October 8 2008's front page Money Section of the USA Today really convicted me this
year. The cover story read " Another big drop: Dow down 508." The numbers were not
the most disturbing but rather the facial expressions on the 5 Wall street brokers-
captured it all. They had looks of be-wilderedness, fear, panic, helplessness, and
hopelessness.
The Chicago Tribune just the day before read-" Crisis goes global- America's financial ills prove contagious." (The quick summary in market declines included Britain-7.9;Germany- 7.1; India-5.8; Japan-4.3; Brazil- 5.4; Australia- 3.4 again all market declines.)
I couldn't help but think that GOD was allowing the USA and world's economy to be "shaken" in order for us to realize "whose kingdom" do we love more; are we more concern with; and invest more into?
2008 has been a very difficult year; but in the same breathe one of our family's most joyful years. We have taken a step towards furthering God's Kingdom focusing primarily on His economy; and the joy and intimacy with our Lord has been in abundance; never declining. We have launched-out to let God build upon a 12 year dream; and have seen God move in miraculous ways with churches; businesses; the community and sold-out individuals- that not only have a passion for Jesus but for a particular passion for " the least of these. "
God has truly given my wife and I and children a deeper and more robust appreciation and compassion for what Jesus meant by "the least of these. "
I have developed compassion for:
The widow (working 2 jobs to support 3 kids)
The Hispanic community (many single men working 10-12 hour days.. .only to return to
a hotel room with 6 other men.)
The orphan (many children being raised by a grandmother or aunt and then co-raised by
an inner city Pastor)
The mentally-ill (one of the most neglected and unapproached in the community- many
living on $850/ per month)
The substance-abused ( broken; homeless and needing a good meal and a hug or a word
of encouragement)
The trailer park resident (needing extra groceries because of the straining economy and
high food prices)
The prostitute (also needing extra groceries but also needing Jesus and a good church
home to love her the way God designed her to be loved.)
The neglected Pastor in the needy areas of the city (with a congregation of less than 50;
needing their ^daily bread" both physically and spiritually)
God has made it clear to "me and my house" whose Kingdom we will be investing in during 2009.
Meditate on Mark 4:3-9 especially v 8
"And other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth grain; growing-up and increasing
and yielding; thirty-fold and sixty-fold and a hundred-fold. "
Cincinnati/Northern Ky let's sow into another Kingdom with the highest ROI...
Jerry Reiner
11-16-08
4:00 am
Other scriptures to meditate on:
HAG 1:4-11
PS 24:1
DEUT8:18
ECCL 5:10-12
LUKE 16:10-13
PROV 3:9-10
MAL 3:8-10
LUKE 6 :38
2 COR 9:7 10-11
JER22:16
PROV 20:24
1 COR 6:19-20
DEUT 28:1-14
2 COR 8:2
EXODUS 36:5-7
PROV 21:13
MARK 12:43-44
ICHRON 29:14
MATT 6:19-21
PROV 23:5
MATT 10:42
LEV 27:30
HEB 11:26
MATT 13:44
LUKE 3:11
LUKE 19:8
ACTS 2:45
ACTS 4:32-35
LUKE 12:20
MATT 19:21 29
PS 49:16-17
HAG 2:5-8
PROV 11:24-28
1 TIM 6:17-19
JER 2:11-13
JER 17:7-8
JOB 41:11
IS 58:6-10
| Compassion, Part Two
by Charles R. Swindoll
Mark 2:16-18 (New International Version) 16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" 17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." 18Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, "How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?"
What happened to compassion among conservative Christians? When did we stop thinking of how valuable it is to be healing agents, wound wrappers like the good Samaritan? When did we opt for placing more emphasis on being proclaimers and defenders and l ess on becoming repairers and restorers?
Maybe when we realized that one is much easier than the other. It's also faster, swift as the flash of a sword. When you don't concern yourself with being your brother's keeper, you don't have to get dirty any more or take risks or lose your objectivity or run up against the thorny side of an issue that lacks easy answers.
Let's go back to that repairer-restorer comment I just made. It's not an original idea. The prophet Isaiah mentioned it first, way back when. The nation to whom he wrote was going through the empty motions of a hollow religion. All the right words, all the right appearances, but zero results. They even fasted and prayed. Still nothing. I suppose we could say they looked and sounded orthodox, but missed God's favor. They observed the external Sabbath, but lacked the internal Shalom. Why? Don't hurry through the answer (Isaiah 58). It's worth reading aloud, perhaps more than once.
"Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
20And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will speedily spring forth;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am'
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
And the LORD will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell." (Isaiah 58:6-12)
And what will happen when we traffic in such compassion? The New International Version says, "'then you will find your joy in the LORD , and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.' The mouth of the LORD has spoken" (v. 14).
Yes, He has spoken, but have we heard? The fact is that He has been talking like this ever since He asked Cain about the welfare of his brother Abel. When did we stop listening? How long will it be before we realize that others won't care how much we know until they know how much we care? If you really want to "ride on the heights" and to "feast on [your] inheritance," prefer compassion to information. We need both, but in the right order.
Come on, let's break the mold and surprise 'em. Let's allow compassion to create a hunger for the truth. We'll be in good company. That's exactly what Jesus did with you and me and a whole bunch of other sinners who deserved and expected condemnation, but got compassion instead. |