Fruits

I have not posted in awhile but felt led to write something tonight, so decided I would. I have found lately that I've been asking myself how can I possibly be a light to someone. I don't know the words to say, I can't pop off scriptures in my head that quick, and I need to pray way more than I do. I really believe God has given me a lot of compassion. I dont know if it's a gift per say (I'd have to study more on spiritual gifts) but there are times when it literally brings me to my knees. One of the first stories I read as a new christian was the cleansing of the leper and is still today one of my favorites.

Mark 1:4o-42
And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

Now to undertand this fully let's backup to what it meant for a person to have leprosy in those days.

Leviticus 13:3
And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.

Leviticus 13:45-46
And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.

Jesus didn't have to physically touch him to be healed. I love this story because it really shows his compassion. This man had gone without contact, and had been an outcast. Can you imagine what that touch meant to him?

There have been times I've gotten someone on my mind and I know without a doubt they are hurting without seeing them. I'm not very good at describing feelings but my heart literally hurts if that makes sense. I can feel their despair and heartbreak just as if it were my own. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does that person stays on my mind for several days and I pray and pray. One time chris and I were on our way to church and I knew someone was hurting before I got there. I jumped slightly and chris asked me what was wrong because I grabbed my chest. And I told him my heart was hurting and I knew without a doubt someone was going to be at church that really needed prayer and help. When we got there, I knew who it was. Another time when it happened, I was praying for this girl at my church and the thought came to my mind that the amount of hurt and compassion I felt for this one girl, Jesus felt that for everyone when he was up on that cross. And I'm sure he was in a tremendous amount of pain when he was crucified, but I know that compassion that he felt for us broke his heart more because I've felt it. There is no way to describe the compassion and love that he has. I hope I'm making sense and this may be sounding really corny but until you've felt feelings like that, you can't begin to imagine what it feels like. Anyways, I was praying about a week or so ago and asking God how I could possibly be a light to anyone. And when I was at church a few days ago, one of the preachers taught on 2 Peter and it opened something up to me.

2 Peter 1:5-8
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness. And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.


This made me realized that if I do everything I know to do, and try the best I can to be like Christ, I can truly be a light to someone. I'm going to bear fruit and people will see.

Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

God bless everyone! I hope this was helpful to someone.