Messages
The Heart & Compassion of Jesus - Pastor Stuart Price
The Heart & Compassion of Jesus
Jesus is the Father in the flesh, the very embodiment of love itself. The most powerful force. It was out of this great love that Jesus was manifested to rescue His people & thereafter the Gentiles all the way down to us today. The scope of God’s love for us is far beyond what we can easily imagine. Matt 9:36
“But when He (Jesus) saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary (or harassed) and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”
The people of Israel knew God as ‘The Good or Great Shepherd’, but over thousands of years the enemy had come in to scatter & destroy Gods stray family. Sheep are the only animal that is helpless without a shepherd. And so are we all without Gods help. The shepherd cares for the sheep to protect, lead to safe ways of passage, finding good food & safe places of rest.
Our Pastor is our local shepherd to also be the ‘overseer of our souls’ & to guide us through the long race with many tests called life. Not an easy role & once which is not taken lightly. But under girthing the shepherd’s heart is love. When Jesus saw the devastation, pain & suffering of the people He weep at what the enemy had done to His sheep. Jesus was on a mission releasing the captive everywhere & breaking the chains that people were bound in by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But when He saw the scale of the multitudes harassment, great compassion overwhelmed Him. Ask yourself, how do I feel like this also when I see the working of the enemy Jesus knew His authority & He wasn’t shy in using it to Gods glory. Eph 5:1 tells us to be imitators of God. The a few verses over in Matt10:1 Jesus gave the right to use His authority to His followers. This gave them power over unclean spirits that possessed people, & to heal any kind of disease or sickness.
Today’s world is such a selfish world as people strive for & focus on one thing … their desires. And the church is not immune to this evil sin. But we, part of the greater global church, if we are really sons & daughters of God, are the hands, mouth & feet of Jesus today. Such actions cause peoples heart to become hard towards the needs of others. The heart is the most important part of us because it’s out of here that our life will be structured & the direction set. Get a heart problem in your body, it could kill you & gets serious attention. Get a heart problem in the real inner you, so likewise it could kill you spiritually for eternity but we need to assessing ourselves with the Holy Spirit’s assistance to remain soft & open to God. Seeking first His kingdom as our number 1 priority as we swim upstream from the rest.
Prov4:23 says “keep your heart with all diligence” – this is giving it all effort to protect ourselves from the cunningness of the enemy & our own selfish desires from creeping in to our heart. The world chases the dollar or unrighteous mammon, but we have the opportunity to know the TRUE RICHES; which is the anointing of the Holy Spirit within us. And with great promise comes the obligation to cherish it & use it.
Have you been meditating on who you really are & what you have been given? Don’t be tricked out of your position today. When you see a need, do you take action if its within your power? Remember who’s power you have been anointed with. Don’t back down when a bully comes around. This type of thinking and strength doesn’t come from doing nothing. Let your faith rise daily!
In Matt15:21-28 a woman who had a great need & no legal right to receive anything from Jesus, nor was He willing to give it, got what she greatly desired after being pushed away & rejected 3 times. She didn’t take no for the answer & pushed on further. Her faith was tested 3 times & then came victory. It would have been very natural to have given up at any other tests, because rejection was perfectly correct. But even still her love for her daughter pushed her harder than where her logically mind would consider.
Don’t let feelings, logic, distractions, lusts, rejection, hurdles, offense & past failures bind you…but rather let love & compassion for your family & the lost drive you…just like Jesus did. You have been given the “true riches”& are accountable to the Giver for such a gift. His power lives inside you. World changing power to raise the dead, move mountains, calm the sea or whatever good you release it for. Start where you are at & see faith build within you. Balls in your court. Celebrate the victories for eternity.
Jesus says to you personally today:
“Go! And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”
Remember is not by your power but by His Spirit. Selah
Written by Ray Price
Have a blessed week, much love
Pastor Stuart & Colleen