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Posted on 01/01/2024 3:15:48 PM PST by luvie
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My prayer is: that I will make someone's load a wee bit lighter by " walking in their shoes" today. Blessings!!
Spring is near. 🌷🌷🌷
Was about 50 degrees and sunny today.
Puppy is keeping me busy.
Never a dull moment.
😅
Bible in a Year :
Clothe yourselves with compassion.
What would it be like to walk in the shoes of royalty? Angela Kelly, the daughter of a dockworker and nurse, knows. She was also the official dresser for the late Queen Elizabeth for the last two decades of the monarch’s life. One of her responsibilities was to break-in the aging Queen’s new shoes by walking in them around the palace grounds. There was a reason for it: compassion for an elderly woman who sometimes was required to stand for extended periods at ceremonies. Because they wore the same shoe size, Kelly was able to save her some discomfort.
Kelly’s personal touch in her care for Queen Elizabeth makes me think of Paul’s warm encouragement to the church in Colossae (an area in modern Turkey): “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12). When our lives are “built on” Jesus (2:7 nlt), we become “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved” (3:12). He helps us take off our “old self” and “put on the new self” (vv. 9–10)—living out the identity of those who love and forgive others because God has loved and forgiven us (vv. 13–14).
All around us are those who need us to “walk in their shoes” and have compassion for them in the day-to-day challenges of life. When we do, we walk in the shoes (or the sandals) of a humble king—Jesus—who always has compassion for us. .
Reflect & Pray
How has God had compassion for you? Who can you show His love to today?
Thank You, Jesus, for Your forgiveness and love. Help me to receive it, and also to give it away.
Thank you. I do love reading the messages too.
Good morning!
The forecast says 15 degrees tonight and possible snow.
Then by Tuesday, 65 and stormy.
Thunderstorms. At least they didn’t say tornadoes.
For now it is cool and sunny. Puppy had me outside at 6 and 7 this morning.
He’s napping now. Yay! 🥱
One of my clients gave me a toy infused with an herbal substance (like catnip?) that is supposed to calm down “crazy” Zoomie-dogs.
I’m afraid to try it on Tippy because it just might have what is called in Psychopharmacology a “Paradoxical Effect”, ie: INCREASING the Zoomies! LOL!
Wow! Your weather really IS on a roller coaster ride! And I think the puppy must be in NASCAR. LOL!
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Ya, we don’t want more zoomies.
😬
Bible in a Year :
Two are better than one . . . . If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.
Søren Solkær spent years photographing starlings and their breathtaking spectacle: murmurations, where hundreds of thousands of starlings move in fluid motion across the sky. Watching this marvel is like sitting underneath an orchestrated, swirling wave or a massive, dark brushstroke flowing into a kaleidoscope of patterns. In Denmark, they call this starling experience Black Sun (also the title of Solkær’s stunning book of photographs). Most remarkable is how starlings instinctively follow their nearest companion, flying so close that if one were to miss a beat, they’d suffer mass calamity. However, starlings use murmurations to protect one another. When a hawk descends, these tiny creatures enter tight formation and move collectively, beating back a predator who’d easily pick them off if they were alone.
We’re better together than we are alone. “Two are better than one,” Ecclesiastes says. “If either . . . falls down, one can help the other up. [And] if two lie down together, they will keep warm” (4:9–11). Alone, we’re isolated and easy prey. We’re exposed without the comfort or protection of others.
But with companions, we give and receive help. “Though one may be overpowered,” Ecclesiastes says, “two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (v. 12). We’re better together as God leads us. .
Reflect & Pray
How are you more vulnerable when you’re isolated from others? How can you draw closer to them?
Dear God, please help me commit to being in community and extending Your love.
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Take her to the nearest sheep farm? :)
We actually have two Cattle Farms that are nearer.
I’m sure she would get herself banned for life by both. LOL.
Thank you.
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Bible in a Year :
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Paul assured the Colossian believers that the universe existed, not because of Lady Luck, but because of the work of Jesus. The apostle presents Christ as the creator of the world: “For in him all things were created” (Colossians 1:16). Not only was Jesus the powerful creator of the world, but Paul says that “in him all things hold together” (v. 17)—a world that’s not too hot and not too cold, but one that’s just right for human existence. What Jesus created, He’s sustaining with His perfect wisdom and unceasing power.
As we participate in and enjoy the beauty of creation, let’s choose not to point to the random activity of Lady Luck, but to the purposeful, sovereign, powerful and loving One who possesses “all [God’s] fullness” (v. 19). .
Reflect & Pray
What does it mean for you to know that Jesus is in control of the natural world and your personal world? How will you show your dependence on Him today?
Dear Jesus, I thank You for graciously and purposefully creating and sustaining Your creation.
For further study, read Living in Love—How the Trinity Changes Everything.
*BIG HUG*
Beautiful graphic and music, Sissie!
Thanks so much for the PING!
*Blessings to all at Amy’s Place!*
Love,
Ms.B
Thanks for the encouraging words! Love you, Sis! (((hugs)))
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