Compassion I

I know I have not posted in awhile but I have been busy. So I will share a little of my thoughts with you today. I have some time to think and pray as I drive to work each day. But I don't have time to put my thoughts and prayers here for you so I will try a little harder to make time.

Mark 1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

• What is compassion? A sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.
• What is sympathetic? To be so close to someone that you think alike and feel alike. Or what ever affects them affects you the same way.

In other words Jesus actually put himself in the lepers life. He didn't feel the lepers pain. Because remember leprosy is the nerves in the "extremities" losing feeling. So if a leper reaches into a fire to move the coals they will not feel anything. Their hands will just blister and burn away. But the lepers instead of pain felt shame because the way they look and the way they were treated by society. In those days they were cast out of the city and considered worse than animals.

Jesus our saviour felt their shame because of his compassion. Jesus didn't like what he felt so he healed the leper.

• When Jesus saw the leper He immediately felt the way he felt and he even thought like him. So he was moved to the point of having compassion for him . This is going way beyond feeling sorry or having sympathy for someone. When Jesus added his desire to alleviate the problem or to meet the need!

Mark 6: 30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.
• This is where John the Baptists’ disciples tell Jesus of Johns’ death. So Jesus says let us go get some rest and relax a little.
31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.
33 And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and out went them, and came together unto him.
• Jesus was weary and tired and needed to regroup from the news of Johns death but he never forgot His purpose in coming to earth!! He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He constantly gave of himself to people!! He never let his flesh rise up with an attitude because people were pushing Him for his ministry! He constantly gave of himself to people!!
34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

Is this the way we are ? Are we "Christians" or in other words are we "Christ" like?

Remember...Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.