- Now…pray and ask Holy Spirit to highlight something from this post and to teach you. (Perhaps he already highlighted something as you were reading!). Close your eyes and be silent before him for a minute or two...or more. Breathe in Holy Spirit. (Yes, actually inhale.) Listen. Open your eyes and peruse the post. What does your eye see or your ear hear? Write it in your journal.
- Why does it seem important? You could even ask: Father/Jesus/Holy Spirit, why have you brought this to my attention? Write the answer in your journal. (The answer may be a question…an I wonder. Allow Holy Spirit to direct your thoughts.)
- Make it a prayer. Pray the scripture (and it’s insights, questions, or comments) back to the Father. Write this in your journal.
- How are you going to be different after this experience with God? What does he want you to be or do as a result? If you are not sure, ask him. Write this in your journal.
A Compassionate Father
#5 in the Series:
My Daddy Is…
Holy
Spirit, Revealer of Truth, so many people have been hurt by their earthly
fathers and have a warped view of the Heavenly Father. Open their eyes and their hearts to see the
Truth about their Heavenly Father who is all their earthly father was
not. In every way that their earthly
father fell short, Heavenly Father exceeds expectations and “is able to do
immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is
at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20 NIV
Father. The word brings up many memories both
good
and bad for all of us. My own father
was a workaholic and, though I am sure that was how he felt he was showing his
love, I can count on less than one hand the memories of when I truly felt his
love as a child. By God’s grace, there
have been more times in recent years.
Definition: compassion
From
Oxford: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of
others.
From Merriam-Webster:
sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a
desire to alleviate it
Synonyms:
pity, sympathy, empathy, understanding, care, concern, tender-heartedness,
warmth, love, tenderness, gentleness, mercy, leniency,
tolerance, consideration, kindness, humaneness, soft-heartedness,
charity, kind-heartedness, benevolence
One of
the overwhelmingly, scriptually supported characteristics of the Heavenly
Father is his compassion--his ability to feel our pain and desire to help us
through it. It is true that he does not
always alleviate it, but he does always use it for our ultimate good—a GOOD
that we may not understand or perceive. Nevertheless we can lean on his compassion
to comfort us and carry us through every trial.
“Praise be to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all
comfort,”
2 Corinthians 1:3 NIV
“As a father has compassion on
his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;”
Psalm 103:13 NIV
““On the day when I act,” says
the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them,
just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.”
Malachi 3:17 NIV
“Rend your heart and not your
garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and
compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in
love,
and he relents from sending
calamity.”
Joel 2:13 NIV
“Jesus continued: “There was a
man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my
share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
“Not long after that, the
younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there
squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was
a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went
and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields
to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were
eating, but no one gave him anything.
“When he came to his senses, he
said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I
am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him:
Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to
be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and
went to his father.
“But while he was still a long
way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to
his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
“The son said to him, ‘Father,
I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be
called your son.’
“But the father said to his
servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his
finger and sandals on his feet. For
this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they
began to celebrate.”
Luke 15:11-22,
24 NIV
I look forward to
this journey with you! Onward to
freedom for your mustang heart!
P.S. I will be
sharing some of my insights and experiences in the comments as examples for
you. I cherish your comments below and emails at: joyfullcoyote@gmail.com. Share on
social media. (If you receive this in your email, you may need to visit
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I think it quite interesting that God is the Father of compassion and comfort. Why did he create compassion and comfort? It seems that it was because he knew we, who attempt to serve and fear him, would need it. And, boy, do I ever need it sometimes!
ReplyDeleteThank you, God, for treasuring me and sparing me by having compassion on me because I serve you.