We always thank God for all of you when we mention you constantly in our prayers. This is because we remember your work that comes from faith, your effort that comes from love, and your perseverance that comes from hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father. Brothers and sisters, you are loved by God, and we know that he has chosen you. We know this because our good news didn’t come to you just in speech but also with power and the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know as well as we do what kind of people we were when we were with you, which was for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord when you accepted the message that came from the Holy Spirit with joy in spite of great suffering. As a result you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The message about the Lord rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place. The news about your faithfulness to God has spread so that we don’t even need to mention it. People tell us about what sort of welcome we had from you and how you turned to God from idols. As a result, you are serving the living and true God, and you are waiting for his Son from heaven. His Son is Jesus, who is the one he raised from the dead and who is the one who will rescue us from the coming wrath. ~Thess. 1:2-10 (CEB)
How often have I “seen” but not acted. How often have I “heard” but not responded. These are sins of omission. If I truly want to walk in the steps of Jesus I need to first realize that Jesus didn’t just feel bad for people who were suffering.
Brennan Manning in his book, Reflections for Ragamuffins says, “Every time the Gospels mention that Jesus was moved with the deepest emotions or felt sorry for people, it led to his doing something- physical or inner healing, deliverance or exorcism, feeding the hungry crowds or praying for others. The Good Samaritan was commended precisely because he acted. The priest and Levite, paragons of Jewish virtue, flunked the test because they didn’t do anything. ‘Which of these three in your opinion was neighbor to the man who fell in with the robbers?’ The answer came, ‘The one who treated him with compassion.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Then go and do the same.’”
Help me today O Lord to not only hear with Your ears or see with Your eyes, but to be the action for Your love. May I be a vessel for Your love in a hurting world. Amen.
Pieces of the Puzzle 