Category: Resources

Radical forgiveness book

November 18, 2023

What book are you reading right now?

Today’s question is what book are you reading now? One I have just read and will read through again is Bruce Downes book Radical Forgiveness. Bruce is known as The Catholic Guy.

I read this book on Thursday in a couple of sittings and I think I will read it again before I have to return it. My sister sent it to me in the mail this week. It is one that she enjoyed and found very helpful.

One key for me that came through over and over is the saying “time heals all wounds”. Downes says this is not true.

We know in the natural, our physical wounds may heal in time, but wounds to our heart or soul need to be worked through. And part of the working through includes forgiving and letting go.

Downes says this forgiveness and letting go is often very hard, but it is essential for our relationships and our own future. Not only might it improve a fractured relationship, but it can actually allow us to live freer going forwards. It is like a weight lifted off us.

I have often heard that if we carry grudges against people for hurting us, it is like giving them free rent space in our heads. It is also like our computers RAM being taken up by programs running in the background. You just do not have the processing space to think clearly.

Downes’ book was a nice easy read. It was in simple language, had good examples and it used lots of Bibles passages that fit in nicely to illustrate his points. At 70 odd pages it is well worth a read.

If you are interested you can find it here on his website. Just to let you know I do not receive anything for this recommendation.

Brief but powerful letters

October 4, 2023

I really like this insight from Our Daily Bread today…

The apostle John’s letters (1, 2, and 3 John) are considered brief—particularly in comparison to Paul’s lengthy epistles and other letters, such as Romans and 1 Corinthians. However, even 3 John—the shortest of the biblical letters—would’ve been considered long by ancient standards. Scholar Randy Richards wrote: “The average letter in the first century was 87 words.” Meanwhile 3 John has 219 words in the Greek and is the shortest New Testament letter. First John—at 2,517 words—is still quite brief yet much longer than the typical first-century letter. That common brevity in ancient letters was due to several factors including the cost of hiring a secretary, the cost of papyrus and ink (which had to be handmade), and the difficulty in getting letters to their destinations.

Space and time with God

August 20, 2023

Our Daily Bread today was very good. It talks about making space in our schedules to breath, think, heal and spend time with God…

In his book Margin, Dr. Richard Swenson writes, “We must have some room to breathe. We need freedom to think and permission to heal. Our relationships are being starved to death by velocity. . . . Our children lay wounded on the ground, run over by our high-speed good intentions. Is God now pro-exhaustion? Doesn’t He lead people beside the still waters anymore? Who plundered those wide-open spaces of the past, and how can we get them back?” Swenson says we need some quiet, fertile “land” in life where we can rest in God and meet with Him.

Does that resonate? Seeking open spaces is something Moses lived out well. Leading a nation of “stubborn and rebellious” people (Exodus 33:5 nlt), he often withdrew to find rest and guidance in God’s presence. And in his “tent of meeting” (v. 7), “the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (v. 11). Jesus also “often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). Both He and Moses realized the importance of spending time alone with the Father.

We too need to build margin into our lives, some wide and open spaces spent in rest and in God’s presence. Spending time with Him will help us make better decisions—creating healthier margins and boundaries in our life so we have the bandwidth available to love Him and others well.

Let’s seek God in open spaces today.