"... what emotion would best describe how you feel right now?"

A thought by Kyle Idleman, from his book, One at a Time (p. 68). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

That is a good question.

Kyle continues, "Depending on the research you look at, there are anywhere from six to thirty-four thousand emotions you can experience. I won’t list all thirty-four thousand here. You probably don’t need a list to narrow down how you feel most of the time, anyway. If you’re not sure about your emotional state, ask a few of the people you do life with. If they look at you like they’re afraid to answer, then irritable or temperamental may be the diagnosis."

He goes on, "I decided to read through the Gospels to try to determine if there was a primary emotion Jesus felt. He is described as experiencing exhaustion, joy, anger, frustration, disgust, grief, loneliness, rejection, and dread. But the one emotion attributed to Jesus more than any other is compassion.

"Most of our emotions tend to be self-centered. How we feel is usually determined by what we’re experiencing at any given moment. Jesus’s primary emotion was determined by what others were going through."

Kyle says, "My wife will tell you I can’t watch an episode of Little House on the Prairie without wiping away a few tears. And my heart is broken when a commercial comes on with images of starving children living in poverty. If I see someone in pain, I feel for them, and for a long time I understood compassion to be a feeling, so I thought of myself as a compassionate person.

"But as I traced the times Jesus had compassion in the Gospels, I noticed that a conjunction almost always followed his feeling of compassion. It’s not 'Jesus had compassion.' It’s 'Jesus had compassion and . . .'

"In Matthew 20:34, Jesus had compassion on two blind men and touched their eyes. In Mark 1:41, Jesus had compassion on a leper and healed him. In Mark 6:34, Jesus had compassion on the people and began feeding them, and in Matthew 9:35–38, Jesus had compassion on the people and prayed for them."

Kyle then said, "When Jesus felt compassion, it was followed by action and it always created a story. So many of the one at a time stories in the Gospels start with Jesus’s compassion."

And that is how He made such a difference and that is how we can too! Yes, yes! #continuethought

Comments

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle? Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...

“When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 57). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. To realize that from God’s perspective life is a test goes a long way in determining how you handle your life. It is important to see that in testing your character is both developed and revealed. Rick goes on to say that “even the smallest incident has significance for your character development. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.” So there is a God purpose behind each situation in your life. Even the bad ones are there to strengthen you and develop you. You see those bad situations are really good ones because they are there for your good. I start each day with a reminder that God is good. Not every situation that is going to come in my day is good but because G...

“What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 35). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Rick posed this question at the end of his chapter, You Are Not an Accident. In this chapter he deals with the fact that God created you the way you are with a purpose. In other words you are not an accident. I am also reading the Apostle John’s view of Jesus and what He said and did while He was here on earth. In the beginning of Chapter 9 there is a story about a blind man. And the disciples who were with Him asked Him a good question, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? ” Have you ever asked the same thing about something in you that you don’t like? Like that characteristic is a curse or something. Society has set a standard that is not a standard of God. Remember, He created you and you are not an accident. Je...

Just Continue That Thought...

Search This Blog