Illustration of "FORGIVENESS"

Thank you Jean for sending this wonderful illustration to me.  This is more of what we have been talking about the simple but complex, necessary act of foregiveness.  Necessary to our healthy relationship with Christ.


The Devil & the Duck


There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm.














He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods.
He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target.
Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner.
he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck.

Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square
 in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved!
In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile,
only to see his Sister watching! Sally had seen it all,
but she said nothing.

Afte lunch the next day Grandma said, 'Sally,             
 let's wash the dishes'
But Sally said, 'Grandma, Johnny told me he
wanted to help in the kitchen.'
Then she whispered to him,  Remember the duck?'
So Johnny did the dishes.
Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to
go fishing and Grandma said, 'I'm sorry but I need Sally
to help make supper.'
Sally just smiled and said, 'well that's all right because Johnny
told me he wanted to help?
She whispered again, 'Remember the duck?' So Sally went
fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's;
he finally couldn't stand it any longer.
He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.
Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, 'Sweetheart, I
know... You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the
whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I
was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.'

Thought for the day and every day thereafter:
Whatever is in your past,  whatever you have done... And
the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger,    bitterness, etc.)....whatever it is...You need to know that: God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing.

He has seen your whole life... He wants you to know that
He loves you and that you are forgiven. He's just wondering 
how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.
The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness,  
He not only forgives you, but He forgets.
It is by God's grace and mercy that we are saved.
Go ahead and make the difference in someone's life today.
Share this with a friend and always remember:
God is at the window! When Jesus died on the cross; he was thinking of you! 

Thank you Lord for this day,
Thank you Lord in every way!

Life's too short not to enjoy !

Sharing my morning devotion. When I read this I envisioned the Beauty of Christ that is ours to share

May 14

Morning Verse

"Joint heirs with Christ." Romans 8:17

The boundless realms of His Father's universe are Christ's by prescriptive right. As "heir of all things," He is the sole proprietor of the vast creation of God, and He has admitted us to claim the whole as ours, by virtue of that deed of joint-heir-ship which the Lord hath ratified with His chosen people. The golden streets of paradise, the pearly gates, the river of life, the transcendent bliss, and the unutterable glory, are, by our blessed Lord, made over to us for our everlasting possession. All that He has He shares with His people. The crown royal He has placed upon the head of His Church, appointing her a kingdom, and calling her sons a royal priesthood, a generation of priests and kings. He uncrowned Himself that we might have a coronation of glory; He would not sit upon His own throne until He had procured a place upon it for all who overcome by His blood. Crown the head and the whole body shares the honour. Behold here the reward of every Christian conqueror! Christ's throne, crown, sceptre, palace, treasure, robes, heritage, are yours. Far superior to the jealousy, selfishness, and greed, which admit of no participation of their advantages, Christ deems His happiness completed by His people sharing it. "The glory which thou gavest me have I given them." "These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." The smiles of His Father are all the sweeter to Him, because His people share them. The honours of His kingdom are more pleasing, because His people appear with Him in glory. More valuable to Him are His conquests, since they have taught His people to overcome. He delights in His throne, because on it there is a place for them. He rejoices in His royal robes, since over them His skirts are spread. He delights the more in His joy, because He calls them to enter into it.

Morning and Evening.

Mothers Day 5/13/2012

Today is special Holiday for those of us who are Mothers, but I like to think of this day in a different way "Ladies Day" As God created us in His image we come in all shapes sizes and colors.  He is everything to all.
Genesis 1:27-28 (NKJV) ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Today I would like to celebrate all Ladies, women that God knew before being formed in the womb.  Stories of Men and Women in the Bible are meant for us to help us be the Christians God intended.  They bring encouragement, correction, and help to increase our faith.  So it is with Hannahs prayer.

Hannah, the mother of Samuel whose faith in God sets a wonderful example for all of  us-married, widowed, single, have children, or childless, young or old, be blessed on this day.

1 Samuel 2:1-10 (NKJV) ¹ And Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.
² "No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.
³ "Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.
⁴ "The bows of the mighty men are broken, And those who stumbled are girded with strength.
⁵ Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, And the hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, And she who has many children has become feeble.
⁶ "The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.
⁷ The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.
⁸ He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. "For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, And He has set the world upon them.
⁹ He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. "For by strength no man shall prevail.
¹⁰ The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. "He will give strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed."

Bible Study: FORGIVENESS

FORGIVENESS:

Joyce Meyer: Unforgiveness is like a weight in your spirit. Cast your cares on Christ and stop carrying that weight!

GOD TUBE VIDEO: CARD BOARD TESTIMONIES

1 John 1:8-10 (KJV)
⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Notes For Verse 9

a [If we confess out sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness] If we do one thing -- confess our sins -- God will do four things:

1. Be faithful to us.

2. Be just with us.

3. Forgive our sins.

4. Cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

Psalm 32 Psalm 32:1-11 (KJV)
¹ Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
² Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
³ When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
⁴ For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
⁵ I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
⁶ For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

⁷ Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
⁸ I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
⁹ Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
¹⁰ Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
¹¹ Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.                     Notes For Verse 1

a [Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered] Fourfold blessing of the blessed man:

1. His sins are forgiven.

2. His sins are covered.

3. His forgiven sins are no longer imputed to him (Ps. 32:2).

4. His spirit is cleansed of guile (Ps. 32:2; 15:1-5; 24:3-5).

b [forgiven] Forgiveness of sins is promised (2Chr. 7:14; Ps. 86:5; Jer. 31:34; Mt. 12:31-32; Lk. 6:37; 1Jn. 1:9).  

Isaiah 43:25- Isaiah 43:25-26 (KJV)
²⁵ I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
²⁶ Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

Notes For Verse 26

a [blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins] After the accusations of Isa. 43:24, God now assured them He would blot out their transgressions for His own sake and forget their sins. This presupposes a repentance on Israel's part; since that won't happen until the second coming of Christ, this prediction will be fulfilled then (Zech. 12:10 -- Zech. 13:1; Rom. 11:25-29). The idea of blotting out sins is taken from the custom of keeping accounts and cancelling or blotting out the charge when the debt is paid. God promised to cancel Israel's sins and blot them all out. When this is done no punishment can be exacted for sins, and the people forgiven must be treated as pardoned friends.

b [own sake] Sinners don't deserve forgiveness. They deserve full punishment, but God freely pardons by grace all sin which is repented of. He can thus declare that "beside Me there is no Savior" (Isa. 43:11). If it is for God's sake that men are forgiven and escape hell, they owe their lives to Him to live for His glory, not for themselves. If men are to be pardoned on these grounds, they must come to God alone -- not to justify themselves, but to confess their sins so He can be glorified. Unless they come on His terms they can never be forgiven. 

Ezekiel 18:21-22

a [But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die] After stating that the soul who sins shall die, the Lord promptly makes it clear that the sinner does not need to remain dead in trespasses and sins. He can live if he wants to mend his ways. If and when the wicked will turn from his sins that he has committed, keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All the transgressions he has committed will be blotted out; they shall not be mentioned to him. In his righteousness which he has done since turning from sin he shall live (Ezek. 18:21-22). God has no pleasure that the wicked should die, but "that he should return from his wicked ways, and live" (Ezek. 18:23).
 

Hebrews 8:10-12 (KJV)
¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
¹¹ And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
¹² For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Dake's Annotated Reference Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments of the Authorized or King James Version Text.


Matthew 6:9-15 (KJV)
⁹ After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
¹⁰ Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
¹⁴ For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
¹⁵ But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  

Mark 11:21-26 (KJV)
²¹ And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
²² And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
²³ For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
²⁴ Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
²⁵ And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
²⁶ But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. 

Dake's Annotated Reference Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments of the Authorized or King James Version Text.

http://www.wordsearchbible.com/

WOMEN VOTE!!

This was in my email this morning: POWERFUL STORY Dear Sisters and Brothers, If you haven't already seen the movie, Iron Jawed Angels, please do see it. Available at Netflix A TRUE STORY EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW! This is the story of our Mothers and Grandmothers who lived only 90 years ago.

Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.

And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.' (Lucy Burns) They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

(Dora Lewis) They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women. Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.

(Alice Paul) When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

Mrs. Pauline Adams in the prison garb she wore while serving a 60 day sentence. Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.

Miss Edith Ainge, of Jamestown , New York All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.

(Berthe Arnold, CSU graduate) My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.' HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco/Bingo night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.

Conferring over ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution at National Woman's Party headquarters, Jackson Place , Washington , D.C. Left to right: Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, Mrs. Abby Scott Baker, Anita Pollitzer, Alice Paul, Florence Boeckel, Mabel Vernon (standing, right)) It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.' Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.

Helena Hill Weed, Norwalk , Conn. Serving 3 day sentence in D.C. prison for carrying banner, 'Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.' So, refresh MY memory. Some women won't vote this year because - Why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining? I'm so busy...I've got so much on my plate! Read again what these women went through for you! We can't let all their suffering be for nothing.

The Green Thing

The Green Thing


In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.

One of the best things I have ever read in an email! I just had to share it. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from the misinformed young.

The Green Thing

Overcoming Feelings of Rejection

On Fear of Rejection: it doesn't matter if a person looks down on you, looks up at you, or looks over to you. What matters is that he sees Jesus in you. Be a model of one who chooses Holiness and look back with a graceful smile that is full of the light of Christ.