Ministry of Restoration

[Jude 1:22] And of some have compassion, making a difference:
Now let’s look at the lost person for a moment. He may be lonely and afraid. She may have been hurt many times, and when you come with another offer of love and security, she just feels she has heard it all before. Consider the child that has been abused and neglected, forsaken by family, an outcast. What does he or she understand about a loving Father? "I am not even sure who my father is, and the guy who raised me beat me and abused me for as long as I can remember.”
That teenager that seems so rebellious to you may have received all his understanding about love and trust from what he sees on television. Think about the elderly person living alone, forgotten by the family she raised. Her husband has been gone for years. She is afraid to go out at night, she worries about the cost of prescriptions, and no one ever calls to see how she is doing. Who knows what fears and turmoil your neighbor is facing every day? All these people are lost. We are going to talk about reaching some of them.
We are in competition with the world, with the cares of life. There is something that we can do with every person to whom we witness. We can show compassion. We must let them know we care.
The word compassion has two components. Com = together, and Passion = suffer. It implies sharing in the suffering of another. The general meaning is to have compassion or mercy on a person in unhappy circumstances. – Implying not merely a feeling for the misfortunes of others involving sympathy, but also an active desire to remove those miseries.
We will listen with concern. We will keep our promise to pray. We will provide assistance where possible. We will cry with the hurting. How long will we demonstrate compassion? How long will this person be lost if we don’t reach them with the gospel? How long did it take them to get this far from G-d? How long will the Spirit seek one of His lost sheep?
Are we willing to suffer inconvenience: Will we continue trying to reach them in the face of anger, rejection, apathy, etc? What if this person has started and failed many times? I am so thankful that the Lord didn’t quit reaching out for me after I had failed!
We will show compassion by treating the person with tenderness, if we saw a brother overtaken in a fault, to restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, considering ourselves, lest we also be tempted. It is time for the body to revive the ministry of restoration. We cannot restore anyone with a spirit of judgment and censure. If we are proud, haughty, or aloof from the person who has fallen, we will only drive them further from the cross. A hug, a smile, a tear, a card in the mail, a call on the phone is all little things that can make a world of difference in the life of one that is hurting. Remember that this is all about them and their need and some you must put into the hands of the L-rd, and allow Him to send someone else to reach them. Remember, regardless how far down a person has gone; you are not there to condemn them, but to reach them with the gospel. Always remember the objective. I am not trying to demonstrate my knowledge or wisdom. I am not trying to prove a person wrong. I am not replacing G-d as the judge. I am trying to reach the lost with the good news that Y’Shua cares about them.
Eternal life is to be looked for only through mercy; mercy is our only plea, not merit; or if merit, not our own, but another's, who has merited for us what otherwise we could have laid no claim to, nor have entertained any well-grounded hope of.
It is said, not only through the mercy of G-d as our Creator, but through the mercy of our L-rd Y’Shua HaMashiach as Redeemer; all who come to heaven must come thither through our L-rd Y’Shua; for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved, but that of the Y’Shua only.
Jude knew that would be times when we would feel like our backs are to the wall. There will be times when we feel like giving up. Jude is exhorting us to keep on fighting the good fight of faith. You might ask, what’s in it for me? Why should I care about others when I am struggling to stay above water? The Greek word for exhort is to the side of; to call. It means called along side to help. Keep on fighting. Keep on trusting the L-rd. The Holy Spirit has come along side to help. You can roll your burden over onto Him. Allow Him to carry the load. Remember the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through G-d to the pulling down of strongholds. Even when it seems that all hope is lost, there is still Y’Shua. So when the enemy comes in like a flood how will you respond? Keep yourself in the love of G-d. Build yourself up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. Look for opportunities to show the mercy of our G-d. Demonstrate compassion, even if it means pulling them out of the fire.
In all our affections and aspirations, may G-d be supreme; in all the sin and woe which prevail here below, may we look forward with strong desire to the time when His dominion shall be set up over all the earth; in all our own sins and sorrows, be it ours to look onward to the time when in a purer and happier world His reign may be set up over our own souls, and when we may cast every crown at His feet and say, "Thou art worthy, O L-rd, to receive glory, and honor, and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.--Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the L-rd our G-d," Revelation 4:11; 19:1.