Cold Compassion

We are coming together as a team here at HHGlobal and realigning ourselves with God and His vision for our lives. We have been praying over a list of things each day and will continue to do so for the rest of the month. It is amazing what a difference prayer can make in the unity of a group. I can already feel us being knit together as a team...as a family. It is such a desire of my heart for us to serve the people of our community but I also want us to be able to serve each other...Jesus even said that others would know us by our love for each other. WOW, what a challenge.

Today our prayer request was to have the compassion of Christ. Haha...I think that one deserves more than a day of contemplation and prayer! What a big request. What is compassion? What did it mean in the scripture when it said that Christ had compassion and healed them all? As I seek God for the answers to these questions and countless other unspoken ones in my heart and mind...I can't help but wonder how having compassion will change my life.

Are we really willing to feel for others? Are we willing to let ourselves be touched by their circumstances? Compassion is a word that means you feel it in your guts, like someone reaches inside of your body, grabs a good handful of your insides and squeezes the heck out of them. Are we really willing to open ourselves up to feel anything at all...let alone the trials and troubles of others?

Compassion is mentioned 98 times in the NASB translation of the Bible. 2 main definitions of the word are:

1. Mercy, kindness or goodwill towards the miserable and afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.
2. To be moved as one's bowels, for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity. (This is the grab hold of your insides one)

So to have compassion means to literally feel someone's circumstances in such a way that you are moved with desire to help them. Not helping out of obligation or guilt...but true want to help them.

Last night it got into the upper 50's in Rio Viejo, which is pretty cold for these parts. I was shivering in my bed (under 2 blankets, a sheet and fully dressed in long PJ's). As I was praying my way into sleep asking God to prepare me for the next day, I said a selfish little prayer to keep me warm. Then Jesus asked me about all of those sleeping outside in the cold...He asked if I wanted them to be warm too?

Thank you Lord for reminding me of the least of these. Thank you for keeping me humble before you and for helping me to be centered on others and not myself. Help me to be compassionate like your son, so much so, that I give my life over to the desire to serve them.