Hello my friends! Beautiful day here today - it was in the 40's!! Sun shining all day! It was a blessing today talking to my oldest daughter, Darla, on the phone, but she's in pain, her back is so sore - is on vicodin - Please pray for her healing and that she hears from Mpls. OK? Too much stress where she is at. She gets cortozone shots but can't very often as it's not good for the body. She's coming out our way in April when she's bridesmaid for a friend - we'll get to see her and Greg then. Here's wishing you all a very positive and peaceful day!
Study who you are and follow your heart because it will often lead you
to miracles. Lord, in knowing who I am, I will become better able to know
and serve You.
Scripture for the day:
"But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and
persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act--they will
be blessed in their doing." ~James 1:25
Meditation for the day:
When something happens to upset us and we are discouraged, we can try
to feel that life's difficulties and troubles are not intended to
arrest our progress in the spiritual life, but to test our strength
and to
increase our determination to keep going. Whatever it is that must be
met, we can either overcome it or use it. Nothing need daunt us for
long, nor need any difficulty entirely overcome or conquer us. God's
strength is always there, waiting for us to use it. Nothing can be
too great to be overcome, or if not overcome, then used.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may know that there can be no failure with God. I pray
that with God's help I may live a more victorious life.
Ideals
Remember that ideals
are like stars up in the sky,
You can never really reach them,
hanging in the heavens high....
But like the mighty mariner
who sailed the storm-tossed sea,
And used the stars to chart his course
with skill and certainty,
You too can chart your course in life
with high ideals and love,
For high ideals are like the stars
that light the sky above....
You cannot ever reach them,
but lift your heart up high
And your life will be as shining
as the stars up in the sky.
~ Helen Steiner Rice ~
Altruism Repaid
A man came to his counselor in great distress. He was a shopkeeper and they
had opened a supermarket right across the street from him. It would
eventually drive him out of business. His family had owned the shop for over
a hundred years, and to lose it would be his undoing, for there was nothing
else he was skilled at. What should he do?
The counselor said, "If you fear the owner of the supermarket, you will hate
him. And hatred will be your undoing. Here is what you are to do: every
morning walk out of your shop onto the footpath and say a prayer of blessing
over your shop, wishing it prosperity. Then turn to the supermarket and
bless it too."
"What! Bless my competitor and destroyer?" "Any blessing you give him will
rebound to your good. Any evil you wish him will destroy you."
After six months the man returned to his counselor to report that he had had
to close down his shop, as he had feared. But now he was in charge of the
supermarket, and his affairs were in much better shape than ever before...
Unanswered Letters
There are many times when we begin a certain task that God lays on our
hearts and because we think our efforts are minimal and not making a
difference, we quit the job that God told us to pursue.
The enemy loves to plant seeds of doubt and lure us into thinking that we
are not capable of making a difference in this world, but with God's help we
can overcome and fulfill the destiny that God has for every believer.
If you are going through a situation of doubting your task unto the Lord,
then I hope this story will bless and encourage you to never quit what God
has laid on your heart because you may never know of the lives that you are
touching.
I read of a man who was involved in a tragic accident. He lost both legs
and his left arm and only a finger and thumb remained on the right hand.
But he still possessed a brilliant mind, enriched with a good education and
broadened with world travel. At first he thought there was nothing he could
do but remain a helpless sufferer.
A thought came to him. It was always nice to receive letters, but why not
write them--he could still use his right hand with some difficulty. But to
whom could he write?
Was there anyone shut-in and incapacitated like he was who could be
encouraged by his letters? He thought of men in prison--they did have some
hope of release, whereas he had none--but it was worth a try.
He wrote to a Christian organization concerned with prison ministry. He was
told that his letters could not be answered because it was against prison
rules, but he still decided to commence this one-sided correspondence.
He wrote twice a week, and it taxed his strength to the limit. But into the
letters he put his whole soul, all his experience, all his faith, all his
wit, and all his Christian optimism.
Frequently he felt discouraged and was tempted to give it all up. But it
was his one remaining activity, and he resolved to continue as long as he
could.
At last he got a letter. It was very short, written on prison stationery by
the officer whose duty it was to censor the mail.
All it said was: "Please write on the best paper you can afford. Your
letters are passed from cell to cell till they literally fall to pieces."
No matter what your situation may be like, you still have the ability to
encourage someone who is discouraged and lift up someone who is feeling low.
Take this story as an encouragement to give your all for someone else and do
not worry about the results. No good work will go unseen and only God knows
of the impact that your life can have on someone else.
Let us not do our good works so that we may be praised, but let us do good
works so that others may be lifted up and God be praised because of our
intervention.
The only thing that we can take with us into eternity is what we have done
for the Lord. There are no bank accounts in heaven to show how much your
net worth was on the earth, but there will be accounts in heaven of what you
did to show your life as an example in leading others to Him.
- Author Unknown
Today
by Emily McAdams
Since yesterday is in the past, And tomorrow you might not see. You need to
live to the fullest, This day God has granted to thee.
Be loving and kind to all you meet. Spread cheer and joy on your way. Say,
"I love you" to your loved ones, And for peace on earth you should pray.
Share your faith with lost ones as God bids all His children to do. He wants
not one soul left behind. One might be saved because of you.
A lonely person you could visit, To help brighten up their day. You could
feed one who's hungry, Offer a place for someone to stay.
There is so much that you can do, Before this day is through. Only but for
the grace of God, One of these just might be you.
Be thankful for all of your blessings. Never take them for granted at all.
God gives you all you need to have, And He will 'till His final call.
Be ready and always listen. For you never know when He'll say, The past and
future you don't need, But my child, I need you today.
Blogs & Forums
Forums
Blogs
