The Father’s Willing Compassion

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. Luke 15:20 (ESV)

In the story of the prodigal son, we have three people: The son who left home, the father who allowed him to leave, and the brother who stayed. The errant son chose to return home. The father waited for that son.

He saw the shadow of his returning son off at a distance. He ran to greet him. I picture that father shouting the son’s name as he ran. As my southern-bred grandmother would say, the father “hugged his neck” and greeted him very warmly.

The father also showed compassion to the older son when he took the time to explain that he, the elder son, had been with him but the younger son had been lost and was found. I envision the father putting his arm around the older son’s shoulders, leaning in close to him as he talked.

This is a picture of how God greets someone who has sinned or backslid and repented. God shows compassion to us when we sin and then ask for His forgiveness.

As believers in Christ, we are to display his compassion to others: to those who hurt us, to those who might forget something important to us.

I had a text conversation with a dear friend recently. She was afraid that she and I had something to do that day and that she had forgotten. This friend and I were acquainted in high school. She babysat our son about four decades ago. We have gone to the same churches for over three decades. I reassured her that in the event she ‘spaced’ something, I would not hold it against her. Because we are friends, almost like sisters. In fact, sometimes people ask us if we are sisters.

When we go to the grocery store, I try to tell the cashier and the sack person to “Be blessed.” This is my way of showing compassion to those who work hard. 

God Shows His Compassion

They remembered that God was their rock,

    the Most High God their redeemer.

But they flattered him with their mouths;

    they lied to him with their tongues.

Their heart was not steadfast toward him;

    they were not faithful to his covenant.

Yet he, being compassionate,

    atoned for their iniquity

    and did not destroy them;

he restrained his anger often

    and did not stir up all his wrath.

Psalm 78-35-38 (ESV)

Our focus passage was written by Asaph. It paints a picture of the way God reacted to His people in spite of their behavior toward Him.

They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.

I can visualize the Israelites flocking to the Temple on the sacred feast days. They are kneeling or lying prostrate as they pray and seek forgiveness for their sin.

 In today’s world, we see children try to get on the good side of their parents when they know they have done something wrong. And we hear children tell falsehoods in order to not get into trouble.

But they flattered Him with their mouths; they lied to Him with their tongues.

I can hear them tell God what they believe He wants to hear from them. The Israelites tell God they will always honor Him and keep His commandments. We hear this same flattery going on between generations and from those who want to exploit innocent people.

Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.

How many times did the kings do “what was right in their sight”? Each time the ruler used this mode of carrying out his role, the nation Israel went through difficult times.  My Sunday teacher of many years compared it to a roller coaster ride. When the leaders followed God, the nation flourished (were on top of the hill.) When leaders did “what was right in their sight,” the nation saw times of great hardships.

Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. 

In spite of how the Israelites behaved, God always forgave them. In the instance of their exile to Babylon, God patiently explained why it was going to happen and told them how to conduct themselves and that he knew what He had in store for them. (Jeremiah 29.)

We live in perilous times. We witness events that appear to be lifted right out of the Bible.

*Wars and rumors of war, earthquakes in many places, (Matthew 24)

*people being lovers of themselves, lovers of money, proud, arrogant,

(2 Timothy 3:2)

 * disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy. (2 Timothy 3:20)

* having the appearance of godliness but denying its power. (2 Timothy 3:5)

These are just a few of the examples of behavior we can see in our present world. We should be thankful that God has been compassionate with us. And yet, we should be aware that He is coming back soon.

God’s Compassion

inspirationalchristiansfortoday.com

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)

The people of Judah had been exiled to Babylon. The entire book of Lamentations has been described as a collection of funeral dirges. Most people believe that the prophet Jeremiah wrote it.

Our focus passage speaks to me of God’s kindness toward us. His love is steadfast, always the same, never wavering or ceasing. His mercies (kindnesses) never stop. In fact, each day brings new mercies from God.

God manifests His love for us in innumerable ways. He gives us each day. He provides us with our food. He graces our lives with His presence. When we pray we are to give

The Lord waits for us to come to Him. Once we ask Him into our hearts, His door is always open, waiting for us, His children. He always listens to our concerns and needs. He pours out His love to us every time we ask.

As we returned home from a recent trip. I had a digestive accident. After I got the situation taken care of, I sat silently and prayed about my need. God listened and told me what I needed to do to discover what had caused the issue to come back into my life. He answered my prayer before we arrived home. He is so good to answer if we will just be patient and quiet and listen. He is merciful to me and to all of you.

Book Review: Journaling for Discovery and Delight

Amazon.com

A blogging friend Dawn Paoletta from Enthusiastically, Dawn has written a book on journaling. She describes her book as a “self-paced writing journey” that “uses a variety of prompts to explore and discover the possibilities available with journaling to impact all areas of life.”^(1.)

Dawn gives her readers some valuable tips for their journaling activity.

·         Journal Keeping,

·         Writer’s Block,

·         Perfectionism.

She also includes tips on ways to get the most out of the reader’s journaling.

·         Consider the Season of Life,

·         Carry a journal with you,

·         Keep it Simple,

·         Keep it Private, (but be with a mind to sharing, when the time is right)

·         Give ourselves permission to write about what we want.

She has interspersed writing challenges throughout this guide. These are forms for the reader to use to “reflect on and write about” the reader’s “experience with this book.” ⁽²⁾

Dawn is very dedicated to her craft. She encourages those with whom she has contact to keep writing, planning, and journaling. 

I believe this book will help any journal writer to gain from the tips and pointers Dawn shares. I wish her well in this endeavor.

I purchased this book myself. I chose to review it. I chose to give an unbiased review.

 

1.)        From the back cover of the book.

2.)        From page 17 of the book.           

I will be on a short break and a trip with Hubby. I will return here Monday, June 11, 2018.

                                        

Interview with Dawn Paoletta

Dawn, from her Facebook Page

Today we have with us an amazing lady, Dawn Paoletta, a fellow blogger and a newly published author. She has had an amazing life.

Q. S. Hello, Dawn. It’s so good to have you with us today.  How long have you been writing? What caused you to start?

D.P.I can still remember writing in school and feeling the desire to say something sincere from the heart, yet feeling not quite clear about what it was, like a seed buried deep in the dirt waiting to root and emerge. I have journaled and been dabbling in writing all my life. Although I dabbled in writing privately, I pursued a career in fitness and only wrote in journals. When I came to a saving knowledge of the Lord, words started pouring out of me in poetic form. I still have the first poems I wrote in the Bible I had at the time. Suddenly that seed rooted from early on began to emerge, blossom and bloom wildly! It took me awhile to come forward and share my writing publicly. I felt God was leading me in that direction, but as one who had an unconventional education and dropped out of school, I had doubts about the details. I continued to write, unsure of what to do and where to go to share until on a white-water rafting trip knew I needed to share what He revealed of Himself to me with others. I literally felt that if I didn’t I would explode!

Q.S. You have a blog. Would you please share with us why you started blogging.

D.P. Yes! This feeling of I must do what God is telling me to do and trust Him with the outcome led me to start my first blog, Beneath the Surface: Breath of Faith in 2011. It was birthed when I finally realized God wanted me to share the gifts of writing He had placed within me and took the leap of faith onto the World Wide Web finally sharing that “The River, The Journey and The Guide”, after a few shorter practice posts to test the waters. I loved the way God gave me insights that blessed others while ministering to me intimately as well. My writing brought me joy and kept me close to the Lord during this season. In 2014 I shifted my blogging to a new blog on WordPress called Enthusiastically, Dawn, my real-life signature used which is loosely based on the Greek and Latin root word Enthous, reflecting one embodied and/or inspired by God. It is hard, if not impossible for me to separate my writing from the God who inspires me. (Here is the link to her blog Enthusiastically, Dawn.)

Q.S. Do you participate in a writing group? If so, how long?

D.P.I connected with a local writers group in 2013 and this has been an amazing blessing and opportunity to grow as a writer. I have also been able to participate in some great local events due to my being part of a group. It is a diverse group of writers from all backgrounds. Both published authors and newer writers participate in writing to a weekly prompt or whatever they are inspired to share. My work has been published in the last four anthologies with the group.

Q.S. You have a love for planners, I understand you make your own. How did this come about?

4.) The Planner Question! This comes from my many years working as a Personal Trainer, running a business, and pursuing athletic and educational pursuits. Planning and Journaling go hand and hand to me… God used my personal pursuits in physical fitness and business to teach me about the spiritual life I live with Him. He has always been leading me and guiding me into a deeper understanding of His grace and truth. I do love planners, but I am a terrible planner person! I tend to be very impulsive, creative and intuitive. The Lord meets me somewhere between the planning and journaling and reminds me He is my ultimate goal. He is my Happy Place, and when I keep His will at the forefront of my plans, dreams, and goals, I am a pretty happy planner and writer girl.

Q.S. 5)     Do you have any other book ideas in mind?

D.P. I have a bookshelf of books in my brain that I want to write or put together! I want to revise my current book, Journaling for Discovery and Delight, to make it larger and with room to journal within the pages. As a newly self-published author, I learned a few lessons the hard way, but I learn best by doing, so I do not regret my choices! I am working on a Poetry manuscript, and I’d like to publish a Devotional. I have a Fiction piece and a few other pieces that are in various stages of development. I believe I am meant to write a few more books, and it’s a matter of doing the work and being patient with the process.

Q.S. Please tell us about your family.

D.P.I am married to my best friend, Angelo- we’ve been friends since 1983 when we worked at a café together in the city. I have a 17-year-old daughter, Katherine- who I love with my whole being!

Q.S. My next blog post will be a review of her book. of Journaling for Discovery and Delight – Creative Prompts for Your Journey

Trouble

Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy, part 2

Do you remember hearing your parents say, “You are in trouble”? They did it because they loved us and had to correct our thinking. Because of all those lectures, a lot of us became better children and then better people.

As adults, we may have had or seen times of trouble. Jesus tells us. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (ESV)

The various translations use different words for tribulation. 

You will find trouble in the world—(J. B. Phillips)

In the world you have distress. (CEB)

The world will make you suffer. (GNT)

You will have suffering in this world. (HCSB)

These words are all sandwiched between Jesus’ words

A special friend and I were talking about different issues we know people are facing. Some of these issues create feelings of distress. She referred to the name of my book. She said that having trouble in our lives strengthens us and makes us grow closer to God, if we allow it to.

One of my relatives called one day and, in the course of the conversation she sounded emotionally distraught and said. “The Bible says that we will have trouble in this world.” My response was, “Yes it says that but Jesus also tells us in the next few words that He has overcome the world.”

Looking back over my life, I see times where I have learned from my issues and my problem times. I am not the same person emotionally, mentally, or spiritually that I was a half-century ago. I am more conservative in my thinking; more realistic in my plans, and more mature on my relationship with Christ.

Times

Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy, Part 1

Let’s explore the meaning of the title of my book.

Times: King Solomon, the wisest man in the world tells us,

For everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven: (Ecclesiastes 3:1, ESV)

a time to be born, and a time to die;

We all have experienced these times. Births are a time of joy, deaths can be a time of shock and grief.

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted ;

When we plant flowers or vegetable plants or seeds, we anticipate how the flowers will appear and how the vegetable will taste. As we harvest them, we are thankful that we have the vegetables for our tables and our freezers.

a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

We may have times of intense anger, we can also have times when that anger is dissipated. We also have times where we ‘meltdown’ and then we get strong again.

a time to weep, and a time to laugh ;

We weep when we are sad or get hurt, we laugh when we are happy.

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

We mourn the loss of family and friends through death, moving, and sometimes, a difference of opinions. We dance when we are happy or when we are blessed.

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

We have times when we have to clear away our flower beds or our vegetable gardens from all the winter’s leavings. We also have times when we choose to gather stones for a display or for a rock garden.

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

From time to time, we are made aware of a cause that we can support. We may or may not be able to support that cause any longer. In our town, we have had good missions groups have to close their doors. For people, reasons to refrain from supporting a cause may be personal but valid.

a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

We have times where we have need of certain commodities, we retain them for a while, and then we have times where we have to dispose of those items that we no longer have need of.

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

In history, the pioneers and then the frontiersmen and women, tore apart what they had when they needed bandages for someone who was hurt. During the Great Depression and for a few decades following mothers and wives sewed most of their children’s clothes.

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

Sometimes, we have to learn when to keep silent and when we can speak.

a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

In our world, we have times of different emotions. God’s word tells us to love the sinner but hate the sin. In our world, we have had times of war, presently we still do. Yet, we yearn for peace. Peace, true peace, will not come until the Prince of Peace comes to live among us.