A Christian's Wakeup Call

First turn your heart to

God for grace before you look on any face.

Next, breathe a word of thankful greeting to

Him who watched while you were sleeping.

Now, if you find this hard to do,

invoke your will to help you through.

Just clinch your hands or turn your head,

twill drive the night mists from your bed.

Next say a verse or hum an air to make

an atmosphere of prayer.

At length, when mind is keenly turning,

repeat some new verse you are learning.

Then it will surely clear your vision

to voice in words the day's decision.

To talk with Christ about your work,

for heaven can never bless a shirk.

And now, prepared the day to meet,

arise and stand upon your feet.

Then, from the table while you're dressing,

glean something from the 'Book of Blessing.'

And for the climax of all motion,

fail not to kneel in sweet devotion.

So go you forth with smile to greet

the first and every heart you meet,

And all day long your soul will thrive

and men will thank God your're alive.

Anonymous

Does Prayer really work?

A billboard ad outside of MetLife Stadium during last Sunday's Super Bowl game, paid for by the American Atheists organization, declared in football jargon that prayer doesn't work.   Does prayer work?  This was the topic for our Sunday School lesson this past week.

Often the answer to our prayers are not what we want or expect. God may say No or Wait and this disappoints us, but God knows us better than we know ourselves and he only wants what is good for us.  God wants fellowship with us. Understanding this and making prayer a regular habit deepens our faith so we can pray boldly knowing God's  will .

When you pray:

Come with a quiet passion to seek God and His Power and focus your mind on God .  "Be still, and know that I am God."  Psalm 46:10

Trusting in the truth that you already have is the best way to prepare yourself to receive more.   " Blessed is the man whose trust is in the Lord..."  Jeremiah 17:7

Find a quiet place and read something beautiful and pure an worthy of praise. "...in humility receive the word implanted which is able to save your souls."    James l:21

Ask that God will give you a receptive  heart.  "I will give them a heart to know me."  Jeremiah 24:

Yes, God does answer Prayer.





 



We are told to pray for God's will to be done. 



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Contrary People

Most of us have faced the problem of how to deal with persons who are always anxious to argue, or challenge, or contend that virtually everything you do or say is wrong and they are always right. It may be a member of your family or a friend or even just an acquaintance as is the case here at Chambrel.

One man I encountered recently talked continually at our 'mix and mingle' time.  It didn't make for pleasant conversation, and some people left the group not feeling welcomed.  This defeats the purpose of a social hour.

I have been told to try to find out if possible, just why the person has such an attitude.  Maybe the person has a subtler inferiority complex, or possibly jealousy may be the motive.

I read recently that a complete reversal in the person's philosophy or practices can not be achieved overnight.  It takes diplomacy and tact to change a person's practices.  One way is to try to find something about that person which you really like, a characteristic that is praise-worthy.  When you discover a person's good point, give that person a bit of warm praise.

I read these lines recently:
I want to love you without clutching...
Appreciate you without judging...
Join you without invading...
Invite you without demanding...
Criticize you without blaming...
Help you without insulting...
If I can have the same from you, then we can meet and enrich each other.

"If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceable with all.  Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written: vengeance is mine, I will repay says the Lord."   Romans 12:18,19

New Year's Around the World

I found these following  ways to celebrate the new year in a magazine many years ago.  No author was given.

To ensure a prosperous and healthy New Year, Americans in the south eat Hoppin 'John (a stew of black-eyed peas and rice).

In Mexico, a large fruit center piece graces the New Year's table.  At midnight, each guest eats 12 grapes, to welcome the 12 months of the new year.

In Switzerland, godparents traditionally inserted a coin into a Zupfe (a milk-bread load) and presented it to their godchildren for good luck in the new year.

In Germany, Karpfen (carp) is served whole; each guest removes a scale and keeps it for good luck.

In Brazil, eating pomegranates is a New Year's must. The Brazilians believe that the many seeds symbolize wealth for the future.

Italians eat Cotechino (rich pork sausage) with lentils, which are thought to resemble small coins. The more lentils one eats, the richer one will be in the new year.

Hungarians eat roast suckling pig-putting an apple in its mouth and a four-leaf clover in its snout for luck.

In a traditional Moroccan New Year celebration, Herbel (crushed wheat with milk) is eaten as a symbol of prosperity for the coming year.
Graif Mekhtamrine-a pancake that inflates when heated is also served. The bursting of the pancake symbolizes wealth and happiness.

In Greece, a coin is inserted through a small slit in the bottom of Vasilopita (New Year's bread).  The bread is sliced at midnight, and the person who finds the coin has luck for the coming year.

New Year 2014

The following is a quote from Norman Vincent Peale.  I've heard that when Jews assemble for the New Year's celebration, they often recite a prayer which begins, "Today  is the birthday of the world."  And a Jewish educator says:  "Whatever was our yesterday, today as every day, we start a new."
A new start, a new beginning   - the past is in the past. What a motivation for a new year.

Dr. Pearle went on to say that when he was a young boy at home, his father would bring a Bible to the dinner table on every New Year's Eve and he would read the first four words of the first chapter of Genesis  - "In beginning God." That was all - just those four words.  That they were remembered shows that they registered. With such reliance on God you can be victorious over any difficulty the new year hands you.  His power activates a new start and with it the belief that you can forget yesterday and go forward confidently into the future. 

The Bible is filled with new start and fresh beginnings.  Such words as:  "Forgetting those thing which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark."  And again, "Old things are passed away, all things are become new."  And still again, "Behold, I make all things new."

Yes, we can leave the sins and failings of the past year behind us, accept His forgiveness, wipe the slate clean and make a fresh start.

Remember that New Year's Day can be the first day of the rest of your life.  And don't forget "in the beginning God."

Jesus loves me!

This is an e-mail I received some time back. A  church in Atlanta was honoring one of its senior pastors who was 92 years old and  had been retired many years.  After given a warm welcome, with great effort he went to the podium.  Without a note or written paper of any kind he placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then  quietly and slowly he began to speak... "When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever learned in my 50-odd years of preaching.  I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials.  The one thing that I could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me...the only thing that would comfort was this verse:

"Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong, we are weak but He is strong...
Yes, Jesus loves me...The Bible tells me so."

Let us remember the manger  where Jesus was born, but also  the cross on Calvary where Jesus took our sins that we might walk free.

This is my Christmas message this year:
JESUS LOVES YOU AND HE LOVES ME!

 

Why are we fearful?

"And Jesus said unto them, 'Why are ye fearful?  How is it that ye have no faith?"     Mark 4:40

It seems today as never before, every one is more or less fearful of what tomorrow is to bring.   With our boys and girls scattered all over the world and, too, families in our own United States moved from one state to another  - everything different to that to which we have been accustomed - we are thinking more than ever before: "What will tomorrow bring?"

It is a question that we cannot answer alone, we must have faith in our Heavenly Father, and pray often to Him for the help that He alone can give.

Jesus often said to his disciples "Fear not" and "Trust in the Lord".  Jesus knew that when we are frightened we lose our heads.  Fear is the main cause of blunders and mistakes.

Nothing is more necessary for the stability and wise guidance of the coming years than men and women in all lands to face the world's changes with "FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY."

We Christians dare not fail.  We must be sincere and "Love the Lord , our God, with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our minds, and love our neighbors as ourselves."  There is no other way in God's plan.  This is the test to which we are called to prove ourselves worthy.

Then, we have the assurance that God will be with us - "Even to the end of the world!"

This was written in the 50's by Mrs. C.A. Bachman, a member of First Presbyterian Church, Garland, Texas.