Voltaire told of a king whose favorite horse was lost, so he offered a reward for finding it. Many wise men tried and failed, but a simpleton in his court found it and brought it back.

“How’d you do it?” asked the king. The man replied, “I thought, if I were a horse where would I go? Putting myself in his place, I soon found him!”

Jesus knows how we think, and that’s how he found you and I. Compassion is just putting yourself in the other person’s place!

Before Peter denied his Lord, Jesus said to him: “When you are converted, strengthen your brothers.” When grace touches your life, you should always reach back to touch another.

The heart of the gospel is that God loved us enough to come to where we were, so that we would love others enough to go to where they are.

Who will you have compassion for today?

Tags: Caring, compassion

Twenty-one years ago, on July 3, 1988, the guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian airliner with 290 souls aboard. All were lost. The ship’s captain had mistakenly thought they were under attack by an F-14 Iranian fighter. It was a tragic mistake.

Because the cruel treatment of American hostages in Iran was still fresh in many minds, public opinion polls opposed paying compensation to the victims’ families. But President Reagan, a hard-liner, approved compensation. Asked by reporters if such payment would send the wrong signal, he replied, “I don’t ever find compassion a bad precedent.”

The feeding of the 5,000 was a miracle born out of compassion. Jesus was moved by the physical and spiritual needs of the people (Matthew 14:14; Mark 6:34). As Christians, we must look at the whole person through the eyes of Jesus. Being moved by compassion always sends the right signal.

When was the last time you showed compassion to someone in need? Tell us about it.

Tags: compassion, hero, Reagan

Many years ago a man in Waterloo shot his wife, three children, and then himself in a murder-suicide. They lay in the house for five days before anyone checked and found them dead. The news sent a shock wave through the community. I received phone calls from worried mothers asking if I could counsel their children, who couldn’t sleep at night for fear their fathers would kill them.

I arranged to have a counselor from Northeastern Center (there were no Christian counseling centers back then) come to the Waterloo Library to meet with any children who wanted to come. About 15 showed up, with their parents, and Dr. Greg Sowles did a great job assisting them in dealing with their trauma.

In addition to the question ‘Why?’, we must also ask the question, why was it five days before someone noticed they were missing? Was there a disconnect with society? Did that isolation add to the hopelessness of the man? Were there others who share responsibilty for the isolation?

None of these questions have answers, of course. I’m just pointing out the value of community when we face troubled times. The church should be a great support group, comforting and encouraging one another.

Who is it you need to call and check on right now?

Tags: comfort, isolation, lonliness

Apollo 11 landed on the surface of the moon on Sunday, July 20, 1969. Most of us are familiar with Neal Armstrong’s historic statement as he stepped onto the moon’s surface: “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” But few know about the first meal eaten there.

Buzz Aldrin had brought aboard the spacecraft a tiny communion kit provided by his church. Aldrin sent a radio broadcast to earth asking listeners to contemplate the events of that day and to give thanks.

Then, in radio blackout for privacy, Aldrin poured wine into a silver chalice. He read, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit” (John 15:5). Silently, he gave thanks and ate the bread and drank from the cup.

God is the God of all creation. Buzz Aldrin celebrated that experience on the surface of the moon. Thousands of miles from earth, he took time to commune with the One who created, redeemed, and fellowshiped with him.

How far from God do you feel today? He’s really right there. Embrace Him.

Tags: communion, hero, moon

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13).

Have you ever heard the expression, “He’s a marked man”? That usually means that someone has done some deed that has earned a reputation in the community. No matter what he or she does, they are marked in people’s eyes. Some of us have been marked for something we did or didn’t do. That perception has given us a reputation. We are marked.

When God judged Cain for the murder of his brother, Abel, he ordered that he would be a wanderer. Cain protested that people would attempt to kill him, so God placed a mark upon him to warn others to leave him alone (Genesis 4:14). In the Book of Revelation God’s faithful have a mark on their foreheads.

The mark God has placed upon each of us is the Holy Spirit Himself. The Holy Spirit should make us known as different in this world. Everyone should be seeing something unique in us. You are marked!

Tags: Holy Spirit, mark

“In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:11-12).

In this case, the word “chosen” in verse 11 may not be the best translation. The original Greek word here is κληρονομεω, and means to obtain, and by implication, to obtain by inheritance into the family of God. The spiritual blessings we have come by virtue of the fact we have entered into covenant with Jesus Christ. However, He chose me before I chose Him.

Note also that it was God’s plan all along (predestination) to work everything out according to His will. Everything that happens has the divine purpose of working God’s will out in us, which is to glorify God in our lives. Although Paul and the early church were the first to hope in Christ, we follow in agreement. And there will be many more who follow after us. I’m praying for them right now.

Who are you praying for today?

Tags: blessings, inheritance, predestination