ESOCS Devotional 27 August 2025 – Be Compassionate
MEMORY VERSE: “When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?” John 6:5
TEXT: JOHN 6:1-20
After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”
8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”
10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” 13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.
16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. 18 Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. 19 So when they had rowed about [c]three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. 20 But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
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The ministry of Jesus was characterized by compassion; hence, it is one of the secrets of His success. Anyone who must succeed in ministry, leadership, business, family and other spheres of life, must make compassion the watch word. Compassion can be defined as compounded passion or love in action; the proof of love is in the action. If truly you love, as is always the claim, then act it – show it working. Compassion could also been seen as affliction motivated motion, being moved by the challenges of others. Your motive is what determines your motion in life. God dwells in the realm of compassion, that is His main essence and it fails not (Lam. 3:22).
Thus, anytime you operate in compassion you are connected to divine frequency; and you are ready to move the challenges and problems of men by the unction. It is the channel of power conduction from God through man to man. Nothing triggers the flow of power of God in the life of His servants like compassion in life of others. Everything that Jesus did was all propelled by compassion. Our anchor scripture is clear on this: the moment he saw the multitude, a deep feeling was ignited that birthed his compassion for them. Without an iota of doubt, this singular compassion Jesus had for the multitude moved Him to find a solution to their problem; hence, provoked the miracle of feeding five thousand men with only five loaves of bread and two fishes.
Hear this, what you can feel determines what you can heal; what moves you determines what God wants to move through you. Jesus felt the pain of the people; He placed Himself in their shoes and could not have let them go without providing a solution. This is instructive for leaders, ministers and servants of God. They should learn to feel the pain of the people. Don’t turn blind eyes to the challenges of your members. As much as policies and protocols are important, allow compassion to prevail in all circumstances of life. Let your heart always be with the people per time. Did you also notice that what Jesus felt, the disciples didn’t feel? He had to call them specially to communicate His feelings. No wonder the difference in level of impact they made is very noticeable. Therefore, for anyone who must go far in life, ministry and in power with God, such a person must always be compassionate towards others. Don’t always expect others to have the same compassion or feeling you have. Where necessary, communicate it to them. As you teach faith, show love (compassion). Faith is impotent in absence of love (Gal. 5:6). Compassion is superior to faith; faith can fail but love never fails. As you pray for the people, also give them what they need.
CHALLENGES
- Take time to meditate and feel what it means to be in a particular challenge.
PRAYER POINT
- Father, thank you for your word, give me the grace for compassion of heart.
FURTHER READING: 2 Samuel 3:19-39; 4:1-End; 1 Corinthians 3:1-23
ESOCS Devotional 27 August 2025