Thankful for......

I just feel blessed today and as I relect on all I am thankful for... my lovely wife, loving Mother and Father, Five wonderful sister, a way cool brother, and awesome extended family too numberous to mention. (brother & sister-in-laws, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews...etc) But most of all I am thankful that the Lord poured out His grace on me and chose me to be one of His children.

Another way to post comments

On the upper RIGHT hand corner are the words "new post". click on there and write a post and click on publish post. I'm hoping somehow you can poston here. You can also click on the "comments" at the bottom of my posts.

Romans 13: verses 9 and 11

"Love your neighbor as you love yourself"
"Do this because we live in an important time. It is now time for you to wake up from your sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The 'night' is almost finished, and the 'day' is almost here. "

We do live in an important time! Reading the newspaper is almost like reading the bible! The events predicted in the bible seem to be happening in our time. So we must wake up! We must take up the weapons God has given us to fight the battles of life that will and are coming our way - especially as the devil knows his time is coming to an end. He would love it if all the people came over to his "side" of the battlefield and went down with him. There is so much on this subject in the bible. We can go to the end of the book, and read the outcome - Jesus wins - we win the battle! The devil is defeated. The best weapons we have are love of Jesus, and for our neighbors, The Holy Spirit dwelling within us, the scriptures, prayer, and obedience to God's commands.

One of the ways I pray is praying the newspaper. As I read it, I ask the Lord to show me what He would want me to pray for today. When something catches my eye, I believe He is saying "this needs prayer" and "that needs prayer" and "this person needs prayer", etc. And there is so much to pray for in this day and time. Once I was even led to pray for a house that was in the want ad section for sale - that it would sell that day! I have no idea why I was led to that particular ad, or what happened with it, but I believed I was meant to pray for that house that day. Sometimes I am truly amazed at some of the stories I read in the newspaper that are so much like what I read in the bible once - so I have to see if I can find it again.
Sometimes I can only lay my hands on that newspaper and pray in tongues for a few minutes, and I know God is hearing that prayer, and that He has others praying for the same things as I am praying for!

First and formost, though, I know we need to pray for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will teach us all things. He will direct our paths, and lead us. He lets us understand the things of God.

Can you share a little of your insight on this subject?

How to publish a post

I am hoping to hear from you on this blog. Share your stories of faith with us! A favorite scripture and why it means so much to you. your prayer requests.

The way you do that is:

Look up in the left hand corner of the screen here and you will see a little "B" (a funny one, but a "B", nevertheless) Click on that. It takes you to the dashboard where you will see two blog sights. The one that says "Blessings from Ablog" is the one you want. Click where it says "new post" and write what you want to share with us. When you are finished, click on "publish Post" and voila! Your story is being shared with us!

prayer requests

Enter your prayer rerquests. We can all pray for them.

Happy Birthday, Arjay!

Today Arjay is 22! What a great young man you are, Arjay. We've always held you close to our hearts. Have a good one! Eat some cake and ice cream for us, since we shouldn't, anyway! What did you get to do on your day?

Persistant prayer

Read Mark Chapter 2, verses 1-12. It is a wonderful story of 4 friends of a paralyzed man. They heard that Jesus was at His home teaching about God's message. So they carried their friend to the house, but when they got there, there were so many people crowding inside the house, outside the house - they couldn't even get near. So they dug a hole right in the roof above where He was speaking and lowered their friend in. Jesus was so impressed by their belief that He could heal him, that He said "Young man, your sins are forgiven"! And a little further on in the story He said to the man "Stand up, take your mat, and go home". Immediately the man stood up, folded up his mat, and walked out while everyone was watching!

There is so much to think about and ponder in this story. So often we come to Jesus asking for a miracle: to cure a sick sister, nephew, friend, to bring back a child who has strayed, save a troubled marriage. And in our prayer we pray for what WE think we know is needed to make them whole and happy again. These 4 friends went to great lengths to get the paralyzed man into His presence. They believed so strongly that He could heal him. I wonder what they thought when His statement was "your sins are forgiven". I bet they thought "But, we thought you were going to heal him!" And He did. God always knows our needs. He is always happy when He sees our faith. He will penetrate the surface of our need and deal with the core problem. He deals not only with our pain, but with the source of our pain, not just with the illness of our bodies, but with the illness of our hearts.

It is hard to believe that God cares and hears every one of us who pray and seek His miracles. Like in the story, His house is so crowded. And, like the friends in the story, we must bring those who need prayer to Him, and we must be persistent - keep asking, keep seeking, be persistent - and BELIEVE that God sees our faith and forgives our sins and will hear and answer our prayer. Trust Him for the results!

I have asked Brian to make me a link called "Prayer Requests". You will be able to click on it and add your prayer requests to the list. And then we can all pray for those needs. Like the 4 friends in the story, we will bring those we love right to the feet of Jesus - KNOWING that He hears us, and will answer.

Please share times when you've brought someone or something to Jesus for healing - and He heard your prayer and answered.

Mary, the Mother of GOD

In John Chapter 2, we read of the first miracle Jesus performed, and it began his short, 3-year ministery on this earth!

At first, Jesus seemed reluctant to perform this miracle of changing the water into wine. But in an instant He changed His mind and did it! Don't you wonder why? I did. So I studied this passage a little bit more, and realized Jesus' Mother, Mary, asked Him to! She pointed out the need of the people. And then she was so confident He would do it. She said to the servants: "Do whatever He tells you to do". She knew the time was now for his ministery and mission to begin - even before He did! She told the servants to do as He told them - they did, and instantly the people saw the miracle in their midst. His ministery began. Mary is someone we can trust to intercede on our behalf. She knows who Jesus is, and what He can do, before we know Him.

I know she is so important in my life. When I didn't know Jesus, she was the one I leaned on, the one I turned to in all the troubles of my life. Until one day I found Jesus and I'm sure she whispered in my ear "Do whatever He tells you to do". I try to, and when I do I see the miracles! I can hear Him directing my path through the pages of the bible, from mass, and from people He puts in my life to carry His love to the world. It is not the easy way, but it is the right way! Thank you, Mary, for sending me to the feet of my Lord and Savior - your son, Jesus!

God has promised to give us good things if we obey Him, just as the servants obeyed and just as He turned mere water into the best wine available, He will turn our ordinary lives into the best there is!

Mary faded away throughout the rest Jesus' ministery. We don't hear of her again until His final day - then she is there at His death and crucifiction. She was there at the foot of the cross to help take Him down and bury Him, and later she was in the upper room - praising and worshipping - when the Holy Spirit descended on them (her and the other disciples) and filled them with His Holy Spirit and they all spoke in tongues! She's here by our side, at the foot of our crosses, with us in our troubles, and she'll be there when we face death - WITH her son, Jesus!

Psalm 40:1-5

"I waited patiently for the Lord, He turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the pit of destruction, out of the sticky mud.
He stood me on a rock and made my feet steady.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.
Many people will see this and worship him. Then they will trust the Lord.
Happy is the person who trusts the Lord, who doesn't turn to those who are proud
or to those who worship false gods.
Lord, my God, you have done many miracles.
Your plans for us are many. If I tried to tell them all, there would be too many to count!"

In 1974 (October, to be exact) I made a Life in the Spirit Seminar at St. Luke's in Great Falls, Mt. On the 5th night I was prayed for for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. My life completely changed! I experienced Jesus as my Savior and My Lord. He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own. (I believe there's a song with those words). It is like this psalm - I cried to Lord for help. I was overwhelmed with my life at that time. I was sinking into the pit of destruction, going down in the sticky mud to be stuck there forever! When I cried out to Him, He heard my cry. He did stand me on a rock - which was Jesus, my Lord, and made my feet steady. I walk on a firm foundation. I have always liked music. In the 50's, 60's, and 70's I collected 45's. I would listen to them for hours. Mostly Elvis! I was a true Elvis fan then. And I collected sheet music and song books and would play the piano as my Dad and my family would sing along. In 1974 when I received Jesus into my life, I still loved music, but He truly did put a new song in my mouth - a song of praise to our God. Now I collect spiritual and contemporary and gospel praise music and love to sing to the Lord a NEW song! My walk with the Lord since 1974 has been so fun, so exciting, so filled with joy. Sure, there are still the same ups and downs, the same problems with my sinfulness - anger, envy, gluttony, worry, etc - I still listen to Elvis, even - but I know my God has a plan for me - and for you. I know he has done many miracles, and continues to do many miracles, and I know I have a deep rooted love of God, and those around me, I have a peace that is not explained by things going on around me, and I have a constant companion in Jesus Christ who is by my side leading, guiding and directing my life. I just need to learn to be obedient and to learn how to hear his voice! If I tried to tell all that He has done for me it would take forever, so I'll do it in small increments. I would like to ask you to pray about times in your lives when you felt the presence of God, or when you know He was directing circumstances around you, and then share them here. They are meant to encourage all of us to stay with Him!

My first try at authoring a blog

MIRACLES HAPPEN WHEN YOU PRAY! ! ! !

"Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of Himself. Ask and seek and your heart will grow big enough to receive Him and keep Him as your own." This is a quote from a great lady - Mother Teresa.

I am reading a great book titled "The Secrret Things of God." About how we can make life work. The Bible does instruct us on every single aspect of life. Anything or any problem we can encounter is answered for us on the pages of the bible - it is God's love letter to His people. It is God's blueprint for what he has created. Manufacturers of products include instructions with everything they make and that is how we learn to use the products. It is the same with God who made us! The bible is the book of instructions for His creations. Us and our world. Isn't that amazing? Awesome? Unbelievable. Why does God even care about me, just a lowly sinner. I don't know, but I know He does, because I've felt Him near, I've experienced His love for me in so many instances and situations. I call those things miracles! And that is what I want to share with you on this blog. Please tune in tomorrow!

I love you - Mom

P. S. I would also like to ask all of you to share what you think, how this is helpful to you, your own life stories, miracles and experiences, what you learn in the bible day to day, how God is hearing your prayer and answering!

My blog

Please read my blog and publish a post of ideas for the name of it. I can't seem to find the previously submitted titles. I just know there were several I liked. Please do it again. I am going to try to get it going as soon as I have a name for it.

Mom