Hello my friends! Well we are staying here at Darla's overnight so she can get some sleep. The twins were at their doctor's today to get checked out why they can't sleep. They got some answers like make sure they are burped out, take at least 15 min. among other things. Hope they will sleep good tonight because they didn't sleep much all day. Again please say a prayer. Being they got me this lap top, I am able to get the thread out tonight without going home. What a nice gift!
It is much harder to see today if you are looking at yesterday. Lord, help
to live and appreciate each moment as I am experiencing it so that I am
prepared more fully for the next moment.
S C R I P T U R E F O R T H E D A Y
"Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and
slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as
Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and
sacrifice to God." ~Ephesians 4:31-5:2
M E D I T A T I O N F O R T H E D A Y
We cannot believe in God and keep our selfish ways. When we believe
more strongly in God, we begin to abandon our selfish ways. The old
self can shrivel up and die, and God's image can become much clearer.
The gradual elimination of selfishness in the growth of love for God and
our fellow human beings is a wonderful goal in our lives. As the
picture grows, we can reveal more and more of the likeness of God until
those who see us can see in us the power of God's grace at work in a
human life.
P R A Y E R F O R T H E D A Y
I pray that I may grow in my likeness to God. I pray that others may see in
me some of the power of God's grace at work.
UNDERESTIMATING GOD ’S POWER
Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so
he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?” – Mark 2:8
Melissa had her heart badly broken a few years back by a cheating boyfriend.
She was partially blaming God for her misery. “How could God allow that to
happen to me?” she asked. “Why did He choose him for me, only to take him
away?” She added that she has since avoided going to church because she
feels bad towards God. With God surely knowing that, she believes He will
not welcome her.
I saw the old me in Melissa. In the past, instead of seeking God’s healing,
I drowned myself in misery and underestimated His power to forgive and to
renew me. I thought I could fix my life. It took years for me to truly
believe that only Jesus could fix me up. It was a journey worth sharing to
Melissa. She was crying when I reminded her that God didn’t want her to be
unhappy, and that He can heal her, no matter how broken she is.
Whenever you start to doubt the healing power of God’s love, imagine Jesus
asking you, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?”
May you never doubt His power to heal your life. Nova Arias
REFLECTION:
Are you broken? God is the greatest healer. Have you sought His help? If
not, what’s stopping you?
Forgive me, Lord Jesus, for the times I doubted Your love for me.
A Balanced Life
My life has been balanced
with pleasures and trials,
I've had many teardrops
and thousands of smiles.
I've soared to the moon
and I've plunged to the sand,
My life has been balanced
by God's loving hand.
I've had many friendships
I've had a few foes,
In the life of a Christian
that's the way that it goes.
Should I just accept
only good from God's hands?
No, I must endure
whatever He plans.
But I can be sure
and you can be, too,
All things work for best
as God deals with you.
~Betty Purser Patten~
THANK YOU JESUS
Author Unknown
One day, a man went to visit a church.
He got there early, parked his car, and got out.
Another car pulled up near and the driver got
out and said,"I always park there!
You took my place!" The visitor went inside for
Sunday School, found an empty seat and sat down.
A young lady from the church
approached him and stated,
"That's my seat! You took my place!"
The visitor was somewhat distressed
by this rude welcome, but said nothing.
After Sunday School, the visitor went
into the sanctuary and sat down.
Another member walked up to him and said,
"That's where I always sit! You took my place!"
The visitor was even more troubled by this
treatment, but still He said nothing.
Later as the congregation was praying
for Christ to dwell among them,
the visitor stood up, and his appearance
began to change.
Horrible scars became visible on
his hands and on his sandaled feet.
Someone from the congregation
noticed him and called out,
"What happened to you?"
The visitor replied, as his hat
became a crown of thorns,
and a tear fell from his eye,
"I took your place."
=====================
When you receive this, say a prayer.
That's all you have to do.
There is nothing attached.
This is powerful.
Maybe, just maybe, we can get the world
to start thinking of Who took our place.
PRAYER
"Lord, your love and mercy knows no bounds. May I trust you always and pursue you with indomitable persistence as this woman did. Increase my faith in your saving power and deliver me for all evil and harm. "
Have you noticed?
+++++++++++++++++
Have you noticed how beautiful the world is today? Have you
seen some of the fresh, new opportunities that are coming to
life?
Have you remembered today what a unique and wonderful
blessing it is to be alive? Can you feel the richness that
lives in this very moment?
Do you understand how truly fortunate you are to be you? Can
you see the magnificent possibilities that are close enough
to touch?
Do you realize the immense value that your thoughts and
actions are able to create? Do you feel the power of your
own special purpose?
This is not just any day. It is the day that you now have to
work with, and a day in which you can accomplish so very
much.
Open yourself to the best possibilities. This day is now
yours to fulfill.
Ralph Marston
Nativity of the Mother of God
Giotto_-_Scrovegni_-_-07-_-_The_Birth_of_the_Virgin
The Feast of September 8 originated in Jerusalem. In the 7th century, in the Byzantine Rite and at Rome, the Birth of the Blessed Virgin was celebrated this day. Mary is believed to have been born approximately 20 B.C. Her Immaculate Conception — when she was conceived without sin in the womb of her mother Anna — is celebrated nine months earlier, on December 8.
“In the liturgy the Church salutes Mary of Nazareth as the Church’s own beginning, for in the event of the Immaculate Conception the Church sees projected, and anticipated in her most noble member, the saving grace of Easter. And above all, in the Incarnation she encounters Christ and Mary indissolubly joined: he who is the Church’s Lord and Head and she who, uttering the first fiat of the New Covenant, prefigures the Church’s condition as spouse and mother” (John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater , 1).
“In fact, even though it is not possible to establish an exact chronological point for identifying the date of Mary’s birth, the Church has constantly been aware that Mary appeared on the horizon of salvation history before Christ. It is a fact that when ‘the fullness of time’ was definitively drawing near — the saving advent of Emmanuel — she who was from eternity destined to be His mother already existed on earth. The fact that she ‘preceded’ the coming of Christ is reflected every year in the liturgy of Advent. Therefore, if to that ancient historical expectation of the Savior we compare these years which brought us to the beginning of the third Millennium after Christ, it becomes fully comprehensible that in this present period we wish to turn in a special way to her, the one who in the ‘night’ of the Advent expectation began to shine like a true ‘Morning Star’ (Stella Matutina ). For just as this star, together with the ‘dawn,’ precedes the rising of the sun, so Mary from the time of her Immaculate Conception preceded the coming of the Savior, the rising of the ‘Sun of Justice’ in the history of the human race” (Redemptoris Mater , 3).
The Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception upholds that from the first instant of her creation, the soul of the Virgin Mary was free from original sin; this doctrine is not the same as that of the Virgin Birth, which is when Jesus Christ was born of a virgin mother. The Roman Catholic Church has consistently favored belief in the Immaculate Conception; a festival of that name was celebrated in the Eastern church as early as the 5th century and in the Western church from the 7th century. In 1854, Pope Pius IX issued a solemn decree declaring the Immaculate Conception to be a dogma essential to the belief of the universal Church. Under the title Immaculate Conception, the Virgin Mary is invoked as the patron of the United States, Brazil, Portugal, and Corsica.
There are three different traditions as to the place of the birth of the Blessed Virgin. First, the event has been placed in Bethlehem. A second tradition placed the birth of our Blessed Lady in Sephoris, about three miles north of Bethlehem. The third tradition, the most probable one, is that Mary was born in Jerusalem. It rests upon the testimony of St. Sophronius, St. John Damascene, and upon evidence of recent finds in the Probatica. The Feast of Our Lady’s Nativity was not celebrated in Rome till toward the end of the seventh century; but two sermons found among the writings of St. Andrew of Crete (d. 680) imply that it was introduced at an earlier date into some other churches. In 799 the 10th canon of the Synod of Salzburg prescribes four feasts in honor of the Mother of God: the Purification, February 2; the Annunciation, March 25; the Assumption, August 15; the Nativity, September 8.
Brownie Crumbs
Mrs. Baughman was my 6th grade Sunday School teacher. One morning, she brought a pan of brownies to our class.
As the goodies sat over by her chair, she gave each child a slip of paper marked with a household expense: house payment, utility bill, phone bill, entertainment, etc.
My slip had a car payment. Before long, Mrs. Baughman picked up the tray of brownies and began naming the expenses written on the papers. As we gave her our expenses, she redeemed each one for a brownie.
"Car payment" she announced. I jumped up to get my brownie from the pan. Finally the last brownie had disappeared.
But one boy named Donald still held his unredeemed slip. "God!" called Mrs. Baughman. Donald came forward hoping the teacher had one more brownie hidden some where.
With a knife Mrs. Baughman scraped the crumbs from the bottom of the pan into Donald's napkin. He got a pretty raw deal, I thought - just crumbs.
"The brownies represent your money", the teacher explained to us. "If you don't give God his share right away, He probably won't get anything except maybe the crumbs."
I never forgot that illustration. The day my friend, Donald got only the brownie crumbs, even as a child I learned that God should have the first right to everything I have.
In the years since Mrs. Baughman class I have struggled with giving and priorities. But whenever I recall that Sunday School Lesson, I know who should and must always come first in my life!
Pass this inspiration to all your family and friends...
- Author Unknown
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