Hello my friends! Well Ash Wednesday is early this year, isn't it and we'll have an early Easter! I've been thinking of ways to become closer to God during Lent, and I am thinking of getting more spiritual reading in, and reading the Gospels, and trying to live in accordance with God's Will for me. Listening to Him, Who loves us more than we can even love ourselves, is the key to live according to His Holy Will. We pray, but we should also listen and He does give us inspirations and ideas that are His to us. Look for them. They are there among His many blessings. Wishing you all a very happy and blessed Lent. By His death and resurrection, He has redeemed the world.
Each morning gives us one more chance to pray, one more chance to help
another and one more chance to make this a better world. Lord, thank you
for working in and through everything.
S C R I P T U R E F O R T H E D A Y
Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard;
and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the
gardener, 'See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this
fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the
soil?' He replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around
it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if
not, you can cut it down.'" ~Luke 13:6-9
M E D I T A T I O N F O R T H E D A Y
Like a tree, it is best for me to be pruned of a lot of dead branches so I
can be ready to bear good fruit. I can think of changed people as trees
which have been stripped of their old branches, pruned, cut and bare. But
through the dark, seemingly dead branches flows silently, secretly, the new
sap, until with the sun of spring, comes new life.
There are new leaves, buds, blossoms and fruit, many times better because of
the pruning. I am in the hands of God, a master gardener, who makes no
mistakes in pruning.
P R A Y E R F O R T H E D A Y
I pray that I may cut away the dead branches of my life. I pray that I may
not mind the pruning since it helps me to bear good fruit later.
SHROVE TUESDAY PRAYER
Lord, give us grace to inaugurate with holy fasting the defenses of Christian warfare, so that we who are to fight against spiritual wickedness, may be helped and strengthened by self-denial. Amen
This morning our cat Oreo (so named because he is a handsome black-and-white),
and I went through a familiar ritual at the back door.
Oreo had been outside for a while and began meowing because he wanted to come
in. I opened the door and waited, but he did not come in! He stopped and
lowered his head suspiciously, as if I were a deadly enemy. "Come on, Oreo,"
I said impatiently.
He sat down thoughtfully and began to wash his face.
"Oreo," I said, "I give you food, and I supply all your needs. If you do anything
in return, I don't know what it is. Now I'm personally inviting you into my home.
Please come in."
Oreo put one foot across the threshold, then drew it back. He turned to look out
across the yard with some remote, unfathomable expression, and he didn't come in.
"Oreo," I said, "I'm not going to stand here forever. If you don't come in, I'm
going to close this door. This is your last chance!"
I started to slowly close the door. Did he come in? No, he sat there exercising
his free will or something. He'd come in when it suited him and not before. He
figured I'd be patient. So far, he's always been right.
God made cats, He also made people. I wonder how He feels when He stands at the
door and waits...and waits...
I think I know.
By Arthur Gordon
Again Lord
I have looked away from You Lord
again
Lord let me look upon You
again
I have walked away from You
again
Lord let me walk with You
again
I have not read Your Word
again
Lord give me a hunger for Your Word
again
I have lost my faith in You again
again
Lord give me faith to trust You
again
I have disappointed You Lord
again
Lord strengthen me so I will not disappoint You
again
Free me Lord from this circle, grant me the victory found within You, in the power of Jesus Christ’s blood.
for always..
Amen
Romans 8:1-2
So there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. For the power of the life-giving Spirit-and this power is mine through Christ Jesus-has freed me from the vicious circle of sin and death.
By Andre’ Mulder
MOST RICHLY BLESSED!
Sometimes I wonder when things go so wrong,
Has God forsaken and left me alone.
Then I remember to follow His quest,
He's always with me, I'm most richly blessed.
I asked for strength that I might achieve,
I was given weakness that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do great things,
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy,
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men,
I was made weak that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life,
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for but everything that I'd hoped for,
And almost despite myself, I am among men, MOST RICHLY BLESSED!
HE'S ALWAYS WITH ME, I AM MOST RICHLY BLESSED!
- Author Unknown
February 9 - Jesus Calling
Seek My Face more and more. You are really just beginning your journey of intimacy with Me. It is not an easy road, but it is a delightful and privileged way: a treasure hunt. I am the Treasure, and the Glory of My Presence glistens and shimmers along the way. Hardships are part of the journey too. I mete them out ever so carefully, in just the right dosage, with a tenderness you can hardly imagine. Do not recoil from afflictions, since they are among My most favored gifts. Trust Me and don’t be afraid, for I am your Strength and Song.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.
—Psalm 27:8
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
—2 Corinthians 4:7
“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”
—Isaiah 12:2
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