(by pastor Norman)
“The Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11b; NKJV). The word compassionate here has the sense of tender mercy, love and affection, a very deep love, compassion, pity and sympathy. When Jesus saw the crowds that came to Him, He was “Moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd “(Matt 9:36; NKJV). His compassion moved Him to heal the sick (Matt 14:14), feed the 5,000 (Matt 14:13-21) and raise the widow of Nain’s only son from the dead (Luke 7:13). Jesus in His teaching, gave us powerful accounts of compassion. The prodigal son asked his father for his share of his inheritance. The son went away and wasted everything. He returned humbly to his father who greeted him with compassion and celebration, overjoyed to receive his son home alive (Luke 15:11-31). A man on a journey from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by thieves and left badly wounded (Luke 10: 30-37). A priest and a Levite saw the man lying there but simply walked away. A Samaritan stopped, had compassion and cared for the wounded traveler. Samaritans were descendants of Jews who had intermarried with Gentiles. Jesus tells us, “You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate” (Luke 6:36; NLT). In the apostle Paul’s epistle to the Colossians, he tells us to, “Clothe yourselves with compassion” (Col 3:12; NIV). Let’s follow God’s word and have compassion on those around us.
(by pastor Jean)
February 14th is the big day that the world celebrates love! However, as Christians we get to celebrate it every day! If you are born again you are born of love because God is love (1 John 4:7,8), love is part of our recreated spirits. “God is love, whoever lives in love lives in God and God in Him” (1 John 4:16). As this love grows and develops in our lives it becomes the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). It was love that led Jesus to heal the sick and perform all the miracles that He did. That same “love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5; NKJV). Jesus told us in John 15:9 that we are to abide in His love. To abide means to stay, dwell or remain. Jesus wants us to remain in His love because He wants us to not only love Him but also share this love with others (John 13:34, Matt 27:40, James 2:8). God commanded us to love but love is a decision that we have to make. It's not always easy but the word helps us with this. 1 Corinthians 13 verses 4-8 gives us specifics on what love looks like. If we meditate on all the love passages in the Bible, God’s love will become a part of us and it will become easier to put it into practice. Faith cannot work without love so when we get out of love our faith is affected (Gal 5:6, Mark 11:25). If we remain in love as Jesus commanded it will be easier to stay in faith and therefore, we can be victorious, “So now abide faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13; MEV).
(by pastor Norman)
In the beginning Adam and Eve were deceived by the devil into disobeying God by eating an apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17; 3:1-17). This brought sin (Rom 5:12), spiritual death (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13) and separation from God on all mankind (1 John 1:6-7). In Old Testament times yearly animal sacrifices were made for the forgiveness of sins by God’s people Israel (Lev 16). Christ died on a cross as a sacrifice to deal with sin (Heb 9:26), a perfect sacrifice to wash our minds from sinful ways (Heb 9:14). This opened the way for God’s forgiveness, salvation and restored fellowship with God (Rom 10:9-10; AMP; 1 John 1:7-9). Jesus by His sacrifice, His death and resurrection, defeated satan and stripped him of all power and authority. “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Col 2:15; NKJV). “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8; NKJV; see also Heb 2:14). We must believe that Christ won victory for us (1 Cor 15:57). Satan will try to bring sin into our lives and attack us using people, situations and circumstances; however, Jesus brings us victory over all tribulations (John 16:33). If we have Christ in our lives, we are more than conquerors (1 John 5:4; Rom 8:37), God leads us in triumph (2 Cor 2:14) and we have authority over the works of satan (Luke 10:19). We walk in Christ’s victory by using our faith (1 John 5:4b).
(by pastor Jean)
“Faith and patience inherit the promise” (Heb 6:12; NKJV). The Greek word for patience in this verse is makrothumia and it means: forbearance, fortitude, patient endurance and longsuffering. It is a fruit of the Spirit. You may have heard it said that faith and patience are the power twins. James tells us to, “Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith develops patience” (James 1:2-4; MEV). People often forget the importance of patience when they pray the “prayer of faith” (James 5:15). If your prayer does not get answered right away this is where patience comes in because we have to stay in faith and patience if we are to receive the answer. Notice that the writer of Hebrews goes on to say, “So after Abraham had patiently endured, he received the promise” (Heb 6:15; MEV). That was the promise of producing an heir and scholars tell us it took about 25 years of faith and patience! When we have prayed the prayer of faith what should we do while we wait? We need to thank and praise God in advance that the prayer is answered, for example Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16:25-26). We also need to keep speaking the word of God over our situation and we must make sure we don’t allow words of doubt and fear come out of our mouths. We also need to keep developing our faith because, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17; MEV). Next time you are believing for something and are tempted to give up, remember to put patience into action and keep on believing!