A Year with Jesus: 'Immanuel: Compassion'

Dear Friend,

I call you My friend because you know and practice My will (John 15:15). Therefore, I have brought you into My family through My sacrifice on the cross. I have given you the power to live in My family through the Holy Spirit within you. So today, as we continue talking about the Immanuel sayings in Matthew's gospel, I call you to be a friend to others who desperately need your compassion and My grace in their lives.

The Immanuel sayings promise that you can experience My presence in your daily life. These sayings help you recognize how you can experience My presence as Immanuel. The four sayings promise that you can experience Me as Immanuel in these ways:

1. Through entering My story (Matthew 1:22-23).
2. By loving each other as My spiritual family (Matthew 18:20).
3. By actively demonstrating compassion to those in need (Matthew 25:40).
4. Through making disciples, whether among your own acquaintances or in other cultures, and leading them to know My way of life (Matthew 28:18-20).

Today, I want to focus on the third of these sayings:

Come here, you beloved, you people whom My Father has blessed. Claim your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of creation. You shall be richly rewarded, for when I was hungry, you fed Me. And when I was thirsty, you gave Me something to drink. I was alone as a stranger, and you welcomed Me into your homes and into your lives. I was naked, and you gave Me clothes to wear; I was sick, and you tended to My needs; I was in prison, and you comforted Me. ... I tell you this: whenever you saw a brother or sister hungry or cold, whatever you did to the least of these, so you did to Me.

I want you to treat others, especially the most vulnerable ones among you, as I treated people when I walked the earth. As you do, you will not only be following My example, but you will also experience My presence with you. I'm not promising that doing this will always be easy. It wasn't always easy for Me. In fact, My ministry to others often became messy and difficult. I do not promise you that everyone will be appreciative or recognize the grace you've shared with them. They didn't understand when I shared My grace with them. However, I want you to know one thing for sure: if you share compassionate care with those in need, you will find Me with you. In fact, you will actually be serving Me! You will experience My presence in serving those in need. You will meet Immanuel!