|
Posted on 01/01/2021 6:43:29 AM PST by JustAmy
|
Beautiful! We’ve been so dry and we had that awful week of freezing weather during January [?] so my daffodils barely bloomed. :(
Enjoy riding in the lovely spring weather you’re having. Hope it lasts!
I went to church on the bike this morning, did the music, had some coffee, and then hit the road for a little spin...mostly to look at the daffodils...they are seriously awesome this year for some reason.
Bible in a Year:
[God] comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble.
Radamenes was just a kitten when his owner dropped him off at an animal shelter, thinking he was too ill to recover. The kitten was nursed back to health and adopted by the vet. He then became a fulltime resident at the shelter and now spends his days “comforting” cats and dogs—just out of surgery or recovering from an illness—through his warm presence and gentle purr.
That story is a small picture of what our loving God does for us—and what we can do for others in return. He cares for us in our sickness and struggles, and He soothes us with His presence. The apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians calls our God, “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (1:3). When we are discouraged, depressed, or mistreated, He’s there for us. When we turn to Him in prayer, He “comforts us in all our troubles” (v. 4).
But verse 4 doesn’t end there. Paul, who had experienced intense suffering, continues, “so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” Our Father comforts us, and when we’ve experienced His comfort, we’re enabled to comfort others.
Our compassionate Savior, who suffered for us, is more than able to comfort us in our suffering and distress (v. 5). He helps us through our pain and equips us to do the same for others.
Reflect & Pray
When have you experienced God’s comfort during a difficult time? When have you offered God’s comfort to others?
Dear God, thank You for Your comforting presence in my pain and sorrow. Help me in turn to be a comfort to others.
|
What li’l cuties!!
Bible in a Year:
[Don’t look] to your own interests but each of you to the interests of . . . others.
A video game, one that’s become a cultural phenomenon, places a hundred players on a virtual island to compete until one player remains. Whenever a player eliminates you from the contest, you can continue to watch through that player’s vantage point. As one journalist notes, “When you step into another player’s shoes and inhabit their point of view, the emotional register . . . shifts from self-preservation to . . . communal solidarity. . . . You begin to feel invested in the stranger who, not too long ago, did you in.”
Transformation happens whenever we open ourselves to see another’s experience, looking beyond our own vision and encountering another’s pain, fear, or hopes. When we follow Jesus’ example and “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit” and instead “in humility value others above [our]selves,” then we notice things we would have missed otherwise (Philippians 2:3). Our concerns broaden. We ask different questions. Rather than being preoccupied with only our own needs or angst, we become invested in others’ well-being. Rather than looking to “[our] own interests,” we become committed “to the interests of . . . others” (v. 4). Rather than protecting what we assume we need to thrive, we joyfully pursue whatever helps others flourish.
With this transformed vision, we gain compassion for others. We discover new ways to love our family. We may even make a friend out of an enemy! Reflect & Pray
How can the Holy Spirit help you avoid becoming small, narrow, or selfish? How do you think God’s inviting you to see others with new eyes?
Jesus, too often what I see is only my fear, my pain, or my lack. Help me to see my sisters and brothers. I want to truly see them and love them.
|
Bible in a Year:
Wisdom and power are his.
On her college volleyball team, my granddaughter learned a winning principle. When the ball came her way, no matter what, she could “better the ball.” She could make a play that left her teammates in a better situation—without throwing tantrums, blaming, or making excuses. Always make the situation better.
That was Daniel’s response when he and three Hebrew friends were taken into captivity by Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar. Although they were given pagan names and ordered to take three years of “training” in the enemy’s palace, Daniel didn’t rage. Instead, he asked permission not to defile himself in God’s sight by eating the king’s rich food and wine. As this intriguing Bible story shows, after consuming nothing but vegetables and water for ten days (Daniel 1:12), Daniel and his friends “looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food” (v. 15).
Another time, Nebuchadnezzar threatened to kill Daniel and all palace wise men if they couldn’t repeat the king’s disturbing dream and interpret it. Again, Daniel didn’t panic, but sought mercy “from the God of heaven,” and the mystery was revealed to him in a vision (2:19). As Daniel declared of God, “wisdom and power are his” (v. 20). Throughout his captivity, Daniel sought God’s best despite the conflicts he faced. In our own troubles, may we follow that example, making the situation better by taking it to God. Reflect & Pray
What battles are you facing now? As you turn from those troubles and seek God, how does He make your journey better?
Loving God, life’s challenges feel overwhelming today. As I turn to You, inspire me to shed my despair to journey better with You.
|
Happy Caturday, luvie! :-)
Bible in a Year:
Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?
For $300,000, you can buy a new McLaren 720S sports car. The vehicle comes with a V8 engine pumping 710 horsepower—considerably more than you’ll need for your morning commute.
Of course, you might be tempted to use all that power. One Virginia driver learned his McLaren was so “fast” it could go from an upscale showroom to the scrap heap in just twenty-four hours! One day after buying the car, he slammed it into a tree. (Thankfully, he survived.)
Just three chapters into the story of the Bible, we learn how a different bad choice and a tree marred God’s good creation. Adam and Eve ate from the one tree they were to leave alone (Genesis 3:11). The story had barely begun, and paradise was cursed (vv. 14–19).
Another tree would play a role in undoing this curse—the cross Jesus endured on our behalf. His death purchased our future with Him (Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13).
The story comes full circle in the Bible’s last chapter. There we read of “the tree of life” growing beside the “river of the water of life” (Revelation 22:1–2). As John describes it, this tree will be “for the healing of the nations” (v. 2). And he assures us, “No longer will there be any curse” (v. 3). God’s story comes with the happily-ever-after we all long for.
Reflect & Pray
How do we already experience the reality of Jesus’ victory over sin and death today? What do you think is an appropriate response to His sacrifice for us?
Father, don’t let me forget the price it cost Your Son to undo the curse we set in motion way back in the garden of Eden. All I can say is thank You. All I can give You is my life.
Bible in a Year:
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
But I was wrong. Like Austen’s character Elizabeth Bennet, I had the humbling experience of slowly—and quite reluctantly—changing my mind. Like her, I’d been unwilling to get to know Darcy’s character as a whole; I preferred to hang onto my reaction to one of his worst moments. After finishing the novel, I wondered who I’d made that same mistake with in the real world. What friendships had I missed because I wouldn’t let go of a snap judgment?
At the heart of faith in Jesus is the experience of being seen, loved, and embraced by our Savior—at our worst (Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:19). It’s the wonder of realizing we can surrender our old, false selves for who we truly are in Christ (Ephesians 4:23–24). And it’s the joy of understanding that we are no longer alone but part of a family, a “body” of those learning to walk the “way of love”—real, unconditional love (5:2).
When we remember what Christ has done for us (v. 2), how can we not long to see others the way He sees us?
Reflect & Pray
Why do you think you sometimes cling to negative judgments about others? What experiences have you had of “being wrong” about someone?
God, it’s really hard, sometimes, to let go of that impulse to judge and compare, to resist that need to see myself as better than others. Help me to grasp, deep in my heart, the truth that I don’t need to compete and that I am loved.
|
I love tulips! I had the plants come up, but no blossoms. That has happened with so many of my flowers this year. Sadly...
My tulips were puny this year...but the daffodils were spectacular!
Perhaps they go through cycles.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
