Mark and I were having a relaxing afternoon. I was reading and Mark was taking a nap before going to a Red cross meeting. The phone rang. It was Sam saying that there had been a fire in another county and someone needed to go. I woke Mark up and we got ready while Sam got the ERV ready and brought it to us.
We drove in the opposite direction from scheduled meeting. We arrived on the scene of a gutted, black with soot, house. A couple was standing by their truck, drinking coffee, that someone had brought them. We invited them into the ERV, so that we could talk. She stated that she could not stop shaking and he had a very bad headache. They were grateful that they had stop by his brother's house on the way home from town. They would have been taking a nap with the four year old baby when the fire started. They were sad, that when they got home and saw the smoke billowing out, the puppy ran inside and did not make it out . They stated that the dog must have thought one of them was still in there.
While Mark started the paper work, I reached into the bag and got out a Mickey Mouse doll. She cradled the doll in her arms. She said that her baby, who had just been picked up by Grandma , loves Mickey Mouse. There was no room for them and they had no idea what to do next.
When we handed her a debit card for hotel and food and clothes, she cried. She kept thanking us. We told her that this was not from us. This was her American Red Cross at work with money donated by people in her community.
Church friends started coming by and calling. We feel like they will receive help, when the church can rally the troops. But as it is getting dark and cool outside, we are glad that Red Cross provided them a place to regroup and decide what to do next.
We were late for the meeting, but they forgave us.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Job hears from God Almighty
I am getting to the part of Job where we see:
God Almighty
All-powerful God
A God that we can not fully understand
Yet,
A God that we must
love and trust
every day
Asking God to tell me daily
What do you want me to do?
Then give me the courage
to Obey
To take a risk
for our good
and His glory
God Almighty
All-powerful God
A God that we can not fully understand
Yet,
A God that we must
love and trust
every day
Asking God to tell me daily
What do you want me to do?
Then give me the courage
to Obey
To take a risk
for our good
and His glory
Monday, January 13, 2014
"Word for you today"
Picked up a "Word for you today" given to us at FBC.
The last 5 days have been titled "The Bible is God is speaking to you"
Daily Reviews
Day 1 Read the Bible as a love letter to you
with Heavenly fruit within you reach
Gather them and claim every promise
Not one word has failed
Trust in His word today
Day 2 "Man does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the
mouth of the Lord" Deuteronomy 8:3 .
We must mediate day and night
Change you habits
Change your life
Treasure the Word
More than Bread
Day 3 Develop love for the Scriptures
Decision - Establish Bible reading as #1 priority
Duty - You have a duty to feed yourself Spiritually
Delight - Reach this phase and the battle has been won
Start with a decision, read because of duty,
until you reach the point of
delighting in the Word.
Day 4 Find solution for daily problems in the Word
The bible is truth
The Word of God
God's Word works
Agree with God
Trust and obey
Day 5 God will speak to you personally
through his Word.....
Fall in love with the Word
Fall in Love with the Author
Spend time with Him
Delight in the WORD
more precious that Gold
The greatest investment you can make in yourself is reading your Bible
Unknown Poet
"Enjoy the many tokens of Love
from the Father above
Who is nearest and
dearest to me
This old book is my guide
tis a friend by my side
it will lighten and brighten my way
as I read it today"
Ready your Bible every day
The last 5 days have been titled "The Bible is God is speaking to you"
Daily Reviews
Day 1 Read the Bible as a love letter to you
with Heavenly fruit within you reach
Gather them and claim every promise
Not one word has failed
Trust in His word today
Day 2 "Man does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the
mouth of the Lord" Deuteronomy 8:3 .
We must mediate day and night
Change you habits
Change your life
Treasure the Word
More than Bread
Day 3 Develop love for the Scriptures
Decision - Establish Bible reading as #1 priority
Duty - You have a duty to feed yourself Spiritually
Delight - Reach this phase and the battle has been won
Start with a decision, read because of duty,
until you reach the point of
delighting in the Word.
Day 4 Find solution for daily problems in the Word
The bible is truth
The Word of God
God's Word works
Agree with God
Trust and obey
Day 5 God will speak to you personally
through his Word.....
Fall in love with the Word
Fall in Love with the Author
Spend time with Him
Delight in the WORD
more precious that Gold
The greatest investment you can make in yourself is reading your Bible
Unknown Poet
"Enjoy the many tokens of Love
from the Father above
Who is nearest and
dearest to me
This old book is my guide
tis a friend by my side
it will lighten and brighten my way
as I read it today"
Ready your Bible every day
Thank you Lord for another day
Today's devotion begins with Mark's favorite phrase that I hear almost every day. "Thank you Lord for another day." Help me to never take for granted the blessing of salvation and a personal relationship with you. Let us surrender our will to God's will for our good and His glory.
Today call upon the Lord..... 5 ways to seek Him
1) Admit we are sinners and offending a Holy God
2) Agree with God- sin is serious and very costly
3) Repent- turn away from sin and turn to the Lord
4) Submit to God in Faith
5) Believe His promise
Paul wrote, "Now is the acceptable Time"
"Now is the Day of Salvation"
Do not wait
until it is too late
Today call upon the Lord..... 5 ways to seek Him
1) Admit we are sinners and offending a Holy God
2) Agree with God- sin is serious and very costly
3) Repent- turn away from sin and turn to the Lord
4) Submit to God in Faith
5) Believe His promise
Paul wrote, "Now is the acceptable Time"
"Now is the Day of Salvation"
Do not wait
until it is too late
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Church
Mark and I love the adventure of traveling and the many opportunities that God gives us along the way. But it sure is nice to come home and be back in my home church with all our friends. Fellowship is an important part of church that I miss when we are not here.
Sunday school is such a great part of our Sunday. That is where we feel that special bond that we all need. We love Durwood as a teacher, but our class is blessed with many subs that can take over when he is not here.
Colonel Nagy is a great teacher and I think that he preached a sermon before the class even started with the two statements.
1) Be a uniter not a divider
2) Never pass up the opportunity to be quiet
Then he taught a great lesson about the Holy Spirit with lots of class participation that is ever-present with our very interesting and diverse class members.
We learn that the word ZOE means abundant eternal life.
We talked about the power of the Holy Spirit.
We talked about the ebbs and flows in our Spiritual life
We talked about being adopting into the family of God.
Learned that "sin is serious stuff"
We talked of 4 realities about the Holy Spirit
1) H.S. is a gift from our loving relationship with our Abba Daddy
2) H.S. constantly builds us up and tells us we are loved and will be raised up
3) H.S. strengthens our prayer life and intercedes for us according to God's will
4) H.S. reflects our true heart to God when we are confused, in trauma, in doubt or pain.
Then, after beautiful music and shaking of hands and more fellowship, Brother Wayne turned us to Luke and Preached a message about being all-in with Jesus.
First, Love Him and more than anyone or anything .Give it all to God.
Peter got into trouble when he tried to follow Jesus at a distance and he denied even knowing his Savior three times in one night.
Don't play games
The answer is found in Luke: 23-25
1) Deny self...the more you give away, the more you enjoy what you have
2) Take up your cross and follow me - Die to self daily all your rights and privileges
3) Follow Me- surrender , count the cost and understand your commitment and go all in
4) Lose your life -You have to lose your life to save it. His Kingdom must be-
the most important thing in you life.
choices:
Self or The cross
This world or His Kingdom
Your path or God's Path
These a just a few things that I picked up from the notes that I took during the sermon. Of, Course Brother Wayne did a much better job of explaining that I can. I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed being back in church and plan to go every chance I get.
FBC - Thanks for being there for us weary travelers.
Sunday school is such a great part of our Sunday. That is where we feel that special bond that we all need. We love Durwood as a teacher, but our class is blessed with many subs that can take over when he is not here.
Colonel Nagy is a great teacher and I think that he preached a sermon before the class even started with the two statements.
1) Be a uniter not a divider
2) Never pass up the opportunity to be quiet
Then he taught a great lesson about the Holy Spirit with lots of class participation that is ever-present with our very interesting and diverse class members.
We learn that the word ZOE means abundant eternal life.
We talked about the power of the Holy Spirit.
We talked about the ebbs and flows in our Spiritual life
We talked about being adopting into the family of God.
Learned that "sin is serious stuff"
We talked of 4 realities about the Holy Spirit
1) H.S. is a gift from our loving relationship with our Abba Daddy
2) H.S. constantly builds us up and tells us we are loved and will be raised up
3) H.S. strengthens our prayer life and intercedes for us according to God's will
4) H.S. reflects our true heart to God when we are confused, in trauma, in doubt or pain.
Then, after beautiful music and shaking of hands and more fellowship, Brother Wayne turned us to Luke and Preached a message about being all-in with Jesus.
First, Love Him and more than anyone or anything .Give it all to God.
Peter got into trouble when he tried to follow Jesus at a distance and he denied even knowing his Savior three times in one night.
Don't play games
The answer is found in Luke: 23-25
1) Deny self...the more you give away, the more you enjoy what you have
2) Take up your cross and follow me - Die to self daily all your rights and privileges
3) Follow Me- surrender , count the cost and understand your commitment and go all in
4) Lose your life -You have to lose your life to save it. His Kingdom must be-
the most important thing in you life.
choices:
Self or The cross
This world or His Kingdom
Your path or God's Path
These a just a few things that I picked up from the notes that I took during the sermon. Of, Course Brother Wayne did a much better job of explaining that I can. I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed being back in church and plan to go every chance I get.
FBC - Thanks for being there for us weary travelers.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Be Blessed
The word blessed is often translated happy, but it is much more . Happy is something that you feel when,"everything is going my way." Blessed is based on truth and faith in a loving Heavenly Father, no matter what the situation.
My Devotion book these last few days has been based on the beatitudes. This portion of the bible known as the Sermon on the mount and is found in 5th chapter of Matthew.
My chronological reading list has me in the same verses in Matthew and Luke.
The first in a list of 8 "Blessed are " is:.
Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God
Those who realize and acknowledge their need for God and humbles themselves before God will receive the Kingdom of God. The first step to solving any problem is to realizing that their is a problem. Our problem is sin and pride and we need a Savior.
The second is:
Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.
Those who grieve over their sin will be comforted and forgiven.
The third is:
Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
We are to be gentle and lowly and humble before God and we will be raised up to greatness in the kingdom of God.
The forth is:
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled.
We need to desire a loving relationship with God that is real and growing above any thing else in life.
The fifth is:
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy
The best way to be merciful is to realize that God's mercy on us is more that we can imagine or deserve.
Therefore, we should show mercy.
The sixth is:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
We need to keep our heart pure toward those around us. Remember that we receive blessings so that we can be a channel of God's blessings to others.
The seventh is:
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
God loves peace. He was so willing to make peace with mankind that He gave His Son to reconcile us to Him' When we were in our rebellious state and a enemy of God, he treated us with mercy and grace. Receiving us as His children through His Son.
The eighth is:
Blessed are those which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of God. It is easy to bless those that we love and are good to us. The challenge is to bless those who persecute, hate and talk about us. But that is when we become a channel of God's great love and become a witness.
God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others and He receives the glory.
Be blessed.
My Devotion book these last few days has been based on the beatitudes. This portion of the bible known as the Sermon on the mount and is found in 5th chapter of Matthew.
My chronological reading list has me in the same verses in Matthew and Luke.
The first in a list of 8 "Blessed are " is:.
Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God
Those who realize and acknowledge their need for God and humbles themselves before God will receive the Kingdom of God. The first step to solving any problem is to realizing that their is a problem. Our problem is sin and pride and we need a Savior.
The second is:
Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.
Those who grieve over their sin will be comforted and forgiven.
The third is:
Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
We are to be gentle and lowly and humble before God and we will be raised up to greatness in the kingdom of God.
The forth is:
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled.
We need to desire a loving relationship with God that is real and growing above any thing else in life.
The fifth is:
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy
The best way to be merciful is to realize that God's mercy on us is more that we can imagine or deserve.
Therefore, we should show mercy.
The sixth is:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
We need to keep our heart pure toward those around us. Remember that we receive blessings so that we can be a channel of God's blessings to others.
The seventh is:
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
God loves peace. He was so willing to make peace with mankind that He gave His Son to reconcile us to Him' When we were in our rebellious state and a enemy of God, he treated us with mercy and grace. Receiving us as His children through His Son.
The eighth is:
Blessed are those which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of God. It is easy to bless those that we love and are good to us. The challenge is to bless those who persecute, hate and talk about us. But that is when we become a channel of God's great love and become a witness.
God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others and He receives the glory.
Be blessed.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Sin is crouching at the door
Genesis 4
Cain got angry and his countenance fell and God warn him, "If you do well, you will be lifted up , if not, sin is crouching at the door and desires to destroy you, but you must subdue it."
James 4:7b "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you."
I often see on face book where young people say,"that moment when..." Well, Cain had that moment when. God confronted him and warned him. Cain had a choice to make. But, anger and jealousy got the best of him and he invited his brother to go to the field with him. Premeditated murder, he will always be known as the first murderer and was banished and cursed.
We all have THAT moment.... not that we kill , but we can use words to kill: self-esteems, reputations, friendship, and relationships.
At that moment, we have a choice.
Cain got angry and his countenance fell and God warn him, "If you do well, you will be lifted up , if not, sin is crouching at the door and desires to destroy you, but you must subdue it."
James 4:7b "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you."
I often see on face book where young people say,"that moment when..." Well, Cain had that moment when. God confronted him and warned him. Cain had a choice to make. But, anger and jealousy got the best of him and he invited his brother to go to the field with him. Premeditated murder, he will always be known as the first murderer and was banished and cursed.
We all have THAT moment.... not that we kill , but we can use words to kill: self-esteems, reputations, friendship, and relationships.
At that moment, we have a choice.
Words
Found these words in my devotion book today. Boy, does it apply....to me
Guard my speech today so that I only say what builds others up and never tears them down.
Help me to realize the power of words and to use my words for good and not evil.
Help me to learn to listen before I speak.
Average words per person per day 30,000
I may be above average
Question
Do my words serve people in a positive way?
Help me: to speak with wisdom
to know and apply His word to life
to build up and encourage
Give me wisdom to speak the truth in love.
A great prayer for me daily .... and maybe you
Lord, bring to mind the words I have spoken today and how they impact others.
Show me how I could have said something differently that would have helped in
a positive way. Forgive me for speaking words that are not pleasing to you and
hurtful to others. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be
acceptable in your sight" AMEN
Guard my speech today so that I only say what builds others up and never tears them down.
Help me to realize the power of words and to use my words for good and not evil.
Help me to learn to listen before I speak.
Average words per person per day 30,000
I may be above average
Question
Do my words serve people in a positive way?
Help me: to speak with wisdom
to know and apply His word to life
to build up and encourage
Give me wisdom to speak the truth in love.
A great prayer for me daily .... and maybe you
Lord, bring to mind the words I have spoken today and how they impact others.
Show me how I could have said something differently that would have helped in
a positive way. Forgive me for speaking words that are not pleasing to you and
hurtful to others. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be
acceptable in your sight" AMEN
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