Hello my friends! Today I got my red color again - love it! and trimmed short! Easier to take care of and hope it'll be nice for taking or Pictures for the Church's Pictoral book on Tuesday night. It's always a blessing for me to have Georgia come to the house and wash, cut and style my hair, and this time color - all for $20.00. She is a blessing in many ways. Family reunion is Saturday at my nephew's in Mpls. Lori's in charge of the posters of pictures from the last one and all the others we have since the beginning!! So she was over tonight and got last year's posted on the new poster, and tomorrow Linus will get it laminated. They are really impressive! Sister LaDonna used to always do this, but she gave Lori the job now. Praying for all your concerns and needs.
Keep yourself young in spirit always by thinking new thoughts and getting
rid of old habits. Lord, may my spirit never become a frail and my abilities
never become barren.
Scripture for the day:
"Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things
but on human things. 'Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If any want to become
my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow
me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose
their life for my sake will find it.'" ~Matthew 16:23-25
Meditation for the day:
We were born with the Divine within us. Living a selfish life can hinder
the Divine from being expressed and shared. The celestial fire has to be
tended and fed so that it will grow into a real desire to live the right
way. By trying to do the will of God, we grow more and more in the new way
of life. By thinking of God, praying to God and having communion with God,
we gradually grow more like God. The way of our transformation from the
material to the spiritual allows God to work in and through us.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may tend the spark of the Divine within me so that it will
grow. I pray that I may be gradually transformed from the old life to the
new and fuller life.
Here's some food for thought:
THE ISLANDS
By Warren Kramer
Just across the channel lay The Islands. The Islands were just beyond
the reach of the world's most skillful swimmers. It was impossible to
land a boat on their rocky shores. Their coastlines were too foggy to
reach by air. In short, the Islands were inaccessible. Except for the
Landlord. The Landlord dwelt on the Islands and, it was said, granted
passage thereupon only to those who came bearing a certain Name.
The Name was that of the Keeper of the Portal. He had once paid the
Landlord a passage fee adequate for all the people of all time ever
born. Yet, the Landlord allowed no one ashore who attempted other
means of gaining entry. His Map said it polluted the pristine Islands
to have anyone come ashore except through the cleansing Portal.
Further, anyone who attempted entry with the attitude of "I may do as
I please in the Name of the Keeper" was not admitted. They must prove
their awareness of the Keeper's payment with their lives. Those
ignoring the words of the Landlord and the Keeper, did not claim His
payment when
they reached the Portal. Instead, they would offer payment from their
own means, which was never enough. Only the Keeper's payment was
unpolluted.
All that was needed was to call upon the name of the Keeper before
reaching the Portal. Those who did so, also proved they knew of His
payment with a greatly changed life.
Those who observed these changed lives often mocked them, accusing
them of arrogance and close-mindedness for insisting the Portal was
the only route to the Islands.
Yet the mockers continued offering their own payments, ignoring the
passage that had already been paid.
UNANSWERED LETTERS
Author Unknown
There are many times when we begin a certain task that God lays on our
hearts and because we think our efforts are minimal and not making a
difference, we quit the job that God told us to pursue.
The enemy loves to plant seeds of doubt and lure us into thinking that
we are not capable of making a difference in this world, but with
God's help we can overcome and fulfill the destiny that God has for
every believer.
If you are going through a situation of doubting your task unto the
Lord, then I hope this story will bless and encourage you to never
quit what God has laid on your heart because you may never know of the
lives that you are touching.
I read of a man who was involved in a tragic accident. He lost both
legs and his left arm and only a finger and thumb remained on the
right hand.
But he still possessed a brilliant mind, enriched with a good
education and broadened with world travel. At first he thought there
was nothing he could do but remain a helpless sufferer.
A thought came to him. It was always nice to receive letters, but why
not write them--he could still use his right hand with some
difficulty. But to whom could be right?
Was there anyone shut-in and incapacitated like he was who could be
encouraged by his letters? He thought of men in prison--they did have
some hope of release, whereas he had none--but it was worth a try.
He wrote to a Christian organization concerned with prison ministry.
He was told that his letters could not be answered because it was
against prison rules, but he still decided to commence this one-sided
correspondence.
He wrote twice a week, and it taxed his strength to the limit. But
into the letters he put his whole soul, all his experience, all his
faith, all his wit, and all his Christian optimism.
Frequently he felt discouraged and was tempted to give it all up. But
it was his one remaining activity, and he resolved to continue as long
as he could.
At last he got a letter. It was very short, written on prison
stationery by the officer whose duty it was to censor the mail.
All it said was: "Please write on the best paper you can afford. Your
letters are passed from cell to cell till they literally fall to
pieces."
No matter what your situation may be like, you still have the ability
to encourage someone who is discouraged and lift up someone who is
feeling low.
Take this story as an encouragement to give your all for someone else
and do not worry about the results. No good work will go unseen and
only God knows of the impact that your life can have on someone else.
Let us not do our good works so that we may be praised, but let us do
good works so that others may be lifted up and God be praised because
of our intervention.
The only thing that we can take with us into eternity is what we have
done for the Lord. There are no bank accounts in heaven to show how
much your net worth was on the earth, but there will be accounts in
heaven of what you did to show your life as an example in leading
others to Him.
A Strong Man
The strength of a man isn't seen in the width of his shoulders.
It's seen in the width of his arms that encircle and protect you.
The strength of a man isn't in the deep tone of his voice.
It is in the gentle words he whispers.
The strength of a man isn't in the words he speaks.
It's in how he keeps his word.
The strength of a man isn't how many buddies he has.
It's how good a buddy he is with his or "your" children.
The strength of a man isn't in how respected he is at work.
It's in how he is respected at home.
The strength of a man isn't in how hard he hits.
It's in how tender he touches.
The strength of a man isn't in the hair on his chest.
It's in the heart . . . that lies within his chest.
The strength of a man isn't in how many women he's loved.
It's in whether he can be true to the ONE woman he's trying to love.
The strength of a man isn't in the weight he can lift.
It's in the burdens he can carry.
The strength of a man isn't in how much food he eats from your table.
It's in the effort he puts forth when you are unable.
The strength of a man isn't in how he makes love.
It's in the understanding that there is more to making love
. . . than making love.
A strong man puts God first,
. . . family second
. . . and his work third.
- Author Unknown
Becoming free - Reminder of the Prinicples of Life
1: Life does not work through indecision. Indecision promotes blocks,
confusion and stress. Make a decision and allow life to find movement
through you. Trust yourself.
2: The 3 C's of life are Courage, Capacity and Commitment. It takes Courage
and a commitment to make many of life's decisions, and capacity to follow
them through. The 3 C's of a successful relationship are Caring,
Consideration and Communication. Communication opens the door between us,
consideration allows us to pass through it and our ability to care for each
other unites us.
3: Truth is not truth out of timing- yet it remains truth. We are the timing
to recognize truth.
4: The mind recoils from the unknown, so we seek to make everything known,
and, thus sage. Imagination is the key to the unknown- positive, uplifting
imagination.
5: For as long as we search for Our God Self, we deny that we are it. Loving
your self reveals your truth.
6: Becoming free is not changing yourself into someone you think you should
be. Becoming free is falling in love with who you are- right now.
7: Imagine a room of pitch dark and a room of bright light connected by a
door. When you open the door what happens? Light floods into the dark room,
illuminating it. Live accordingly, think thoughts of light.
8: F.E.A.R- False Evidence Appearing Real
9: Anything of the past that is unresolved is unresolved now. Living NOW
resolves the past.
10: Life flows from the inside out, never the reverse. Understand this and
you cease to be a victim.
11: Love responds- fear reacts. Love connects- fear separates. Love uplifts-
fear deflates. Love creates- fear destroys.
12: There is no such thing as a mistake- only experience. There is no such
thing as failure- only people's condemnation. There is no such thing as
success- only people's approval. Let life live through you.
13: Do not get caught up in modifying your life, allow life to change YOU.
Modification is a superficial exterior veneer, change is an inner shift in
consciousness.
14: Pain is a measure of your resistance to change.
15: Decide whether you want to be an onlooker of life or a participant. This
is the birthplace of choice.
16: You hear with your ears- but you listen with your mind. You look with
your eyes- but you see from the heart.
17: Consciousness is not contained in your body- you are the consciousness
that contains the body. Consciousness draws to itself form through which to
express
18: Your mind cannot exist in the moment. You cannot think your way into the
moment, you can only think your way out of it. This indicates that your
mind/intellect cannot set you free. Only your consciousness is aware of NOW.
True freedom is a state of consciousness.
19: We each live in our own universe, a universe of our making. It is
designed to support our beliefs and our focus. Our thoughts are our focus,
so observe your thoughts, focus on your blessings, and trust. This is how
you become a participant.
20: Practise seeing all life around you as an aspect of yourself. In this
way you shatter the illusion of separation.
21: Your mind does now know the difference between what you do want or what
you don't want, it only knows what you focus on. Many people focus on what
they don't have, what they are incapable of doing and their sicknesses.
22: If you focus on what you do have, it increases. If you focus on what you
don't have, you will have even less. If you focus on your capabilities, they
grow, if you focus on your health, it improves.
23: Your mind does not know the difference between a powerfully imagined
reality and a physical happening reality. Why? Because there is no
difference.
24: You only have a problem if you believe you have a problem.
25: Live these principles and you will be practising reality. Practise
reality until you overcome the illusion. It is only an illusion that you are
not free, now!
However strange or unique--
friends are given to us as gifts from God--
When a friend rejects a friend, they also reject the gift.
When we Thank God for a good friend--we ask him to guide us in that
friendship.
Sometimes God sees fit to take some friends away for our own good and so
they reject us ...losing a friend can be just as a scar from a sword or a
burn--especially one dear to heart.
In my lifetime I have had many a friends but also many parted.
When a friend dies and passes on to Heaven we know that we will meet again.
A friend disposed of -- by meanness or hurt is never retrieved.
Those whom God has given the gift of friendship must thank him for
that--whether short or long friends.
Many a friend I have thanked God for that I will never see again if they
reject God and God's laws later in the future... there is absolutely nothing
I can do about that but pray for them to return to God.
Better to lose a friend than to lose one's ticket to heaven.
WHO IS YOUR GUIDE
Shared by Joe Gatusalo
An elderly woman stood on the busy street corner, hesitant to cross
because there´s no traffic signal. As she waited, a gentleman came up
beside her and asked, "May I cross over with you?" Relieved, she
thanked him and took his arm.
The path they took was anything but safe. The man seemed confused as
they dodged traffic and walked in a zigzag pattern across the street.
"You almost got us killed !" the woman exclaimed with anger when they
finally reached the curb. "You walked like you´re blind !" I am," he
replied. "That's why I asked if I could cross with you."
Jesus said to the pharisees, "They are blind leaders of the blind. And if
the blind leads the blind, both will fall into the ditch"(Matt. 15:14). We
have to be careful not to entrust our spiritual direction to someone who
cannot see the clear teachings of God's word. Life is too dangerous,
eternity too long, and our spiritual destiny too important to take any
chances with the leaders we follow.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path"(Psalms
119:105). We should trust only those who themselves walk in the light
of that lamp and use it to guide others through the dark maze of this
present world.
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