Live Intimately: Live Generously

It says that Jesus was moved by compassion to minister to the needs He saw around Him. Can you imagine if Jesus suffered from compassion fatigue? 'You know what Father; I'm done with compassion for a bit. This world is seriously needy and they used up all my kindness.'

Can you picture it? No? Well, that's what happens with us…

The Indian Ocean Tsunami saw the biggest response of global giving ever. The Pakistani earthquake, a short time later, saw one of lowest. International compassion was spent. 'One disaster at a time please', we cried! If we're called to follow Jesus, a man who welcomed children after a long day, who had time to eat with a tax collector or stop to talk to one woman when she touched the hem of his cloak. How do we remain compassionate and willing to respond?

I was in Seville for the 24-7 Feast when it occurred to me that living generously, as a response to need, is good but it's not our highest calling. Pete Greig talked of the need to get back to intimacy with the Father and Kelly Green told us of how her life of service and risk is nothing without prayer.

God took Kelly on a year walk of intimacy before she started to 'do' anything. I want the kind of prayer life that seeks after God's heart for His heart alone. A life well spent is one that dwells in the house of the Lord all the days of their life, gazing upon the beauty of the Lord and seeking Him in His temple. One thing. That's all we ever need do with our lives (Psalm 27).

Misty Edwards speaks of wasting her life on purely worshiping God; like Mary and her vase of costly perfume, pouring ourselves out on the One. The beauty of it is, is that when we pour ourselves on God, we end up smelling just like Him.

I discovered recently that people who've been married a long time, don't just pick up each-others habits and opinions but their DNA actually starts to change and they become closer genetically. Bizarre but trust me I didn't make it up. When we are intimate with God, He changes our spiritual DNA. We don't just become like Him, He starts to dwell in our every cell.

Jesus was never far from communion with Father and so He did what He saw the Father doing. He looked like the Father, He sounded like the Father, He walked like the Father and His heart beat like the Father's. The epic simplicity of intimacy with God leads us to be just like Him. He said that 'If you've seen me, you've seen the father'. I want to emulate that. After all, like Bill Johnson says:

'It's not humility to deny what Jesus exchanged with you at the cross - he got all of you and you got all of him.'

Jesus learnt from watching the Father. When I was little, I used to dance with my dad around our kitchen, my little feet on top of his, learning to waltz. But I don't just dance like my dad because I copied him, I also dance like my dad because part of him lives in me, I share his DNA. It's the same with father God, we pick up His heartbeat, His DNA, His life-blood, His character, His love and His compassion. So I pray:
Where you go I go
What you say I say
What you pray I pray
(We Believe, 2006)

I often say that I don't want to do compassion or do generous acts, I want to be compassionate and I want to be generous. If it's who I am, if it's my DNA, then I can't help being me wherever I go. I long for my compassionate response to be more than something I emotionally manufacture but something that rises from within me, powered by my relationship with the ultimate creator, healer and restorer.

you can read the full article at:
http://www.24-7prayer.com/cm/content/790

www.livinggenerously.com