Hello my friends! Chilly and windy here today - but had a good dental check-up so that was positive and a blessing! Lori posted invitations to her cousins on Facebook about our 50th today. We'll see if we can get some kind of head count to most of my nephews and nieces who are on Facebook. What a blessing that Linus had a good day at work - remember he's working every day this week and we pray for him to have strength, he's tired and will nap, but the work day went well for him. Two more days, then Sunday he has off, but then off to a Graduation! Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow!
Instead of overreacting, try under reacting because this response
shows wisdom, patience and peace. Lord, help me respond to situations
in a manner that allows me to solve problems rather than create more.
Scripture for the day:
"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the
things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set
their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh
is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."
~Romans 8:5-6
Meditation for the day:
We fail not so much when tragedy happens as we did before the
happening, by all the little things we may have done, but did not do.
I can prepare for the future by doing the right thing at the right
time now. If a thing should be done, I can deal with that thing today
and get it righted with God before I allow myself to undertake any new
duty. I can look upon myself as performing God's errands and then
coming back to God to tell God in quiet communion that the message has
been delivered or the task done.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may seek no credit for the results of what I do. I
pray that I may leave the outcome of my actions to God.
Grandpa's Hands
Grandpa, some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the patio bench. He didn't
move, just sat with his head down staring at his hands. When I sat down
beside him he didn't acknowledge my presence and the longer I
sat I wondered if he was OK. Finally, not really wanting to disturb him but
wanting to check on him at the same time, I asked him if he was OK.
He raised his head and looked at me and smiled. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you
for asking," he said in a clear strong voice. "I didn't mean to disturb you,
grandpa, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted
to make sure you were OK", I explained to him. "Have you ever looked at your
hands," he asked. "I mean really looked at your hands?" I slowly opened my
hands and stared down at them. I turned them over, palms up and then palms
down. No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands as I tried to figure
out the point he was making.
Grandpa smiled and related this story: Stop and think for a moment about the
hands you have, how they have served you well throughout your years. These
hands, though wrinkled, shriveled and weak have been the tools I have used
all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life. They braced and caught
my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor. They put food in my
mouth and clothes on my back. As a child my mother taught me to fold them in
prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. They held my rifle and
wiped my tears when I went off to war.
They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. They were uneasy
and clumsy when I tried to hold my wedding band they showed the world that I
was married and loved someone special. They wrote the
letters home and trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse and
walked my daughter down the aisle. Yet, they were strong and sure when I dug
my buddy out of a foxhole and lifted a plow off of my best friends foot.
They have held children, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger
when I didn't
understand. They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and
cleansed the rest of my body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and
broken, dried and raw. And to this day when not much of anything else of me
works real well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to
fold in prayer.
These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of my life.
But more importantly it will be these hands out and take when he leads me
home. And with my hands He will lift me to
His side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of Christ. I
will never look at my hands the same again.
But I remember God reached out and took my grandpa's hands and led him home.
When my hands are hurt or sore or when I stroke the face of my children and
wife I think of grandpa. I know he has been stroked and
caressed and held by the hands of God. I, too, want to touch the face of God
and feel his hands upon my face.
When you receive this, say a prayer for the person who sent it to you and
watch God's answer to prayer work in your life. Let's continue praying for
one another.
27 INDICATIONS THAT WE NEED REVIVAL
1. When we do not love Him as we once did.
2. When earthly interests and occupations are more important to us than
eternal ones.
3.When we would rather watch TV and read secular books and magazines than
read the Bible and pray.
4. When we have little or no desire for prayer.
5. When we would rather make money than give money.
6. When our Christianity is joyless and passionless.
7. When we know truth in our heads that we are not practicing in our lives.
8. When we make little effort to witness to the lost.
9. When we have time for sports, recreation, and entertainment, but not for
Bible study and prayer.
10. When we do not tremble at the Word of God.
11. When we seldom think thoughts of eternity.
12. When we are more concerned about our jobs and careers than about the
Kingdom of Christ and the salvation of the lost.
13. When Christian husbands and wives are not praying together.
14. When our children are growing up to adopt worldly values, secular
philosophies and ungodly lifestyles.
15. When we watch things on TV and movies that we would not show in church.
16. When our prayers lack fervency.
17. When our hearts are cold and our eyes are dry.
18. When our singing is half-hearted and our worship lifeless.
19. When we aren't seeing regular evidence of the supernatural power of God.
20. When we are bored with worship.
21. When we are more concerned about what others think about us than what
God thinks about us.
22. When we are making little or no difference in the secular world around
us.
23. When we are unmoved by the thought of our neighbors, business associates
and acquaintances going to h ell.
24. When we have ceased to weep and mourn and grieve over our sin.
25. When we aren't exercising faith and believing God for the impossible.
26. When the fire has gone out in our hearts, our marriages and our church.
27. When we are blind to the extent of our need and don't think we need
revival.
I Love You Anyway
The fear of rejection may be one of the most basic fears of the human
experience. Dr. Joe Harding tells a heart-warming story of a man who finally
decided to ask his boss for a raise in salary. It was Friday. He told his
wife that morning what he was about to do, All day the man felt nervous and
apprehensive. Late in the afternoon he summoned the courage to approach his
employer. To his delight, the boss agreed to a raise.
The man arrived home to a beautiful table set with their best china. Candles
were lighted. His wife had prepared a festive meal. Immediately he figured
that someone from the office had tipped her off! Finding his wife in the
kitchen, he told her the good news. They embraced and kissed, then sat down
to a wonderful meal. Next to his plate the man found a beautiful lettered
note. It read: "Congratulations, darling! I knew you'd get the raise! These
things will tell you how much I love you."
While on his way to the kitchen to get dessert he noticed that a second card
had fallen from her pocket. Picking it off the floor, he read: "Don't worry
about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway! These things will tell
you how much I love you."
Total acceptance! Total love. Her love for him was not contingent upon his
success at work. In fact, just the opposite. If he were to fail there, if he
were to be rejected by his boss he'd be all the more accepted at home. She
stood behind him no matter what; softening the blows, healing the wounds,
believing in him, loving him. We can be rejected by almost anyone if we're
loved by one.
That's the way families can be with each other. And I like to think that's
the way God is with us, too! "We love because He first loved us."
Author Unknown
Spiritual Communion
When unable to receive Holy Communion, it is a pious practice to make a
Spiritual Communion. Say the following prayer of St. Francis:
I believe that You, O Jesus, are in the most Holy Sacrament. I love You and
desire You. Come into my heart. I embrace You. Oh, never leave me. May the
burning and most sweet power of Your love, O Lord Jesus Christ, I beseech
You, absorb my mind that I may die through love of Your love, who were
graciously pleased to die through love of my love.
LET HIM IN
The path that I took was so steep and so bent,
I fell many times,
But I refused to repent.
I dropped to the depths,
But I clawed my way up,
It doesn’t matter --- its always been rough.
One day I was about to fall to my death,
I didn’t care if it was my last breath.
I looked down below:
There was a great pit.
I watched for a moment,
And a great fire was lit.
The souls of lost sinners all withered and scarred,
Their screams of sheer torment I could hear from afar.
Then I stumbled a bit,
I thought I’d slip down,
When a voice said to me “Get back on firm ground!”
I fell to my knees and how I did pray!
Christ took my hand and saved me that day!
I look back on that time, so let me review;
All the people I’ve hurt,
Could we start anew??
I’ve had lots of problems and my prayer list is long,
But God always listens because He knows I’ve been wrong.
I pray that the ink on this pad would truly inspire,
And if words of our Lord is your one desire,
Then knock on the door and the gate will swing wide.
You’ll find peace and salvation on the other side.
But let us not tarry, before it’s too late!
Christ is the answer --- He always will wait!
But if your name is called and you haven’t believed,
And you don’t kneel before Jesus,
You won’t be received!
So let Christ in your heart and receive His reward,
Step into heaven and hold hands with the Lord.
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."
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