with eyes of compassion, He sees me

Luke 22:59-62 But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." And immediately, while he was still speaking, a cock crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, "Before a cock crows today, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

Oh, man. Reading this causes my breath to catch. It breaks my heart. This is the only Gospel that records that Jesus turned and looked at Peter at that horrible moment. How awful for Peter. Bad enough that Peter knew what he'd done, that he'd lied, that he'd denied his best friend, his Lord, the One he had declared was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. (Matt 16:16) How awful that Peter could look into the eyes of his Master at that very same instant. The guilt must have been unbearable.

But Jesus is with me every moment. When I justify my wrong actions (even just mentally), when I watch a movie I know I shouldn't see, when I let words pass my lips that dishonor Him, Jesus is looking at me. He is looking at me with eyes of compassion and understanding and love. Oh, that I should look up to Him, and when I do, rather than running away and weeping bitterly, may I fall to my knees in repentance and say, "God, forgive me!" Then my tears will be tears of joy.

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My Bible Doctrine study begins working through God's Providence this week. The sovereignty of God was a huge lesson of mine in recent years, and it became the key focus when I wrote Beyond the Shadows. Thus, I am looking forward to studying all that the Bible has to say about the Sovereign God of the universe and of each person on earth.

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Yesterday, I tried to buy a new antenna for a rather old mobile phone. Forget that. I came home with a new camera phone. Oh, but the pain and agony of moving the 50 phone numbers from my old phone to my new one!!! (This phone model is new, and they didn't have the software yet for moving numbers from one phone to another.) Still, I got it done and even managed to snap a photo of Poppet and email it to my computer. What didn't work was emailing the photo from my phone to another. Sigh... Don't know why, but I guess I'll figure it out eventually. The salesman told me how great it is, since I travel, to be able to snap a photo and send it to someone else so they'll know what is happening right then. Well, only if it works!

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Today I have a meeting at church after second service for the newly forming Internet team. When the Vineyard in Boise had a ministry fair during our 40 Days of Purpose study, I signed up to work in this ministry. Web design and management is something I enjoy, and I believe it's something I can do without my book deadlines and travel schedules interferring.

A blessing on your Lord's Day!

-rlh-

Today's Bible Reading: Luke 21-22

Comments

[Pat]

Amen!