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
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Saturday, September 14, 2013
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
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
Friday, September 6, 2013
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
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
Saturday, July 27, 2013
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
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
Friday, December 31, 2010
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."
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
Monday, December 6, 2010
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.
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.
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