Hi how are you all today? I am okay and recovering from wisdom tooth surgery- yes just one. I have already lost two and still have one left. What was really great through it is how my household continued to function and stay organised. I am grateful for that. How was your week?
With all that is going on around us in the world we can become “immune” to pain and suffering. We just consider it normal and it doesn’t move us a lot of the time. I was reading something the other day that said only when Jesus was compassionate were people healed. Compassion has to come first before healing.
In Hebrews 3:15 in the NIV Bible, there is a warning given:
As has just been said:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”
From verse 7 in that chapter down to the end of the chapter, is a warning against unbelief. Part of that warning is that unbelief hardened the hearts of the Israelites in their dessert journey.
There can be no salvation, no healing, no deliverance if we are operating with a hard heart and unbelief. As stated before, Jesus could only do those things He did through compassion.
In verse 10 of that chapter, it states that sin and not knowing the ways of God are also results of a hard heart.
So how do we keep our hearts soft and compassionate and believing when the world around us is anything but?
Hebrews 4: 14 to 16 in the Message Bible gives us our first clue. It states:
14-16 Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
Jesus is our answer. As these verses state, when we feel our hearts getting hard, falling into unbelief and sin, let’s run to Jesus and not away from him. He has all the mercy and help we need because He has lived on this earth too.
The second clue comes from what we think about. If we see doom and gloom and then continue to think on it, our hearts will get hard and unbelief will seep in.
In Philippians 4: 8 -9 in the Message Bible, it states:
8-9 Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
It is only when we think right that God meets us and creates a perfect picture.
The last thing is what we speak. Speaking can be our ideas and thoughts but it can also be a copying of what we heard. If our speech is from copying another’s speech, then we want to make sure it lines up with the truth of Gods Word.
Colossians 4: 5-6 in the Message Bible states:
6 Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don’t miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.
These verses tell us to be gracious in our speech. To be gracious means kind, uplifting and wholesome in our talk. To be gracious means we need to be compassionate and soft.
So how do we prevent a hard heart- run to Jesus, think right and speak right.
Let’s this week practice these good things and see the world and people change around us.
Bless you and keep living the life God intended.
Karen
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