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  THE FRESH EYE
  by John Henry Jowett
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Summary: To live a life of compassion, we must cultivate a freshness of
sight and seek to see the needs of others with a newly-awakened
interest.

Topics: "Compassion", "Spiritual Renewal"
Scripture References: Psalm 51:10, Lamentations 3:22, Matthew 9:36, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:23

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DESCRIPTION
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John Henry Jowett emphasizes the importance of maintaining a fresh
perspective in showing compassion, drawing from Lamentations 3:22-33. He
highlights how God's compassions are new every morning because He never
grows accustomed to our needs, always seeing them with fresh eyes.
Jowett urges the congregation to seek discerning eyes from the Lord to
prevent becoming desensitized to the needs around them, ensuring that
their sympathies never fail and their compassion remains strong.

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CONTENT
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"_His compassions fail not: they are new every morning._"

--LAMENTATIONS iii. 22-33.

We have not to live on yesterday's manna; we can gather it fresh to-day.

Compassion becomes stale when it becomes thoughtless. It is new thought

that keeps our pity strong. If our perception of need can remain vivid,
as

vivid as though we had never seen it before, our sympathies will never

fail. The fresh eye insures the sensitive heart. And our God's
compassions

are so new because He never becomes accustomed to our need. He always
sees

it with an eye that is never dulled by the commonplace; He never becomes

blind with much seeing! We can look at a thing so often that we cease to

see it. God always sees a thing as though He were seeing it for the
first

time. "Thou, God, seest me," and "His compassions fail not."

And if my compassions are to be like a river that never knows drought, I

must cultivate a freshness of sight. The horrible can lose its horrors.

The daily tragedy can become the daily commonplace. My neighbour's needs

can become as familiar as my furniture, and I may never see either the
one

or the other. And therefore must I ask the Lord for the daily gift of

discerning eyes. "Lord, that I may receive my sight." And with an always

newly-awakened interest may I reveal "the compassions of the Lord!"

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/john-henry-jowett/the-fresh-eye/
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