Daily Positive Thread for Tuesday

gloriajean — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 03:48:02 GMT

Hello my friends, hope your Monday went well. It's time to get the invitations out, and Lori was here tonight to print them - now we're waiting to get some addresses from Darla from her Wedding list and we'll get them all out! I'm already praying for a good day that day, no rain, not cold or too hot. Tomorrow morning Linus' brothers are coming again to help with things in the garage - finishing up things. I'll be making some hamburger soup and using some kale and collards from the garden. That with my homemade bread is what I'll serve them. Prayers going for you all.

Enthusiasm will be yours if you love God, love people, and love life.

Lord, the nearer I follow Your way, the happier I become.

Scripture for the day:

"My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom,

but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith

might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. Yet among the

mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of

the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God's

wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our

glory." ~1 Corinthians 2:4-7

Meditation for the day:

In these times of quiet meditation, we can try more and more to set our

hopes on the grace of God. We can know that whatever the future may

hold, it can hold more and more of good. We need not set all our hopes

and desires on material things. There can be weariness in an abundance

of things. We can set our hopes on spiritual things so that we may grow

spiritually. We can learn to rely on God's power more and more and in

that reliance we can have an insight into the greater value of the

things of the spirit.

A Prayer

O God, I vow and consecrate to You all that is in me:

My memory and my actions to God the Father;

My understanding and my words to God the Son;

My will and my thoughts to God the Holy Spirit;

My heart and my body, my tongue, my senses and all my sorrows

to the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ,

Who was content to be betrayed into the hands of wick ed men

and to suffer the torment of the Cross.

(St Francis de Sales)

Don´t Give Them Vinegar

The preacher placed two identical jars on the table next to the pulpit.

He quoted 1 Samuel 16:7 'The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.

Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

"These jars came from the same factory, were made of the same materials, and

can hold the same amount. But they are different," he explained. Then he

upset one and it oozed out honey. He turned over the other, and vinegar

spilled out.

"When a jar is upset, whatever is in it comes out. Until the jars were

upset, they looked alike. The difference was within, and could not be seen.

When they were upset, their contents were revealed. Until we are upset we

put on a good front. But when we are upset, we reveal our innermost thoughts

and attitudes, for 'out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.'"

(Luke 6:45)

What if someone tipped you over today??

What would flow out??

Would you reveal the "honey" of grace and patience, or the "vinegar" of

anger and sarcasm?

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of

sins." (1Peter 4:8)

Have a terrific day knowing that the one who upsets you may be just looking

for some honey - Don't give them vinegar!

Is God Dancing On Your Potato Chips?

Not too long ago I had "one of those days." I was feeling pressure from a

writing deadline. I had company arriving in a couple days and the toilet was

clogged. I went to the bank, and the trainee teller processing my deposit

had to start over three times. I swung by the supermarket to pick up a few

things and the lines were serpentine.

By the time I got home, I was frazzled and sweaty and in a hurry to get

something on the table for dinner. Deciding on Campbell's Cream of Mushroom

soup, I grabbed a can opener, cranked open the can, then remembered I had

forgotten to buy milk at the store. Nix the soup idea. Setting the can

aside, I went to plan "B", which was leftover baked beans. I grabbed the

Tupperware container from the fridge, popped the seal, took a look and

groaned. My husband isn't a picky eater, but even HE won't eat baked beans

that look like caterpillars.

Really frustrated now, I decided on a menu that promised to be as foolproof

as it is nutrition-free: hot dogs and potato chips. Retrieving a brand new

bag of chips from the cupboard, I grabbed the cellophane and gave a hearty

pull. The bag didn't open. I tried again. Nothing happened. I took a breath,

doubled my muscle, and gave the bag a hearty wrestle. With a loud pop, the

cellophane suddenly gave way, ripping wide from top to bottom. Chips flew

sky high. I was left holding the bag, and it was empty.

It was the final straw. I let out a blood curdling scream. "I CAN'T TAKE IT

ANYMORE!" My husband heard my unorthodox cry for help. Within minutes he was

standing at the doorway to the kitchen, where he surveyed the damage: an

opened can of soup, melting groceries, moldy baked beans, and one quivering

wife standing ankle deep in potato chips. My husband did the most helpful

thing he could think of at the moment. He took a flying leap, landing

flat-footed in the pile of chips. And then he began to stomp and dance and

twirl, grinding those chips into my linoleum in the process!

I stared. I fumed. Pretty soon I was working to stifle a smile. Eventually I

had to laugh. And finally I decided to join him. I, too, took a leap onto

the chips. And then I danced. Now I'll be the first to admit that my

husband's response wasn't the one I was looking for. But the truth is, it

was exactly what I needed. I didn't need a cleanup crew as much as I needed

an attitude adjustment, and the laughter from that rather funky moment

provided just that.

So now I have a question for you, and it's simply this: Has God ever stomped

on your chips? I know that, in my life, there have been plenty of times when

I've gotten myself into frustrating situations and I've cried out for help,

all the while hoping God would show up with a celestial broom and clean up

the mess.

What often happens instead is that God dances on my chips, answering my

prayer in a completely different manner than I had expected, but in the

manner that is best for me after all. Sometimes I can see right away that

God's response was the best one after all. Sometimes I have to wait weeks or

months before I begin to understand how and why God answered a particular

prayer the way he did. There are even some situations that, years later, I'm

still trying to understand. I figure God will fill me in sooner or later,

either this side of Heaven or beyond.

Do I trust Him? Even when he's answering my prayers in a way that is

completely different from my expectations? Even when he's dancing and

stomping instead of sweeping and mopping:? Can I embrace what He's offering?

Can I let His joy adjust my attitude? Am I going to stand on the sidelines

and sulk, or am I willing to learn the steps of the dance he's dancin' with

my needs in mind? I'll be honest with you: Sometimes I sulk. Sometimes I

dance. I'm working on doing more of the latter than the former. I guess the

older I get the more I realize that He really does know what He's doing. He

loves me and I can trust Him. Even when the chips are down.

Author Unknown

SHELL SEEKERS

By Marion Smith

Hebrews 4:12 For the Word of God is living and active

The tide rolled back early that morning. As the waves receded

into the deep, they left a fresh array of shells on the newly exposed

beach. The display was plentiful, and the "shell seekers" were out in

force. These are the people who collect shells;and they were ready to

“check out” this new array of shells. They searched the sand...heads

bent... looking for new shells to add to their collection.They were

intent on the task at hand, and did not let other surrounding events

distract them. They would gather their finds in a baggie or pail, and

return to their homes after they were satisfied with their finds.

Getting into God’s Word should be just like that for the

Christian. We should wake up after a refreshing nights’ sleep and be

willing to search the beaches of Gods Word, looking for something new

or reinforcement of some previous truths we have gleaned.We should be

intent on our quest and not be distracted by phone calls, daily duties

or wandering of the mind. We can gather the insights from God and

store them in our mind and heart, ready to use them when needed. No,

they will not be on display as some shells are on coffee tables or nic

nak shelves, but they will be readily seen through the actions of our

lives.

It is not always possible for us to go “gathering” early

in the morning, but when we are, God’s prizes are there for the

taking.

A THOUSAND MARBLES

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet

solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the

unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours

of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling

toward the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning

paper in the other. What began as atypical Saturday morning turned into one

of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time.

Let me tell you about it. I turned the volume up on my radio in order to

listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with

a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the

broadcasting business himself. He was talking about "a thousand marbles" to

someone named "Tom". I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what he had

to say.

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay

you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so

much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy

hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance

recital." He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has

helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he

began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person

lives about seventy-five years. know, some live more and some live less, but

on average, folks live about seventy-five years."

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the

number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.

Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part." "It took me

until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he

went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred

Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had

about a thousand of them left to enjoy." "So I went to a toy store and

bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy

stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a

large, clear plastic container right here in my workshop next to the radio.

Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and throw it away."

"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really

important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on

this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my

lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble

out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then I have

been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little

more time."

"It was nice to talk to you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your loved

ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have a good morning!" You

could have heard a pin drop when he finished. Even the show's moderator

didn't have anything to say for a few moments. I guess he gave us all a lot

to think about. I had planned to do some work that morning, then go to the

gym. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss.

"C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought

this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a

long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop

at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."

-- Author Unknown

O breathe on me, O breath of God,

Fill me with life anew,

That I may love the things you love,

And do what you would do.

O breathe on me, O breath of God,

Until my heart is pure,

Until my will is one with yours,

To do and to endure.

O breathe on me, O breath of God,

My will to yours incline,

Until this earthly part of me,

Glows with your fire divine.

O breathe on me, O breath of God,

So shall I never die,

But live with you the perfect life,

Of your eternity.

(Edwin Hatch)

- - -

John 20:21-22 - (Jesus said to the disciples) "Peace be with you. As the

Father sent me, so I send you." Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive

the Holy Spirit..."

PLANT FOUR ROWS

Author Unknown

Plant four rows of peas.

Prayer

Penitence

Patience

Preparation

Plant four rows of squash.

Squash gossip

Squash indifference

Squash criticism

Squash negative thinking

Plant four rows of turnips.

Turn up for Church

Turn up whenever needed

Turn up with a friendly smile

Turn up with determination to be a better person

Plant four rows of lettuce.

Let us soar to new heights

Let us come together in harmony

Let us share God's love, and

Let us practice forgiveness

Enjoy the harvest!

Mother Teresa Said...

There is great humility in God. He can stoop down to people like us and

become dependent on us for His work to live, to grow, to bear fruit. And He

could easily have done it without us. Yet He stooped down and called us to

do it.

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