Ministry is important and it has an impact on us, because it helps us to develop compassionate heart

Dear children of God, welcome to the column of our “Daily word for spiritual strength”!Our God is a living God, and He wants His children to be alive through the truth of His word and be ready for every good work.Yesterday we read the parable about the Good Samaritan, written in the Gospel of Luke. There were four types of people represented in that story: the victims, the robbers, the indifferent people and the compassionate people.As we discovered, many people become victims of human evil and wiles. Robbers use other people to achieve their own goals, and doing that through all possible means.Indifferent people are the same selfish people who continue to focus on themselves and their own needs.As we dig deeper into the parable, we see that even the priest and the Levite walked past the victim, who desperately needed their help. Perhaps, they were in a hurry up to serve God, so they had no time to help the dying man. Maybe the priest and the Levite were late and on their way to a service or a home group, worship rehearsal or even a prayer meeting, therefore, they found their business more important than saving a man of who is near death. Strange, isn’t it. I remember a story that I once read about a pastor, who decided to demonstrate this story in his church. In order to do that, one Sunday morning he dressed up like a homeless man and sat down next to the entrance of their church. Members of the congregation walked past, paying no attention to the man sitting helpless on their way. Nobody bordered to help this man out or even care enough to come near him. Do you know why? It is because all of them were in a hurry to their church service. Later, the pastor changed his clothes and began to preach his sermon. At the very beginning of his message he asked the audience if anyone of them noticed the homeless man who was sitting outside the entrance of their church. Sure enough, almost everybody did. Then the pastor revealed his secret and told them he was the one who pretended to the homeless man. Everybody was ashamed of their behaviour. The pastor taught the church an important lesson that day, and the lesson is that we serve God by serving people who are in need. Now, let’s have a close look at the fourth type of people reflected in the parable of Good Samaritan – the compassionate people.Compassionate people are those who help the people who are in need and those who are abused. They use everything they have at their disposal that God has blessed them with in order to accomplish that. This type of people understands that everything God has given to them is not for themselves only, but also for serving other people. That’s why they are generous and quick to come to the aid of injured and abused people who are in need. In the parable, the good Samaritan represents a compassionate person, who saw a man dying on the road and 

«… came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return’ ». (Luke 10:34-35).

 This is the only type of people that reflects the heart and character of our Heavenly Father. This Good Samaritan had pity on the injured man and helped him, because his heart was filled with the compassion of God. So why ministry is so important and how does it impact your life? Ministry is important and it has an impact on us, because it helps us to develop compassionate heart. Compassion, in turn, brings healing and restoring power of God into my life and through my life into the lives of others around me. Through the virtue of the compassion, I become a tool in God hands – a tool used for restoration and a channel of God’s healing anointing. God’s anointing flows and works through compassion. Do you want God to anoint you in a special way? Do you want the God’s power to flow through you mightily? I guess you do, don’t you? God desires that for you! He wants you to be an instrument of His grace, through whom His anointing and power can consistently flow. In order to succeed in this we need to develop a heart of compassion towards the people who in need around us. The more compassion we have within us, the more anointing and God’s power will flow through us. So, if you desire that God’s power can flow through you, simply begin to serve God and people with a a heart full of love towards God and other people. See you tomorrow!   God bless you abundantly today!   Rufus Ajiboye, pastor