Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Hello all! Not much to say tonight - I'm tired - but had lots of blessings - just being with my daughter is always special. Wishing you all a good weekend with prayers.

If you want peace and goodness in your life you must be kind and loving.

Lord, may I avoid creating misery so that my life will reflect my love for

You.

Scripture for the day:

"My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it

nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces

endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature

and complete, lacking in nothing." ~James 1:2-4

Meditation for the day:

As we look back over our lives, it is not too difficult to see that what we

went through was for a purpose and helped to prepare us for some valuable

work in life. Everything in our lives can help make us of some use in the

world. Each person's life is like the pattern of a mosaic. Each thing that

happens to us is like one tiny stone in the mosaic, and each tiny stone fits

into the perfected pattern of the mosaic of our life, which has been

designed by God.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may not need to see the whole design of my life. I pray that

I may trust the Designer.

Christmas Is A Time For Love And Fun

Christmas is a time for love and fun,

A time to reshape souls and roots and skies.

A time to give your heart to everyone

Freely, like a rich and lavish sun,

Like a burning star to those whose lonely sighs.

For those who show the need of such a time for love and fun.

For children first, whose pain is never done,

whose bright white fire of anguish never dies.

It's time to give your heart to every one,

That not one angel fall, to hatred won

For lack of ears to listen to her cries,

Or arms to carry him towards love and fun,

Or friends to care what happens on the run

To adult life, where joy or sadness lies.

It's time to give your heart to everyone,

For God loves all, and turns His back on none,

good or twisted, ignorant or wise.

Christmas is a time for love and fun,

A time to give your heart to everyone.

--A CHRISTMAS ALPHABET

A is for Angels, appearing so bright,

Telling of Jesus that first Christmas night.

B is for Bethlehem, crowded and old,

Birthplace of Jesus by prophet foretold.

C is for Cattle, their manger His bed,

There in the stable where He laid His head.

D is for David and his ancient throne

Promised forever to Jesus alone.

E is for East, where shone the bright star

Which Magi on camels followed afar.

F is for Frankincense, with myrrh and gold,

Brought by the Wise Men as Matthew has told.

G is for God, who from heaven above

Sent down to mankind the Son of His love.

H is for Herod, whose murderous scheme

Was told to Joseph in a nocturnal dream.

I is for Immanuel, "God with us,"

For Christ brought man back to the Father's house.

J is for Joseph so noble and just,

Obeying God's word with absolute trust.

K is for King. A true king He would be,

Coming in power and authority.

L is for Love that He brought down to earth

That night in the stable in lowly birth.

M is for Mary, His mother so brave,

Counting God faithful and mighty to save.

N is for Night, when the Savior was born

For nations of earth and people forlorn.

O is for Omega, meaning "the last;"

He's eternal: present, future and past.

P is for Prophets, when living on earth

Foretold His redemption and blessed birth.

Q is for Quickly, as shepherds who heard

Hastened to act on that heavenly word.

R is for Rejoice. The sorrow of sin is

Banished forever when Jesus comes in.

S is for Savior. To be this He came;

The angel of God assigned Him His name.

T is for Tidings related to all,

Telling of Him who was born in a stall.

U is for Us, to whom Jesus was given

To show us the way and take us to heaven.

V is for Virgin, foretold by the sage,

God's revelation on prophecy's page.

Matthew 1:23

W is for Wonderful, His works and His words,

The King of all Kings, the Lord of all Lords.

X is for Christ. It's X in the Greek,

Anointed, Messiah, mighty, yet meek.

Y is for Yes, called God's Yes in His Word;

God's answer to all is Jesus the Lord.

Z is for Zeal as it burned in Christ's heart.

Lord, by thy Spirit to us zeal impart.

Good Luck Means God

This is a story about a husband rushing to the shopping center to find a

last minute anniversary gift for his wife. Just as he was going through the

door of the supermarket, an impatient shopper came rushing out, bumping an

elderly lady and sending her parcels flying. No one stopped to help her.

John looked at his watch. In a few minutes the store would be dosed. What

should he do? The poor old lady looked so upset.... Well, John helped her

gather up everything. She gave him such a sweet smile, that he was charmed

into seeing her safely to her bus. Then John dashed back to the supermarket,

just as the security man had locked all the doors. So - all he could buy his

wife was a bunch of flowers.

One night about two months later, John was hundreds of miles from home,

driving through a heavy rainstorm when his tire blew out. He found that his

spare tire was also flat. So, dripping wet, he climbed back into the car and

waited and waited in the dark.... Finally, he saw two headlights coming down

the road.... He waved frantically, and the car stopped. inside, was that

same old lady, he had helped some weeks before.

She explained that she was actually on the wrong road. Back somewhere, she

had taken a wrong turn. And so it was by pure luck that she happened to be

here, just when she could be of help.

Any Christian, of course, knows that there is no such a thing as luck. Luck

is another word for God working behind things... like caring for the birds

of the air and the lilies of the field and the hairs of your head, as

Matthew says in 6:28.

THE CHRISTMAS GIFT

Written by Arlene Spanos 2006 (revised 2010)

T’was eight centuries before Christ came to the earth,

The Holy Scriptures foretold of the Messiah’s Birth.

The world was in peril with distress and gloom,

Far and wide there was destruction and doom.

People were lost - they were deaf, blind and dumb;

God promised a Savior one day would come.

The prophesies gave the details of His Birth,

It was certain He’d come to transform the earth.

He’d be born of a virgin, laid in a manger with hay,

Then His Hands and Feet pierced on His final day.

It was told where He’d be born and His Ancestral Line,

He would be King of Kings, completely Divine.

An angel told Mary that she would be the one

To give birth to God’s Child, His Only Begotten Son.

The Lord had a purpose for which He came;

God would be with us – Immanuel, His Name;

Mankind would learn about peace, hope, and joy;

It would all come about in this small Baby Boy.

He was the Prince of Peace, a real Beacon of Light;

Reverent and Righteous; He taught wrong from right.

He came to restore us and showed us to care

And to help one another; He taught us to share.

Many followed and listened to all that He said.

Hearts and lives changed as their souls had been fed.

His Wisdom was divine, far beyond what they’d known;

Many traveled great distance; crowds really had grown.

He was a Humble Servant as He showed us pure love.

He taught us to know our Heavenly Father above.

He was Holy and Sinless, never even told a lie.

He was mocked, and beaten, then crucified to die.

Folks were amazed and confused with all that went on,

They didn’t understand…until He was gone.

He made the sacrifice for our debt to be paid.

For upon Him all of our sins had been laid.

He was Goodness and Grace and came to relieve

The wretched grasp of satan to all who believe.

He was God as a Man to His last dying breath,

Then rose from the dead with His power over death.

This all actually happened, it isn’t folklore.

He told us of Heaven and showed us there’s more.

Christ had come to save the souls on earth,

He offers deliverance and a second birth.

We call Him Jesus and He is with us today;

He is Lord of all Lords and He is the Way.

He’s the Counselor, Comforter, Redeemer and Friend,

He Reigns over all; His Rule never will end.

We celebrate His Birth and all that it means

With songs and displays of Nativity scenes.

His Amazing Grace is the actual reason

That we recognize and rejoice this season.

Again this year we celebrate His Holy Birth;

Merry Christmas to all and to all Peace On Earth!

Two Frogs - Be Special To Others

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods when two of them fell into

a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how

deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead.

The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with

all their might.

The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead.

Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and

gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd

of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder

and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not

hear us?" The frog communicated to them that he was deaf. He thought they

were encouraging him the entire time.

This story teaches two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to

someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill

them. Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path.

The power of words ... it is sometimes hard to understand that an

encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to

rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the

individual who will take the time to encourage another.