20
Oct '18
Quiet Time
20
Oct '18
For a lot of us, I know this is true for me, after working a long day it can be hard to find the energy to do anything else. We can tend to make all the excuses in the world for not doing something. Our bodies definitely need rest after working but it’s essential for our spiritual growth to set aside special time to communicate with God. When our bodies get the physical rest they require our minds are sharper and our communication with Him becomes more beneficial.
Finding time to be alone with God is the most important thing we can do for ourselves. Being able to gather my thoughts without outside distractions helps me to be more focused and clear. I know that God understands my heart and knows me Read more…
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13
Oct '18
Beauty of Wisdom
13
Oct '18
I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;
I possess knowledge and discretion.
To fear the Lord is to hate evil;
I hate pride and arrogance,
evil behavior and perverse speech.
Counsel and sound judgment are mine;
I have insight, I have power.
By Me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just;
by Me princes govern, and nobles—all who rule on earth. Read more…
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13
Oct '18
Blissful Rejection
13
Oct '18
God has given us everything we could ever want even though we don’t deserve it. He sent His Son to die for our sins. We have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to with Jesus leading our lives. Life is amazing with Jesus in control. My worries don’t take over anymore. The things in this world that I thought I needed to feel acceptance, I’m no longer clinging to. When we look at our lives through the eyes of God, it’s so much more rewarding. Sometimes we don’t realize the blessings we miss out on because we are caught up in our own enjoyment and we think we have everything we need and we don’t want to give that up.
We go about living our lives each day thinking we have everything under control. Life is good. We may plan for the future, but we live in the moment. People go through life living to please themselves. What God has given us is an amazing gift, and we tend to miss it because we are so caught up in pleasing ourselves. We don’t want to give up that good feeling so we blissfully reject God. He has given us everything we could ever possibly want, and still we want more. Realizing what we have with God is so much more rewarding than anything we could ever desire here on earth.
Seeing life through an earthly viewpoint, we are never satisfied. We may feel good in the moment and think it can’t possibly be any better than it is. We begin to live for those moments. When they start to become few and far between, we start to become troubled at trying to figure out what happened. We want to get that good feeling back. God wants us to feel good, He wants us to enjoy our lives. Continually rejecting God and thinking we don’t need Him to be fulfilled is a recipe for failure. He’s our Maker, Creator, and Sustainer of life. When we live our lives according to His plan, we thrive.
2 Timothy 4:3 NKJV
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
Jeremiah 13:10 NKJV
This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing.
John 3:19 NKJV
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Have a blessed day!!!
Rita
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06
Oct '18
Color-blind
06
Oct '18
So he got up and went to his father.“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. Luke 15:20-24
Who came up with the concept of being ‘color-blind?’ Yes, there are people who are literally color-blind, but I have heard that phrase used often in conversation with people with respect to their view on race. “I don’t see color when talking to people,” is what some would say to me as if it were a badge of honor. “It does not matter what color you are. I see you as a brother in Read more…
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06
Oct '18
Teamwork
06
Oct '18
Life is all about teamwork. Our jobs, families, activities, school, church, just to name a few. Think about it, we are meant to do life together. Trying to do life alone has never been God’s plan for us. Our lives wouldn’t be able to function properly without teamwork. We literally have to rely and depend on others to get things done.
God created us to work together in teams.
Marriage is a team effort. It takes commitment on the part of both partners to make it work. When you decide to get married, you decide to form a partnership (team), to grow and learn together.
Building a family is teamwork. Each family member has a specific role designed by God to help the family function properly.
We all have jobs that require teamwork. For instance, I have worked in the retail industry for most of my life. A retail business has many departments. Each department depends on the other to help keep the store running efficiently. When something goes down or becomes dysfunctional, it can cause real chaos. Solving problems requires teams coming together to find a solution. As a team, we help each other and we figure out the best solution together.
Our churches rely on teamwork. It takes commitment to keep our churches running smoothly. Most people don’t think about what goes on behind the scenes. It ultimately comes together because of many people working with each other to accomplish the goal of serving one another and the body of the church successfully. God created us for fellowship. Fellowship and growing together is impossible without teamwork.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NASB
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe is the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
Proverbs 27:17 NASB
Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
1 Corinthians 3:9 NASB
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Have a blessed day!!!
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06
Oct '18
Limitless Love
06
Oct '18
Although a known fact in my life, up until recently I didn’t often just ponder God’s love. Did amnesia set in and maybe I forgot about it? Or did I possibly grow to doubt it because of life’s struggles? Hmmm… I’m not even sure I fully understand it yet, but I do know that God’s love for me is so vast that I could never even fathom it. That’s hard to comprehend on my best day, and even more hard on my worst. Why would God choose to love me? With all my faults – me?
Of course, growing up in a small Baptist Church in a little rural town that had about 20 members, we’d sing in Sunday school “Yes Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.” So, yes, I always knew Jesus loved me, but Read more…
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22
Sep '18
Second Step: Who is Love?
22
Sep '18
Dearest Reader,
Welcome back! A pleasure to once again share a moment with you.
I’d like to celebrate the glorious truths about who God is! He is a redeemer and a purifier! He takes the pain and struggle of this life and He washes us white as snow! He is faithful and unmoving. And most importantly, He loves us more than we’ve ever known, felt or considered.
Last week, the question was asked, what does love mean to you?
This week, I would like to discuss with you what love really is, or better yet, WHO love is.
1 John 4:7-9 says this: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him”
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15
Sep '18
When it’s a Lego Life
15
Sep '18
I remember when my nephew was younger, he was very much into Lego’s. He’d so badly want a Star Wars ship, a Batman car, or any other various Lego set. The picture on the box looked so cool and he was excited to have this item, but once it was brought home, and the box was opened, it surely didn’t look like the picture on the box! As the little plastic packages inside would come out of the box one by one, there instead of a ship or a car were a bunch of little block pieces in bags – and when I say a bunch, I mean no less than 1000 pieces!! For fun, I researched and found the largest Lego set of all time:
Source: Lego. It’s 7,541 pieces. That’s the number of Lego bricks in the newly updated Ultimate Collectors Series Millennium Falcon set that Lego announced today. August 31, 2017 Read more…
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15
Sep '18
Timing is Everything
15
Sep '18
In today’s world we live for immediate gratification. We have everything right at our fingertips. We want the next best thing even though what we currently have is perfectly fine. There is always something bigger, better and more powerful. Instant feedback is great, and the internet and social media help keep us connected to important issues when used properly. We don’t have to wait for a response, we simply type in a question (or use our voice control option), and we instantly have answers. We have what we want when we want it, no waiting.
Being impatient tends to get us in trouble. We make bad decisions that we regret later. We make mistakes Read more…
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15
Sep '18
Love Game
15
Sep '18
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Romans 12:9
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love truly does overcome everything. It is not something that has not just been words. It is something God has proven repeatedly in my life. The story below is an example of how God moves in man’s heart and soul even against what worldly belief he has.
There was a squash instructor (the sport, not the vegetable :)) at one of Boston’s most exclusive and prestigious schools. He did not understand much about being prejudice let alone his own prejudices. God decided it was time that he confront it head on. One year, a freshman started at his school as the Read more…
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