Tag: John 15:13

Our Friendship With the Holy Spirit. Psalm 25:14

As believers, we have been given the Holy Spirit as a Helper, Teacher, Friend, and seal for the promised inheritance of eternal life with God.

His presence, guidance, and wisdom in our lives are our greatest gifts while here on earth. Through him we have access to direct connection with our heavenly Father. Through him we receive spiritual gifts to empower us. And through him we are able to bear the incredible fruit of abundant life.

Open your heart soul and mind to all that the Holy Spirit would give you, would show you, and lead you to and through these most precarious of times, most wayward of seasons.

Psalm 25:14-15 English Standard Version

14 The friendship[a] of the Lord is for those who fear him,
    and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
    for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

Lord God, Help Me! May I Be Your Friend?

Our psalmist is in trouble and danger.

Enemies are threatening.

In effect, the psalmist cries out, “God, help!”

But this is more than a cry for help; this psalm is also a plea for forgiveness.

Repeatedly the psalmist asks God to forget, to forgive, and to be gracious.

In answer to his prayer for help and forgiveness, the writer seeks guidance, the writer seeks the wise and wiser counsel of a true friend and a true confidant.

Looking to the one who knows everything about him, the psalm­ist asks God for steady direction and authentic teaching in order to see the path he should take.

The psalmist ends this prayer with a commitment to follow through on this request—the bodyguards of uprightness and integrity will accompany him, will stand by him through everything, as he receives God’s wise counsel and advice.

Uprightness, the straight­forward knowing of God’s ways and understanding who God wants him to be, will be on one side.

And integrity, following through on God’s guidance and walking the way God directs him to walk, will be on the other side.

Each day choices need to be made, decisions acted on, life lived.

Psalm 25 invites us to live under the gentle tutoring of God, to humbly submit to the holy wisdom that will help us make faithful decisions, to fully rely on the steadfast One whose best forever friendship will guide us to those right choices.

Are we seeking God’s counsel today?

Are we seeking God’s friendship today?

Friendship with the Holy Spirit

In friendship with the Holy Spirit we begin to experience a sense of wholeness and joy unattainable through any other relationship or aspect of life.

Rapid and wonderful transformation results when you discover the wealth of love that comes with continual, real friendship with the living God.

In friendship with God comes peace, security, honesty, healing, and freedom.

As you and I live our lives in step with the Holy Spirit, we experience what Adam and Eve experienced as they walked with God himself in the Garden of Eden.

We discover the vast reservoir of love, affection, and perfect help that’s always available to us in the Holy Spirit.

In the name of God, the Father, please open your heart today to receive a fresh revelation of God’s truest desire for friendship with you through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus says in John 15:15, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” 

God longs for friendship with his people.

And through the Holy Spirit we have a continual connection with God available to us.

The Spirit desires to do life with you.

He wants to guide you, speak to you, and love you, He wants to satisfy your longing for relationship and can do so in greater ways than you can imagine.

John 14:16-17 says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” 

By God’s grace we have been filled with God himself.

We have dwelling with us and within us the same Spirit who authored Scripture, who raised Christ from the dead, who empowered the disciples, who did hover over the waters at the creation of all things.

And Scripture says that he longs to help you!

And Scripture says that he longs to help me!

Jesus calls him the “Helper.” 

How incredible is the grace of our God to offer us relationship with the Holy Spirit!

How great is his love that he would send his Son to die that we might have abundant life for all of eternity, including eternal friendship, right now!

Growing in our Friendship With the Holy Spirit

So, how do we grow in friendship with the Holy Spirit?

How do we allow him to satisfy our desire for relationship? 

Psalm 25:14 says, “The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.” 

And Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” 

Friendship with the Holy Spirit starts like any other true friendship.

We must respect, love, and make time for him.

We must learn what he likes and dislikes.

And we must apologize when we do something that hurts him.

The Holy Spirit has feelings like any other person.

But he is also full of grace, forgiveness, and unconditional love.

Friendship with him comes about by following his leadership, making time to ask him how he feels about things, and following his guidance away from a lifestyle of sin into the righteousness available to you through Christ Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is waiting right now to guide you into friendship with him.

He’s excited about the idea of pouring out his love and affections on you.

He longs to lead you far, far away from the sins that hurt you and grieve him.

And he longs to guide you toward a life of walking with him in relationship.

In the name of the Father God, spend time in prayer being filled with the Holy Spirit afresh, making room to discover the reality of his presence in your life.

In long-term relationships we have with friends, family, and our spouse, at some point – they know all our stories.

Those are the very best relationships.

Those are the ones we lean on the most, right?

They are the ones we learn the most from, right?

When it comes to our relationship with God, He already knows all our stories.

Even the stories that are yet to come.

Yet, He still wants to hear our thoughts, and moreover, He wants to share of Himself with us.

In Psalm 25:14 ESV, it says, “The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.”

You know what, I absolutely love it when the Bible calls God our friend.

Because He authentically and truly is!

The absolute best friend we’ll ever have!

And when it comes to knowing Him, we can never assume we know everything.

Over our lifetime of friendship, there is always more to know and more to learn.

We have that same opportunity of a lifetime to grow and nurture our friendship with God, the Father and God the Son, our Savior Jesus and God the Holy Spirit.

And unlike our other best forever friend relationships, we never have to wonder if He has time.

He always does.

In John 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

Since Jesus already did that for each of us, the least we can do is invest in the best eternal friendship we can ever have, He so clearly wants to have with us.

Today, as we worship, as we study, pray, praise Jesus for being your friend.

Thank Him ever so muchly and absolutely for His selfless love and ask Him to guide you, teach, help you, to never take your friendship with Him for granted.

Ask Him to speak into your heart often and help you grow as a friend to Jesus.

In the name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Romans 8:26-28 English Standard Version

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because[a] the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[b] for  those who are called according to his purpose.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s desire for friendship with you.

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” >John 15:15

“The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.” Psalm 25:14

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to pour his love out on you. 

Ask him to make the reality of his nearness known to you. Be filled with desire to live your life in relationship with this real, tangible God who loves you.

3. Ask the Holy Spirit what he likes and doesn’t like. 

Open your life and let him speak to you about whatever is causing you trouble.

Ask him how he genuinely feels about relationships, situations, thoughts, and perspectives you have. The Spirit loves to spend time to speak to us and help us.

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” >John 14:16-17

Often we separate out what we think God cares about and what just seems to be normal, worldly parts of life.

But God wants to be involved in every part of our lives.

He wants to be there for us in everything we do.

He wants to fill us with grace and joy to do all the things set before us, from taking out the trash to washing dishes to leading thousands of people in prayer.

In God’s name, allow the Holy Spirit to come in, work in every area of your life and discover the wealth of knowledge and love your God has to share with you.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

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How Can We “Sit With the Sinners,” Model the Love of Jesus by Showing Mercy and Showing Compassion? Matthew 9:10-13

God has never wanted to condemn.

That has never been his purpose.

His Old Testament laws were meant to distinguish the Israelites as his people and preserve them from spiritual and physical harm.

When people rebel, rather than looking forward to punishing them for their sin, God grieves over his rebellious children.

He yearns to bring restoration. When Jesus comes as Immanuel, he teaches and shows that God seriously cares about reaching and redeeming rebellious sinners.

Incredibly, both Jesus and John the Baptizer have more success with those who are in outright rebellion than with those who have been inoculated by their legalistic religiosity.

Jesus came to the lost, the broken, and the least to share fellowship, share a meal or two, to teach them of mercy, save, mend, and make first.

As the Body of Christ, His Church, we too are called to unhesitatingly “Sit With the Sinners” as Jesus modeled.

“Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy. I desire compassion, and not sacrifice.”

Matthew 9:10-13 English Standard Version

10 And as Jesus[a] reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

One of the most visible character attributes of God, as seen in Scripture, is His mercy, is His compassion.

Both Old Testament and New Testaments testify to the unconditional love and mercy that arises from His compassion, even and especially when it is viewed alongside those passages that describe God’s just and holy wrath towards sin.

God is always completely who He is.

From our human experience, we expect God to be “one or the other,” as we are.

Instead, all His attributes are divinely and perfectly in harmony with Himself – never in competition.

As the Psalmist reminds us, God is not like us: “You thought that I was altogether like you” (Psalm 50:21).

“God’s essence is one indivisible whole, so that each and all of His perfections actively characterize God’s entire being. God’s perfections must be thought of as always actively present together and mutually influencing each other without any hierarchy, even when they are not all mentioned in a given passage of Scripture.”  –John MacArthur

What is Compassion?

The dictionary defines compassion as

“a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.”

It differs from empathy or pity, in that while these words indicate an emotional response to the suffering of others, compassion advances, moves one to act.

The Old Testament Hebrew word for compassion is rāḥami and is often translated “mercy.”

In the New Testament, the Greek word is splagchnizomai: to be moved as to one’s inwards.

The root word is splagchnon, from which we get “spleen.”

The bowels or inward parts were seen, were understood to be the seat of inward affection, love, and pity, expressing an intense emotion, a yearning, that deeply moves one inwardly, creating an intense desire and longing to relieve suffering.

Exodus 33:19 English Standard Version

19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Exodus 34:6-7English Standard Version

6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands,[a] forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

God proclaimed His name to Moses in response to his request to see God’s glory.

When we get a glimpse of God’s glory, we are seeing His attributes on display.

How comforting to read God defines Himself as compassionate, His very essence is one of deep compassion, moved to act because of the suffering of humanity.

Psalm 103:8-13 English Standard Version

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
    nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

Isaiah 30:18 English Standard Version

The Lord Will Be Gracious

18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
    and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.

Lamentations 3:22-23 English Standard Version

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[a]
    his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

James 5:10-11 English Standard Version

10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Followers of Jesus Are Commanded to Be Compassionate

Matthew 9:10-13 Amplified Bible

10 Then as Jesus was reclining at the table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and [a]sinners [including non-observant Jews] came and ate with Him and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Master eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but  [only] those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this [Scripture] means: ‘I desire compassion [for those in distress], and not [animal] sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call [to repentance]  the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to change], but sinners [those who recognize their sin and actively seek forgiveness].”

Philippians 2:1-2 Amplified Bible

Be Like Christ

2 Therefore if there is any encouragement and comfort in Christ [as there certainly is in abundance], if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship [that we share] in the Spirit, if [there is] any [great depth of] affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, having the same [a]love [toward one another], knit together in spirit, intent on one purpose [and living a life that reflects your faith and spreads the gospel—the good news regarding salvation through faith in Christ].

If we have truly come to faith in Jesus, we have acknowledged the inescapable fact of our own sinfulness.

We have tasted personally of God’s compassion and mercy and realized that we have no innate righteousness that merits a place in God’s kingdom.

This knowledge should naturally create a humility in us towards others who are suffering both physically and spiritually.

Jesus said that He desires compassion, not sacrifice.

Religious works without a tender heart of mercy does not please God.

Paul admonishes us to imitate and model the same compassion we see in Jesus – compassion that sent Him to the cross.

John 15:13 Amplified Bible

13 No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends.

1 John 3:16 Amplified Bible

16 By this we know [and have come to understand the depth and essence of His precious] love: that He [willingly] laid down His life for us [because He loved us]. And we ought to lay down our lives for the believers.

Here are four practical ways that Jesus taught us to show, model, compassion:

1. Compassion for Those with Physical Needs

Matthew 15:32Amplified Bible

Four Thousand Fed

32 Then Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and have nothing [left] to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, because they might faint [from exhaustion] on the way [home].”

While Jesus’ ultimate work and mission was spiritual, accomplishing eternal salvation for the souls of men, He took much time to address the physical needs of those who came to Him for help.

One of His more familiar parables describes “the good Samaritan” who illustrated what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

The pious religious priest and Levite passed by the man in need, but the Samaritan saw him and felt compassion (Luke 10:33).

Jesus concludes with the moral of the parable:

Luke 10:36-37 Amplified Bible

36 Which of these three do you think proved himself a neighbor to the man who encountered the robbers?” 37 He answered, “The one who showed compassion and mercy to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and constantly do the same.”

We can model the love of Jesus by meeting needs.

James puts this principle in terms we cannot fail to understand:

James 2:15-17 Amplified Bible

15 If a brother or sister is without [adequate] clothing and lacks [enough] food for each day, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace [with my blessing], [keep] warm and feed yourselves,” but he does not give them the necessities for the body, what good does that do? 17 So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective].

Physical needs are also often manifested in illness and disease.

While we do not have the power to heal sickness as Jesus did out of compassion (Matthew 14:14), we should do what we can to alleviate the suffering of the sick, including praying diligently for healing (James 5:14-16), visiting to provide encouragement and practical help (Matthew 25:35-40), and bearing with patience the extra burdens of caring for others with illness (Galatians 4:13-15).

Galatians 6:1-4 Amplified Bible

Bear One Another’s Burdens

6 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. 2 Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love]. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something [special] when [in fact] he is nothing [special except in his own eyes], he deceives himself. 4 But each one must carefully scrutinize his own work [examining his actions, attitudes, and behavior], and then he can have the personal satisfaction and inner joy of doing something commendable [a]without comparing himself to another.

2. Compassion for Those Who Mourn

Luke 7:11-15 Amplified Bible

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.

A famous quote attributed to Ben Franklin says, “In this life, nothing is certain but death and taxes.”

We all have an appointment with death (Hebrews 9:27).

Some are born into extreme poverty and live their whole lives in need.

Others come into the world surrounded by great riches and have their every want or desire granted.

Yet physical circumstances have no bearing on a man’s ability to escape death; it is the great equalizer.

Jesus came to do away with the fear of death that holds all men captive (Hebrews 2:14-15).

As His followers, we can show the greatest compassion towards those who mourn, giving them hope in the reality that Christ has done away with its sting (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).

During His earthly ministry, Jesus brought back to physical life several who had died, acting out of compassion (Lazarus, the window’s son, etc.).

But all these died a natural death again.

Grieving during a time of death provides one of the greatest opportunities to show the compassion of Christ to those who mourn.

3. Compassion for Those Who Have Made Poor Choices

Luke 15:20-24 Amplified Bible

20 So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe [for the guest of honor] and put it on him; and give him a [a]ring for his hand, and sandals for his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let us [invite everyone and] feast and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was [as good as] dead and is alive again; he was lost and has been found.’ So they began to celebrate.

The story of the prodigal son hits home for all of us.

Sometimes we are the wayward child gone astray from our Father’s love.

But without compassion, we might just find ourselves in the place of the self-righteous, jealous brother who refused to celebrate, resented the outpouring of love and mercy, welcoming his younger brother found in the father’s welcome.

This much beloved parable illustrates the way God responds to each and every one of us, and how we ought to feel deeply and act intentionally to restore those who are suffering because of their own poor judgments and very willful choices.

There’s no better way to show the redemptive love of Christ.

4. Compassion for the Lost

Mark 6:33-40 Amplified Bible

33 Many [people] saw them leaving, and recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the [surrounding] cities, and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd [waiting], and He was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd [lacking guidance]; and He began to teach them many things. 35 When the day was nearly gone, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it is already late; 36 send the crowds away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But He replied, “You give them something to eat!” And they asked Him, “Shall we go and buy 200 [a]denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five [loaves], and two fish.” 39 Then Jesus commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. 40 They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties [so that the crowd resembled an orderly arrangement of colorful garden plots].

Matthew 9:35-37 Amplified Bible

35 Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages [in Galilee], teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news (gospel) of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness [His words and His works reflecting His Messiahship].

36 When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion and pity for them, because they were dispirited and distressed, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few.

The gospel presents a mission of compassion and mercy.

Separated from our Creator by the wide gulf of sin, we were lost and without hope. God’s heart was moved to act to relieve our suffering, sending His only Son as the sacrificial Lamb of God to atone for the sins of the world.

As followers, imitators of our Savior and Lord Jesus, may all our acts of mercy lead to an invitation to receive the good news of salvation and be reconciled to the Father – Sharing the gospel is an act of compassion with eternal results.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Dear heavenly Father, I praise you for being so kind, gentle, and patient with me. When I consider the difference between how much I know and how well I love, I am compelled to worship you for the truth and riches of the gospel. You don’t love me to the degree I love others; you love me to the degree you have hidden my life in Christ, which is completely. This good news is my peace, hope, and my joy.

It’s also the basis, and rocket fuel, of my repentance. Even as your kindness continues to lead me to repentance, and to more of Jesus, so I repent, Father. I repent of my ill- nourishing lingering resentments. I repent of my holding onto to a few hurts a little tighter than others. I repent of my not being as quick to forgive, heal, and move on as you intend.

I acknowledge what you already know to be true; I’ve enjoyed the role of victim a little more than I’ve relished the thought being a peacemaker. Avoidance has been easier than hoping. But Father, I now crave freedom more than I “need” justice. The only justice I need has been meted out on at the cross, where Jesus died for my sin, and you reconciled me to yourself.

So, Father, as I reach for the garments of grace—compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, I trust you for strength to extend to others the same loving-kindness you have poured on me richly in Jesus. Bring glory to yourself, and I bring my convicted and grateful heart to you. So very Alleluia, So very Amen I do pray. 

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

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