Chosen by God

On the first day of school, a teacher asked the children to form a circle and to close their eyes. If she tapped you on the shoulder, you were to move quietly to the center of the circle. The teacher explained that the children she chose would be her helpers for the year. I wondered if she liked me and if I was worthy. Then the touch came, I opened my eyes and moved to the center of the circle. Then I watched the wisest teacher slowly , lovingly touched every student in the class. We were all worthy. She needed us all and loved us all.

I forgot where I read this, but I was impressed with the ability of the teacher to understand that we all need to feel worthy. In the same way God reaches out & touches every shoulder and calls us all into the circle.

Sometimes we wonder if God can use our meager talents. It is knowing that God loves us and thinks we are worthy that we can act in terms of our own nature and set our own goals.

Let Go- Let God

What makes the sky so very blue?
The sun to shine so bright?When clouds of doubt are far and few,
Your soul is winging flight.
What makes a friend so dear, so true?
A neighbor warm your heart?
When in need, concern shows thru
A love you cannot part.
What makes the world an exciting place?
A never ending challenge?
When yearning and learning set the pace
With mind and soul akin.
What makes each day fresh and new?
From morning until night?
When you LET GO and LET GOD thru
Then everything is right.
Wilhelmine

Strategy for Daily Living

An article which I recently read said that we readily accept an expression such as , “As a man thinketh so is he.” However, first we must know our self., and to know our self we must cross-examine ourselves to find out our weaknesses and shortcomings and try to correct them. Do we measure up to the “Fruits of the Spirit,” and do we guard against the five great enemies of :“Peace.”

Galatians 5:22-24
“ But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Many people have interpreted the meaning of these words by paraphrasing. We need to be careful lest we accept the paraphrasing instead of the scripture.

The’ Fruits of the Spirit’ in all righteousness, and truth enable us to pursue our own objectives without fear of failure, censure or criticism.

Love … Knows no limits to its endurance. People always like to be with those who care about them.

Joy/Happiness…Is when the positives satisfactions outweigh the negative experiences.

Peace…Comes when one completely decides for God.

Patience…Enables you to hear a person’s cry for help.

Kindness, Goodness … Doing good is the only certain happy action of a man’s life.

Faithfulness…In an all-seeing and personal God, an alliance with the Almighty.

Self-control…Is using caution and self-restrain.

Beware of situations that generate the five great enemies of PEACE; Avarice, Ambition, Envy, Anger and pride. To guard against these enemies we first must understand them.

Avarice comes from believing that you need certain things when you probably don’t

Ambition arises from dissatisfaction with yourself and your activities.

Envy comes from an irrational comparison of what others have achieved and what you have achieved.

Anger can envelop you and destroy your incentive.

Pride develops from a need to impress yourself and others with qualities you lack.

Don’t waste your time with the enemies of peace. Pursue the “Fruits of the Spirit.” Life is made up of little things, in which a SMILE can win and preserve the heart.

Smiling is infectious, , you can catch it like the flu
When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too.
I passed around the corner, and someone saw my grin,
When he smiled I realized I’d passed it on to him.
I thought about that smile, then I realized it’s worth,
A single smile, just like mine, could travel around the earth.
So, if you feel s smile begin, don’t leave it undetected,
Let’ start an epidemic quick and get the world infected
Theresa Edwards

Holy Spirit

Bill has an ongoing ssssssssssst connection with another resident here at Chambrel. Let me explain. When they greet each other during the day, they aim their pointer finger at each other close enough to connect . I’m not sure what this does for each of them other to say they are on the same wave length and they care about each other.

While serving as pastoral counselor at Baylor Hospital I had similar experiences. After holding hands while praying with a patient, he embraced me., thanked me, and said: “I really felt the spirit connecting us.”

Another occasion ,when after a time of friendly conversation, I said: “Let’s have a word of prayer,” the patient immediately began praying.

Something that connects two people must be the ‘Holy Spirit’. God’s Spirit works in our hearts to make us instruments of blessings to others. He puts an opportunity to do good in our path and says to us, ”Just do what I want you to do, purely out of love for Me.”

The good news is that as believers we possess the Holy Spirit. What Jesus accomplished for us, the Spirit works out in us. Christians need the Holy Spirit for everything.

The Spirit of God enables the people of God to understand the word of God. With the help of the Spirit we can apprehend the truths of the Word of God and appreciate their beauty and significance.

There have been times when visiting a patient , prayer has been refused.

In Zech.4:6 we read that success comes, not by human might or power, but by God’s Spirit. Our responsibility is to speak out faithfully in His name and leave the results to Him.

AS believers in Jesus, we sometimes become frustrated when people, who are not believers refuse to trust in Him. When that happens, we must remember that our role is to obey the command to tell others about Christ; the Holy Spirit’s work is to convict and save them. People need to be born of the Spirit; we can neither believe for them nor redeem them. The Holy Spirit imparts new life from above. We witness faithfully and prayerfully, and God performs the miracle of salvation.

Drop a pebble in the water,
Just a splash and it is gone;
But there’s half a hundred ripples,
Circling, on and on and on…..
Spreading from the center,
Each splashing, dashing wave
Till you wouldn’t believe the volume
The splash from that one pebble gave.

FORGIVEN

The Sermon this past Sunday was on FORGIVEN, PRAYER and GIVE, three things this preacher thought were the most important things in our lives.

As is usual, I critiqued the sermon and ‘Forgiven’ brought to mind so much more than what was said.

We read in the scriptures that we ‘all sin and fall short of the glory of God.’
Accepting yourself , I think, with all the good and the bad that make up your character, comes only after you realize God has accepted you - just as you are. Then and only then can you forgive yourself for all the wrong things that you do because you know that God has already forgiven you.

But, God does want to hear our confession and request for forgiveness. It is hard for us to admit when we are wrong, not only with our relationship with God, but with one another. Yet, if God so freely forgives us, then we surely should forgive each other.

That requires an apology. All of us make mistakes. When we do things that hurt other people, our behavior or our words become a barrier between us. If we don’t apologize, the relationship is fractured.

This is a story about Leonardo da vinci who was a gifted artist. It is said that just before he began his painting of The Last Supper, he had a quarrel with a fellow artist. Leonardo felt so bitter toward his rival that he determined to paint the face of his enemy as the face of Judas. In that way he would take revenge on the man. By picturing him as the betrayer of Jesus, he would make his face the object of scorn to all who viewed the painting.

The face of Judas was one of the first that da Vinci finished, and everyone could easily recognize it as the face of the painter with whom he had quarreled. But when Leonardo began to paint the face of Jesus, he could make no progress. Something seemed to be hindering his best efforts. According to the story, he finally came to the conclusion that the frustration he was experiencing was due to his continuing hatred of his enemy. Leonardo immediately painted out the face of Judas and began again on the face of Christ, this time with the success that the ages have come to acclaim.

As long as we hold on to anger and hatred in our hearts, the Holy Spirit cannot bring Christ into our lives. God wants to forgive us. But he forgives our sins only if we confess. This pattern also applies in human relationships.

We’re not perfect, but we try
We’re doing the best that we can.
We’ll always say that we are sorry,
We know that you’ll understand.

So lets accept ourselves and each other
Without guilt or scolding or fear.
All that is past has been forgiven
When God made it all disappear

WORDS

After expressing thoughts about gossip, it seemed only fitting to explore the meaning of words.

It’s been estimated that a talkative person may speak 30,000 words a day! But the important questions is, how do our words, whether many or few, affect others?

A careless word may kindle strife
A cruel word may wreck a life.
A bitter word may hate instill;
A brutal word may smite and kill.

Many times we have to ‘eat our words’ before we learn to avoid saying things we’d like to retract.

A gracious word may smooth the way;
A joyous word may light the day.
A timely word may lessen stress;
A loving word may heal and bless.

Henry Ford contended that: Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is why so few engage in it. Probably millions of mistakes, tragedies and crimes have resulted from not really thinking things through, before speaking and weighing the alternatives and the possible consequences.

So watch your thoughts, they become words and your words become actions which become habits. Your habits become character which becomes your destiny

GOSSIP

Here at Chambrel we have a group of residents that meet every morning before breakfast to have coffee and fellowship together. They share their own stories and the stories of other residents Herein lies the danger, “.“Sharing the stories of others .

Could retelling the story of another be subtle GOSSIP? Could a raised eyebrow or a questioning tone of voice cast doubt on a person’s reputation or integrity?

One of the most sobering lists in the Bible is God’s itemization of the seven things He hates, beginning with ‘a proud look’ and concluding with ‘one who sows discord among brethren’ (Prov. 6: 16-16).

Between those two are five other acts of betrayal, each represented by parts of the body, tongue, hands, heart, feet and lips.
Rumor is one thing that gets thicker as you spread.

A lying tongue
Hands that shed innocent blood
A heart that devises wicked plans
Feet that make haste to run to evil
False witness that breathes out lies.

Let us be sure we are faithful agents of encouragement and love when meeting together .

JULY FACTS

…..The Ruby is the Gem for July and the Water Lily is the flower for the month of July!

President James Garfield was shot, July 2, 1881

Idaho became the 43rd state, July 3, 1890

Continental congress adopted the Declaration of Independence and John Hancock signed it, July 4, 1717

Amendment 26, which sets the voting age at 18 in the United States was proclaimed, July 5, 1971

The Republican Party held its first state convention at Jackson, Michigan, July 6, 1854

Wyoming became the 44th state, July 10, 1890

Scientists set off the first atomic bomb, Alamogordo, New Mexico, July 16, 1945

U.S. Astronaut, Neil A. Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, July 20-1969

George Stephenson first successfully demonstrated a steam locomotive , July 25, 1814

Truce signed, ending Korean War, July 27, 1953