Tara Lee Davis's Podcast

You cannot give what you have not received.  Who is our role model for compassion?  Christ, Himself.  Have we forgotten the incredibly high price that He paid for us?

In order to have compassion on others, we must learn to see others as God sees them.  The father in the story of the prodigal son saw, from a distance, who his son truly was.  And his acceptance of him, inspire of his failures, changed the trajectory of his life forever.

For Jesus, compassion was more than just a feeling.  It was a commitment to get involved with hurting people.  What could it look like if we embraced others, even with their oozing sores?

90% of conflict stems from misunderstanding, so how do we, as God's children, practice perspective in a Biblical way?  We speak and be honest, we lean in and listen, and then we set our mind on things above.  Those who learn to look through the lens of God at their life circumstances will find a power and strength they've never known.  As Charles Surgeon so once wisely said, "Christian, remember the goodness of God in the frost of adversity."

What if a right perspective gave us a power to get through the hard things?  Jesus gives us the ultimate example of this as He looked to the joy that set before Him and having done so, He endured the brutality of the cross.  What does that mean for our everyday lives and the trials we face?  How powerful can perspective really be?

We are in Part 1 of a 3 part series on Perspective.  What shapes our perspective, and how can a blind man see Jesus more clearly than His closest followers?

What if all  of the great things we've done for Jesus didn't amount to a hill of beans?  In Revelation 2, Jesus issues a stern warning to the church at Ephesus, and to us as well.  They had abandoned their first love.  We are called to remember and repent, our love for Jesus is the most important thing we will have or grow in our lives.  Have you abandoned your first love?

What could God do with our everyday lives if we live with eyes wide open?  The opposite of apathy is simple, loving God and loving others.  Embrace the process, it prepares you for the destination.

One of the roots of apathy is insignificance not given to God.  However, we can overcompensate and in so doing, act out of pride and disobedience.  Our pride and disobedience can actually keep us from the gifts and blessings that God wants to give us.  Moses and Aaron were prevented from entering the promised land because of their pride and disobedience.  What can we learn from their example in Numbers 20?  Sometimes the biggest enemies we face aren't on the outside, but on the inside.

In the last 2 years, apathy has swept over our young people, and adults, like a raging wild fire out of control.  What is apathy?  Where does it come from ?  What difference does it make?  This is Part 1 of a 3 part series as we look to Scripture to find out how to live the abundant life that Christ paid for us.

What if the thing we longed for the most at the start of a new year wasn't found in the gym, our amazon carts, or wrapped under the tree?  We all long to be the best version of ourselves, but what does that look like for a child of God?  Here we take a look at the 5 signs of a life hidden with and in Christ, and what a difference it can make, not only for ourselves but for those around us.

Our lives are signposts, pointing to someone or something else.  What or who is your life pointing to?  The problem with a signpost is that if we follow the wrong one, we end up wasting our lives through a cycle or rerouting and we not only get to where we really want to go, but we lead others astray.

Are we living our best lives for God?  God our Father longs to give us the Kingdom, but instead we are living in poverty, merely wasting our days eating dinner out of toilets.  What does our best life for God look like that?  And what is keeping us from living our lives to the glory and honor of Christ?

Have you ever felt like the odds were stacked against you?  Are you unknowingly living with a "big me little God" mindset?  How does God respond in the midst of our fear, doubt, confusion, and anxiety?  What does God see that we cannot?  How do we fully live as His children?  Are we guaranteed victory doing things His way?  Gideon was one of the biggest wimps in Scripture, yet God used him, despite his doubts and fears, in a big way.  But the saddest part of the story?  After such an incredible talent show with the power and glory of God on full display after He rescued the Israelites from the hand of the Midianites, the people of God forgot.  And in their forgetting, they turned and walked away from God.  How do you forget what God has done, how do you just walk away?  By living with a dangerous mindset, the mindset of "big me little God."

What if our lives are filled with broken pieces of disappointment, pain, and confusion?  Is it possible to worship Jesus and give Him our best?  What does giving our best look like that?  How do we keep going when we find ourselves in the dark?

What does it look like to live a life chasing after Jesus?  How can we keep running when we've grown weary, discouraged and overwhelmed?  Running with Jesus is intentional, requires discipline, and will be the greatest journey of our lives if we will simply keep going.

This week we dig into Acts 12 where we discover the purpose of persecution, the power of prayer, and the power of pride as we continue to learn from the early church.

How was David able to lament the death of Saul?  After all, Saul the king who had gone mad did try taking David out, multiple times.  David was a man after God's own heart, and was more concerned with counting his own failures and shortcomings than he was keeping a detailed list of everyone else's dirty laundry.  When we lament our own sin, then we can truly honor others, even our enemies.  Heart check, when was the last time you were honest with yourself and allowed God to search every nook and cranny of your heart?

Saul has a wild encounter with God Almighty and is struck blind for 3 days, God uses a simple man to pray over the man who was having Christians locked up worldwide, and after his salvation and baptism, God uses Saul, now Paul, in powerful ways as he leads others to believe that Jesus is the Lord!

Jesus always invites us to return; return to His grace, His peace, His presence.  It's never too late to come home.