GOD Morning! April 19 Boot Camp Day 44 / Driving Force

GOD Morning!  April 19

Boot Camp Day 44

Driving Force

Luke 7 AMP

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Slave

7 After He had finished all that He had to say in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.

² Now a [Roman] centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and on the verge of death. ³ When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him, asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. ⁴ When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with Him earnestly [to come], saying, “He is worthy for You to do this for him, ⁵ because he loves our nation and he built us our synagogue [at his own expense].” ⁶ And Jesus went with them. But when He was near the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof. ⁷ Therefore I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You. But just speak a word, and my slave will be healed. ⁸ For I also am a man subject to authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹ Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith [as this man’s].”¹⁰ When the messengers who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

¹¹ Soon afterward Jesus went to a city called Nain [near Nazareth], and His disciples and a large crowd accompanied Him. ¹² Now as He approached the city gate, a dead man was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her [in the funeral procession]. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, He felt [great] compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴ And He came up and touched the bier [on which the body rested], and the pallbearers stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise [from death]!” ¹⁵ The man who was dead sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear and profound awe gripped them all, and they began glorifying and honoring and praising God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people [to help and care for and provide for them]!” ¹⁷ This news about Him spread through all of Judea and in all the surrounding countryside.

A Delegation from John

¹⁸ John’s disciples brought word to him [in prison] of all these things. ¹⁹ John called two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One (the Messiah), or should we look for someone else?” ²⁰ So the men came to Jesus and said, “John the Baptist sent us to You to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One (the Messiah), or should we look for someone else?’” ²¹ At that very hour Jesus healed many people of sicknesses and infirmities and evil spirits; and He gave [the gracious gift of] sight to many who were blind. ²² So He replied to them, “G o and tell John about everything you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news (gospel) preached to them. ²³ Blessed [joyful, spiritually favored] is he who does not take offense at Me.”

Sunday was a looooong day for me. But sooooo much fun! I brought four visitors to church for the evening service. Two of the girls, twins, got baptized.

I made decaf coffee for the three girls in the afternoon, Janiah, Jamiah and Khloe, and omgoodness, they had fun adding tons of cream and sugar.

Deborah visited two services (Revival Ridge, our afternoon outreach, and Calvary). She loved the afternoon sermon! She said that she entered heavy laden and left feeling free!

Today’s scripture passages hit me in a new way this morning. Not a new thought, but especially hard hitting to me today.

I realized that when I am completely possessed by the compassion of Jesus, I will see miracles happen when I pray for folks. Healings, deliverances, demons cast out, etc.

Until I am entirely overtaken with His compassion, I will NOT see healings, miracles and deliverances.

Compassion must fuel everything that I do. It must be the driving force.

Jesus embodied compassion. Compassion is why He came!

I must be completely consumed by compassion. Everywhere I go and everything I do must be a reflection of Jesus’ compassion at work through me.

Instead of viewing my ministries as “the work of God”, my whole life must become ministry. A ministry of compassion. Then “the work of God” will become me. My very being. My very reason for existing.

How do I embody the compassion of Jesus?, You may ask.

Being consumed with Jesus’ compassion starts with brokenness in His presence.  

Okay excuse while I fall to my knees and pray. I have a lot of changing to do. I have a lot of breaking to do!

“Dear Jesus, please break me, mold me and make me. I want to BE compassion. I want compassion to consume me. As I embrace Your compassion, my selfish desires will fade away and be replaced by passion for the lost! How I love You, Jesus! How I love Your word! AMEN.”