Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Happy Birthday, Kay
To my big seester, Kay...I hope your day is very special. You deserve it. You always do special things for everyone and it is your turn. Happy, Happy Birthday, Kay.
Love ya lots,
Your little seester
Karen
Love ya lots,
Your little seester
Karen
Sunday, January 24, 2010
From Sharon
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6 (NLT)
Don't worry about anything.
Worrying doesn't change anything. It's stewing without doing. There's no such thing as born worriers; worry is a learned response. You learned it from your parents. You learned it from your peers. You learned it from experience. That's good news. The fact that worry is learned means it can also be unlearned. Jesus says, "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." (Matthew 6:34, NLT)
Pray about everything.
Next use the time you've been worrying for praying. If you prayed as much as you worried, you'd have a whole lot less to worry about. Some people think God only cares about religious things, such as how many people I invite to church or my tithing. Is God interested in car payments? Yes. He's interested in every detail of your life. That means you can take any problem you face to God.
Thank God in all things.
Whenever you pray, you should always pray with thanksgiving. The healthiest human emotion is not love -- but gratitude. It actually increases your immunities; it makes you more resistant to stress and less susceptible to illness. People who are grateful are happy. But people who are ungrateful are miserable because nothing makes them happy. They're never satisfied; it's never good enough. So if you cultivate the attitude of gratitude, of being thankful in everything, it reduces stress in your life.
Think about the right things.
If you want to reduce the level of stress in your life, you must change the way you think; the way you think determines how you feel. And the way you feel determines how you act. So if you want to change your life, you need to change what you're thinking about.
This involves a deliberate conscious choice where you change the channels. You choose to think about the right things: focus on the positive and on God's word.
Why? Because the root cause of stress is the way I choose to think.
When we no longer worry, when we pray about everything, when we give thanks, when we focus on the right things, the Apostle Paul tells us the result is, "The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
What a guarantee! He is guaranteeing peace of mind.
Don't worry about anything.
Worrying doesn't change anything. It's stewing without doing. There's no such thing as born worriers; worry is a learned response. You learned it from your parents. You learned it from your peers. You learned it from experience. That's good news. The fact that worry is learned means it can also be unlearned. Jesus says, "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." (Matthew 6:34, NLT)
Pray about everything.
Next use the time you've been worrying for praying. If you prayed as much as you worried, you'd have a whole lot less to worry about. Some people think God only cares about religious things, such as how many people I invite to church or my tithing. Is God interested in car payments? Yes. He's interested in every detail of your life. That means you can take any problem you face to God.
Thank God in all things.
Whenever you pray, you should always pray with thanksgiving. The healthiest human emotion is not love -- but gratitude. It actually increases your immunities; it makes you more resistant to stress and less susceptible to illness. People who are grateful are happy. But people who are ungrateful are miserable because nothing makes them happy. They're never satisfied; it's never good enough. So if you cultivate the attitude of gratitude, of being thankful in everything, it reduces stress in your life.
Think about the right things.
If you want to reduce the level of stress in your life, you must change the way you think; the way you think determines how you feel. And the way you feel determines how you act. So if you want to change your life, you need to change what you're thinking about.
This involves a deliberate conscious choice where you change the channels. You choose to think about the right things: focus on the positive and on God's word.
Why? Because the root cause of stress is the way I choose to think.
When we no longer worry, when we pray about everything, when we give thanks, when we focus on the right things, the Apostle Paul tells us the result is, "The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
What a guarantee! He is guaranteeing peace of mind.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
God has a sense of humor, for sure!
I have been praying for everyone for the trials we are all facing at this time. As I was praying especially hard for Linda and her court date set for Monday, I came across Psalm 78. Verses 65 and 67 stood out to me, and I'm sure they are meant for her (and anyone else who feels they are meant for them): (quoted from the Jeruselum Bible)
"Then, like a sleeper, like a hero, the Lord woke up to strike his enemies on the rump and put them to everlasting shame."
************************************************************************************
The book of Joshua is filled with good stuff. But chapter 1, verses 6-9, are good for all of us to take to heart. In my Jeruselum bible the heading to these verses is - Faithfulness to the Law (I interpret that to mean the Bible) is a condition of God's aid
"Be strong and stand firm, for you are the one to give this people possession of the land that I swore to their fathers I should give to them. (I feel these words in this prayer of mine are saying to us that we CAN win over our troubles). Only be strong and stand firm and be careful to keep all the Law (read your bibles, and know it is the word of God you read, and keep His words close). Never swerve from this to right or left, and then you will be happy in all you do. Have this book always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may carefully keep everything that is written in it (in your heart, and on your lips, and in your mind). Then you will prosper in your dealings, then you will have success. HAVE I NOT TOLD YOU: BE STRONG AND STAND FIRM? BE FEARLESS THEN, BE CONFIDENT, FOR GO WHERE YOU WILL, YAHWEH YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU."
"Then, like a sleeper, like a hero, the Lord woke up to strike his enemies on the rump and put them to everlasting shame."
************************************************************************************
The book of Joshua is filled with good stuff. But chapter 1, verses 6-9, are good for all of us to take to heart. In my Jeruselum bible the heading to these verses is - Faithfulness to the Law (I interpret that to mean the Bible) is a condition of God's aid
"Be strong and stand firm, for you are the one to give this people possession of the land that I swore to their fathers I should give to them. (I feel these words in this prayer of mine are saying to us that we CAN win over our troubles). Only be strong and stand firm and be careful to keep all the Law (read your bibles, and know it is the word of God you read, and keep His words close). Never swerve from this to right or left, and then you will be happy in all you do. Have this book always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may carefully keep everything that is written in it (in your heart, and on your lips, and in your mind). Then you will prosper in your dealings, then you will have success. HAVE I NOT TOLD YOU: BE STRONG AND STAND FIRM? BE FEARLESS THEN, BE CONFIDENT, FOR GO WHERE YOU WILL, YAHWEH YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU."
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Luke 2:1-52
In this chapter of Luke, Luke gives an account of the birth of Jesus and his early life. In his time and culture, boys were considered responsible adults around the age of 12. It was not, therefore, irresponsible of Joseph and Mary to accidentally leave Jesus behind. As you all know, I have done that with you kids a time or two, haven't I? It's too embarrassing to go into the story of that any more than that. It wasn't that I was irresponsible so much, either. And, for sure, I loved each of you with a mother's heart and would never have left you on purpose. I bet Mary and Joseph each thought he was with someone else.
God's only son became a person and lived with us for awhile. During his life he was sad, happy, excited, and disappointed. God knows what life on earth is like.
The name "Immanuel" means "God with us". The name "Immanuel" is both comforting and unsettling. Comforting, because He has come to share the danger as well as the drudgery of our everyday lives. He desires to weep with us and to wipe away our tears. And Jesus, the Son of God, longs to share in and to be the source of the laughter and the joy we all too rarely know.
Unsettling because it is one thing to know God as this judge with the long white beard and hair and the book of life - sitting up there in the skies looking down on us from above. But quite another to think and know "He is with us"! He is here with us . . .
And when we think of the times we KNOW He is with us in the midst of our daily, routine lives, in the middle of cleaning the house, or driving somewhere, and He stops us . . . in our tracks and makes his presence known, boy is that ever incredible. Often it is in the middle of the most mundane task that He lets us know He is there with us. I can think of one time in particular when I knew and felt "God with me" "Immanuel". I had brought home this ugly Christmas tree, and had just gotten it put up with a big nail in the wall and tied up there with fish line. I stepped back to look at it and commented to myself how beautiful it looked. At that moment I felt the presence of God. It seemed like a glowing light all around the room. Next I knew I was on my knees, praising Him! I couldn't have been doing a more mundane task than that! We realize when stuff like this happens, that there can be no "ordinary" moments for people who live their lives with Jesus.
Jesus paid a huge price to be with us. Certainly the cross was the most obvious cost. But there is more -
We focus so much on the fact that Jesus died for us, we sometimes forget that He also LIVED for us and lives for us still. If Jesus had simply come as Himself, and not as one of us, the Bible makes it quite clear that we could not have stood the sight of His presence, any more than Moses could have directly looked at the face of God.
Imagine what it would be like to be at the Father's side one moment and struggling to sleep in a cattle trough the next. Imagine what it would be like to hear the angel's praising God one day, and then to the awful taunts of stupid men. We can hardly begin to understand the incredible value of the gift God the Father gave through His only son!
Take a moment and reflect on what "Immanuel - - God with us" means to you in your daily life. Make it a point to seek God even in the mundane tasks of everyday life.
Please share here what and when you have felt this in your life!
God's only son became a person and lived with us for awhile. During his life he was sad, happy, excited, and disappointed. God knows what life on earth is like.
The name "Immanuel" means "God with us". The name "Immanuel" is both comforting and unsettling. Comforting, because He has come to share the danger as well as the drudgery of our everyday lives. He desires to weep with us and to wipe away our tears. And Jesus, the Son of God, longs to share in and to be the source of the laughter and the joy we all too rarely know.
Unsettling because it is one thing to know God as this judge with the long white beard and hair and the book of life - sitting up there in the skies looking down on us from above. But quite another to think and know "He is with us"! He is here with us . . .
And when we think of the times we KNOW He is with us in the midst of our daily, routine lives, in the middle of cleaning the house, or driving somewhere, and He stops us . . . in our tracks and makes his presence known, boy is that ever incredible. Often it is in the middle of the most mundane task that He lets us know He is there with us. I can think of one time in particular when I knew and felt "God with me" "Immanuel". I had brought home this ugly Christmas tree, and had just gotten it put up with a big nail in the wall and tied up there with fish line. I stepped back to look at it and commented to myself how beautiful it looked. At that moment I felt the presence of God. It seemed like a glowing light all around the room. Next I knew I was on my knees, praising Him! I couldn't have been doing a more mundane task than that! We realize when stuff like this happens, that there can be no "ordinary" moments for people who live their lives with Jesus.
Jesus paid a huge price to be with us. Certainly the cross was the most obvious cost. But there is more -
We focus so much on the fact that Jesus died for us, we sometimes forget that He also LIVED for us and lives for us still. If Jesus had simply come as Himself, and not as one of us, the Bible makes it quite clear that we could not have stood the sight of His presence, any more than Moses could have directly looked at the face of God.
Imagine what it would be like to be at the Father's side one moment and struggling to sleep in a cattle trough the next. Imagine what it would be like to hear the angel's praising God one day, and then to the awful taunts of stupid men. We can hardly begin to understand the incredible value of the gift God the Father gave through His only son!
Take a moment and reflect on what "Immanuel - - God with us" means to you in your daily life. Make it a point to seek God even in the mundane tasks of everyday life.
Please share here what and when you have felt this in your life!
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