'm just faithfully following a trail of breadcrumbs from the Holy Spirit." That's even made to sound spiritual in most charismatic circles (I'm more spiritual if I don't know where I'm going). The testimonies are always in the vein of "God spoke to me, and this miracle happened," as evidence of the success of their breadcrumb relationship.
All my life I've heard many creative excuses for missing church. Long before memes were invented for social media, absentee churchgoers joked about attending "Bedside Baptist," "Church of the Holy Comforter" or "Church of the Inner Springs" to imply that they were sleeping in on Sunday morning. But during the last two years we've had even more convenient reasons to stay away from church. The pandemic ushered in the era of "Zoom worship," and I'm grateful we had the technology for virtual meetings. But now, as mask mandates are relaxed and COVID cases drop, many Christians are still watching church online in their pajamas.
I am sure you have heard the quip: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time! Of course, most of us aren't into eating elephant, but we get the point on how to tackle big problems. First you have to figure out what the problem is, and then you have to figure out how to deal with it for the purpose desired. You can even find schools to deal with some of those issues you face. But you know, when you are lost and/or out of sorts, there is a lot you have to figure out, and sometimes "the manual" is not there. We look to people and the world around us but find they don't have all the answers to our questions. And many want or need their answer "right now!"
God is always helping us to better understand His goodness towards us. Part of the goodness is in what He has already done by making us new creations - where the old has passed away and the new has come. This really is the best news we can get because it is not about us trying to fix the old person we used to be, but about simply choosing to live by the new person that He's already made us to be. This is because of all that Jesus accomplished and by the reality of His Spirit in our lives.
"We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places"(Eph. 6:12). "But the evil spirit answered them, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?'" (Acts 19:15). Would you like to be known in hell? I would. And I will tell you why. It would mean that I am a threat to the satanic world. I would love to be a threat to the satanic world.
Recently, God said, "I am training up warriors on the mountains." As I began to look up mountain warfare in the natural, I realized that this was a word for the Seven Mountains of Influence (religion, family, education, government, media, arts and entertainment and business/finance). Mountain ranges, in the natural, have been highly desired for their strategic importance; they are natural borders as well as sources of water. Kingdom breakthroughs on the mountains of influence also represent the taking hold of borders. Some of the staunchest divisions between the way society is patterned (ways that follow the Lord versus ways that are contrary to His Word) lie in these seven areas. What flows from them also "waters" society.
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