Mine Isn't Either....

 Hello Friends. I am sorry I have missed being here for a couple of days. Due to some different things within our family, I couldn't be. And I apologize. I need to take some time to wind down today from what seems like a wind fall and concentrate on what God is doing in our lives and be thankful that I am still here to do that. God is good and as I said the other day, your story (and mine too), are not over just because things don't always go the way we want them to. God has not written our final chapters but those he has thus far are beneficial for us and will someday end up getting us to the end.

And so, with that being said, I hope to be back tomorrow as usual. I hope God is blessing you in every way possible. Take care!

Thoughts for Today

 

And may this be our prayer today:

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.  Psalm 51:11

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. God bless you and your

Don't You Do It!

 

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Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Exodus 20:7

The first time that I ever read the above statement, we were in the office of a mill company. They had it on a sign and posted on the wall.  And its certainly true. 

Actually, I hate hearing that whenever someone takes God's name in vain after they have done something that didn't come out right. Or when they did something that made them angry with themselves.

I was raised in a very conservative Christian home.'

Don't get me wrong, we were not perfect, but to take God's name was taboo. And in my life today, it still is.

God. The Creator of all that we know and more, commands (not asks) us to not take his name that way. And someday, for those that have and do, one day it will come out in the wash.

In other more precise words, even though we may get away with it for now, we won't forever. 

We just won't

 Thanks for coming by today, Friends

Can't Be Stolen!

 

 

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. John 10:27-29

Notice what Jesus is saying there. "MY sheep hear my voice, and I Know them, and they Follow ME".

He goes on to say, "I give them eternal life...they shall never perish...neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."

So, we wonder. What does that mean for some one that asked Jesus into their life, only to turn away from him at a later time and go off on their own.

If we (they) are really redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, I don't believe he will turn away from us, like we do him.

Reading the parable of the lost sheep in Mathew 18:10-14 the Shepard goes to find that sheep that has gotten separated from the rest of the flock. Jesus is our Shepard. Our Good Shepard and if he is such, he is willing to go out and return us to him, and it proves he is not taking our salvation. Rather bringing us back to himself.

I know he has done that in my life, for me. At times when I have turned away, he has pursued me until I couldn't run any more.

Oh, he will allow us to enjoy our sin, but eventually he will also let us wallow in it until we get so sick of ourselves that we will humbly turn back to the Good Shepherd that we should have never left in the first place.

We like sheep have all strayed, each to his own way.....(Isahia 53:6).....I give them eternal life and they shall not perish...(John 10:27)

What kind of a promise is that?! 

One that we can put into our heavenly bank account where our treasures are laid up and which nothing can corrupted or be stolen from us!

That is what kind of promise it is. AMEN!!!!

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. Have a blessed day

A Good Work Began

 

When I was younger, even as an adult-I often wondered if I could lose my salvation due to some sin I had committed. Sadly, I wasted a lot of time wondering that. Because I came to find out the truth at some point. Which is this:

There were times that I was mad at myself for the things I did. But..

God was never mad at me.

Being confident of this very thing, that he which Hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Philippians 1:6

His good work began in me when I was about 8 years old. And instead of being taken from me whenever I was at my worst, it has only grown to increase over the years. Not that I am perfect. 

Believe me.

As we look to the writings of the Apostle Paul, he had said that he was the chief of sinners in 1 Timothy1. But Jesus came to save sinners and because of that, he had obtained mercy.

Why would we think that Jesus, who came to shed his blood for us, take back what he laid down is life for. It had had been too costly. 

But that is why he did. So that those of us that sincerely want his forgiveness, can have it even when we do the things that make us ashamed.

For now there is NO condemnation, for those that are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

We accuse and condemn ourselves. But who else but Satan does that as it says in Revelation 12:10. 

... for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

It is he who wants us to believe that there is no forgiveness for our sin. And that we can lose our salvation.

So Friends, don't buy into his lies. If you are blood bought as a child of the King, you have no reason to fear. 

You can't lose your salvation. It is too precious for God to take from you!

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. Have a blessed day!

A Holy Spirit Promise!

 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise Ephesians 1:12-12

I love how questions.org explains the above scripture:

 "At the moment of faith, the new Christian is marked and sealed with the Spirit, who was promised to act as a deposit to guarantee the heavenly inheritance. The end result is that God’s glory is praised. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to erase the mark, withdraw the Spirit, cancel the deposit, break His promise, revoke the guarantee, keep the inheritance, forego the praise, and lessen His glory."

Think of it Friends. There is no other name under heaven by which we are saved. By which we can be called the Son's of God. By which when we first believed and come to faith in Jesus Christ, we are sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit!

To put it plainly, anyone or any organization that claims anything other than the one true God, the one true faith, are frauds. 

And we cannot lose our salvation once we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. Amen and Amen!

Thanks for coming by today. Come back tomorrow for more proof by scripture that we can not lose our salvation. God bless!

No Taking Back Once Given

 

You may have heard it before.

"Once saved, always saved." 

Right or wrong?

This debate has been up between churches for the ages. But in the next few days lets.....

...Consider the following Bible passages to see what God says about it.

We go first to:

For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Romans 11:29

What does that mean? The word 'repentance" there is a bit confusing. But this verse does not refer to man's repentance. It refers to the fact that God who gives us gifts and callings, does so without changing his mind. In other words, once given, they are irrevocable.

Refer to this link for more about God's people and why this was important:   www.bibleref.com/Romans/11/Romans-11-29.html

So, there it is. If we are truly born again, and have received the gift of eternal life, God will not take back what he has already given us. 

But that is not the end of the discussion. We will explore another passage the next time we meet. Thanks for coming, Friends.

God bless!

Jesus or the Storm?

Last evening, we had a terrible storm in our area. Well, okay, it wasn't the worst one I had ever seen. But my two dogs thought it was as they clamored to get beside me in bed. Like they thought that if something bad happened, I would save them. (I would certainly try)

I had definitely seen worse storms. Not only the kind that brings pounding rain down. Or snow that brings blizzard conditions.

But the kind that do damage. To the heart. To the mind. To the soul.

Being a Senior, there have been many. But at the same time, I have watched as Jesus restored many of those storms, making them work to the good of those that went through them as Romans 8:28 promises us.

When Jesus walked among his friends one day, he rebuked the storm that was going on while they were in the boat. It was so bad that it had frightened them, and they were afraid they were going to drown.

They forgot for a few minutes just who Jesus was. The Son of God by whom if they had remembered it, could save them.

And in fact, He did. (Mark 4:35-41)

Sometimes in our strife of just getting through a day, we take our eyes off of what is important. Or more importantly, who is more important. 

Jesus wants us to focus not on the storms swirling around us, threatening to pull us under, but on He that can and will cause them to cease, or sometimes at least to slow down. 

Because in this life, he is getting us ready. Ready? Ready for something that sometimes we have no clue about. And at some point, we will be ready to go and meet Him. Our final destination.

Oh, and my precious dogs who were so afraid. Once the storm passed and stopped, one of them that doesn't normally sleep in my bed, jumped down and slept somewhere else for the night.

 Her fears were calmed so easy.

Why can't we humans be able to calm down so quickly when we know we have someone from above watching out for us?

Thanks for coming by Friends. Have a blessed weekend.

Get Out of That Box!

 She called the other day. I hadn't heard from her, nor had I called her for several months. She asked, "What is new with you?' I started to respond, when into my conversation she picked a part that she immediately responded to. "Oh yeah, I understand..." And she... ignoring the rest of what I was saying, she went on to tell me about her life and what was going on in it.

She had just made me feel like she really didn't care about what I had been doing. She just wanted to tell me about her life. And as she went on and on I sat silently listening to her.

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Has the above ever happened to you? Have you ever been the one that had rudely interrupted someone when they were telling you something that was important to them?

Most of us have been there at one time or another. We can get so concerned with what is going in our lives that we give little thought to what is happening in someone else's life.

I want to share with you today, something about how we can live in our own selfish boxes, unable or unwilling to think about other people and what they might be going through.  Read on....

Get Out of Yourself!

biblelovenotes.blogspot.com

Years ago while traveling with a friend, I received some tragic news and began crying in the airport. My traveling companion patted my arm, said, "It will be fine," and ran off to buy a snack for the trip. The rest of the trip she talked about things happening in her life and never asked about my situation.

Sometimes God gives us extremely bad examples so we'll recognize our own selfishness and be more sensitive when faced with similar situations.

I admit that I have sometimes talked when I should have listened. I've sometimes ignored signs of stress in my friends' lives. I've sometimes climbed into a box where I could only see things from my perspective.

Retired seniors envy the family life of young parents while busy parents envy the free time of the seniors. Children tend to envy the independence of adults while adults envy the carefree life of a child. It's easy to become so narrow-minded that we forget the challenges and hardships of others.

George Washington Carver, American inventor and educator who was born a slave, refused to live inside a box of selfishness or self-pity even though he had plenty of reasons to do so

Instead, he said,“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.”(1)

Carver's advice is biblical: 

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:3-4

Even if one of our relationships involves warning or correction, we can do it lovingly and patiently if we take our focus off ourselves. 

"We urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone." 1 Thessalonians 5:14

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I think this is so true. We sometimes think our lives are so important or maybe even so interesting, that we forget about those around us that have important things going on in their lives as well. Some may even be struggling and need to talk. Some may just be excited about something that is happening or has happened to them. 

Back a couple years ago when the group Black Lives Matter, got popular, and they were very vocal in letting us know that even in public places.  We were talking to a pastor one day and this is what he told us.

He had been in a grocery store and a black woman came up to him and said, that Black Lives Matter! in a very venomous way. 

This pastor is one of the most calm, soft speaking people I have ever known. He just has a special love for people. And he said to her, "All lives matter." in a gentle voice.

And it's true. Black, white, all colors. We all matter to God because He has created us all. And while we live in our world, we should not exclude others by ignoring what is going on in their lives.

Life is not just all about us. Even when we think it is. We matter to God, yes.

But so do all of those around us. And they should matter to us as well.

So if you are in a box of selfishness, get out of it. And show someone else you care. And also, more importantly, that Jesus cares, as well. 

Thanks for coming today, Friends. God bless!

Learning to Communicate God's Way

 

I have four adult children. And sadly, I learned the above quite late in their lives. I was raised by a strict mother and learned her ways so well that I used them on my own kids as they grew up.

Thankfully, later in my own adult life, I came to forgive and really love my mother more than I ever had. Understanding that she had many problems that caused her to be the person that she came to be in her life.

And though my problems had caused problems with my kids, they have forgiven me. Save for one son who has not spoken to me in five years or so. 

That saddens me. But in the meantime, I trust God that in His time, my son will forgive me as well. 

That is one of my heart's greatest desires. But I hold on to the following promise that God gives me.

Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:4-5

When our babies are born, they do not come with manuals on how to raise them. But you know what. That is what God's Word is for. We can learn much about how God wants us to live there, if we just spend time with him every day.

If I can encourage anyone to learn to communicate with their family in the ways that God wants us to, I try to do that. Because let me tell you, it would have saved me a lot of pain in my own life, if I had done that early in their lives. 

At the same time, for that one that is still out there, I pray God's protection over his family, and I look forward to the day when God will one day restore our relationship. 

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. God bless!

Help for Charlie Horse Pain

 

If we look around, we can find so many of God's blessings in the simple things of life. Take for instance a banana. 

What blessing can we possibly find in a banana, you might ask. 

I am glad you asked that question. (You did ask it, didn't you?)

Well, whether you did or didn't, I am going to tell you. Actually, I am going to let someone else tell you. Please read on:

In the twenty years since the fall of Communism, bananas have become abundant in Budapest. 

But during the Communist era, my Hungarian landlady once rode a bus across Budapest and waited in a long line to get two bananas for her children. 

Her story makes me wonder how many wonderful things I daily take for granted.

Let's take the simple banana. It isn't merely a sweet delicious treat that comes in a disposable, biodegradable wrapper. 
It also:
1. Provides energy.
2. Helps us relax due to its tryptophan (which converts to serotonin).
3. Helps regulate glucose levels and lower stress because of its Vitamin B6.
4. Helps lower blood pressure due to its low sodium and high potassium levels.
5. Helps us stay alert and focused also due to potassium.
5. Is a natural antacid.
6. Aids digestion because of its fiber content.

Everything God gives us has multifaceted blessings enclosed. So don't forget to thank Him for the small stuff!  Ephesians 5:20

Resources: 21 Surprising Banana Benefits & 25 Reasons to Eat Bananas

(My source: Bible Love Notes)

It's funny. A week or so ago, I was reading up about foods that might help me. I suffer with painful charlie horses at night. Usually I have taken medication for it. But I had run out and so that night I just had to put up with it. The next day in looking for some natural answers on the internet, I found that bananas are good for that because they are a source of potassium which if you are deficient in it, can cause those pains in your legs.

So when we went to the store, I bought some bananas and ate one a day as was suggested. Since then I have had no pain in my legs at night. It really does work! I don't always eat a banana every day because we run out and they are gone until we go shopping again. But the good news is, even on days when I don't have a banana now, so long as I eat them when I have them, I haven't had any problem.

I was sharing this with my husband and he recalled his dad, who passed in 1995, used to say that his doctor told them that if you eat one a day, it helps your blood pressure.

God has made everything with purpose and what a wonderful blessing this fruit is so enjoyable that we can use them in other ways as well as just eating them by themselves, and yet they help our bodies.

God is so good!

I hope you enjoyed this post today, Friends

Thanks for coming by

God Bless you!

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Answered Prayer or Not?

 Hello, Friends. I don't have a lot of time to spend here today. But I wanted to share something I found on Pinterest this morning. 

God doesn't always answer our prayers in the way we want him to. The way we think he should. 

But actually, he always answers them. 

He might answer them in the way we want him to. Yes.

He might not do it right away.

Or he might not answer them at all. But even no answer from him is an answer.

Because he knows what is best for us. 

And on those things that he doesn't give us an answer to?

Maybe someday, at some point we will know his reasons why. 

It's just that for now, we aren't to know them.

And in the meantime we are to:

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

Thanks for coming by today, Friends

God Bless!

Good Question

 I ran across this question at gotquestions.org today and because it is a good question, I thought I would share it with you today and their answer for it. 

The question:

How should Christians respond to people who annoy them?

The answer:

Often, when we are annoyed by someone’s actions, words, or behavior, it is because that person has failed to understand or use a social cue that we think is obvious. The person either cannot or will not interpret the situation correctly and then proceeds to say or do something we see as annoying.

Different people have different “triggers” for what annoys them. Some people are annoyed by bad grammar; others are annoyed by those who correct bad grammar. But there are some behaviors that many, if not most, people find annoying: using one’s cell phone during a face-to-face conversation, talking during a movie, humming to oneself, exhibiting poor table manners, invading others’ personal space, being late, picking one’s teeth in public, and making all conversations about oneself. There’s nothing particularly harmful about such behaviors; they’re just annoyances. But what’s a believer to do when encountering people who do such things?

First, we must deal with our own reaction to people who annoy us. We cannot control another person’s behavior. We most certainly are called to control our own (2 Timothy 1:7).

Many times, pride is at the root of our annoyance (Proverbs 13:10). We believe that we know better and behave better than the person who is annoying us. Again, we see the social cue, and they do not. We take issue with that person and his or her failure to properly behave.

After an inward check on our hearts (Proverbs 4:23), we must ask the Holy Spirit for help in seeing the person and the situation from His point of view. A fruit of the Holy Spirit is patience (Galatians 5:22–23), and patience is definitely needed when dealing with people who annoy us. We are called to love (John 13:35), compassion, kindness, humility, and gentleness (Colossians 3:12–13). These attributes should guide our response to all people, including those who annoy us.

There were several times that the disciples wanted to prevent people from “annoying” Jesus. At various times, children, a blind man, a Samaritan woman, and a prostitute with perfume wanted to interact with Jesus, and the disciples or others desired to prevent them from “bothering” the Lord. But Jesus was not annoyed. He never put social norms above loving the person in front of Him (Matthew 19:13; John 4; Luke 7:36–39; Luke 18:35–42).

When someone annoys us, we must first check our hearts and then ask the Holy Spirit for help in reflecting Jesus Christ to others (2 Corinthians 6:3–10). If “love covers over all wrongs” (Proverbs 10:12), then love can surely cover annoyances.

(source: Bible Questions Answered | GotQuestions.org )

Friends, sometimes when we are around people that constantly annoy us, the above answer is hard to live by. But it is something that we ask God to help us with. Remember, we are still human but at the same time, know that God is still working on us. He is not finished with us yet. And one last point to remember is, we can annoy people as well. Just another thing to ask for God's help, to make us a better individual.

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. Have a blessed evening!