Thank you for another day

This has been one of those days where all I feel like doing is raising my hands to heaven and thanking God.

What a glorious day.

The weather has been perfect.

The blue of the sky has been the most perfect blue.

The green and yellow of the trees has been the most perfect colors.  The blues, greens, and yellows that only a true and wonderful God could create.  What a wonderfully perfect day.
The air has been clean and clear, the wonder of everything apparent and visible.

Thank you, God, for the gift of being able to live through this day in the best ways possible.

Thank you, God, for loving me enough to offer me one more day in your presence.  A day like today surely confirms that You are present. 

(Above photograph of nephew, Michael, taken in Morocco)

Weezer

Bless the little children

Jesus loves me,  This I know.

For the bible tells me so.

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

The Bible tells me so.

I got a phone call this morning from Jessica and my granddaughter, Leah.  Not unusual, really, except that I'm no at home in Augusta but at my folks' home across the state in Columbus.  I love hearing about the latest Leahism.
 What did I hear from my little Leah this morning?  She said to me, "I have Jesus in my heart, Weezer."  That sweet little voice told me that she had asked Jesus into her heart and He was there.  What could be more precious than that!!  She's only two and a half years old and she knows that all she had to do was ask Jesus into her heart and He would be there.  She knows that she is loved by Jesus.
We as adults try so hard to understand all that there is to know about our Lord and Saviour. We read, we study, we question.  And it's all so simple.  All we have to do is ask for Him to enter our heart, to ask Him to be a part of us and all that we do, all that we are.  And He's there. 

Weezer

Evil and Satan exist

I've been greatly bothered since the day of the shooting in Tucson, especially after I saw the photograph of the young man that committed such horrible acts against others.  I saw that face and the first thing I thought, even said out loud, was, "Those eyes are so soulless and full of evil".  I am so fearful of how there are so many who take the law of both our land and our God into their own hands, thinking that they are sincerely doing the right thing.  It's scary that they honestly think that they are entitled to do as they please.  What kind of future do these people have?  Here and after.

    There's an editorial in today's paper here in Augusta "How to explain utter evil".  Of course, since I've been thinking such things about not only Jared Lee Loughner, but all those who are scheming and planning some plot to horribly destroy others.  Let me share just a bit of this editorial with you:

"Evil exists, and a few are possessed by it.  C.S.Lewis said that evil isn't an absolute, it needs good.  It's a parasite that rides on good.

G.K.Chesterson offered an explanation for evil we may not want to hear, because it places blame where we like it least:  'Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable.'

We tolerate, even promote, may things we once regarded as evil, wrong, or immoral.  And then we seek 'explanations' for an act that seems beyond comprehension.  Remove societal restraints on some evils and one can expect the demons to be freed to conduct other evil acts.

The fault, as Shakespeare wrote, 'lies not in our stars, but in ourselves.'   Once tolerated, evil grows like the 0paraasite alluded to by Lewis.  It inevitably and predictably leads to other evils, such as the tragedy in Tucson."

(by Cal Thomas - Augusta Chronicle; Augusta, GA)

Today, the devil roams the earth like a lion, looking for lives to destroy.  He despises us because we remind him of God.  We are made in God's image, and every time he looks at us, it reminds him that he lost the battle.  Satan was an angel in heaven, but when he tried to rebel against God, God quickly kicked him out of heaven. (Isaiah 14: 12-15).

The good news is that when we give our lives to Jesus, He gives us power over the enemy - power over darkness, over sin, and over temptation.  God gives us authority over the enemy so that we don't have to live in fear of Satan.  When we give our lives to Jesus, we can live with great confidence in our ability to rebuke the devil and keep him away from ourselves and those around us. (from Extreme for Jesus: a promise book by Ron Luce)

What a different kind of life Jared Lee Loughner would have lived if he had been introduced to the God who would have loved him.  We must introduce our young people to God and teach them that right truly is right and that wrong will cause them a life of misery.  They must suffer the consequences of evil and wrong actions. 

Therefore submit to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purity your hearts, you double-minded.  (James 4: 7-8)



Courage

I was reading part of an accompanying book to my Bible study yesterday.  It guided me to think of a recent time or person when something or somebody made me happy -- really happy.

Of course, I started with all the expected things, like all my granddaughters and my daughters and husband and.......    Then I looked over to a table where I have an old family Bible opened to Psalm 36: 5-6.  Standing at the head of the open Bible is something that some very new but very dear and special friends gave me for Christmas.  It's a Willow Tree figurine that's titled 'Courage'. They (Eric and Sherry) were with me when I went to Belize in November and and Eric was behind me, pushing me up the Mayan ruins.  He was there with me when I made it to the top and stood victorious, Rocky-style, claiming my victory.  So when I received this from them, it was not only a gift of love but it was a token of recognition from them that I had accomplished something that was very big to me.

Psalm 36 says that God's love extends even to heaven.  It's that big and bigger;  that wide and wider; and that high and higher.  The greatness of God's love is far beyond anything we can imagine or measure.  And it is a love that will last far beyond our own being here on earth.

That love makes me happy and keeps me secure in a feeling of warmth.  The gift I received from my dear friends was an extension of that love and I will hold it and them as a sign of that forever.

Dear God, thank you for good friends, old and new, who are living in your love and go beyond themselves to show that love to others.  These signs of love remind me that your love is everlasting.  Amen

Spiritual Sunday ~ Roses and Thorns

ROSES AND THORNS

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully, and before it
blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom and also
the thorns. And he thought, "How can any beautiful flower come from a plant
burdened with so many sharp thorns?" Saddened by this thought, he neglected
to water the rose, and before it was ready to bloom, it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The God-like qualities planted in us at birth grow amid the thorns of our faults.
Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair,
thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water
the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it
to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past
the thorns and find the rose within others. This is the characteristic of
love, to look at a person, and knowing his faults, recognize the nobility in
his soul, and help him realize that he can overcome his faults. If we show
him the rose, he will conquer the thorns.

Our duty in this world is to help others by showing them their roses and not
their thorns. Only then can we achieve the love we should feel for each
other; only then can we bloom in our own garden.
-- Author Unknown

(from eMail Ministry)
(above rose photo by Weezer)

Thank you, Charlotte and Ginger, for hosting Spiritual Sundays.

More than just a face

image from Frayed Lotus @ Belief net.com

My friends, I'm going to do something a little different this Friday morning.  Rather than do my usual blog hopping to make new friends, I'd like to put my focus on Y O U - the friends I've already made.

In making contacts through my reader, I'm finding there are many several many who are feeling low, down, in a dark place.  Some of you are.............

 sending children off to school after an active summer and are feeling lonely or isolated;

over-whelmed with all the roles you are playing in just getting through life;

having difficulties remembering who your real self is;

battling the darkness of your own personal demons;

experiencing the role reversal of having ill or aging parents;

battling your own personal illnesses and having to face your own mortality;

feeling the passage of time by the end of summer approaching and fall so close;

employed and miserable while others are unemployed and miserable.

If you see yourself in any of these situations or you 're in a situation where you need a little extra help, some love from someone to let you know that you're cared about, pray this prayer.....

Lord, you know my heart and deepest conflicts. I long to be used wholly for You, but sometimes life trips me up, and I get ambushed by my own humanity..by others' humanity.  But "whom have I on earth beside Thee?"  Father God, remind me that my life is broken without Your touch.  You can be bigger to me than my failures and weaknesses.  Remind me that you long for me too, so that You may touch me and heal me.  My eyes are ever on You, Lord, and in this I take refuge.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Maybe you're feeling pretty good about things in your life and have a firm grip on your circumstances.  If that's your case, please pray for those who aren't so fortunate:

Lord, you created us with a capacity for friendship ~ and how we need it in life's ebbs and flows!  May we learn from Your example how to be a real friend:  to be inconvenienced to care about what our friend is going through, to be there for them.  Life can be lonely and hard.  Thank you for being a abest friend to us by giving Your very life ~ the greatest test of friendship ever.  I lift up to your any who are saddened on this day for one reason or another.  I know You can hear their cries and can east their pain.  And Lord, may I show by my life that I want to be Your friend, too.  In Your name, Amen.

I just want everyone to be more than a face or an image on someone's follow-me list.  There is a real person with a real story attached to each and every one.

Prayers from or inspired by "The Comforting Presence of God" by Nancie Carmichael.

Peace, Hugs, Love, and Harmony,

Spiritual Sunday ~ Good Morning

Spiritual Sunday is hosted by Charlotte and Ginger.

GOOD MORNING

When I say good morning I mean to say:

G-od

O-ffers us His

O-utstanding
D-evotion to

M-ake us
O-bedient and
R-eady for a
N-ew day with Him.
I-nspire others please, and
N-ever forget
G-od loves you!

-- Author Unknown
from E-Mail Ministry

Friends in Need

I have some friends who are in need of some special love and attention.  They're going through some bad times and can't see beyond them to how beautiful their lives can be if they will just trust.

I rely heavily on you, my blogger friends.  We all probably know more about each other than friends who meet face to face on a regular basis.  We really spill our feelings and emotions into our posts, knowing that others will only read it if they're truly interested.  Unlike a face to face encounter, where the person on the other side of the table could possibly feel that they're a captived audience.

I love y'all and I need every one of you. Truly.  I would be deeply hurt if I found that something had happened to you that kept you from me here.  Each of you adds something new and different to my days.

We all want to be understood and know that there's really and truly someone cares.  I try to understand and I really care.

If I tell you that I'm praying for you, feel 100% positive that your name is lifted up to Jesus daily.

If I say that I've wondered how you are and if things are going all right because you haven't checked in, then I truly have wondered.

Jesus knows all the nitty gritty about us.  Every little detail, good or bad, right or wrong, happy or sad.  He knows and He still loves us. We don't have to spill forth all the details to him.  In order for us to be understood by our eartly acquaintances, it's different.  We have to actually tell them what's going on.  We risk rejection or being misunderstood, but that's what we need to do.  How else will things come into clarity if everything isn't brought out into the open.  It can be quite therapeutic to talk it out.  Not to hold it in, but to actually put thoughts and ideas out onto the air.

I'm inspired by the writings of Nancie Carmichael.  I'm right now going through her abook "The Comforting Presence of God".  Many of my thoughts here were inspired by things I've read from her book.

She says, "I can be part of others' healing by having the courage to respond to the honest feelings they express.  Once I have done that, I can pray for them more fervently."  I pray for many in general terms but to know more details, prayers can be more specific.

A prayer from the book:

Give us the courage to be open with others---to receive Your love and grace from them as we see and speak the truth about ourselves.  And then, Lord, to offer healing and garace to others by offering them our presence and our prayers.

Amen

James 5:16

"Confess your faults to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed."

Bless you.

This post was inspired by the writings of Nancie Carmichael.

Growing in my Faith

(Photo by Weezer)

I've been for a few weeks now engaged with a great group of ladies in a Bible study.  I've never participated in anything exactly like this before.  Similar, but with a more focused topic.  We're doing Jennifer Rothschild's "Walking By Faith (Lessons Learned in the Dark)".  This has been a phenomenally wonderful study and I've already re-discovered a side of me that I'd forgotten about.

Jennifer Rothschild is a beautiful woman, physically and spiritually.  At the age of 15 she began losing her eyesight to a disease that had no cure.  Today, she is totally blind.

I have for years lived in fear ~ fear of the unknown and fear of change.  It's kept me away from people, activities, and events that deep down I wanted to be involved in.  I wouldn't couldn't let the fear go and make that step forward.  Even the second meeting of our study was held without me there.  I was dressed and ready to go but fear wouldn't let me out the door.

The next week, after many prayers, I forced myself out and attended the study, arriving with what must have been a distressed look on my face.  Debbie, the leader of the study asked abut me and I told her.  Everything!

Long story made short, they did an annointing right there, right then.  As I sat in that chair, with hands-on prayers and love surrounding me, I was literally bathed in a ray of light.  I felt the warmth, opened my eyes  and found the sunlight from outside being reflected off a car's windshield, shining its way in and illuminating me.  A light that pased through three rooms from the outside to ME!

I know I left that day feeling strong and empowered.  I knew that God had let His presence be known and it was He who put me in the company of those ladies.  I drove away from there to the words on the radio:

"This is where the healing begins.

This is where the healing starts."

I know that fear is not something from God.  What is from Him is the power to overcome that fear as long as we walk by faith.  Oh, things aren't fully turned around, but I'm moving in that direction.  I'm stronger today than I've been in a long while.  As long as I can say I feel strong mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, I can handle the bad days of physical pain.  And all that brings me great peace.

"My yoke is easy and my burden is light."

~Matthew 11:30

(Photo by Weezer)