Matthew 5:14-16....be the LIGHT!!!

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Suffering for Christ?

"Dear ones, I long for a sight of your dear faces, but I fear we shall not meet on earth...I am preparing for the end very quietly and calmly. The Lord is wonderfully near, and He will not fail me. I was very restless and excited while there seemed a chance of life, but God had taken away that feeling, and now I just pray for grace to meet the terrible end bravely. The pain will soon be over; and oh the sweetness of the welcome above!

My little baby will go with me. I think God will give him to me in Heaven, and my dear mother will be so glad to see us. I cannot imagine the Savior's welcome. Oh, that will compensate for all these days of suspense. Dear ones, live near to God and cling less closely to earth. There is no other way by which we can receive that peace from God which passeth understanding...I must keep calm and still these hours. I do not regret coming to China, but am sorry I have done so little. My married life, two precious years, has been so very full of happiness. We will die together, my dear husband and I."

Lizzie Atwater wrote this letter twelve days before they were all killed....

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Oh, to think I have it rough! I was reminded by reading this today that even though the Lord doesn't expect me to discount my difficult moments in life, He always desires that I be mindful of those that are or have suffered far worse, especially for the cause of knowing Christ. I was blessed, put to shame and sought forgiveness for my attitude this day. God is good. As Job said so long ago, "Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?"

Blessings this day and everyday the Lord gives us to serve Him!

deb

Great is Thy Faithfulness...

Lamentations 3:23....

"Great is his faithfulness;

his mercies begin afresh each morning."

Holding onto this verse. We have been doing a lot of studying both in Sunday School and Bible study on Tuesdays about the wilderness time for the Israelites. I know we all can identify with wilderness times in our own lives. Traveling through one of those times now and holding on to this verse.

Preparing for your biggest TEST!

The life of Abraham teaches you that:

(1) You can walk with God, yet not know the details of

your destiny.

(2) When God makes you a promise, the timeline is up to

Him.

(3) Sometimes you'll get it wrong before you get it right.

(4) You can have faith in one area, yet experience fear

in another.

Abraham didn't know where the Lord would lead him. At

the urging of Sarah, Abraham fathered Ishmael and their

impatience cost them dearly. Even though Abraham loved

and trusted God, he still lied to the king about Sarah being his

wife and yet when it came to sacrificing his son Isaac on the

altar, Abraham showed himself willing and obedient to the Lord.

The tests you've been through begin to make sense when you

face y0ur biggest test. When you pass it, like Abraham, you can

call God "Jehovah Jireh" which means "The-Lord-Will-Provide"

and at that point God will say, "Now you've arrived at a place

where I can use you!"

Unfinished Canvas.....fulfilling your dreams...

Unfinished Canvas

~ Scott Walker

It suddenly occurred to me that I am not going to live long enough to see all my dreams come true in this life. Oddly enough, it doesn’t bother me. I’ve already had more than my share of life’s sweets, and I take pleasure in seeing others accomplish what I cannot.

I always wanted to have a fix-it shop. My brother Tom in Kalamazoo, Michigan, fixes power tools for surgeons. I enjoy hearing about his work. “I would love to make a commercial,” I say to myself, every time I see a humorous one on TV. My brother Mark in Tampa, Florida, makes commercials for a living. I love to work with wood, but have no time for it. My brother Bob in Lowell, Indiana, designs and builds fine furniture, and has a waiting list of orders. My sister Linda Joy is the single, free spirit that appeals to my restless bones and gypsy heart. And my most persistent dream is to live on a small farm, like the one on which my sister Gloria lives near South Bend, Indiana. Perhaps my daughters will write the great American novel that I won’t, and maybe my grandchildren will travel to Australia, where I would like to go.

Increasingly, I find more joy in helping others reach their dreams than I do in having my own dreams come true. When one of my students says, “I would like to become a teacher,” something comes alive in me, because I train teachers for a living. My dream is to fulfill his dream. I have a friend who told me once that “some people are good at saying prayers. Others are good at answering prayers.” It’s the same with dreams, I think. All of us will leave this earth with an unfinished canvas, but no matter. If I can contribute a few strokes of the brush to the masterpiece, then my life has been worthwhile.

Lord, You scattered the joys of life among us. Together we can make our way to heaven, where all our dreams will come to pass.

My help comes from the Lord....

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

Psalm 121:1

"It comes from Him".....believe it!!!!

God won't ask....

Things God won't ask on THAT day:

1. God won't ask what kind of car you drove. He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.

2. God won't ask the square footage of your house. He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

3. God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet. He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.

4. God won't ask what your highest salary was. He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

5. God won't ask what your job title was. He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

6. God won't ask how many friends you had. He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

7. God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived. He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.

8. God won't ask about the color of your skin. He'll ask about the content of your character.

Going into the night, ending each day.....

I don't know about any of you, but I have a hard time when it comes to sleeping. Most of it is just turning the brain off. I take an over the counter "melatonin" to help slow things down. I got an e-mail about how one ends their day is as important as how one begins a new day! Thought we could all benefit from this. Computer is still down at home so am relying on the computer pictures available at the library. This is pretty, isn't it? Sometimes going to sleep is like "walking a long pier" for me!!! Blessings to you, deb

The way that you end your day is just as important as how you begin it. Here are some tips to help you have a better night and a better tomorrow.

1. Let go of your responsibilities at day’s end. Set your burdens aside and relax. Take time for happy moments with loved ones and friends. Be relaxed and jovial. Don’t carry the day’s work into the night. Let it rest while you rest.

2. Spend some time every evening with your Bible. Do it regularly. When this becomes a consistent, regular habit, it begins to take hold of your daily life, and it changes things. It will change you. Read a chapter or two a night until you have completed the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Then read Paul’s Epistles. Add to this a Psalm or some great Old Testament chapter such as Isaiah 55. As you do this, some wonderful insights will come to you, and you will feel so helped that you will have a new mastery of your problems.

3. Tell a few people that you love them. Telephone someone or write it in a letter. This will take you further out of yourself, and that, of course, will get you closer to other people.

4. Before you go to sleep, run over your life, thank God for everyone and everything. Count your blessings, name them “Lord, bless this conversation.”

5. Empty your mind of the day as if you were emptying your pockets. Remove all the the irritations, frustrations, disappointments, hurts and regrets then go to sleep with a cleansed and uncluttered mind.

6. Finally, commit your soul into the kindly care and keeping of the Lord, and then go to sleep in peace. He watches over you. Affirm “God watches over me, over my house, over all my loved ones. In His peace I have peace.”

Becoming a Butterfly is Work!!! Labor for His Glory!!!

My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. — Ecclesiastes 2:10 niv

I saw Anderson Cooper (of CNN) give an interview recently, and in it he responded to a question regarding the best advice his mother (Gloria Vanderbilt) ever gave him. He responded that she advised him to follow his bliss and the money would come. He had a dream to be a reporter and he now anchors each weeknight with his own news show. I don’t know what your “bliss” might be, but I urge you to find a calling in life and attach it to your work.

Whether you have a job and wish you didn’t, or don’t have one and wish you did, or if you wish you had different people to work with or report to, the dailyness of your workplace can become a mental drag if you don’t choose to see it as a place of purpose and mission. The Bible gives us clear principles regarding whatever labor we undertake. Read Colossians 3:23, Luke 9:62, Romans 13:1, Matthew 7:12.

These scriptural principles allow us to see that we are working for more than a paycheck, that we are committed to endurance and excellence in any undertaking, and that our Real Boss doesn’t inhabit the corner office, but has it all in his hands.
— Anita Renfroe
Excerpted from A Grand New Day © 2008 by Thomas Nelson. Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Used with permission. All rights reserved

Changes....

You can't miss the changes....it's part of life. You can't ignore it....it's gonna happen anyway! There are just things in this life that have to fall and die in order to birth anew something absolutely "out of this world"!!! Oh, what we have to look forward to in our Christian walk with Jesus! He asks us to be willing to die in order to really live!!! I am excited about that and I hope you are too! It takes a lot of trust and a lot of faith....and yet, that faith only has to be as small as a mustard seed.....you all know how small a mustard seed is!! Thank you, Father, for taking us as we are and seeing what we can be!!!

Blessings this day, a new day......debbie