Community Chat

[gloriajean]

God has already prepared you for everything that He plans for you to do.
Lord, You believe in me, therefore I can believe in me, and will have all
the necessary confidence to succeed in what I will be doing today.

Scripture for the day:

"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." ~James 4:8

Meditation for the day:

"Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you." When we are faced
with a problem beyond our strength, we can turn to God by an act of
faith. It is that turning to God in each trying situation that we can
cultivate. The turning may be one of glad thankfulness for God's
grace in our life. Or our appeal to God may be a prayerful claiming
of God's strength to face a situation and finding that we have it when
the time comes. Not only the power to face trials, but also the
comfort and joy of God's nearness and companionship are ours for the
asking.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may try to draw near to God each day in prayer. I pray
that I may feel God's nearness and God's strength in my life.

Hello my friends! Busy day - hot and humid, too! Found out that almond
butter on bread with my fresh raspberries on top, mashed a bit are
absolutely delicious and will surely have that again!! I've been using my
kale out of the garden mixed with our lettuce, and also I picked some, and
used the food processor to chop it up and put in hash brown potatoes along
with other seasonings and that's great, too. I don't know if kale keeps
coming back like lettuce does, I'll find out. Phone calls tonight - Deil
called, arranged for a birthday party for Sister LaDonna on the 4th of July
at my sister, Ethel's, and we can go, the company is closed that day! Then
on our family reunion night Sister LaDonna has a few days off that she can
come home with us for a couple days and then we'll take her to Deil's and
Deil can take her back to Ethel who brings her to her shuttle back.
Hopefully Lori can come too on the 4th and drive us. I'm so glad that
Sister LaDonna can finally come here again to visit - it's been years!
She's never seen our screened in porch/patio. Since this is so late, I'm
stopping here and wishing you all a very wonderful positive Wednesday and
may God bless everything you do.

A Prayer to Padre Pio

Beloved Padre Pio, today I come to add my prayer to the thousands of prayers
offered to you every day by those who love and venerate you. They ask for
cures and healings, earthly and spiritual blessings, and peace for body and
mind. And because of your friendship with the Lord, he heals those you ask
to be healed, and forgives those you forgive.

Through your visible wounds of the Cross, which you bore for 50 years, you
were chosen in our time to glorify the crucified Jesus. Because the Cross
has been replaced by other symbols, please help us to bring it back in our
midst, for we acknowledge it is the only true sign of salvation.

As we lovingly recall the wounds that pierced your hands, feet and side, we
not only remember the blood you shed in pain, but your smile, and the
invisible halo of sweet smelling flowers that surrounded your presence, the
perfume of sanctity.

Padre Pio, may the healings of the sick become the testimony that the Lord
has invited you to join the holy company of Saints. In your kindness, please
help me with my own special request: (mention here your petition, and make
the sign of the Cross).

Bless me and my loved ones. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit. Amen.

A lot of people have had answers to prayer with his intercession.



Why God Gives US Problems
Hope this will help you to see opportunities behind the threats!

Why God Gives Us Problem?
LIFE IS A SERIES OF PROBLEM-SOLVING OPPORTUNITIES.

1. God uses problems to DIRECT you.
2. God uses problems to INSPECT you.
3. God uses problems to CORRECT you.
4. God uses problems to PROTECT you.
5. God uses problems to PERFECT you.

The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you -- depending on
how
you respond to them. Unfortunately most people fail to see how God wants to
use
problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their
problems rather than pausing to consider what benefit they might bring.

Here are five ways God wants to use the problems in your life:

1. God uses problems to DIRECT you. Sometimes God must light a fire under
you
to get you moving. Problems often point us in a new direction and motivate
us
to change. Is God trying to get your attention? "Sometimes it takes a
painful
situation to make us change our ways." Proverbs 20:30

2. God uses problems to INSPECT you. People are like tea bags ... if you
want
to know what's inside them, just drop them into hot water! Has God ever
tested
your faith with a problem? What do problems reveal about you?"When you have
many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that
these
troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience." James 1:2-3

3. God uses problems to CORRECT you. Some lessons we learn only through
pain
and failure. It's likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch
a
hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only
learn
the value of something ... health, money, a relationship... by losing it.
"It
was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay
attention to your laws." Psalm 119:71-72

4. God uses problems to PROTECT you. A problem can be a blessing in
disguise if
it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. Last year a
friend
was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him
to
do. His unemployment was a problem, but it saved him from being convicted
and
sent to prison a year later when management's actions were eventually
discovered."You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good." Genesis
50:20

5. God uses problems to PERFECT you. Problems, when responded to correctly,
are
character builders. God is far more interested in your character than our
comfort. Your relationship to God and your character are the only two
things
you're going to take with you into eternity. "We can rejoice when we run
into
problems ... they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops
strength
of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until
finally
our hope and faith are strong and steady." Romans 5:3-4

Here's the point: God is at work in your life even when you do not recognize
it
or understand it. But it's much easier and profitable when you cooperate
with
Him!

==========================

by Mena Haryanto


Lord, Help Me...


Help me, I pray
To get through this day.
I don't even ask
To have things my way,
Your will is okay.

Things done in your way
Are best suited to stay
In the Master Plan,
Help me to help
In any way that I can

Don't let me be
Part of the problems I see,
But let me rather be
A light unto Thee.

Amen.

THE TEACUP
Author Unknown
September 22, 2009


There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful
stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups.
This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said,
"May we see that? We've never seen one quiet so beautiful." As the
lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't
understand," it said, "I haven't always been a teacup."

"There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and
rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'Let me
alone,' but he only smiled, 'Not yet.'

"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said, "and
suddenly I was spun around and around and around. 'Stop it! I'm
getting dizzy!' I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not
yet.'

"Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he
wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see
him through the opening and I could read his lips, as he shook his
head, 'Not yet!'

"Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool.
'There that's better,' I said. And he brushed and painted me all over.
The fumes were horrible; I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I
cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'

"Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one.
This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I
pleaded, I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the
opening nodding his head saying, 'Not yet!'

"Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready
to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on
the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, 'Look at
yourself.' And I did. I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me.
It's beautiful.
I'm beautiful.'

"'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be
rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you'd have dried up. I
know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had
stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it was hot and disagreeable
in the oven, but if I hadn't
put you there, you would have cracked.

"'I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over,
but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would
not have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in
the second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the
hardness would not have held.

"'Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I
first began you.'"

Jeremiah 18:6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter
does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are
you in my hand, O house of Israel."

A WALK IN THE RAIN
Author Unknown
June 19, 2012


She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful brown haired, freckled-faced
Image of innocence. Her Mom looked like someone from the Walton's or a
moment captured by Norman Rockwell. Not that she was old-fashioned. Her
brown hair was ear length with enough curl to appear natural. She had on a
pair of tan shorts and light blue knit shirt. Her sneakers were white with a
blue trim. She looked like a Mom. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain
that gushes over the tops of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the
Earth it has no time to flow down the spout. Drains in the nearby parking
lot were filled to capacity and some were blocked so that huge puddles made
lakes around parked cars. We all stood there under the awning and just
inside the door of the WalMart. We waited, some patiently, others irritated
because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rain
fall. I get lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt
and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child
come pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day. Her voice
was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in. "Mom,
let's run through the rain," she said.

"What?" Mom asked.

"Let's run through the rain!" she repeated.

"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated her statement.
"Mom. Let's run through the rain."

"We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.

"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl
said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.

"This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get
wet?"

"Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you
said, "If God can get us through this, He can get us through anything!"

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but
the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few
minutes. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say.

Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even
ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young
child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will
bloom into faith.


"Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If God lets us
get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said. Then off they ran. We
all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and
yes through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just
in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few believers who
screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. Perhaps
inspired by their faith and trust. I want to believe that somewhere down the
road in life, Mom will find herself reflecting back on moments they spent
together, captured like pictures in the scrapbook of her cherished memories.

Maybe when she watches proudly as her daughter graduates. Or as her Daddy
walks her down the aisle on her wedding day. She will laugh again. Her heart
will beat a little faster. Her smile will tell the world they love each
other.

But only two people will share that precious moment when they ran through
the rain believing that God would get them through. And Yes, I did. I ran. I
got wet. I needed washing.

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the
heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1

--
How do I find You, God?

God is Love.
If you have ever loved,
If you have ever been loved,
You have experienced God
from Within and Without

God is Truth.
If you have ever told the truth,
If you have ever discovered Truth,
You have experienced God
from Within and Without


God is Beauty.
If you have ever helped to create something beautiful,
If you have ever witnessed beauty in any of it's myriad forms,
You have experienced God
from Within and Without


God is Good.
If you have ever done or thought something good,
If you have ever recognized goodness in or through another,
You have experienced God
from Within and Without


All of those experiences, those gifts,
of Love, Truth, Beauty and Goodness
were directly from God through you

Mother Teresa Said...

I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart
that God speaks. God is the friend of silence - we need to listen to God
because it's not what we say but what He says to us and through us that
matters. Prayer feeds the soul - as blood is to the body, prayer is the
soul - and it brings you closer to God. It also gives you a clean and pure
heart. A clean heart can see God, can speak to God, and can see the love of
God in others.