Word for the Day October 17 By: Evang. Cascille Hammack
"Praise be to the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles,
so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings
of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." 2 Cor. 1:3-5
The word "comfort" in the above scripture in Greek text is "paraklesis" which means to
stand beside a person, encouraging and helping him or her in a time of need. This is what someone who is suffering needs
and what is so often not given by people. But God is faithful and He sends His Holy Spirit when no one else seems to
care. It is through our crushing that God Himself comforts us by His Holy Spirit. It is only His love that
can heal. It is through this that we learn the compassion of Christ for His children. We understand and feel the
pain of others who belong to Christ and suffer when we ourselves have undergone it. Through our death, His life is manifested
in us and poured out to those He reaches out to through us. We can't know the sufferings of others until we ourselves
have entered into that suffering. Christ suffered all for us and sympathizes with all of our pain. If someone
has never known hunger, how can they feel the pain of one who has? How can we relate to someone who is homeless
unless we ourselves have undergone such painful circumstances. You must feel the suffering of another in order
to be the instrument God uses to heal. As God comforts us in our pain, this same comfort overflows into the lives
of those He loves. When you have been crushed and truly died to yourself, you are then ready to be poured out to comfort
those who have any trouble. You are then fit to be an instrument used in the Master's hand to fulfill the needs of His
people and the feeding of His sheep. When a vessel is broken, the contents are poured out. God breaks us
and pours us out again and again so we can fulfill the work God has for each of us. If we are to love others as we love
ourselves, we must enter into their suffering. We can then comfort them with the comfort that the Lord has poured
into us that will overflow into their hearts. As the love of many in the world grow cold, we are to love as Christ
loves. We are His ambassadors here to do His work, if we truly are in the faith.
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