Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Today picture yourself as the happiest person that you know and watch how
contagious this enthusiasm for life is. Lord, may I bring out the best in
those
with whom I share today so they can in turn bring out more of my best.


Scripture for the day:

"Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our
potter; we are all the work of your hand." ~Isaiah 64:8

Meditation for the day:

We may consider the material world as the clay which the artist works
with, to make of it something beautiful or ugly. We need not fear
material things, which are neither good nor bad in the moral sense.
As human beings we can have either evil intentions--resentments,
malevolence, hate and revenge--or good intentions--love and good will.
They can make something ugly or something beautiful out of the clay of our
lives.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may make something good out of my life. I pray that I may
be a good artisan of the materials which I have been given to use.

Hello my friends! Today was busy preparing for our card club guests to come
over. We play one couple a month from the club. The next two months we are
the guests, the schedule says, so we won't have to host until December. It
was a good card game (500) and we won! We always play 28 hands and send in
the score. I was so tired that I took a long nap this afternoon, after not
getting to bed until real late last night. Barbeque sauce takes a lot of
time in boiling it down first before canning it. We'll try some tomorrow
when we have a special guest over for lunch - Father Mark, our pastor.
It'll be his second visit here with us, and I hope for many more! Praying
for you all and your loved ones, thanks for your prayers for us!

NEW VERSION OF FOOTPRINTS
Author Unknown
Jun 11, 2009

Imagine you and the Lord Jesus are walking down the road together. For
much of the way, the Lord's footprints go along steadily,
consistently, rarely varying the pace. But your footprints are a
disorganized stream of zigzags, starts, stops, turnarounds, circles,
departures and returns.

For much of the way, it seems to go like this, but gradually your
footprints come more in line with the Lord's, soon paralleling His
consistently. You and Jesus are walking as true friends! This seems
perfect, but then an interesting thing happens: Your footprints, that
once etched the sand next to Jesus', are now walking precisely in His
steps.

Inside His larger footprints are your smaller ones, you and Jesus are
becoming one. This goes on for many miles, but gradually you notice
another change. The footprints inside the large footprints seem to
grow larger.

Eventually they disappear altogether.

There is only one set of footprints: they have become one. This goes
on for a long time, but suddenly the second set of footprints are
back. This time it seems even worse! Zigzags all over the place.
Stops. Starts. Deep gashes in the sand. A veritable mess of prints.

You are amazed and shocked. Your dream ends. Now you pray: "Lord, I
understand the first scene with zigzags and fits. I was a new
Christian; I was just learning. But you walked on through the storm
and helped me learn to walk with you."

"That is correct."

" ... and when the smaller footprints were inside of Yours, I was
actually learning to walk in Your steps; followed you very closely."

"Very good. You have understood everything so far."

"... when the smaller footprints grew and filled in Yours, I suppose
that I was becoming like you in every way."

"Precisely."

"So, Lord, was there a regression or something? The footprints
separated, and this time it was worse than at first."

There is a pause as the Lord answers with a smile in his voice. "You
don't know? That was when we danced."

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under
Heaven. A time to weep, a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time
to dance." Ecclesiastes 3:1,4



Prepare your heart
To be strong
So soon it will unite
With to whom it belongs.

My commands are as such
Be forgiven and forgive others
Love your enemies
As sisters and brothers.

Trust in me
And I will open doors
Give in my name
And I will give you more.

Your life is not a game
I didn't create you that way
Just keep your spirit in tune with me
So that you may hear what I have to say.

You have control of who
Is the authority in your life
So keep this in mind
When your life is facing strife.



12 Signs of a Spiritual Awakening


1. An increased tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.

2. Frequent attacks of smiling.

3. Feelings of being connected with others and nature.

4. Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

5. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fears based
on past experience.

6. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

7. A loss of ability to worry.

8. A loss of interest in conflict.

9. A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.

10. A loss of interest in judging others.

11. A loss of interest in judging self.

12. Gaining the ability to love without expecting anything in return.

Three things that God can't do:

1. God Can't force you to love Him.
God is the one all powerful force in the universe. He Created the universe
out of nothing, and made us out of the dust of His Creation. He holds
together every cell in your body, every atom in every cell. He gives you
each breath that you take, He causes every beat of your heart, but He won't
force you to Love Him. He gave us the free will to chose Him, or to reject
Him. You can chose to love Him and allow His love into your life, or you can
chose to be separated from Him for eternity. While this seems like such a
simple choice, millions of people chose to live their lives without Him and
will never feel His infinite power and love.

2. God Can't Lie.
God is the absolute definition of Truth. When God speaks, it is the truth.
His Word is Truth and His Son is Truth. If you read Prophecy in the Bible,
You will see that even the most obscure things in it are coming coming to
pass. Things that most people wrote off as symbolism due to the odds against
them actually literally happening. The areas that science thought they had
disproved, have been found to be real. When God says he will return for His
flock, He means it. When He says he will punish those whose sins are not
covered by Jesus's Blood, He means it! You can trust the Bible and every
Word and Promise in it.

3. God Can't Learn.
That means that you can't disappoint Him! He knows everything about you.
Everything you've done and most importantly, everything you're going to do!
Many people think that God is disappointed in them when they make a mistake,
or commit a sin. The reality is, He already knew you were going to do that,
and He knew the very day and hour you were going to slip up! You might be
shocked and surprised at your behavior, but God isn't. He already saw it and
it was already covered by the Blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
It's comforting to me to understand that God knows my deepest darkest sins
and thoughts, that He knew them 2000 years ago, and He still chose to love
me and suffer in my place.

Not What You Want But What God Wants
By: Helen Steiner Rice

Do you want what you want when you want it?
Do you pray and expect a reply? And when it's not instantly answered do you
feel that God has
passed you by?
Well, prayers that are prayed in this manner are really not prayers at all.
For you can't go to God in a hurry and expect Him to answer your call.
For prayers are not meant for obtaining what we selfishly wish to acquire.
For God in His wisdom refuses the things that we wrongly desire.......
Wake up! You are missing completely the reason and purpose of prayer. Which
is really to keep us
contented that God holds us safe in His care.
And God only answers our pleadings when He knows that our wants fill a need,
and whenever our will becomes His will, there is no prayer that God does not
heed!

FALL RESOLUTIONS
Author Unknown

Give up complaining . . . focus on gratitude.
Give up pessimism . . . become an optimist.
Give up harsh judgments . . . think kind thoughts.
Give up worry . . . trust divine providence.
Give up discouragement . . . be full of hope.
Give up bitterness . . . turn to forgiveness.
Give up hatred . . . return good for evil.
Give up negativism . . . be positive.
Give up anger . . . practice patience.
Give up pettiness . . . put on maturity.
Give up gloom. . . enjoy the beauty that is all around you.
Give up jealousy . . . pray for trust.
Give up gossiping . . . control your tongue.
Give up sin. . . . turn to virtue.

Lord,
keep me safe from the pain and grief that sin brings,
from the dangers that I can't see,
or the ones that I think I can risk because of my experience (pride &
carelessness).
Put up a supernatural barrier.
Protect me, Father, by your power!
Amen.

Prayer when Arising from Sleep

O Master and holy God, who are beyond our understanding: at your word, light
came forth out of darkness. In your mercy, you gave us rest through
night-long sleep, and raised us up to glorify your goodness and to offer our
supplication to You. Now, in your own tender love, accept us who adore You
and give thanks to You with all our heart. Grant us all our requests, if
they lead to salvation; give us the grace of manifesting that we are
children of light and day, and heirs to your eternal reward. In the
abundance of your mercies, O Lord, remember all your people; all those
present who pray with us; all our brethren on land, at sea, or in the air,
in every place of Your domain, who call upon your love for mankind. Upon
all, pour down your great mercy, that we, saved in body and in soul, may
persevere unfailingly; and that, in our confidence, we may extol your
exalted and blessed Name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, always, now and
forever. Amen.

Mother Teresa Said...
“Smile at each other,
smile at your wife, smile at your husband,
smile at your children, smile at each other
-- it doesn't matter who it is --
and that will help you to grow up
in greater love for each other.”