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. 



.

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.

The ME Generation

We have been talking about current events in our Sunday School Class, then looking at scripture to see what the Bible says about the event.

Pope Francis has suspended German Bishop Frantz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, nicknamed the "Bishop of Bling" until his lavish living style can be investigated.   He was the Bishop of Limburg in Germany.  Now he faces the prospect of seeing his lavish mansion turned into a refuge center or soup kitchen to feed the homeless.

Some of his big-ticket expenditures are reported to be $475,000 spent on walk-in-closets and a $20,000 bathtub.

I couldn't decide whether this was all about power, greed  or just about ME.

It certainly should cause us to look at our own lives and see how we may be wasting our money on our own desires instead of furthering the work of our God and our church.

It's all about Me!  This message is declared by so many men and women today that it could be the motto of our modern world - a challenging world that is destructively self-centered.

Oviously understanding that no one is perfect and probably would not make 100 per cent if tested on the following attributes:  To be helpful,  courteous, kind, constructive, sincere; or to serve, give, and listen to advice .  We should be open-minded enough to talk with  others, family and friends.  This will enable the important decisions to be made jointly and not solely by us.

The question we should ask:  Is it really all about Me?

For followers of Christ however  the answer is clear ; it is not all about ME , it's all about Jesus Christ and others.  A selfish person will have a hard time finding the golden key to happiness.  The power is not in us but through  us, and that power comes from the one God and Father of all.

" And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature."  Luke 8:14

"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. .    For it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs," I Timothy 6:9,10

Boasting or Modesty

Sometimes the commercials are more interesting than the programs.  One such commercial is about two men obviously boasting about their surgeries.

We all know people who boast about their home, car, boat, vacations, jewelry. You get the point.

Sometimes boasting or bragging can backfire...as in this story:  A very wealthy lady was showing her new maid all the rooms in her fabulous home and the wall-to-wall furniture.  As she continued boasting she said to her maid:  "This dining room suite goes all the way back to Louis, the Fourteenth.  The maid replied:  "Well lady, you don't have nothing on me.  My whole living room suite goes back to Sears & and Roebuck on the thirteenth.

Modesty (humility) is not a weak and timid quality, it must however be carefully distinguished from a weak spirit.

Even though boasting (pride) is one of the seven deadly sins, there is such a thing as a honest pride and self-respect.

Old Sayings:
   The empty vessel makes the greatest sound. (Shakespeare)
   Never cackle until the egg is laid.
   The bigger a man's head gets, the easier it is to fill his shoes.
   "We sure shook that bridge," the mouse said to the elephant after
   the had crossed the bridge.
   If you wish people to speak well of you, then do not speak of yourself.

The more humble a person is before God, the more he will be exalted.

"The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor."  Proverbs 15:33 RSV

Tough Times

I read this recently and thought it appropriate to include following my last blog.  French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, after visiting America in 1831, said:  "I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her simple rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forest system, and it was not there.  I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution and it was not there.  Not until I went in the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.  America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!"

Will People Return to God

Possibly because of so much frustration in our nation and the world today, I have heard many people suggest we should pray for our nation and ask God to again bless our nation.  I sincerely agree.  As Billy Graham once said:   "I want to lobby for God."

The political environment is so disturbing that we recognize the need for a new criteria in selecting Presidents, and members of congress.  And we recognize we must be wiser in our choices and more selective.

The conditions in the world today are less stable than at any time I can remember.  What are we doing about them?   Are we really seeing beyond the horizons.  Are we listening for the voice of God to call us to service. We certainly need a deeper faith and firmer stand for principles of right.  As I heard one commentator say: "We need Faith, Hope and Charity."

It has been said that religion tends to speak the language of the heart. I read this recently:  "Religion is life, philosophy is thought; religion looks up , friendship looks in.  We need both thought and life, and the two shall be in harmony."

An ancient proverb states:  "If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character.  If there be beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the family home.  If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation.  When there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world."

God will bless what He initiates, what depends on Him for its success, what is done according to His word, and what is done for His glory.  Let us turn to God.

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not summit again to a yoke of slavery.'  Gal.5:1

Bullying

"Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.  If possible, so far as it depends upon 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 12:17-19

The sermon I heard today at church was titled:  "Repay no one evil for evil."
Bullying was mentioned.  We have heard a lot about bullying in the newspapers and on TV lately. Often the person who is bullied has a handicap that sets them apart from others. One child says unkind things to another.  Sometimes even hitting them or throwing something at them.
There could be may reasons one child bullies another child.  Often the bully has been abused at home and hitting another is his way of retaliating. Real damage can be done; not only to the physical body, but it can cause mental anguish as well.

As a child growing up when someone teased you, it meant they liked you. We are familiar with the boy sitting behind the girl in school and the boy dunked the girl's pigtail in the  inkwell. It was obvious the boy liked the girl and wanted to get to know her better.  It seems we have a need to educate our children to understand these differences, and  to know what to do in a situation where bullying takes place. 

"Let brotherly love continue."  Hebrew 13:1

Patience

We have created for ourselves instant lifestyles, like wireless phones and wireless computers.  If things don't happen right now we get impatience.

Sometimes my computer don't work fast enough and when this happens I tend to give it more instructions, one after another and then if slows down even more.  What I need is a little patience.

Have you ever put new license plates on your car? The screws are too tight to loosen, the hole doesn't line up for the screws.  How about the vehicle registration sticker?  If you get a corner just right, it will peel right off, but  then what to do with the gooey mess left on the windshield.  What I need is a little patience.

I always get in the longest line at the grocery store or the bank, and the wait seems endless.  What I need is a little patience.

The Metroplex population keeps growing and so does the traffic.  A long wait at a traffic light or waiting for a train to pass, or work on the road or a car wreck means I need a little patience.

We get impatience even with God, especially when we are undergoing a trial.  When  God wants to make a giant oak he takes many years.  Yet, we wonder, if He can create something out of nothing in an instant, why doesn't He act?  Maybe, when our patience is being stretched, we are being given an opportunity to expand.  There is a 'right time' to bring us to maturity and a strong faith.  We read in the scriptures:

"We can rejoice when we run into problems and trials for we know that they are good for us, they help us learn to be patient.  And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady,"  Romans 5:3-5 Living Bible

FEAR/FAITH

I  was given a book on grieving when my husband died.  This quote by C.S. Lewis caught by attention:  "No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear."

It seems fear embraces us when we meet grief.  It was fear that knocked at my door.  Fear of the unknown.  What will happen tomorrow, next week, next year.  I found fear was ruling my life, intruding into every situation.
It was fear that whispered advice while trying make decisions.  It was robbing me of much needed sleep.

FEAR masquerades in countless forms and under many names:  Doubt, Indecision, Procrastination, and Anxiety.

FAITH too assumes other shapes and names, but FAITH is real, fear is shadow.  FAITH met in prayer with the Almighty enabled me to say goodby to fear.  FAITH supported me as confidence in myself.

 Many years ago , Ralph Beebe saw these words written over the fireplace of the Hind's Head Hotel in  Bray-0n-Thames, not far from London:  "Fear knocked at the door, FAITH answered.  No one was there."

I have learned to keep FAITH as a constant companion.  When fear knocks at my door I send FAITH to answer.  FAITH dissolves the shadow of fear that would blot my every thought and action.

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear."  I John 5:18

A New Year

The end of one year and the dawning of a new one provides an excellent opportunity to wipe the slate clean and make a fresh start.

The following are excerpts were taken from a column written by Norman Vincent Peale many years ago.

William Ewart Gladstone , once a minister of Great Britain said: " It is a dangerous thing for any person to start out a new year without the thought of God."

None of us can see very far ahead of life's pathway. We are surrounded on every hand by insecurity. The only certain and for sure factor in this world is the Eternal, 'the same yesterday, today and forever.' God is our security. So it is well to keep God in mind as Gladstone suggests.

As a young boy Norman Vincent Peale said his father would bring a Bible to the dinner table on every New Year's Eve and solemnly, he would open it, turning to its very beginning to read the first four words of the first chapter of Genesis. "In the beginning God." That was all-just those four words. He never explained , but that they are still remembered shows that they registered. It is very true that anyone who will make those four words basic philosophy will have what it takes to meet whatever problems come during the year.

This is so because such reliance on God and 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 emphasis on new starts and fresh beginnings. . Such words as: "Forgetting those things 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 become new." and still again, "Behold, I make all things new."

Don't lug the past into the future. You have made mistakes, done dumb things. Who hasn't ? Extract from them what experience they contain and then turn and face the future to those wonderful new starts and great new beginnings.

Yes, we can leave the sins and failures of this past year behind us, accept His forgiveness, and press on to higher ground. Remembering God's faithfulness and forgetting past mistakes will make entering the new year a time of joyous anticipation. And don't forget "In the beginning God."

A Prayer for the New Year

God grant us this year a wider view

So we see others faults through the eyes of You-

Teach us to judge not with hasty tongue,

Neither the Adult...nor the Young

Give us patience and grace to endure.

And a stronger faith so we fell secure

And instead of remembering, help us forget

The irritations that caused us to fret

Freely forgiving for some offer

And finding each day a rich recompense

In offering a friendly helping hand

And trying in all ways to understand

That all of us whoever we are

Are trying to reach "an unreachable star"-

For the Great and Small...the Good and Bad,

The Young and Old...the Sad and Glad

Are asking today "Is Life Worth Living"

And the answer is only in Loving and Giving

For only Love can make men kind

And kindness of Heart brings Peace of Mind

And by giving Love, we can start this year

To Lift the clouds of Hate and Fear.

Helen Steiner Rice

A Christmas Prayer For You

LORD

We welcome You
into our hearts
and homes.
Bless us with
Your peace, fill us
with Your joy,
surround us with
Your love.
We celebrate You
and thank You
for coming.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!

Amen.

President Bushs' Thanksgiving proclamation

Americans are a grateful people, ever mindful of the many ways we have been blessed. On Thanksgiving Day, we lift our hearts in gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy, the people we love and the gifts of our prosperous land.



Our country was founded by men and women who realized their dependence on God, and were humbled by His providence and grace. The early explorers and settlers who arrived in this land gave thanks for God's protection and for the extraordinary natural abundance they found. Since the first national Day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed, Americans have come together to offer thanks for our many blessings. We recall the great privilege it is to live in a land where freedom is the right of every person and where all can pursue their dreams. We express our deep appreciation for the sacrifices of the honorable men and women in uniform who defend liberty. As they work to advance the cause of freedom, our Nation keeps these brave individuals and their families in our thoughts and we pray for their safe return.



While Thanksgiving is a time to gather in a spirit of Gratitude with family, friends, and neighbors, it is also an opportunity to serve others and to share our blessings with those in need. By answering the universal call to love a neighbor as we want to be loved ourselves, we make our Nation a more hopeful and caring place.



This Thanksgiving, may we reflect upon the past year with gratefulness and look toward the future with hope. Let us give thanks for all we have been given and ask God to continue to bless our families and our Nation.



NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of American, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 22, 2007, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather together in their homes and places of worship with family, friends, and loved one to reinforce the ties that bind us and give thanks for the freedoms and many blessings we enjoy.



IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.

Thanksgiving Proclamation 1863

It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.



We know that by his divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptious sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?



We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity, we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.



But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.



It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.



Abraham Lincoln 1863

Thanksgiving History and Traditions

America's first Thanksgiving, in 1621, was a three-day celebration of feasting and recreation. The prior year was the Pilgrims' first winter at Plymouth, and it was so harsh almost half of the colonists perished.

By the second harvest, there was reason to rejoice. A peace treaty was signed with the Wampanoag, the Pilgrims' Native American neighbors. And Massasoit, their leader, shared his agricultural expertise, which resulted in a bumper crop. As was common in England, where the Pilgrims originated, they chose to commemorate their bounty with a harvest festival.

Most accounts of the actual event mention neither turkey nor pumpkin, our modern Thanksgiving staples. Indian corn was plentiful, however. Four valiant Pilgrim housewives supervised the feast that Massasoit and 90 of his people attended, bringing five deer as their contribution to the communal table.

Presumable, the Pilgrims followed the English custom of the day and served their neighbors buffet-style; dishes were placed on the table and guests helped themselves. There were no forks, only knives, spoons, and large napkins that were used to pick up hot foods and to tidy the face and fingers. Food could be eaten directly from the serving dish or you could share a trencher (wooden plate). No meal could begin without saying grace, since the Pilgrims believed that their good fortune was due to their relationship to God.

Similar New England harvest festivals evolved into an annual tradition, officially acknowledged in 1777, when the Continental Congress declared the first national Thanksgiving. President Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863, after 23 years of lobbying by Sarah Josepha Hale, an acclaimed author and editor.

The regional foods of New England, including turkey, cranberries, and pumpkin, came to be identified with the holiday, as did the inspirational story of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe feasting and coexisting in peace.