Tag: dailyprompt

Compassion

November 19, 2023

What’s the first impression you want to give people?

If I could make one first impression on people, my hope they would see me as a compassionate person. I want to be seen as someone who loves, cares and helps where they can.

When I read through the life of Jesus in the Gospels, I see many occasions where Jesus had compassion on the people. Every time I read of these things it bring tears to my eyes and a deep longing to my heart.

Here are just a few examples…

Mark 6:34 NLT Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

Matthew 14:14 NLT Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Mark 1:41 NLT Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!”

Luke 7:13-14 NLT When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. [14] Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.”

Just in these examples we see Jesus had compassion on the people. He shepherded them, taught them, healed their sick and even raised the widows only son to life.

In Luke 6:36 NLT Jesus says, “You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate”. This is something Jesus wants us to display to the world around us.

So what first impression do I want to make on people – I want to be seen as a compassionate person.

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.

A lesson learned later

September 21, 2023
Image from http://www.LumoProject.com

Share a lesson you wish you had learned earlier in life.

I wish I listened earlier to people who told me about Jesus.

I can remember Christian friends in primary school telling me about Jesus and I did not listen. I also had people talk to me in my teenage years and I made fun of them. Thankfully I listened to some friends in my early twenties!

Like the image above of Jesus calming the storm on the lake, He could have calmed some of the storms in my life. Some may have even been prevented if I followed Him.

Don’t leave it too long, trust Jesus today. Turn to Him and follow Him. Like my friend said to me in my early twenties, “If you are not walking with Jesus, you are missing out on how good life can be”.

Enjoy about writing

August 21, 2023

What do you enjoy most about writing?

I really enjoy writing a lot. There are a number of things about it that I both enjoy and things that help me.

1. Writing helps me to get my thoughts down, which helps order my thoughts and feel mentally fresher.

2. Writing helps me to learn and grow when I research something when I have to write a sermon or a blog post.

3. Writing helps me to encourage others. And when people tell me something I wrote encouraged them, it encourages me too!

I have been writing sermons, blog posts and articles since the late 1990s. It is something that has really helped me a lot and it is something I really enjoy.

Love where I live

August 20, 2023

What do you love about where you live?

One of the main things I love about where I live is the wide open spaces and the places I can go and walk. The above picture is one of the trails I walk that takes me up the rock overlooking our town.

It takes about 15 minutes to walk up and then I can just sit and look at the view. One direction looks over town, another way looks over farmland and another looks over a forrest.

Once up on the rock I can sit and breath in the fresh air, I can have space to chill out and order my thoughts or I can just pray about what is on my heart. It is a great place to have.

Space and time to order my thoughts is very important to me. This is why I love walking up the rock. It is definitely one of the things I love about where I live.