topic Re: Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday in Community Chat

Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday

gloriajean — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 00:29:11 GMT

Hello my friends!! Today Darla bought a new Ford Focus - it was the most comfortable car we test drove! It's a pretty blue - called Candy blue. Now she has a more comfortable car to drive home in with her husband, Greg. I'm starting today in freezing the strawberries, got a quart froze now, everyday I get a bunch! What wonderful berries they are, nice a big too! I even think about those chocolate covered strawberries - maybe? We'll see. I praise God for all our blessings we receive daily! Praying for all of your needs!! Thanks for your prayers for us.

No one can live for himself alone for then he will have no purpose in life.

To give

of self is one of life's greatest joys and blesses us with a full and rich

life. Lord, help

me to be selfless and loving to those around me.

Scripture for the day:

"O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds

among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his

wonderful works. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who

seek the LORD rejoice. Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his

presence continually." ~Psalm 105:1-4

Meditation for the day:

We can seek God early in the day, before God gets crowded out by life's

problems, difficulties or pleasures. In that early quiet time we can

gain a calm, strong confidence in the goodness and purpose in the

universe. We need not seek God only when the world's struggles prove

too much and too many for us to bear or face alone. We can seek God

early, when we can have a consciousness of God's spirit in the world.

Sometimes we seek God only when our difficulties are too great to be

surmounted in any other way, forgetting that if we sought God's

companionship before we needed it, many of our difficulties would never

arise in the first place!

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may not let God be crowded out by the busyness of life.

I pray that I may seek God early and often.

O Holy St. Anthony, gentlest of Saints, your love for God and Charity for

His creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers.

Encouraged by this thought, I implore you to obtain for me [your request

here]. O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human

sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the sweet Infant Jesus, who

loved to be folded in your arms; and the gratitude of my heart will ever be

yours.

Amen.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO FLY

By Larry Davies

There is a parable about a wild goose shot down by a local hunter.

Only wounded in one wing, he landed safely in a barnyard. Naturally

the local turkeys and chickens were quite startled by this sudden

visitor from the sky. As they became more comfortable with this

stranger, however, it was only natural to ask about what they had seen

but never experienced: "Tell us what it's like to fly?"

"It's wonderful!" said the Goose who told story after story of his

flights. "It's beautiful to soar out in the wild blue yonder! Why this

barn looks only an inch high and all of you look like tiny specks from

such a distance. First you fly high and then you can glide and enjoy

the astonishing scenery."

All the birds were quite impressed by the goose's stories. Later they

asked him to tell more stories about flying. Soon, it became a weekly

event for the goose to entertain all the barnyard birds with his

stories. They even provided a little box for him to stand so everyone

could see him better.

But the strangest thing happened or maybe I should say… never

happened. While the domestic birds very much enjoyed hearing about the

glories of flight, they never tried to fly themselves. And the wild

goose, even though his wing healed, continued to talk about flying but

never actually flew again.

As pastor of a church, I find this parable frightening. Why? Because

it hits too close to home. How easy it is to talk about being a

Christian without acting like one. How easy it is to stand in church

and say, "Jesus is Lord," without actually turning our lives over to

His direction. How easy it is to sit in our comfortable seats and

ignore a world in desperate need of our witness. How easy it is as a

minister to talk about ministry without actually doing it. It's easy

to talk but you must really flap those wings to fly.

Jesus spoke to his disciples about what it takes to actually fly and

follow Him: "`If any of you wants to be my follower,' he told them,

`you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and

follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose

it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the

Good News, you will find true life.'" (Mark 8:34-35)

"Shoulder your cross and follow me." Other versions of the Bible

quote: "Take up your cross and follow me." I used to think the cross

stood for the pain of being a Christian. In other words: "If you

really want to follow me, you must be willing to endure pain and

suffering." This is not an exciting thought and also not completely

true. Although pain strikes all of us, it's not what Jesus had in

mind. If this were about pain we would be keeping `pain' diaries to

see which one suffered most: `pain' winners go to heaven.

So, what does it truly mean to `shoulder your cross and follow

Christ?'

Well, you're not going to believe this but I think Jesus is talking

about flying.

"What? Larry, have you lost your mind? Where is flying mentioned in

the Bible?"

Jesus is talking about being committed to your mission. Jesus accepted

the suffering because that was his mission. The cross was Jesus

Christ's ultimate mission and he was committed to seeing it through to

the end. A bird's mission is to fly but you must first be committed to

the work and effort of flapping your wings over and over

until you learn to fly. Our decision to take up the cross and follow

God regardless of the cost is our cross and our commitment to flap our

wings until we finally fly.

But flying is the best part. It may be safer to stay in the barnyard

but look at what you will miss. What would it be like to truly soar

and ride the air currents? If we live always so carefully protecting

and watching our own self-interests, making no effort for anyone but

ourselves we'll miss the best part of life: Knowing our mission and

having the inner satisfaction of carrying it out to the best of our

ability.

A song in the musical "Godspell" said it best: "Day by day, day by

day: Oh, dear Lord, three things I pray: to see thee more clearly,

love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly, day by day. If we

learn from God to see more clearly, love more dearly and follow more

nearly we will take our cross and fly.

STOLEN CAR

(A Lesson For All Of Us)

-author unknown

I was sitting at a stop light this morning. The lady in front of me

was going through papers on the seat of her car, and when the

light changed to green she did not obey its command -- a green

light is a commandment - NOT a suggestion.

When the light turned to red, and she had still not moved, I began

(with my windows up) screaming epithets and beating on my steering

wheel. My expressions of distress were interrupted by a policeman,

gun drawn, tapping on my window. Against my protestations of, "You

can't arrest me for hollering in my car," he ordered me into the back

seat of his squad car.

After about two hours in a holding cell, the arresting officer advised

me I was free to go. I said, "I knew you couldn't arrest me for what

I was yelling in my own car. You haven't heard the last of this."

The officer replied, "I didn't arrest you for shouting in your car. I

was directly behind you at the light. I saw you screaming and beating

your steering wheel, and I said to myself, "What a jerk. But there is

nothing I can do to him for throwing a fit in his own car. Then I

noticed the 'Cross' hanging from your rear view mirror, the bright

yellow 'Choose Life' license tag, the 'Jesus is Coming Soon' bumper

sticker, and the Fish symbol, and I thought you must have stolen the

car."

CAN YOU RELATE?

Author Un known

I drive into work listening to gospel music or a pre-recorded sermon

on the radio. I get out of the car and walk to the building entrance.

As I open the building door I leave just enough room for me to get in

and I leave Jesus standing outside as the door closes behind me. He's

standing with His palms on the door glass and watches me as I get on

the elevator.

His eyes are sad and He turns and goes to sit on the stone bench.

There He'll sit patiently and wait for me for the next 9 hours.

First two hours of work - I fuss and complain about things not going

right. Jesus, sitting with his chin in His hand looks upward toward

the building wishing He could help me.

By lunch time - I'm flustered, regretting I work in this place and

sputtering bitterness all over folks.

Jesus comes around to the side of the building where my cubicle is

located. He looks up from the ground trying to get my attention but I

can't hear him; my focus is on my problems.

Jesus goes back to the front of the building, sits down and continues

to wait for me. He thinks to Himself as He looks up to the third

floor, "She went in there defenseless. If only she had taken me in

there with her. When will she learn?"

End of the day - I'm pooped, run down, no energy, irritable &

frustrated. I leave the building & Jesus gets up happily to greet me

but I'm in no mood for Him now. I've just been to h ell and back and

the last thing I want to do is be bothered with anyone.

God just actually showed me this is how I'VE been acting. He showed me

each act and worst of all, He let Me feel a small portion of how

grieved he was because of my actions and attitude. I left Jesus

standing outside, almost let the door smack him in His face.

From time to time our jobs overwhelm us and we completely forget to

"take Jesus with us". We may not go around cursing anyone out or

punching anyone in the face (hopefully not) but what are our actions

saying about us and about who or whose we are?

We are the salt of the Earth and the light of the world. A city on a

hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under

a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to

everyone in the house. Matt. 5:13-15.

We should be bringing peace to our jobs and not be the cause of

confusion. We should be the ones to bring our gifts & talents to the

table to help in WHATEVER area God has chosen for us to work in.

Col.3:23-24- "Whatever you do, work at it with ALL your heart, as

working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will

receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord

Christ you are serving."

God Bless you all!!

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRENGTH AND COURAGE

It takes strength to be firm.

It takes courage to be gentle.

It takes strength to stand guard.

It takes courage to let down your guard.

It takes strength to conquer

It takes courage to surrender.

It takes strength to be certain.

It takes courage to have doubt.

It takes strength to fit in.

It takes courage to stand out.

It takes strength to feel a friend's pain.

It takes courage to feel your own pain.

It takes strength to hide feelings.

It takes courage to show them.

It takes strength to endure abuse.

It takes courage to stop it.

It takes strength to stand alone.

It takes courage to lean on another.

It takes strength to love.

It takes courage to be loved.

It takes strength to survive.

It takes courage to live.

"....as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor

forsake you. Be strong and of good courage...." (Joshua 1:5b-6a)

-- Author Unknown

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday

gloriajean — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 04:36:33 GMT

Ever hear of St. Therese the Little Flower? Lots have prayed to her for miracles, too, and she sends down a rose or the smell of roses, or out of the blue you'll get a bouquet of roses - as an answer to your prayer.

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday

Bobbi sue — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 05:01:24 GMT

Little Flower I need a miracle....Pray for me....Thank you kind lady.

Blessings to all who stop by or read.

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday

lovestopaint — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 12:52:35 GMT

Bobbiesue, praying for that miracle for you.

Can someone please explain to me how I can get pictures from my camera on here?

Counting my blessings.

Harlene(lovestopaint)

"Can't sleep"?

"Try counting your blessings"

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday

lovestopaint — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 12:52:53 GMT

On 7/1/2014 lovestopaint said:
Bobbiesue, praying for that miracle for you.

Can someone please explain to me how I can get pictures from my camera on here?

Counting my blessings.

Harlene(lovestopaint)

"Can't sleep"?

"Try counting your blessings"

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday

Cakers1 — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 14:49:33 GMT

Hello Gloriajean, bobbiesue, and Harlene.

Gloria: Dipping strawberries is so easy. Just make sure they have no moisture on the, like if you wash them they must be totally dry. Heat your chocolate on the stove on low, not the microwave. Dip just half way up and let it drip. Then I put them on wax paper over a rack on their sides the rack will keep them from dropping completely on their sides.

Bobbiesue: Sure hope you are feeling ok.

Harlene: I posted how I do it but I don't think I explained it very well.

You might ask on the Electronics forum there are posters who can help.

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday

gloriajean — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 18:29:21 GMT

Bobbiesue - praying for your miracle, too!! We all need miracles, don't we?

Harlene, hope Cakers was able to help you. On Facebook, I copy the link and put on an email, open the link, and where it says copy image, I copy and paste on here.

Cakers - that sounds so good!! Got to get the chocolate, got the strawberries!

Now I'm very excited! Darla will be coming for lunch, and Lori too!! I'll get to see her new car within minutes and then I'll be off with her grocery shopping and spending time with her. Lori has off until 3:30 and I don't know when I'll get the new thread going, bear with me.

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday

gloriajean — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 18:31:52 GMT

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday

hsawaknow — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 21:03:40 GMT

Hello everyone! May the Lord hear our prayers. Tomorrow is my big operation. They found a cancer deep inside my pancreas so they are removing 1/2 of stomach, 1/2 my spleen 1/2 my pancreas and the end of my bile duct. The operation will take at least 8 hours and I will be in the hospital for at least eight days. I will try to keep you all updated. This is in Gods hands now.....Felicia

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday

lovestopaint — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 23:25:46 GMT

Dear Felicia, I'm starting right now to pray for you.

God bless you.

Harlene(lovestopaint)

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday

gloriajean — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 23:50:59 GMT

Oh dear Felicia - praying for you right now too!!! God be with you through it all!!