Shalom,
Knowing that God has given us a free will to choose Him, or not, it is so wonderful to hear when people DO! It is equally as awful to hear people blame God for their own choices! We are all spirit beings who possess souls and live in physical bodies while on this earth. When our physical bodies die, our spirit and soul leave the body and go to the destination OF OUR OWN CHOOSING! He has provided the Way to Heaven, His Name is Jesus! To learn more about the choices we have between the very real Heaven and the very real Hell, check out the sermons entitled "Heaven" on The Spoken Word Church website (link on the left). This teaching will also help you in your ministry to others!
Mark 1:41 says this:
41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, out forth His hand, and touched him, and said to him, "I will, be clean".
When Jesus saw the hurting, dying, weak, distressed, poor and helpless, He was moved with "compassion"! The dictionary definition of the word compassion is: Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. Jesus CARED about their need and DID SOMETHING about it! He was doing the work of His ministry! You can see what that is by reading Matthew 4:23 and 9:35. Matthew 4:23 says:
23 And He went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news (Gospel) of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every weakness and infirmity among the people.
Every person that is specifically recorded as having received healing from Jesus was told by Him that THEIR faith had made them whole! How did they GET that faith? By hearing the preaching and teaching of the Gospel (Romans 10:17)! When Jesus said that all authority was given unto Him, He followed that up with "Go you therefore" (Matthew 28:18). Read Mark 16:15-20 also! This is OUR "work of the ministry"! God's part is shown in Mark 15:20:
20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following. Amen.
God WILL confirm HIS WORD when we speak it! So let's DO IT! Amen! Then we can boldly declare THIS song from Hillsong United, "The Lost Are Found":
Shalom in Him!
