Now Jesus has gone into heaven.
He is at God’s right side
And rules over angels, authorities, and powers!
Acts 1:1-5 ERV
After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and He sat at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19). Christ went into the Most Holy Place. But it was not the man-made one, which is only a copy of the real one. He went into heaven, and He is there now before God to help us (Hebrews 9:24 ERV).
Yes, we have a great High Priest Who has gone to live with God in heaven. So let us continue to express our faith in Him. For Jesus, our High Priest, is able to understand our weaknesses. When He lived on earth, Jesus was tempted in every way. He was tempted in the same ways we are tempted; yet He never sinned (Hebrews 4:14-15 ERV).
Our High Priest, the Son of God, shows the glory of God. He is a perfect copy of God’s nature, and He holds everything together with His Powerful Word (Hebrews 1:3a). For God’s Word is alive and working. God’s Word is sharper than the sharpest sword and cuts all the way into us.
The Word cuts to the center of our being, judging the thoughts and feelings and motives in our heart. Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. He can clearly see all things. Everything is open before Him. And to God we must explain the way we have lived (Hebrews 4:12-13 ERV).
I have prayed asking God to fill my heart with compassion, with this being the main reason for my request – we must explain to God the way we have lived. Everyday life unfolds. We hope for good, but more often than desired bad things occur. Truth be told, throughout the years as bad unfolded I learned the importance of change.
If we maintain a rigid stance, unwilling to bend, to say “uncle,’ to make room for a different way of thinking, we will perish. Like Humpty Dumpty, broken in pieces. With Holy Spirit as our Life Coach, He realigns and makes the necessary adjustments with Truth that binds the painful cracks with Faith and Hope and Love.
James 5:11 tells us the Lord is full of compassion (empathy, sensitivity, good-will) and mercy. Mark 1:41 tells us, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cured.
The outward appearance of that man’s body revealed the stain of leprosy. And due to the contagious factor of this disease, he became an outcast in society. Lonely, depressed, isolated, in pain with no known remedy. However, this man became willing and as a result, experienced the touch of Compassion. Our heavenly Father is the Source of compassion and the God of all comfort and mercy Who desires to comfort us in all our troubles! (2 Corinthians 1:3).
And what is the cause of all our troubles – SIN! Why? Because everything that does not come from faith in the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort and mercy, is SIN! (Romans 14:23). Unfortunately, we cannot see our inward appearance, God has the unpleasant vantage point of viewing how grievously sin has defiled and corrupted our soul.
Sin that leads us to do what seems right in our own eyes, so we stumble and fall until loss becomes less – patience and hope and compassion and kindness. Sin works to kill, to destroy, to steal what is Good, what is from God.
On a previous blog it was mentioned, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). You may be familiar with the parable of the prodigal son. But really an S should have been added to son; because of self-interest neither sibling was able to properly recognize their father’s mercy and compassion.
The son who was near harbored resentment, anger, and frustration because he felt the onus (discredit, smudge, dishonor) of self-centeredness that a high-and-mighty, doing-with-expectations attitude displays. While the son who was far off felt the onus (discredit, smudge, dishonor) of self-centeredness that indifference (disregard, unconcern, recklessness) and a self-serving attitude exhibit.
To the son who was near the father said, “What is mine is yours. You could have celebrated any time with your friends.” To the son that was far off, when his father saw him returning in the distance, he ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him saying, “Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found,” Luke 15:18-24.
Sin causes us to be deadened, to be so calloused of heart we separate
ourselves from enjoying an intimate relationship with the Father of Compassion and the God of all comfort and mercy. Sin blinds our mind to Truth – the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, is waiting and looking and hoping for prodigals (wasters, squanderers) who spend their time and money to gain personal pleasure instead of making the wisest investment of all, securing their faith in Jesus.
For surely, dirty lucre cannot obtain the benefits faith in the Father of all compassion and mercy and the Son of all truth and grace bestows. When we place our true treasure, our soul, in an eternal safe, Love and Faithfulness will keep us secure (Proverbs 20:28). For God has given us His Word, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace!” Luke 7:48-50.
Knowing this parable of which Jesus spoke was about our heavenly Father, I finally recognized Truth, I am His child. My behavior may not and definitely has not been worthy of Love and Faithfulness more times then I’d like to admit. But I have come to realize God views me worthy! He loves me because I want to belong to the Truth (1 John 3:19).
Inner healing the work of Holy Spirit can be messy. Sin led me to believe I was unlovable. A belief does not simply vanish. How amazing, for God bestows every good thing we need until we fully understand the wealth they produce within us comes from Christ Jesus (Philemon 6 TLB).
Holy Spirit helped me understand God’s Word is a heaven-sent Message meant to reveal to the entire world the Father’s love and compassion and mercy. For the desire of God’s heart is to share in a personal relationship with us.
With the help of Holy Spirit and God’s Word, I’ve compiled many resources and lessons to help us better view our inner appearance. Behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, compulsions…all of which came into existence in our lives because of Sin.
Evil uses sin to separate us from God, to keep us longing for Goodness. Yet, if we lower self-interest the view of God’s loving-kindness and forgiveness will not just eclipse sin, but we will be given Power to overcome the purpose of evil.
Evil uses sin to inflate our ego. And those who have been unwilling to turn to God, unwilling to make His Word become greater so all that inflates our ego, our sense of self-importance would become less. Sadly, these are the ones who will come to know the Father of Compassion and the God of all comfort and mercy would have embraced and kissed them too. If only they would have been willing to embrace the Message, sent from heaven. For God’s Word, Christ Jesus, has imparted to us the greatest love story ever told.
There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God
Over one sinner who repents!
Luke 15:10