Tag Archives: life

Sunday Scripture 4

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1 Corinthians 1;5 – 9

For in him you have been enriched in evry way-in all your speaking and in all your knowledge-because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.  Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.   He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

 

Paul was writing to the church in Corinth, and basically calling on them to be holy, and put their spiritual gifts to good use.  He called for them to change their attitude.  I find that I need Paul to remind me of this as well.  Sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in the mud, and spin your wheels, than to change your attitude and put your faith in God.  I encourage you to write this down, or make it your memory verse for the week.  Our God is faithful, and he saved us through his sacrifice of his only son. 

For more Sunday Scripture, please visit Amy at www.sabennett.com/wp/

Give Thanks To The Lord

Psalm 105:1 -45 

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

Sing to him, sing praise to him;  tell of all his wonderful acts.

Glory in his holy name’  let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgements he pronounced.

O descendants of Abraham his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

He is the Lord our God;  his judgements are in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,

the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.

He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant. 

“To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.”

When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, they wandered from nation

to nation, from one kingdom to another.

He allowed no one to oppress them;  for their sake he rebuked kings. 

Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.

He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food;

and he sent a man before them- Joseph sold as a slave. 

They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons,

till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true.

The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free.

He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed, to instruct his

princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.

Then Israel entered Egypt;  Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.

The Lord made his people very fruitful;  he made them too numerous for their foes,

whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants. 

He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

They performed his miraculous signs among them, his wonders in the land of Ham.

he sent darkness and made the land dark- for had they not rebelled against his words?

He turned their waters into blood, causing their fish to die. 

Their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers. 

He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.

He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land;

he struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country.

He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number,

they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil.

Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their manhood.

He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered.

Egypt was glad when they left, because dread of Israel had fallen on them. 

He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night.

They asked, and he brought them quail and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. 

He opened the rock, and water gushed out;  like a river it flowed in the desert.

For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.

He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy,

he gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for-

that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord.

We must seek Him daily, with earnest, and with all our hearts.  Otherwise we will experience spiritual weakness, and that leaves an opening for satan to slither in.  Ask and expect great things from God, and He will show you his grace and power as you see His presence daily. 

 

Black Friday

We awoke, we froze, we ran, we watched them hand out the last right in front of our eyes, we were sad, we moved on, found some small things, drove somewhere else, stood in line for an hour and 40 minutes, (this time in the warmth of a store,) and we concquered!  I’ve been toast the rest of the day!  That pretty much sums it up….

This is one of the craziest things I have ever started, but I continue to do it.  Early in the week, I was excited, and looking forward to shopping.  Last night, after cooking all day, it was not top on my list.  I was looking at the ads and making my plan around 1 am.  Luckily, I had only one big ticket item for all 3 kids, and two stores had them on sale that were close in proximity to each other.  One opened at 6, the other at 7.  I thought it would work.  I believed.  And it did! 

I shared this honored tradition this year with my daughter.  Her first time to do Black Friday, I woke her up at 4:30 am.  She popped right up!  Why won’t she do that for school when she gets 2 more hours of sleep?!  Anyway, we stood in line outside of Target for 1 hour and 12 minutes.  Did I say that it was 28 degrees?  Yeah, a bit cold.  Actually, I swear my feet were frostbitten, because they hurt so badly.  When they finally opened the door and we had to run, I wasn’t sure I could.  But Brooke drug me!  She was great!  The fave part of that store is the warm Venti Chai Latte from Starbucks.  Yes, Venti.  It was so good!  We only made it to 3 stores, but it was very productive.  I want to say kudos to my friend Tiffany, because she was the ultimate power shopper.  She was out yesterday morning, and today as well.  Go Tiff! 

We came home and I took a nap.  Then Brian and Zach left for the woods again, and I had a funny thought.  I always make fun of them for getting up at 5 am to go and sit out in the woods…………..but I got up at 4 am to stand in line outside of Target to get a bargain………when they go, they wear wool socks, thermal underwear, and insulated clothing and coveralls…………I had jeans, T shirt, tennis shoes, and a coat………mental note to self-Don’t make fun of them again! 

Plans for tomorrow- My mom and dad are going to Red Lobster to celebrate their wedding anniversary.  They asked us to come, but I’m so tired, and have some dishes to finish up, and Brooke is really wanting to get the Christmas stuff our.  I don’t know yet what we’ll do, because I want to see them.  I guess tomorrow is today now, so I should sum it up.  I had fun with my baby girl today, and she is growing up so quickly.  She amazes me!  It’s something we don’t get to share a lot because she’s so busy with dance.  I’m trying so much to instill a strong faith in my children, and pray they seek the Lord with all their might.  They are all such a blessing to me, and I feel the weight to teach them these things.  It seems that Thanksgiving and Christmas are difficult times for my husband, and I just pray fervently that his heart will be open to receiving Christ.  That we can share the power of the Holy Spirit in our family, and praise God for everything.  Blessings to you all!

Sunday Scripture 3

Sunday-Scripture

Today I chose Psalm 126:3
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
It’s very simple, and a great reminder. We do have so much to be thankful for, and it all starts with God. I just pray that in this week of Thanksgiving, you remember why you have what you do. Try not to focus on the things, and put your focus instead on God. Without Him, we have nothing!

Jesus Painting

My little Matthew is fighting a cold, so we have been snuggling and surfing Godtube.  We came across this one, and I was moved to tears, and still have chills.  The artist is amazing, and the video with the music and art combined is so powerful!  I had to share it with you.  A few years ago my church had a Christmas tea, and we saw a young girl drawing in pastels to a song.  When she finished, she turned the picture upside down, and it was Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.  It was great!   I think it’s hanging in our youth center. 

So sit back and relax for the next 10 minutes and watch this beautiful video. 

<embed src=”http://godtube.com/flvplayer.swf” FlashVars=”viewkey=ff56e049d61da730b3e1″ wmode=”transparent” quality=”high” width=”330″ height=”270″ name=”godtube” align=”middle” allowScriptAccess=”sameDomain” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” pluginspage=”http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer” /></embed>

OK, I don’t know what I’m doing.  It keeps embedding the last video that we watched, which is also very good and powerful.  Watch it, then head over to godtube and look for Jesus Painting.  You will be moved. 

Sunday Scripture 2

This is my second Sunday Scripture post, following after Amy.   Please check out her scripture as well!

I started this post a couple of hours ago, and a lot has changed since then.  Sometimes it seems like the walls are falling down around me, but God brought me back to this.  It is found in Philippians, and the lead in to these verses is Imitating Christ’s Humility.  Verfses 2 and 3 are my favorite, but I’ll lead you in with verse 1.  So Philippians 2:1-3 says this. 

1.  If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.  3.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 

To be humble means that we are conscious of our weaknesses and are quick to give credit to God and others for what we accomplish.  We are dependent on God, we NEED God, because we are sinful by nature, and we can do nothing without the help of God.  And sometimes other people can help us when they are humble.  The bible has a God-centered view, and we need to have that view also. 

Ok, I have to go on and finish this.  Philippians 2:4-11Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.  6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross!  9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

So let’s dissect that a little, because it is so good.  Jesus is our example, and we should put others first.  That’s what He did for us, isn’t it?  Our attitude should be the same.  Jesus was so humble that He left glory in heaven and made himself nothing, a servant, and was obedient to death for the sake of others.  For the sake of us, you and me.  He was made fully human, and had all the humanly temptations that we have, yet remained sinless.  He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!  For you and me.  He came to serve us, and He came to sacrifice for us.  I know I need to be more Christ like, and adjust my attitude to put others first, and be humble to the point of a servant.  I pray that God will lead me in this journey, and show me the way. 

Thursday Thanks

Sometimes it’s hard to get up and out of the mire of daily life and hassles, but when you focus on being thankful, your whole outlook changes.  I learned this valuable lesson from Pam over at Without Fear. So Pam, I love your blog because it inspires me! 

Here’s what I am thankful for right now…

1.  Praise be to God, and his grace, mercy and love for me.  I don’t always feel worthy, but He says I am! 

2.  My warm and cozy home that protects me from the elements.  I pray for those people who are out on the streets without a place to call home. 

3.  My family is healthy.  That is a big one, because we have all kinds of bad things going around in the school system right now. 

4.  The chance to touch others’ lives with prayer, because it is such a simple thing for me to do, but it has a tremendous impact.

5.  My friends and family, because I know they are praying for me. 

6.  My husband, because I know in my heart that God placed us in the same location for a reason.  We are meant to be together, and in his own way, he makes me strive to be a better person.  I love him.

7.  Fall is my favorite season.  The spring and summer were so dry here, and I wondered what that would do to the fall colors.  Well, God has taken out his paint and brushes, and the canvas before me is a glorious display of red, yellow, golden, and orange.  I love it because everywhere I look I can see God!

8.  The whole daylight savings time is something that this Indiana girl is just not used to, and frankly I struggle with it for about 3 months.  So I really thought about this one.  I am thankful for the time change because I can see the sunrise on my way home from dropping my dd off at school.  We started the school year off by sharing the sunrise together, and then had a few weeks where it was dark when we left our house.  Now we can share the splendor of the sky together again. 

9.  My recent motivation to take control of the clutter and get organized is still here.  I am sticking with it, and seeing results.  My kitchen sink is shining Flylady! 

10.  Last, but not least, I am thankful for the wonderful women who minister to me from their blogs.  We may never meet one another in person, but I consider you all my friends. 

If you’re inspired to follow suit with a Thursday Thanks Tank, grab the button and go see Pam to let her know. 

Run Down…Tired

Every day I have something to add to this blog. Something comes into my head, and a new post starts forming in my head. Unfortunately, I can’t get everything else to stop so I can actually put it down in writing. I don’t proclaim to be a writer, but some of the thoughts were good. I just can’t think of any of them right now! I need to find more time, more down time. I am not a morning person. My daughter has to be at school by 7:25 am, and she in not a morning person either. I get up, let the dogs out, and then go into her room to wake her up. The entire process is taking longer each day. She is very hard to wake up, and I really just want to crawl into bed and snuggle back to sleep with her! But we trudge on, and when I come back home from taking her to school, I wake up the boys and my hubby, and start the routine all over again.

There are a few good things about getting up early. One is being able to see the sunrise. I started taking pictures of it, and it just reminds me about God’s grace, and His love and amazing creation. The splendor of it sometimes takes my breath away! I have a few photos of the moon, and some giant marshmallow clouds covering the sun, with huge rays peeking out and reaching to the ground. I’ll have to share some with you if I can narrow it down. I already have over 200, and my plan is to make a digital scrapbook. More of a faithbook, when I get around to it.

The second thing about getting up early…….caffeine free diet coke from the fountain at the gas station on the corner! If I am lucky enough to have a few extra minutes, I’ll swing in there and splurge on one. The 44 0z. will last me all day, because I sip it slowly while I guzzle my water with green tea.

I’ll leave you with some things that I have gotten accomplished lately. I have been in an organizing funk lately, which is also not me. I have been through recipe books, and compiled a three page list of main dishes and sides, then formulated a six week meal plan. The first meal was tonight, spicy pork stir fry with brown rice and broccoli. It was very good! Tomorrow is creamy chicken in the crock pot because I have a scrapbooking workshop. I have also cleaned out the kitchen cabinets and pantry, with the help of Brooke and Zach. I am so pleased that I can open up the tupperware or pots and pans cabinet without something falling out on the floor! My next step is getting everything on a calendar, that is centrally located in the kitchen, to keep track of everyone’s schedule. Maybe I can also post some pictures of the meal plan binder, and inspire you to have freedom from the constant “what’s for dinner?” from the kids and hubby.

This weekend is the last race of the season for Zach, and I still haven’t explained to you what quarter midget racing is. Add that to my to do list. I’d better go put that on my calendar!