Among Friends

[gloriajean]

Hello my friends! Hope your day is going great!! Mine is almost over with already.  Yesterday's shopping was fun and exhausting, and today has been a day of rest with the cold attacking me again, and the cough.  Taking Vit. C and zinc etc. to fight it.  Linus got Darla and Greg a new dishwasher from where he works, it's called a GE Cafe, the best in that field, he got a good deal for them, and he also installed it today.  It's one where if she wants to, she only needs to wash the top shelf.  The silverware is right on top, a third layer!  It's really nice. Today it snowed!  It was nice last night.

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. 

S C R I P T U R E   F O R   T H E   D A Y 

"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

M E D I T A T I O N   F O R   T H E   D A Y  

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.

P R A Y E R   F O R   T H E   D A Y  

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.

Lenten Reflections by Bishop Robert Barron

Lent Day 24

Animals and Angels

Medieval scholars said that the human being was a kind of microcosm, since he bore within himself the spiritual and the physical. Through his body, man reached down to the lower elements and was one with the animals and minerals, but through his mind, he reached upwards to God and the angels.

We know instinctively how right this is. On the one hand, we can explore the intricacies of mathematics and geometry. We can soar with Mozart and Shakespeare. We can design high-level computers and machines that can move through the galaxy. We can enter into the depth and silence of prayer, becoming as much like the angels as possible. In so many ways, we strain upward to our home among the spirits.

On the other hand, we are, like it or not, animals. We need food and drink. We get too hot and too cold. We experience instincts and emotions that often get the better of us. We revel in the sheer pleasure of the senses and the thrill of being touched. We love to run, to exercise our muscles. We exult in the rough and tumble of very physical competition and play.

This is our glory—in a sense we combine the best of both worlds—but it is also our agony. It is the source of much of our sadness and conflict for it entails that we are a hybrid, a half-breed, something of a metaphysical mongrel. We bring together two qualities that are at odds with each other. The spirit strains against the body, and the body strains against the spirit. Sometimes the spirit commands and the body refuses to obey; sometimes the body makes demands that the spirit cannot or will not accommodate. This tension is one of the faces of sin. It is the result of the dislocation between ourselves and God. 

The harmony of spiritual and physical seems to be what God savors and intends: the spirit commanding the body, but the body also informing the spirit. There is a proper hierarchy between them, but it must never become a tyranny. The demands and goods of the body must always be respected, and must even, to some degree, shape the life of the spirit. We were made as embodied spirits, or if you prefer, as spiritualized bodies. And we will be saved as spirit-body composites.

Good Morning

When I  say good morning I mean to say: 
G-od 
O-ffers us His 
O-utstanding 
D-evotion to 
M-ake us 
O-bedient & 
R-eady for a 
N-ew day with Him. 
I-nspire others please, and 
N-ever forget 
G-od loves you! 
  
If you like it  send it to others. God will bless you for doing just that!!!

DON´T WORRY

To worry does no good at all,
But does a lot of harm;
It puts cross lines upon your face,
and dissipates your charm.

Whatever is to be, will be;
That, worry cannot change;
It only serves to dim your joy,
And all your friends estrange.

'Tis lack of confidence in self
That causes worry's fright;
A lack of faith in God's design
Your happiness will delight.

Then case aside those gloomy throughts,
That bring on doubt and fear;
Just live your faith, and trust in Him,
And worry will disappear.

- - -
Psalm 37:8 - Don't give in to worry or anger; it only leads to trouble.

Colossians 3:2 - Keeps your minds fixed on things [that are in heaven], not on things here on earth.

Not The Way You Planned

Once there were three trees 
on a hill in the woods.
They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, 'Someday I hope to be a great treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with an intricate carving and
everyone would see the beauty.'


Then the second tree said, 'Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take Kings and Queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. People will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.'

Finally the third tree said, 'I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill, look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the
greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.'

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, 'This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter, and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, 'This looks like a strong tree. I will be able to sell it to the shipyard.' The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the men said,'I don't need anything special from my tree, I'll take this one,' and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying Kings had come to an end.

The third tree was cut into large pieces, and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.

Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said 'Peace' and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, God will give you great gifts.

Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined...

We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His Ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

May your day be blessed.

Listen to Your Heartbeat

A nurse on the pediatric ward, before listening to the little ones' chests, would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts. Their eyes would always light up with awe. But she never got a response to equal four-year-old Johnny's...

Gently she tucked the stethoscope in his ears and placed the disk over his heart. "Listen," she said, "What do you suppose that is?"

He drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap-tap-tapping deep in his chest. Then his face broke out in a wondrous grin. "Is that Jesus knocking?"

Listen to your heartbeat.
Listen for the knock of Jesus upon the door of your heart.

Verse of the Day

"For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."

Philippians 3:18-20

Meditation for Lent

Psalm 34: 15–22

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and will save those whose spirits are crushed. (v.18).

Sometimes Lent is more than a church season. It can seem like a personal season, when heart and spirit ache. Or when trying to live right doesn’'t seem to matter. It can be a time when the landscape within can seem like a vast, barren, and lonely place, a wilderness without God. Wilderness it may be, but you won’t be alone when you go there. God never promised that doing right would be easy or would keep trouble from your door or that you would never wander. But God did promise to be with you, at your side, watching, waiting for the right time to move. The angels ministered to Jesus after his time of trial in the wilderness. Look around. This Lent cultivate their presence and God’s in the ordinary, daily wilderness.´

March 4 - Jesus Calling

Refuse to worry! In this world there will always be something enticing you to worry. That is the nature of a fallen, fractured planet: Things are not as they should be. So the temptation to be anxious is constantly with you, trying to worm its way into your mind. The best defense is continual communication with Me, richly seasoned with thanksgiving. Awareness of My Presence fills your mind with Light and Peace, leaving no room for fear. This awareness lifts you up above your circumstances, enabling you to see problems from My perspective. Live close to Me! Together we can keep the wolves of worry at bay.

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
—Luke 12:25–26

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
—1 Thessalonians 5:16–18

[gloriajean]