Hello my friends! Today thought I'd eat some of those dried fruits we bought at Trader Joe's last night - and oh my! Never thought about looking at the sugar content! Won't be buy that stuff again!! They even taste too sweet to be enjoyable eating. That's a bad snack if you're wanting to eat healthy. But today was a very restful day for me being last night was really late - Linus had to work, he napped in the morning some, and after lunch he went, and I took a long nap and feel much better now. I was working on the computer with a tech on line to try to get rid of a screen saver that I don't want - it's all dell parts that come up on the screen saver and it looks like there's no way to get rid of them. I even tried to get some other screensavers on, no luck. But on the positive side, it's not hurting the computer, and there's no major issues with it. Today was a beautiful day - nice again on the porch/patio and hoping for many more nice days to enjoy it. Wishing you all a good evening and good Saturday and may all your prayers be answered. God bless each and every one of you. Know you are prayed for and loved.
Love and trust are the solutions for the worries and frets of life. Lord, I
pray
for Your gift of Faith which is all that I need for Your power to work
within me.
Scripture for the day:
"And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am
coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given
me, so that they may be one, as we are one." ~John 17:11
Meditation for the day:
I can live in the world and yet live apart with God. I can go forth from my
secret times of communion with God to the work of the world.
To get the spiritual strength I need, my inner life can be lived apart from
the world. I can wear the world as a loose garment. Nothing in the world
can seriously upset me, as long as my inner life is lived with God. All
successful living can arise from this inner life.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may live my inner life with God. I pray that nothing will
invade or destroy that secret place of peace.
RUNNING IN THE RAIN
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries
Sister is a dog. I didn't say my sister was a dog, no she is my sister-
in-law, and she's an angel! But my friend Curtis has a dog he named
Sister, which leads to some fairly amusing sentences. When Curtis and
Sister first arrived in our area, Sister lived in this big fenced in
area outside the house. But Curtis got a nice doghouse for Sister, the
dog, and went to work making it a nice winter home for her. He
installed 2 inches of insulation, put in a new floor, he even put a
waterbed
heater under the floor and some zip-loc bags with water for the heater
to heat. Sister basically has a warm home with her own waterbed. But
for the first couple of weeks after her home was completed, she
wouldn't go in it! Curtis was away for the weekend and asked a friend
to check on
Sister. Well, one of those days was a day a powerful northeastern
storm hit our area - with drenching rain. And when Curtis' friend
visited Sister, there was that dog running around outside the doghouse
in the wind and the pouring rain, still refusing to go in the home
that had been provided for her!
Curtis said, "It's been frustrating. Here I lovingly prepared a warm,
safe place, but she insists on staying outside in the cold and the
rain." That frustration is probably one Jesus knows very well.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 19:41, "As
Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said,
'If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now
it is hidden from your eyes. You did not recognize the time of God's
coming to you.' " This kind of grieving in the heart of Jesus is not
limited to that one time and that one place. It happens every time
another person keeps running in the rain when they could be living in
the safety and warmth He has provided.
Jesus makes very clear what He wants to give us, what the result will
be of our responding to Him. He talks "What would bring you peace?"
And peace is what's at stake in what we do with Jesus, personal peace,
peace with God, peace for all eternity. Jesus may actually have shed
some tears over you, so many times, He has given you the opportunity
to come into the wonderful peace of a personal relationship with Him,
but you have refused to enter.
The result? You're alone out in the storm, feeling unnecessary
loneliness because you're living outside His never-leaving love . . .
unnecessary stress because you're trying to handle life without His
peace . . . unnecessary pain because you're trying to carry the load
without His great strength . . . unnecessary emptiness because you're
trying to make life make sense without the One who gave you your life.
And Jesus is saying, "If you only knew what I can do for you . . ."
The spiritual shelter Jesus invites you to has been very lovingly
prepared for you . . . very expensively prepared for you. There was no
way into a God-relationship as long as the death penalty for our sin
stood between us and God. We are spiritual orphans in this world,
separated from our Father, because of our sin. But the Bible says,
speaking of the suffering and crucifixion of God's Son, "He was
pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities."
All that because of how much Jesus loves you. And the result of this
incredible love - "The punishment that brought us peace was upon
Him."
The peace that perhaps has eluded you your whole life can finally be
yours when you give yourself to the One who gave His life for you on
the cross. Jesus said of the people who missed Him, "You did not
recognize the time of God's coming to you." That time for you may be
this very
day.
You don't need to run alone in the rain anymore . . . you know which
way home is. Isn't it time you moved inside the safety and peace of
the arms of Jesus Christ?
Recipe for Miracles
Ingredients :
1 part of knowing who you are
1 part of knowing who you aren't
1 part of knowing what you want
1 part of knowing who you wish to be
1 part of knowing what you already have before you
1 part of choosing wisely from what you have before you
1 part of loving & thanking for ALL you have ("bad" included)
Mixing Instructions:
Combine ingredients together gently and carefully. Using faith and vision,
mix together with strong belief of the outcome, until finely blended. Use
thoughts, words and actions for best results. Bake until Blessed. Give
thanks again.
Yield: Unlimited servings
Author Unknown
U Turns
"Thanks for inviting me to go to church with you next Sunday, Uncle Al."
Tim and his uncle were on their way to Bonny Lake. They had heard the
fishing there was great. "I . . . I don't want to hurt your feelings,"
continued Tim, "but . . . well . . . I'm not sure I want to get into this
religious stuff. Besides, Mom and Dad don't think it's a good idea."
"Oh?" asked Uncle Al in surprise. "I thought you said that your parents
wouldn't mind if you went with me. You sounded quite interested last week.
You even said the Gospel was beginning to make sense to you."
"Yeah, but since then I've done a lot of thinking," Tim said slowly. "I
don't think I feel like getting 'saved' right now. The crowd I hang around
with at school wouldn't understand, and I like being with them. Someday I'll
start going to church, but I think I'll just go on the way I am for a while.
I know I'm not perfect, but I'm not so bad, either."
Tim's uncle drove on silently for a few minutes. "Oh, no!" he exclaimed as
they passed a road sign. "I was so intent on our conversation that I missed
the turnoff! We should have gotten off this road five miles back!"
"Guess we'll have to turn around and go back now, huh?" asked Tim.
But Uncle Al shook his head. "I don't feel like turning around right now,"
he said. "I guess we'll just keep going this way. I kind of like this road,
and the scenery is nice."
Tim looked at his uncle in amazement. "But we have to turn around to get to
Bonny Lake," he protested, "and the longer we keep going this way, the
longer it will take to get back. If we wait too long to turn around, we
might not even get there in time to fish."
Uncle Al smiled at Tim as he slowed down for the next turn. "You're right,"
he said, "and what you said just now is exactly what I've been trying to
tell you about spiritual life . . . that when you're traveling down the
wrong road, the sooner you turn around, the better. If you wait too long,
you might never get to your goal: Heaven."
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!
Knowing Christ
Some years ago a famous actor was at a party and was asked by the guests to
do a recitation for them. He asked if there were anything special they
would like to hear, and an old minister asked for psalm 23 - "The Lord is my
Shepherd" psalm. A strange look came over the actor's face. He paused for
a moment and then said, "I'll do it on one condition: that after I have
recited it, you, my friend, will do the same."
"I" said the preacher in surprise. "I am not a professional speaker. But,
if you wish, I shall recite it too."
So the actor recited with all the finesse of his trade and held the audience
spellbound. The old man stood up and recited the psalm with a weak wavering
voice. But when he sat down, there was not a dry eye in the room.
Then the actor rose with his own voice quivering. "Ladies and gentlemen,"
he commented, "I reached your eyes and ears; but he has reached your hearts.
The difference is just this: I know the psalm. But he knows the shepherd."
Your Cross - St Francis de Sales
+ + +
The everlasting God has
in His wisdom foreseen
from eternity the cross
that He now presents to you
as a gift from His inmost heart.
This cross He now sends you
He has considered with His all-knowing eyes,
understood with His divine mind,
tested with His wise justice,
warmed with loving arms
and weighed with His own hands
to see that it be not one inch too large
and not one ounce too heavy for you.
He has blessed it with His holy Name,
anointed it with His consolation,
taken one last glance at you
and your courage,
and then sent it to you from heaven,
a special greeting from God to you,
an alms of the all-merciful love of God.
Mother Teresa Said...
"Cheerfulness should be one of the main points of our religious life.
A cheerful giver is a great giver.
Cheerfulness is a sign of a generous and mortified person,
who, forgetting all things, even herself, tries to please God in all she
does for souls.
Cheerfulness is often a cloak which hides a life of sacrifice,
continual union with God, fervor and generosity."
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