The phrase “had compassion on them,” or “moved with compassion” (in other versions) means “to have the bowels yearn!” To His very core, Jesus yearned for these people! To the depth of His being, Jesus loved them. His very heart was engaged, and His passion bubbled up from within. So He taught them so as to feed their souls, and He gave them fish and bread to feed their stomachs.
Dear friend, this same zeal and compassion should define our gospel ministry. You must daily sit long enough at the cross that your own heart is cut and humbled, wounded and bruised, healed and lifted. Before you pick up your computer to respond to a student, make sure your own heart has been impacted by the cross, that your heart is compassionately moved for your students, that your passion for Jesus is evident. Then feed your students the message of the cross!
Then watch the power of the Spirit minister through your words! Watch your love for your students come forth powerfully! Watch the cross, burning in your own heart, light your student’s heart on fire! And when you pour out your hearts to students, giving them the message of the cross from the depths of your being, and they walk away unchanged, not seemingly to even have heard you, you will be able to stand their rejection, for you have seen Jesus being rejected by God and man for you, and it has warmed your heart.
Our deep compassion can be communicated to and “caught” by others. We want to have lingered long at the fire of the cross until we feel hot with the passionate love of Jesus for people, and our hearts are pierced through like Jesus’ heart was. Brothers and sisters, we want to respond to the weekly check-ins and minister to our students with this type of passionate zeal.
But apathy, lukewarmness, and indifference can also be caught. When we read the Weekly Encouragement from the board of directors, which are designed to inflame our hearts with the same “bowels of compassion” that Jesus had, but we respond in a lukewarm and indifferent way, we are quenching the Spirit and discouraging those around us.
You will be able to gauge your own spiritual condition by examining what is coming out of your mouth (your keyboard), as “out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45; also see Proverbs 4:23, Proverbs 10:11).
If you seldom or never mention the cross, if you are not overflowing with Jesus’ sacrificial love, if you are not communicating to people the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus -- you have grown lukewarm!
Here are some things I’ve said and done, or seen others say and do, in a state of spiritual lukewarmness:
Talked all about the Bible, but not the gospel.
Teaching biblical doctrine devoid of the cross of Christ.
Talking about the character of God, the conviction of the Holy Spirit, etc. but not the blood of Jesus.
Talking in superficial terms, talking about God in generalities rather than a personal way with the cross at the center (the opposite of Galatians 2:20).
Becoming very self-focused, talking a lot about being tired and burned out, rather than about how Jesus was burned up for me in the fire of God’s wrath.
Responding to circumstances according to the flesh, rather than by faith that comes from viewing the cross.
Forgetting the very message God gave us to minister with, the death and resurrection of Jesus. When we turn from the message God gave us we are ad-libbing, speaking a message of our own choosing rather than being an Ambassador of the King and delivering His message. When we remove the message of the cross we are twisting the Scriptures; taking the message of Christ-crucified out of the Bible makes the Bible say something other than its intended meaning.
But what do we do if we see that we have fallen to lukewarmness and apathy?
Question 3. When you feel yourself growing cool spiritually, how do you get the passion of the cross renewed in your heart?
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