Compassion!

For Wednesday, January 14, 2026:

Hebrews 13:2 NLT: “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!”

How we live our lives on earth is (among other things) a test of our compassion. I hope everyone reading this gets at least 50% on this test. 80 or 90% would be better. Only Jesus scores 100%!

Most of the civil laws and rules to which we conform are manmade laws, not God’s laws. Other than God giving the Promised Land to His Chosen People, I don’t believe he drew any lines on a map. We’re all citizens of planet Earth, and our Creator wants us all to get along. Historically, mankind hasn’t been very good at it!

Jesus said we should love the Lord and love our neighbors. God is always first. Our neighbors could be next door, in our city, state or country, or the country across the ocean. God created a lot of people to populate the planet!

Even when a man-made law is violated, we need to remember that the perpetrator is still one of God’s creations. The ones who appear wrong to us were still made in God’s image, and should be treated with love, kindness and respect.

I remember a scene from a movie. As a couple of religious types walked down the street, they encountered a falling-down drunk begging for food. His clothes were torn, he was dirty, and intoxicated beyond belief. One of the religious leaders commented as they passed, “That man is a disgrace. He needs to get his life together.”

The other replied, “Perhaps the Lord’s testing your compassion!” Guilty!

Dear Lord, please give us more compassion than criticism, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor Norton Lawellin

The Father’s House

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Truth & Freedom Church

Made in HIS Image

February 07, 2011 Monday Message:

“God created mankind in his own image...” Genesis 1:27a

Have you ever thought of God as a grandfatherly patriarch seated on a huge royal throne in the sky? That’s what I was taught at church and in Sunday school. Pictures in books and paintings served to reinforce the concept. But is that the right way to picture God? Is that the way the great I am — is?

We don’t really know what God looks like. That’s how he wants it. We’ll find out soon enough. So are we made in God’s image, or are we making God in OUR image? Do we have the whole thing reversed? Backwards? Worse still, are we making an idol in our mind’s eye?

Before alphabets were invented, the Hebrew people utilized picture-writing. Writing God’s name became a sort of sin, because you had to draw a picture of God, which the Jews considered making an idol. Because we don’t really know what God looks like, any image we might make of him would be incorrect.

When God came to earth as Jesus, he utilized the body of a man to walk among us, heal and teach us, and to rescue us from our sinful ways. After Jesus ascended into heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, a comforter or advocate for us. We do not know what the Holy Spirit looks like, but the Bible describes him as breath, wind or air. What does breath look like?

Bodies are for earthly beings. When God calls our soul, our nephesh, to the next reality, we will no longer need bodies. I don’t know exactly how we’ll look, but for sure we’ll fit in — our spirit will be made in HIS image.

Norton Lawellin