Psalm 103:11-16

Psalm 103:11-16 NIV

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

God is merciful. He knows who we are & how we behave yet he still loves us. He has compassion on those who fear Him; those who sin yet are humble enough to repent.

Our days here are short. Let them be filled with praise toward our merciful maker. Thank you Lord for another day.

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9/24 - Prayer & Scripture for Today

Well, I'm still plugging away on this subject of the rapture and second coming. It's a really deep topic once you get into Revelation and the descriptions of the "beasts" and trying to understand how things will take place. Please shoot up a quick prayer for me for understanding & wisdom. I'll need it!

In the meantime, here's a scripture we've looked at in Bible study:

⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

A few things are apparent from this passage. First, I'm so not worthy of a holy God subjecting Himself to this just for me. I'm so glad that He did though because without His sacrifice I'd be on my way to hell. Without the provision He made for us, namely us Gentiles, I'd be without hope. Praise God for first loving us so much!

The specific characteristic of Christ we studied as it relates to this passage is His compassion. His compassion was unconditional. At the time of His death many considered Him stricken by God and afflicted, yet He took up our sins upon Himself. Even today, as we turn away from Him and dedicate ourselves to the distractions in this world more than Him, as we fall asleep during study, as we hurry out of church on Sundays, the fact remains that He still died for us knowing full well how we'd show our appreciation.

His compassion also led to action. Oftentimes we can feel a deep compassion for someone or some circumstance and feel justified in the fact that we at least feel bad for the person. But how often do we act on that compassion? How often do we stop & pray with the homeless person we avoid eye contact with? How often do we reach in our pockets and offer some very practical help for them? Christ's demonstration of compassion shows that there's some action to be done. Matthew 9:36 gives an example of how Christ felt about us -

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

Other examples can be found in Matt 14:14, 15:32, 20:34. These examples show Christ feeling compassion and then doing something about it. Verse 5 from the Isaiah passage show the ultimate action He took to show how He loved us. Let's put some action behind our professed love for others today (and everyday).