Pass It On

Blessed are the peacemakers,

 for they will be called children of God.

Matthew 5:9

Which of you desires life,
   and covets many days to enjoy good?
Keep your tongue from evil,
   and your lips from speaking deceit.
Depart from evil, and do good;
   seek peace, and pursue it.

Psalm 34:12-14


Photo Credit: tinyfishy on flickr

Worth the Waiting

Then every tree in the forest
will sing joyful songs
  to the Lord.

Praise the Lord
because he is good to us,
and his love never fails.

1 Chronicles 16:33-34

The winters of life pile up around us so much sometimes

 that we think it will never be over.

But

the Lord has given us hope to endure what is

because

He loves us so much and promises us good things.

Praise the Lord.

Photo Credit: sbennett1298 on flickr

Shadow Rules

So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, 

 or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.

 For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. 

And Christ himself is that reality.  

Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial

 or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud...

Colossians 2:16-18

Rules, rules, rules!

The world is full of them and some are ridiculous...and sinful.

We need to be careful to follow the Word of God, the Holy Bible, in setting rules for our families.  Any we may set need to be in line with God's rules...but we have to know what He has prescribed.

(So, have I mentioned I love dawn and dusk?)

Photo Credit: Rachel Kramer on flickr

Beautiful Shadows

We are merely moving shadows,
    and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.

Psalm 39:6 (NLT)

Does is ever seem like you were busy all day and nothing was accomplished?  It happens a lot with me.  

I read Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts, and I like her thoughts, though in my estimation they are a little fragmented.  One of them is to make every moment count.  Now, that is not a new thought but the way she puts it is interesting.  Instead of complaining about what we are doing or not doing, consider the moment as a gift...whether that moment is good or bad.  Then, document it in some way.

  She decided to make lists of all the things that made her happy or that she considered to be beautiful.  It's a great way of looking at life and it has changed my perspective.  I seem to enjoy the day more when I'm looking for the beauty in it.

Photo Credit: Rachel Kramer on flickr

I'm So Confused

The Supreme Court of the United States will hear arguments to decide whether the right to free exercise of religion applies when Christians engage in business.

The Court will decide whether the religious owners of a family business, or their closely held, for-profit corporation, have free exercise rights that are violated by Obamacare's requirement that they include abortion inducing contraceptives in their employee health insurance coverage. (American Family Association post March 25, 2014)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him.

Daniel 6:4

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

Romans 13:1

(Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.)

I'm praying for a Daniel save today but am confused what Paul was saying here in Romans.  It would be a good argument for the government against Christians.  What gives anyway?  Where did the "no shirt, no service" go?  We live in a fallen world.

Photo Credit: Beau on Flickr

Watching

O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
   in the morning I plead my case to you,

 and watch.

Psalm 5:3

I read today from the words of Bonhoeffer.  He said that when he prayed every morning for the Lord to order his day, God did just that.  

My days can be so "wasted" with mundane things...like today, I sorted beads the first thing out of bed.  That is surely not the most important thing to do.  I usually go to the computer, read scripture and prepare a blog post about it.  I've already taken up 45 min. of mundane in my day.  

Lord, help me order my day for you today and watch for what you would have me do.

Photo Credit: Rachel Kramer on flickr  

Where Is The Freedom?

But the fruit of the Spirit is 

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 

faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control;

 against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

(Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission)

{It took a long time to find the correct version to match the little praise song with copyright information to use it.  I don't understand why Bible publishers are so reticent in allowing the Bible to be copied since that's how we obtained it in the first place.  I do know that people abuse their privileges, though.}

anyway

When I read this scripture today I noticed the last verse..."against such things there is no law."

I haven't thought too much about this but I'm afraid that some of the fruits are being attacked today.  Many of the governmental powers are trying to do away with our God-given rights.  Do you see where these are being compromised or is it just me?

Photo Credit: Rachel Kramer on flickr

Honey

How sweet are your words to my taste,
   sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
   therefore I hate every false way.

Psalm 119:103-104

There's nothing better than to be satisfied with God's Word when I need it most.  Just like a little honey can meet my sweets craving, God speaks directly to me through His Word and I am immediately satiated.

Photo Credit: The Culinary Geek on flickr

God's Fashion Statement

 Therefore, as God’s chosen people,

 holy and dearly loved,

 clothe yourselves with compassion,

 kindness, humility,

gentleness and patience.

Colossians 3:12

Just like the gentle butterfly, adorned with the beauty only God gives, we are to adore ourselves with the virtues listed above.  It's not a suggestion; it's an assumption.

Photo Credit: Dendroica cerulea on flickr

Glorify the Lord With Me

I will extol the Lord at all times;
 his praise will always be on my lips.

 I will glory in the Lord;
 let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.

Psalm 34:1-3

I've been praying for three little boys the past many months.  Two are 5 years old with cancer and one is a baby only 2 months old with a severe heart disorder.  After reading a caringbridge report on one, I didn't know what to pray so I went to the Psalms for guidance.  My fingers were going to type in a set of numbers but they typed 34 instead and these were the first words of the Psalm.

I'm glorifying the Lord for allowing the boys to live.  I know He has a plan for each of them...something beyond their and their parents' control.  In the meantime we pray our hearts' desires and praise God with all that is in us for His glorious works.

Photo Credit: Rachel Kramer on flickr

Ineffective and Unproductive?

For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:5-8

It looks like I've got my job cut out for me...

going through a lot of doors 

today and forever.

Photo Credit: macinate on flickr

Good

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

I got word today of a friend who has been diagnosed with a rare cancer.  She will be facing surgery soon.  The verse for today was Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

This is a verse many have quoted when bad things happen to good people.  It didn't give me comfort today and I wondered, "what is 'good' anyway?"  So, I did a semi-quick search of the word "good" in the Bible (through biblegateway.com) 

These verses called to me.

Genesis 50:20--You intended it to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Psalm 119:71--It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.

Lamentations 3:26--It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

There are so many references to the word, "good," and they give me hope for my friend. I'm not in control. God is.  

Photo Credit: Rachel Kramer on Flickr

Just Like Our Maker

 His divine power has given us

 everything we need

 for a godly life

 through our knowledge of him

 who called us by his own glory and goodness.

2 Peter 1:3

The more we know about Jesus,

 the more we can be like Him.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist matching the words with the photo.)

Photo Credit: Melissa Delzio on Flickr

Keeping the Covenant

 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God;

 he is the faithful God, 

keeping his covenant of love

 to a thousand generations 

of those who love him

 and keep his commandments.

Deuteronomy 7:9

These words still hold true today as they did in the time of the Israelites.  We who know Jesus as our Savior have been adopted into the family of God and have a kinship with the wanderers.  Will we prove ourselves to be faithful or will we squander our great gift and waste it in the wilderness?

Photo Credit: Sharon (Art4TheGlryOfGod) on Flickr

Thankful For Weeds

The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field.

Psalm 103:14-15

Five of my youngest grandchildren got to play outside on the warm day a weekend ago before the bad weather hit.  It was a gorgeous late winter day.  They excitedly rushed in to hand me their gifts...purple weeds.  I was thrilled and found little bottles to hold their treasures and placed them next to my winter decoration...a melting snowman I made a few years ago.  I will have to admit that I'll be glad to put him away this week and replace him with something Springy.

The melt is on!

Photo from personal files.

Comfort

Praise be to the God and Father 

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 

 who comforts us in all our troubles,

 so that we can comfort those in any trouble 

with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

There's nothing more comforting than the morning sun after a week of bad weather.  The last two days have been beautiful.  This little respite has made the daffodils bloom and the Spring greens sprout.

Ahhhh, the comfort He gives us!  

Pass it on.

Photo Credit: Maria Teresa Ambrosi