Happy New Years!

As we enter the new year why not start it the way we want to finish it.
Start the new yr reading your Bible, Praying, Witnessing to others, attending church and being a good steward of your time. For children obeying your parents, being kind to your siblings, loving others and be a good steward or your time.

Have you read your Bible all the way through? The Bible tells us, Study to shew thyself approved, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. Make it your goal this yr 2011 to read your Bible all the way through and to study it, to learn and grow in the Lord.

Do you pray daily? Remember we are to pray without ceasing. Have a prayer list and pray for certain things and people daily! If you aren't in the routine of making a list, get one of those pocket size notebooks and starting writing down prayer request leaving a small space to date when the prayer is answered. It's amazing how many prayers you can have answered in a yr.

Soul winning - Did you know we're told to go into the highways and byways seeking for the lost. Do you have a scheduled time that you go and give the gospel to those who have not heard. If you aren't sure when your church goes out, ask your Pastor when the soul-winning times are.

My friends, I prayer is that each of us grow more and grow stronger than we are today 12/31/2010. It would be a shame for us to be in the exact same stage of our Christian growth in a yr. Something would be terribly wrong.

I'll close wishing you Happy New Year and a Blessed New Year!

Merry Christmas

Wanted to wish everyone who reads my blog a Merry Christmas! I pray you enjoy your time with friends and family. May God bless each of you and yours.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Which are you growing?

Your mind is your garden, your thoughts are your seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.

My sister in law had this in a post I read earlier and I got to thinking about it. Our minds are like gardens, and Yes our thoughts are like seeds. Now, what do we do with those "seeds" thoughts that are in our "garden" mind.

So Your mind is your garden.... II Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." and I Timothy 4:15 "Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all."

These verse show us that we use our mind to study and if we study right things we are growing our "garden" to produce "flowers" good thoughts and right things. When we meditate on the Bible and on the preaching we are growing our "garden" to produce those "flowers" that will turn out the good thoughts that is in our mind.

May I ask what do you allow to enter your mind (garden)?
Do you allow garbage? curse words? bad TV shows? gossip? OR Do you allow good things? Christian fellowship? Songs of Christ? If you watch movies those that are made for family and w/out the rock music and foul language.
These are just a few things that we as Christians need to know if we're planting the right or wrong "seed" in our "garden".

Philippians 2:5 "Let this mind be in you, which is Christ Jesus;" With Christmas being here, what are we going to plant in our garden or the garden of others. Are you going to be negative, complain about this and that? OR will you be positive and make those around you glad that they get to spend Christmas with you.

Moms, we are the spirit of the home. Are we planting good in the gardens of our children? So they can plant good in the gardens of their friends.

Dads, you are the head of the home. Are you planting good in your wife's garden so she can plant good in your children's garden?

Just a few thoughts to ponder. "Your mind is your garden, and your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds."

To everything there is a season...

Recently I was thinking over the season's and got to thinking we as humans go through "seasons". To everything there is a season, there is a time to play and a time to work. There's a time cry and a time to laugh. We can put so many things in for: There's a time to : ____________. Below are some pictures of fall, and winter. God made the seasons for us to enjoy the changes and the beauty of his creation in various ways.

Then I got to thinking about my children. There was a time they are babies (didn't have time to add all the pictures) Then a time of toddlers and a time for being a child. Then you reach the teen age yrs. I love what my daddy says about teens, "When you turn 13 you put them a box with hole so you can feed them bread and water. When they turn 18 you plug the hole, then at age 20 you let them out and that's when they enter the human race again." LOL God loaned our children to us for us to raise for Him. It's up to us if we actually do it. Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Tabitha has reached the young adult stage which as her mother is so hard to believe. One day an although we don't know how long or when she'll get married she's following the steps the time of life.

Praise the Lord he gave us a "time" line.

Birth

Baby

Toddler

Child

Teenager

Young Adult so on and so forth.

He gave us a time to work and a time to play

He gave us a time to cry and a time to laugh

He gave us so much why can't we give him the time of day that he deserves. He gives us air to breath, earth to live on and yet.... What do we give him??

Just a little thought for the day.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Call unto me....

Oh my goodness.... Oven died Thanksgiving morning BEFORE the turkey was cooked, Bill lost all his over time and on call pay (which is equal to a part time job), 3 vehicles and only 1 works and it's running rough, what more could go on....

But my God shall supply my need....
Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

We started praying about these things AND....
Tomorrow we"ll be getting a new stove :D
Within the next mo we'll be getting a new vehicle :D
A man in the church is working on one of the broken down vehicles for very little!
Money for our needs, has been there when we needed it!!
An add blessing, Paul's Nov school bill is PD!!! now we need Dec and 1st semester if PD in full!!!

Ask and shall be given! Call upon the Lord and he'll answer maybe not in our time but he will answer. To top that off we may even have found Tabitha a car which she greatly needs. God is good all the time; all the time God is good!!! Oh almost forgot, our Thanksgiving dinner ended up being one of the best!! I had a Roaster that I hadn't used yet, so since it was meant for Turkey we ended up with one of the best cooked turkeys ever!!! God is good and we had and have so much to be thankful for. So, when the walls are falling in and you wonder why? Stop and ..Call upon the name of the Lord. Go to HIS promises that the Bible is full of and it's Amazing what God can do!

It's Amazing What Praising can do! It's Amazing What God will do through you, for you and yes through others also.

Merry Christmas to ALL!!!

When you think....

Have you had a day where you felt all as falling apart? Where nothing was going right for you, your children, your husband? My former Preacher and my current preacher tells one who feels this way, to go and help someone else. Well, today things just seemed to not go right, my husband was given some bad news at work and it was just like why?

Well, we had 8 families we needed to go see this evening and because we did, Bill and I both came home feeling better about our lives!!! One family wouldn't of had Thanksgiving dinner had we not gone by, one mom needed someone to just listen and because Bill an I went by her home to give them a turkey we were able to help her. I'm not bragging about this, I'm simply saying, we did for others an our troubles all of a sudden weren't nearly as big.

Phil 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." We, Bill and I, don't know how things will work out for us, but we KNOW God will supply our need!! That's good enough for us, we'll cont to tithe, serve him in our church and help others. God will take care of everything else!!!

John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me."
As we go through life we shouldn't let things trouble us. After all God gave his ONLY Son for us, and God has EVERYTHING under control. As long as you and I do what God has for us to do our troubles really are in God's hands and he walks hand in hand with us. We need to Thank the Lord for all he's done for us, for what he's given us as his children. So, "Let not your heart be troubled...."

I pray that as the Thanksgiving season approaches that if you feel down, discouraged or troubled, GO and do something for those less fortunate than you.
Happy Thanksgiving All.

Spare not the rod....

Proverbs 13:24 "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."

Today was one of those days, that I'm thinking if I don't apply the board of Education then we're really going to regret it later in life. I don't usually have to discipline my oldest 2 boys often. One of them decided that arguing with mom would be appropriate and that he could even yell at me. Now wait a minute....

The Bible teaches that we are not to spare the rod. In the world today they say we're making murders, and thief's of our children if we spank. Well, I grew up with getting my share of spankings and I didn't turn out bad. I will say there's a difference in abuse and discipline. If you slap your children, kick them, or otherwise hurt them when in anger, then yes it could and in most cases is ABUSE. The hinder most part known as your rear was made to be spanked. The Lord knew we as sinners would need a form of discipline, NOT abuse.

I love Proverbs in the way it teaches that, Children should obey their parents in the Lord. It teaches that receiving instruction is wise. It tells us in other places good men obtain favour with God. One of the scriptures is Proverbs 12:1-2 "Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn."

Here if we raise our children in church, in the Bible and prayer they will learn to LOVE instruction. They will realize that we aren't being mean parents but that we are trying to protect them, to rear them in the Lord.

Proverbs 1:7 it says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Our children will despise correction if not applied properly. If you're a new parent please read the Bible learn the proper ways to discipline. To those who've been raising children make sure you're doing it the Biblical way.

Be Careful for nothing....

Philippians 4:6-7 "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

I was talking with a friend, and shared some things with her about some situations. The way that we, or anyone can come through any situation, dealing with our sins, Satan or anything is to, "Be careful for nothing...." What does this mean? I say this because there is so much wrong and bad out in the world that we can't be TO careful. We need to warn our children, grandchildren, friends, family and even those whom we don't know of the evils that are out in the world.

I have a dear friend who does just that through her web site, however in the last several months she's been down due to health issues and hasn't been able to reveal things that we as Christians sometimes miss or ignore. I'm stepping up and sharing something that I believe could be a help to someone. There are movies out there that are absolutely satanic and evil. As a teen I was introduced to some pretty scary things and because of it for about a month I lived not knowing what was happening. Why didn't I understand it, I had never been exposed to witchcraft before I was 18, I had never seen or heard much about how Satan can enter your mind and if let go can destroy you. I was a college student at a Bible College went home for Thanksgiving with another college student and several of our friends. The girls that were Preachers kids (me being one) was mocked because we couldn't/wouldn't go to a theatre. So they brought the evil to the house. Because of that I had some rough days, wks and yes at least a mo. ahead of me. God as my witness I came through some things that some people would probably say, that isn't possible. It is and I know it is. My children to this day do NOT watch things such as, Nightmare on Elm Street, Harry Potter, Twilight and whatever else is out there. I don't want or need Satan interfering with my family. We are a Christian family, trying to live for our Lord serving him and doing what God would have us to do. If we allow Satan to interfere through toys, books and movies we are leading our children in the WRONG direction. I'm not going into any more detail at this time about things but I will say, ANY movie, book, game or even toy that is based on Satan is WRONG!!!! It can and WILL destroy people! This is why I say and the most importantly the Bible says, "Be careful for NOTHING!...." We need to pray, depend, look to and stay away from that which is evil as much as humanly possible.

If you are offended by this, I don't apologize except to say, PLEASE do your homework. Learn what is really out there in the world and what we are letting destroy our families!!

My Son wrote the following:

Caleb came out to me this morning an had written the following:

Verse 1: If there is still people will you go and tell them about the wonderful word. If there is still people then will you go with me to lead them to the altar that they might be saved.

Chorus: So for all you new Christians God has a new mission; for your new mission it is to go and to tell all the other people about Him.

Verse 2: If God has called you, to be a Missionary or a Pastor as long as it is for the Lord, the Lord will provide and he will let that soul nearest Hell be saved.

This came from my 15 yr old just this morning! There's a message there for sure.

Walking hand-n-hand

You know today I took the boys out, we were having a day that was well.... not going so well. After about 30 min out in the woods, walking the train tracts, and exploring an old factory and mill my 2 boys, Samuel and Jason came up and took me by the hand as we walked hand-n-hand down the trail. (Caleb took the picture, which I didn't realize he was doing) When are days are going rough we should grab Jesus by the hand and walk down the trail of life hand-n-hand with Him. The one who loves us, who died for us, who gave us freedom from sin, the one who wants to bless us. What more could we want from our Heavenly Father?

As the boys an I walked down the trail we were laughing and talking about our day. You know we can do the same with Jesus walk and talk with him laughing and smiling about our day, life or whatever!! Psalm 23:3 "He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." John 15:7 "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." All we need to do is take the Lord's hand and he'll lead us down the path of righteousness. All we need to do is abide in Him!

We can walk in God's word, down the path he has provided or we can go astray. Just as the boys and I could stick to the path in the woods or we could of wandered off the path and we don't know what could of happened.

Just as we walked into this one area where it appears a homeless person lives, we but by the Grace of God could be in the same position as the one who lives here. That is why as Christians we NEED to walk hand in hand with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."

Answering Questions for our Children

Isn't it wonderful that we as parents have the Bible to go when our Children have questions. Today was one of those days where I was/am so grateful for my upbringing and love for the Bible and Church. Our youngest Jason had a little bit of a rough morning his pet hamster died and Praise the Lord I was able to help him through it with Bible reading and prayer.

(This next paragraph is from a Daily Focus I get in my e-mail daily) If you are a child of the king, you also have the same ability to come before your heavenly Father with your request. Hebrews 4:16 tells us, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Unlike the limitations you face when meeting your child's request, Jesus has the ability to give you everything you need and waits to show you the "exceeding riches of His grace" (Ephesians 2:7) He never gets tired when you ask Him countless questions or even the same question repeatedly. Christ even loves you with an everlasting love and seeks to draw you unto Himself. (Jeremiah 31:3b)

This little section of Daily Focus fit in so perfectly with what I did this morning with my Jason. He asked several times "Why do people and animals have to die?" Jason had never dealt with death till 3 wks ago when his Nana graduated to Heaven. So in 3 wks he's had a lot to think on and try to make sense of.
Aren't you glad that your Heavenly Father doesn't push you aside when you have questions or worries. I didn't push Jason aside today, what we did push aside was the other things planned in our day. School suddenly for us was not of top priority, because I took this hardship my son was going through and used it to talk with Samuel and Caleb also. Caleb was able to help also seeing he's 15 and understands a little about death. When we were done several hours later Jason felt and knew he was loved and that Mom cared enough to take time to help him in a situation he'd never really had to deal with before.
Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa..... Do you take time for those little ones? Do you see their hurt, their worry (yes children worry just because they don't have huge responsibilities doesn't mean they don"t worry) their eyes that question life? Lets not be in such a hurry that we think, "Oh they're just children!" That's not true, they are children who need us. They are children, who hurt just like you and I do. Remember, Jesus called the children to come unto him! Why?? He loves them and wants them to know he is there. We need to do the same!

Are you "Hunting for Jesus?"

Just a few questions for us to ponder....
1. Are you "hunting" for Jesus? Seeking to improve you life daily and become More like Him?
2. Are you "hunting" for souls? Do you look for those who are lost and wondering in sin? Do you try to lead them in the right way of Salvation?

No great thoughts for today, just something we all should ponder and look at our hearts and lives to see if we are doing as God would have us do.

For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God....

Go ye into the highways and byways compelling them to come in....

Are you being a "Hunter for Jesus?"

Pray without ceasing....

We need to be praying if you haven't already for our upcoming election! Who will "rule" America next. This past Nov 2nd made some changes, but the greatest change is who will be our President for the next 4 yrs. I personally can't imagine this old world lasting another 4 yrs, but it could.

The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. We don't have to all day every day be in prayer, but pray faithfully and regularly for our country! IF we turn against God we ARE in trouble. If America turns against Israel WE ARE IN TROUBLE!

My question for you is: Will you pray without ceasing for our Country! God Bless America!

Challenge for November

Psalm 95:2a "Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving,...."

I was trying to think of something to do with my boys in the month of November that would make them think and really think of what they are thankful for. My cousin, Lynn, replied to a post on facebook and gave me a wonderful idea. From this I thought I would give you who read my blogs a challenge. You may post here or you may do as I'm going to do an have each member of the family do a journal type book.

The challenge is to everyday of November write down 5 things you are thankful for. The Bible says we are come before his presence with thanksgiving. Have we thanked our Lord for all he has done provided, given, or just the daily things air to breathe, water to drink. How about our salvation?! How often do you thank the Lord for your salvation?

It would be neat at the end of November to hear from some of you and how your Thankful Journal went.

Verse for the day

Romans 14:13 "Let us not therefore judge one another any more; but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brothers way."

We Want America Back

This is the title to a CD I listen to often, my former Pastor speaks on this CD about the "old" America and how we want America back. Prayer back in school, Bible reading back in school, how about Bible classes back in school....

You know I grew up in Christian School and had the privilege of going to a Bible College. No one was offended because I wanted to pray or read my Bible. I can't imagine going to school where they get offended because I want to pray to my Lord and Saviour.

Proverbs 14:34 "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."
What has happened to our nation? I can tell you from my point of view and anyone who opens their eyes.... SIN we are to focused on "I" not on God. At our church we are entering our fall program and I love the theme "Hunting for Jesus"
1. Hunt for Jesus in his word
2. Hunt for Jesus through Prayer
3. Hunt for Jesus through soul-winning
4. Hunt for Jesus by asking for wisdom and becoming more like Him!
What an Awesome thing we can do!

We want America Back!! Back to the Old Time Religion, Back to Prayer and the Bible, Back to being concerned about man's soul.

George Washington said, "It is impossible to govern the world without God. He must be worse than an infidel that has not gratitude to acknowledge his obligation."

Abraham Lincoln said, "We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined that all things 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 who made us."

Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord...."

A Lamp unto my feet.....

Psalm 119:105 "They word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

As I searched for a picture of a light that would be like a lamp to guide our feet. I found many different types. Some were dim and wouldn't of helped one along the way, some were so bright that it was like daylight out, then I found the one picture above... It shines, gives the light needed to guide one along. This is how God is for us, he's a light unto our feet, how? Through His word, the Bible.

I was also thinking children like the nite lights. That little lite that children depend upon in the middle of the night to show them the way to mommy, or to the restroom is very important. So shouldn't the light of God's Word be important. We can go on our own depending on our eyes to guide us, but will they guide us right? Will they help us to see the stumbling block? Will our eyes see the danger that is ahead? The answer to these questions is Not Always! Why? Because we're human we don't always see that dip in the road or the crack on the sidewalk that will cause us to fall. If we don't let God's word light our path in our daily walk with Him, the Lord knows what is coming up in our lives. He see's the pitfall, he see's the pain we will endure, he knows where we'll need a little more love, or extra grace to get through the day. If we ponder the words of the Lord, if we depend on his promises he will always be there for us. He will be the Lamp unto our feet and the light for our path.

Did you forget to pray and read your Bible before you left your room this morning?
Did you forget to ask the Lord to be your light for the day to show you the path to take?
OR
Did you go to the Lord in prayer and Bible reading?
Did you go to the Lord asking him to be the light of your path?

Which set of questions did you answer yes to?
Psalm 119:105 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

The Power of Friendship

Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."
Proverbs 27:10 "Thine own friend, and thy fathers's friend, forsake not...."
Proverbs 27:17 "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."
Proverbs 18:24 "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly...."

A friend is one who shares my yoke,

Whose every presence doth provoke

New visions into view,

Endures me when I fuss and pout,

And helps me when in doubt,

To do what I can do

A friend is one, when dark occurs

Who helps me through life's hazy blurs,

To see what I can see

A friend is one whose voice assures,

And prods me on, when case allures,

To be what I can be

A friend is one who helps conceive

The things he knows I can achieve,

And helps my faith to grow;

He aids me to my hopes retrieve,

And spurs me on, till I believe,l

To go where I can go

A friend is one who amplifies

The voice of God when duty cries,m

And bends me to his ear;

Who silences the static near

And foreign sounds that interfere,

Then bids me list to voices clear

To hear what I can hear.

~~Dr Jack Hyles~~

God is Good!

Bill and Janet Seavey Jr Saved Feb 28, 2010 "...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Looking out the back room where my mother in law met her Lord. Looking out over the sheep pasture and at the beautiful heavens our dear Lord made himself!! "In the Beginning God created the Heavens...."

How can anyone deny that there is a God?

To look at this and see the wonders of the heavens to know that He died on the cross for you and me is enough to say that we have a heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us.
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Isn't that just a wonderful thought?

I know that today's devo is a mixture of things but over the past wk as my dear mom in law graduated to heaven I thought of many of things. God never gave up on her, Even though mom Seavey waited for 74 yrs to accept our Lord, God knew the future and knew that she would come home. Praise the Lord for his love and watch care.

Thank God for Heaven!!

Peacemaker or Troublemaker??

Which are you? Do you bring Peace to a situation or trouble? Tonight our preacher taught on the beatitudes and he focused on the Peacemaker. We arrived home and I got to thinking about our family, what we are currently going through and how my children have acted lately.

One statement our preacher made about the parents being the peacemaker hit home! Do you scream and yell and then say Now if you scream and yell at _________ one more time I'm going to discipline you?! If you stop and think the child is ONLY doing what he sees and hears mom and dad doing. What is that? Screaming and Yelling! This is just one of many examples he gave.

The question is: Are YOU a peacemaker or a troublemaker???

Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."

WOW!! That really hit home. I'm going to use my family here, today has been an emotional day for us. The children knew Mom wasn't in her normal mode of things and they were pushing the wagon a little to far. As I look back over my day, I was ready to help my children meet Jesus early ( not literally) they had just argued, bickered, fought, kicked, disobeyed one time to many. Discipline had already been issued and they still continued. Well, daddy has been gone for over a wk, we aren't sure when he's coming home so.... I decided I'm going to Preacher, he will set them straight and we'll be good! Then he preaches this message OUCH!!!

Was I peacemaker today? no not really
Did I have a reasonable reason to not be totally peaceful? Maybe, but probably not
Could I have prevented some of the stress today? YES
Why were the children troublemakers today? The Holy Spirit wasn't leading mom to be the peacemaker cause Mom wasn't allowing him to. You know we're all human and at times we mess up. However, when we came home from church tonight the peacemaker was here, the Holy Spirit was in control and our evening went 99% better! Did I rant at my preacher about them? No I simply applied the message to my situation.

We can be the peacemaker in play, work, church, with our spouse, with our children, with our parents, you name it and if there seems to be, or is a troublemaker around. We can step up and be the peacemaker.

I love verse 12 of Matthew 5 "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."
Because the beatitudes were followed now we can Rejoice, and be exceeding glad! Isn't that wonderful?!

You decide today, will I be a Peacemaker or will I be the troublemaker. Will I allow the Holy Spirit to control what I do and say so I bring peace? or Will I ignore him and have more trouble than I know what to do with? "Blessed are the peacemakers...."

Are you Balanced?

II Kings 10:28-31 "Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the Son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.
And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, they children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.
But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam which made Israel to sin.

Jehu was a man of Zeal. However he was what we would call a one dimensional Christian. Why is this? Although he was full of zeal and he made sure Baal was destroyed because of it being a false god. He overlooked the other false worshipers also.

Jehu didn't give his whole heart to the Law of God. Just as he didn't do this, we as Christians do the same thing. We say, God you may have everything in my life but __________. You fill in the blank. What are you keeping from God. What is keeping you from being a well balanced Christian. As my preacher says that doesn't mean your bubble in the "middle" is balanced *laughing. Some of us maybe very well balanced that way; But God means that we need to be balanced in our Christan lives.

How can you be balanced?
1. After salvation you become involved in your church. Bus Ministry, Soul-winning, choir, children's church, what ever your Pastor has that you maybe able to be involved in.
2. You read your Bible daily
3. You Pray daily
4. You enjoy your family (Don't be to busy for your family!)
5. You discipline your children when needed
6. You love your children
7. You need to know when to play and when not to.

I love the verse: A time to play a time to work, a time to mourn a time to rejoice.... I don't have it quoted exactly but you get the jest of what I'm saying. In order for us to Well Balanced and not to be to a Dimensional Christian.

What can you do today that would make you more balanced in your Christian life.
Jehu was a Man of zeal but he wasn't balanced. Do you want to be a Jehu or do you want to be different and not loose your balance!!

Heaven

Jeremiah 31:37 "Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord."

Is there anyway to measure the joys of heaven? I don't know exactly but I do know Heaven is sounding sweeter every day. I have grandparents, aunts, uncles and even dear dear friends in Heaven. The most recent friend who went to Heaven was about 4 yrs ago, Mrs Dotty Waddle, she had cancer and it took her quickly. I've not had any family pass recently, but I have a dear Mother in law who's close to meeting her Saviour! She was diagnosed with a cancer a little under a yr ago, then in February of this year she and my dad in law accepted Christ.

As I'm typing this my wonderful and loving husband is in Maine with his mom. This morning when Hospice stopped in the lady said, that Bill needed to stay which indicates that mom isn't doing well at all and will be seeing Jesus sooner than we think.

To those who have already been praying for my dear mother in law thank you! To those whom have just learned of her situation we cherish the prayers for the family.

Heaven is a wonderful place and there's no worries or fears of going to heaven. God is an awesome God and Heaven is sounding sweeter every day.

How do we measure heaven and it's joys?
I believe it's:
1. By us knowing 100% sure that we ourselves are saved and going there!
2. By the assurance that our family and friends are saved and have a home eternal.
3. That we have a God who's prepared us a place in heaven.
4. Those who have gone on before us we WILL see again.

Jeremiah 31:37 "Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord."

God's Wish List

Psalm 134 "Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord.
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.
The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion."

We know that God can have anything and has everything. Did you ever think though what if God had a wish list. What do you think He would wish for?

1. that as servants we would die to self.
2. That we would take a stand, and Guard what is right.
3. Work, yes work for our needs but more importantly work for the Lord
4. Use our hands, feet, eyes, mouth for who?? The Lord be involved in your church.

In this short passage I had these few things written beside it. I'm not sure where I heard it, but you know as I was reading my Bible today I came across these notes. How many of these things do we really do? Just a short message for us to think on today.

If God had a wish list for us are we fulfilling it??

Quality or Quanity

Do you spend to time with your children to say I put in my hour (Quantity) or to say I got to know more about them (Quality) ?



Today I went out with Samuel and Jason leaving undone dishes, unmade beds, school materials not finished for next wk but had good quality time with them. See I, as any other parent, when they have a day to "catch up" have a tendency to push aside the children and say later. You know what? Later 99% of the time NEVER happens!!



When we tell our children we will do something for them or with them we really shouldn't let ANYTHING interfere with that date and time. Our children will get to where they say, "Ok they said this but will it really happen?" We tell our children not to lie but yet we'll lie to them at the drop of a hat. My former Pastor, Dr Jack Hyles didn't let ANYTHING come between him and his time with his children. Now I realize he was a Pastor he needed to that. But wouldn't it be just as important for us a lay people to do the same for our children?

In Exodus 21 we're told, "Thou shalt not lie." Doesn't that apply to parents also? You know sometimes I believe we think, well, I'm the parent I have to work, clean the house, fix the car, do the laundry, buy the groceries etc. that we say, I don't have to be totally honest with my kid. WRONG!!! "Thou Shalt not lie" refers to ALL of us.

Next time you are trying to decided to do I give my children quality or quantity time why not say Quality. You'll find you're making memories with your children (no matter the age) that will stay with them for life.

Praise the Lord for you children! I do.

Raising Godly Christian Children

I don't often recommend other blogs. Why? You can't always trust their content. However if you want to know more about what is in the world and you want to learn from a Christian Lady who researches and then blogs on what we need to be on the look out for then go here: Radically Persuasive . I can asure you that unless your looking to be offended you won't be and you'll be grateful for her blog!

Why do we need to be so concerned about our children? Look around you... what is out there?
Drinking, cursing, sex, drugs, rock music, you name it if it's not Christ honoring more than likely your children need to warned about it. Not just in church either, they need to see that Dad and mom are against it.

We can't tell our children rock music is wrong and then listen to it in our car. We can't tell our children swearing is wrong and then cuse up a streak. It's so sad when I'm out and I hear a mother cursing her children because the dropped an apple or they accidently bumped her. What is this world coming to.

Parents if we truly want to protect our children and raise the them seperated, godly Christians it MUST begin at home!

Hebrews 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore brethern by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Adding to or Taking away

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed."

Are our children adding to their knowledge or taking away from it? This morning during our Math class one of the kids was doing a problem where he had to work the ( ) first then had to add and subtract. He was not really complaining just wanting to know why he couldn't add first then do the ( ) then subtract. So I said, ok you try it your way and I'll do the way it says to do it. We'll see who comes up w/the right answer.

Well, after some work we compared answers and with him having done the problem incorrectly his answer was off by 2. Not bad but incorrect. Then I showed him step by step the correct way to work the problem and we came up with the correct answer. This is why I ask, 'Is your children adding to his knowledge or taking away from it?"

If we go through our Christian life doing things "our" way we won't learn the "test" the Lord has set before us and we won't be "adding" to our knowledge. I love the verse, "Study to shew thyself approved...." Are we looking for approval? No not really we are looking to become a workman that doesn't need not to be ashamed.

I have one son, he will work and work and work. He studies hard, turns in all his work and is learning the importance of his responsibilities. He has gained respect of many people here at the our church. Why? He studied, he wasn't ashamed to put forth his best and then he increased (added) knowledge.

Now, I have another son, who's the opposite. He doesn't want to work. He doesn't want to do his schooling and if I'd let him he'd sleep till noon. Has he added to or taken away from his knowledge? Well, in some area's he's taken away. He has because of some problems made it where people do not always come to him for help. I've applied to this little Math idea to his situation and he has started to "add" to his knowledge.

So what are you teaching your children?
Are they being taught to:
be lazy?
have an I don't care attitude?
OR
to work hard?
to not be ashamed and study/work hard at all things?

Just a little thought that came to me while teaching my son how to follow what is taught and do the work right.

Have a great day ALL!!

Are you being a Tattletale or telling....

Proverbs 10:12 "Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins."

(I got this from an e-mail an wanted to share it. Reason being I have children at home all day w/home schooling and then also children will tattle and this is an awesome way to curve it.)

My son could hardly wait to talk to me one day during our school time. I could tell he had something important to say and was anxiously waiting to share the news. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, I knew where the conversation was headed. Midway through his first sentence, I interrupted him, and a surprised look crossed his face. I asked, "Are you telling on your sister for a particular reason? No one likes a tattletale."

Home school children are no different from those who attend a school and they want to "tell something on another". By natural nature they have a strong sense of right and wrong, but they often misuse this sense by tattling to make their sibling/friend look bad. As parents we need to teach our children to confess their own sins not others sins. They need to help others in their mistakes instead of condemning them. I Peter 4:8 "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves; for charity shall cover the multitude of sins."

Romans 13;10a says, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour...." By keeping that bit of "juicy" news to yourself it becomes difficult when you are w/friends. Do you think it your responsibility to expose the failings of others? Here's two questions for you: 1. Do I need to share this information to keep someone from being hurt physically? 2. Am I sharing this news to get someone in trouble or out of trouble?

Remember, love covers a multitude of sins. Why not ask God to give the wisdom needed to help you, help that sibling/friend rather than condemn them.

How to Keep your Joy

This past Wed night our preacher, preached an awesome sermon on Joy. I'm going to share just a few of his "ingredients" how to keep your joy.

Salvation is the KEY to your Joy.
Have a daily walk with God to produce Joy.
Praying and seeing answer to Prayers will produce Joy.
Reading God's word will produce Joy. Jeremiah 15:16
Finish what you start will produce Joy.
Enduring your burdens will produce Joy. Psalms 30;5 James 1:2
Soul-winning produces Joy. Philippians 4:1
Seeing your converts grow in the Lord. III John 4

What are you doing to keep your Joy?

J - Jesus
O- Others
Y - Yourself

J is for Jesus he is the way
O is for others tell them today
Y is for you my friend why don't you come to Him.
Joy is the way you feel when you let Him in!!!

Self-Control Saturday

Proverbs 16:32 "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."

Self-control, do we truly have self-control?
I was told the other day about this "diet" that if you have a strong will and good self-control you can have wonderful results with the diet. Well, do you realize if we had self-control in the first place we wouldn't need to do all these diets. I do understand that health sometimes cause weight problems, and having children can cause it too. Trust me I know about that one :) After 5 children I'm still working on regaining my proper weight.

Self-control - letting the Holy Spirit control your spirit. How many of us do this? We allow the Holy Spirit to have control but do we do it all area's of our lives.

Put self on the back and let God lead through the Holy Spirit.
This can be applied to so many areas, Internet, TV, eating, waisting time, cleaning house, schooling just to list a few....

Proverbs 16:32 "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."

Life's Outline When Things aren't Fair

Hebrews 2:13 "And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me."

1. Pray - alone with God "Pray without ceasing"
2. Don't Quit - if you do Satan will be the winner.
3. Go forth - cont serving God
4. Do something for others
5. Point people back to God!

Just remember whatever God puts in our lives it's there for a purpose. We are not given anything we can't handle. "...I will put my trust in him...."

Friday's Faith

Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

Faith is such an important part of our life. We have faith that when we sit in a chair that it will hold us. We have faith in the Pilot of a plane to get us to our destination. We have faith that (you insert what you put your faith in).
If we put our faith into worldly things why can't we put our faith in God whom loves us and died for us?
It' only takes the faith of a mustard seed, or the faith of a child.
Have you noticed that children have such strong faith? What happens to that faith as they (we) grow up?

Have faith that:
-God will supply your every need.
-will never leave thee nor forsake thee
-God will forgive you of your sin and give you a home in heaven

These are just a few things we SHOULD have faith in!
Why not today decide that your going to have Faith in your heavenly father to take care of you, not only on Friday but all week, all month, all year, and even ALL of your life.

This and That

~If we would put our energy into Bible reading and Soul-winning imagine what you could do with your life.

~Make this book (the Bible) the most important thing in your life.

~With Jesus in your life DON"T hide HIM!!

~There is no greater Joy than the Joy of faithfulness.

~A decision made in the pew won't last, but the decision made at the alter will stay. Bro G Nofsinger (my Dad)

~Everything rises and falls on Leadership. Dr Lee Roberson

~Learn to shut your mouth about things and people that you don't know what your speaking of.

~The man who walks with God always reaches his destination.

~Go to the end of your life, then back up and look to see if you're where you wanted to be.

Thankful Thursday

Ephesians 5:20 "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ:"

What are you thankful for?
Just something to think on.... We everyone now and than sit around as a family and list the things we're thankful for.

Have a great day All!!
This is the day that the Lord hath made I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Wise Wednesday

Wisdom - thinking Gods way.

Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."

I love the Proverbs because of the fact they are full of wisdom!
Wisdom on fearing God.
Wisdom on how to rear our children.
Just wisdom is throughout the whole book of Proverbs!!!

One of things I love to do is going to the older people I know and learn from them, and gain their wisdom. The elders of the church have so much to offer that when i get to talk with them I learn.

Have a great day in the Lord!

Truthful Tuesday

Truthfulness - describing facts, figures and circumstances correctly.

Zachariah 8:16 "These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgement of truth and peace in your gates."

My son saw this an ask, "Why do you have today as truthful Tuesday?" I told him as we learn a verse a wk with a character trait I was doing a daily character trait on my blog. His next response I absolutely loved. "But Mom, aren't we suppose to be truthful on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday?" I replied to him yes we are but this is just for my blog.

I have sat here a little bit thinking about what Samuel asked me. You know how many of us actually feel we only need to truthful on certain days?! Samuel has the right idea, and I'm so thankful that he realizes that truthfulness is important no matter what day it is.

In dealing with one of my other children yesterday on sarcasm, truthfulness, and other things I was wondering. Does he see me being truthful daily? Is the reason he's acting this way, is because he sees Mom and Dad not always doing right? Now we all know we're human and we all know we make mistakes my question though, is:
1. When your talking on facebook, the phone, texting, instant message are you really truthful?
2. When you are telling your husband the events of the day do you tell him the whole truth or do you sugar coat it?
3. Are we Mrs/Ms truthful at church and at home lie about everything?

Truthfulness is so very important, as I've trained my children you may get in trouble when you tell the truth but you'll feel better about it in the long run. Why? You lie about this, then you have to cover that lie with another lie, and another lie to cover the first 2 lies and it just get bigger and bigger and the guilt grows until once the truth does come out. People have a hard time believing you.

So why don't we all, children and adults decided today not to truthful just when we feel like it but ALL the time!
Zachariah 8:16 "These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgement of truth and peace in your gates."

Meek Monday

Meekness - being patient without being angry.

Psalm 37:11 "But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."

How Meek are we?
Do we let anger step in and forget about being meek?
Just a few thoughts for us to ponder. I hope you Monday is a meek and mild Monday.

I will answer thee

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

We don't' have because we don't ask. Why is it we complain about what we don't have when the Bible clearly states: "Call unto me and I will answer thee...." I remember when I was a little girl I would ask my daddy for something, you know he usually answered either with what I asked for or a why don't we wait. You know it was hard to wait but I learned sometimes what I wanted wasn't always good for me at that time.

Jesus is the same way, he sometimes gives us our request almost immediately. Other times he makes us wait. However when we get that wait do we cont to ask and look for great things he may shew us. OR do we go out and get (whatever it is) on our own; not waiting for Jesus to supply that need.

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches his glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19 Notice it doesn't say needs but rather need! I've often wondered why the "s" wasn"t added to need. God sees ALL our needs as a NEED! Isn't that fantastic?!

So if we ask of him, he will supply ALL your need. What an awesome thought. What can you think of that God supplied for you?
1. Salvation - I got the assurance of my salvation May 30, 1988
2. Parents - I can say that without a doubt my parents love me and raised me to the best of ability. I was taught good work ethics, I was taught how to listen and how to help. Not to be selfish and want just for myself.
3. A Pastor - A man of God that loves the Lord, his church, his people. I have no doubt in my mind that I have a Pastor who cares.
4. My Husband! The MAN that when I said I do it was forEVER!!!
5. Our children - God gave us 5 wonderful children. Our oldest, and our only daughter is now in college training to serve God wherever he may lead!! 4 Awesome boys!!!

This is just t drop in the bucket of what I've asked for and God gave! Why did he give because I asked through prayer and he supplied a NEED as well as wants :)

Faith but Doubt

Daniel 3:16-18 "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliever us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set us."

I have always enjoyed the book of Daniel and I love the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. In reading it this morning I was reminded how we can faith but still doubt. If you noticed I italized parts of vrs 17 and 18. In vr 17 they say God will deliver us. They are having the faith that God, the true and living God will save them.
However they turn right around in vr 18 and say, BUT if he doesn't we'll not bow to your gods and images. They were a little doubtful there, wondering if God would save them.

We today are that way. We believe God will take care of us BUT we doubt it also. Why is that?
Well, we are human and we do have the sin nature w/in us.
If God calls you to do something have the faith that he will guide you, lead you, supply the need, be there for you. Yes, at times doubt will arise but the reason for doubt could be that we aren't walking close enough to our Lord. It could be that we know God is there but maybe our fellowship w/God is strained because of our doubt. We allow our doubt to overcome the faith we have.

I'm going to use a personal example here: I have faith that God will supply our need, but as a human I have a tendency to doubt that the money we make will go far enough. Just this wk I'm looking at our bills, looking at what we need andI'm thinking God there's no way!!! Oh ye (me) of little faith. Do I believe and have faith in God to care for us? Yes I do but sometimes that faith is tested.
Now I could list all things we need and I mean need but I don't want anyone reading this feeling sorry for Paula NO that isn't the reason for this. I want to now share how even though (and I'm not bragging just trying to help someone maybe understand how having faith is the way to go) I looked at our finances and said, "there's no way!" I however still pd everything that was to be pd.
Just yesterday morning, the morning after our paycheck , I go into a store to pick up something when the manager comes to me and says, "Could you use some bread?" Well, yes I can, he precedes to give me 2 loaves of bread, juice and other things. These were things I was able to mark off my shopping list and I got them for FREE!!!
I pd tithe, I pd our bills that were due, and had a little money for groceries. God blessed what we did and provided a portion of my groceries.
It's ok to doubt but let your faith be stronger. Do as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego don't bow to the world have faith that God will save you from the wiels of Satan. Cont. to serve God and do what you know he wants you to do no matter what. God will bless you and give you the faith needed to cont on.

There hath no temptation....

I Corinthians 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

I sure had to look an study this verse early this morning! Not so much because of temptation but in that we aren't given anything that we can't bear! One of my wonderful boys has really been testing with sarcasm and talking back. I so wanted to smart off to him and tell him what for the way one of his piers would of done. I had to step back and re think how I was going to reply to him.

He knows, "Children obey your parents in the Lord!"
After I decided that God gave me this child and I was had to raise him in the way a child should go. I was then able to correct him. An as God said "...that ye may be able to bear it."

You know we can apply this in our lives no matter what. God has given us no temptation, illness, car trouble, financial trouble without a way of escape.
When we have a temptation we have to choose will I all this to affect me wrong or rightly.
When illness comes into our lives and we feel that no matter what we'll never get well. Remember that God has a plan for us and if we are focused on his Word and in prayer he will give us a way to bear it.
We can take an apply to this to ANYTHING that comes our way.

God is simply amazing how he knew we would need a way of escape for our lives. He knew that we would need grace to bear our burdens especially in those times when we try to do it all on our own. BUT we put God in the situation and he WILL, HAS, and DOES give us a way to bear it.

I pray you have a great day an that you'll give your day to Jesus and let him have control of your day.

Love God enough....

Good Morning everyone! I pray that today is a wonderful day for you. Mondays can be hard because many of us don't really rest on the weekend and why is this....

Because We Love God enough to Love what He loves!!
1. We love the sinner enough that we want them to have what we have. Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
2. We love the bus kid enough that we go out all day Saturdays to invite them to church.
3. We love the bus kids enough to get up early on Sunday. Then we go get on a bus and ride it many hours on Sunday. Why? So that they can come to church hear the preaching and receive the Love from people who LOVE them!!!

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

We can say (your name) so loved (your city) that you gave up your Saturday and Sunday to bring the lost to Christ!

Do we Love God enough to give up things that we KNOW God doesn't love??
1. TV
2. Our music (I'm talking music that IS NOT Christ honoring)
3. Movies YES I said movies!!! Please don't turn me off here. We watch videos at home BUT my husband and I pre-approve them and we do EVERYTHING we can to not have the cursing, the rock music, the nudity, yes the sexual contents out of it!!! You say well that cuts out ALL I watch GOOD you don't need to go to the theatre or bring into your home.
4. Books we need to be careful our reading is what God would love. Again that cutes OUT A LOT reading!

Lets just remember in our daily walk, in our daily lives, in our fellowship, in our conversation, in our activities alone and with others should be: Love God enough to Love what God loves. If you can't say this video would be something God would watch then maybe you shouldn't watch it.
If you can't say God would sit beside me to watch this tv show then maybe you need to turn off the tv.

I know that I'm going to have people disagree with me, however we NEED to make sure that we Love God enough to Love what he loves!

I pray in some small way this will be a help to someone!!

Thou art worthy...

Revelation 4:11 "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. "

God is so Worthy of our praise and honour!! So, why is it that as Christians we just push God to the side, not bothering to read our Bibles or pray?!

He created us in his image.
He created us for his pleasure.
He created us so he could love us.
He created us and we should LOVE HIM, we should PRAISE HIM, we should HONOUR HIM, and so on and so forth. So why don't we do these things?

We are human and we have a sin nature. However as Christians who's to be first in our daily routine? GOD!
Have you ever noticed when you leave out God that the day isn't as smooth; we can not go on our own.

How can we praise God? (I'm only listing a few there are many many more ways to Praise God)
1. Praise Him in prayer
2. Praise Him through song (as a family we will choose a song for the day/wk) I personally choose a scripture song for myself.
3. Praise Him simply by living right and keeping Christ first.

How can we Honour God?
1. Honour him through our actions.
2. Honour him by what we say.

So as you go through your day, you can Praise him for so much, we can ALWAYS be Honouring God in our actions. If our children see that we take this verse to heart then they will want (prayerfully) to do the same.
"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

Faith

Do we will have faith in God? Do we really have faith that God will provide our every need as he says?

I've asked myself that question and wondered do I truly put my faith in God to take care of me. We know that God is there, we know that he will take care of us how do we know the Bible, the preaching of God's word. The true test is do we really live by it.

Romans 1: 17 the later part of the verse: "...The just shall live by faith."
We are to live by faith as Christians.... Today I will say I've not been doing real well w/that. When you only have x amount of money and all the bills that are due are over $100 each and they are pd, tithe of course is pd and it leaves next to nothing to live on for a wk what do you do?! Now please as you read this realize I'm not complaining at all. God has provided for us through the yrs. I'm just applying this to living by faith. I could say NO we're not paying the phone bill and go buy groceries, or I could say forget tithe I can use that money and really buy groceries. Or maybe I could say who needs insurance I've only had one accident in 22 yrs of driving.... I can't let it lapse for a month... Would that be right? No it wouldn't; actually none of these "Solutions" would be right. So what do I do I go to my Heavenly Father and tell him (which he knows) but I tell him the situation. So that I can see what God will do for our family.

Romans 12:3 again the last part of the verse: "...according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."
God gives each of us the grace, the faith, the strength or whatever it maybe to make it!
If you as so many in today's economy are struggling.... God gives you the faith to make it through.
If you are having health problems, God gives us the strength you need to make it through your day.
If you are having other problems, God gives us the grace needed to make it.

I Just love the fact that our Heavenly Father knows EXACTLY what you, or you, or you, or even I need to make it through our daily walk here on earth. You can also have that peace that God will give you the grace, strength and faith to cont on. If you have never accepted Christ as your personal Saviour I would love to share w/you how you can know for sure that you will go to Heaven.

Right here is simply act of Faith trusting in a God you can't see but that you know Loves you and letting him become Lord of your life.

The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
That simply means that you and I are sinners, the difference is I'm a sinner Saved by Grace and you too and have that same title. A sinner saved by grace!"

There's a payment for our sin and you can pay it or you accept the payment that has already been made: Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; BUT the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
You see God paid for our sins when he died on the Cross. BUT it didn't end there he rose again and has provided a gift, a FREE gift of eternal life!!

Can you imagine loving someone so much you would die for them? Well, that's exactly what Jesus did for you and me!! Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Now finally Romans 10:9-13 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

All you need is believe, have Faith, that Jesus will save you!
Now if you would read this simple prayer and believe in your heart that God WILL forgive you of your sins and wants you to be one of his own You will be saved. (Now understand reading the prayer won't save you, it's believing in our Lord Jesus Christ that you will be saved)

Dear Lord,
I want to thank you for first for dieing on the cross for me a sinner. Lord, I'm asking that you forgive me of my sins and accept me as your son/daughter. I Love you Lord and believe that only you can forgive me of my sins and accept me as your own.
Thank you Lord for saving me a sinner!
Amen

If you prayed this prayer and accepted Christ as your Saviour I would LOVE to know about it and talk a little more w/you. Please send me an e-mail. Your sister in Christ Paula

Building our Lives on Eternal Things

I Thessalonians 5:16 - 23
16. Rejoice evermore.
17. Pray without ceasing.
In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Quench no the Spirit.
Despise not prophesying.
Prove all things: hold fast that which is good.
Abstain from all appearance of evil.
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

vr. 17 Prayer is something we should be very familiar with.
vr 19. Don't quench the Spirit of God, and his influence in your life.
vr 20 We should enjoy preaching! LOVE IT God puts our Pastor in our lives because he's the man of God that we're lead to be under his influence and guidance.
vr 22 Be careful in all things cause evil can come to us in many disguises. As Christians we need to be very careful to avoid all appearance of evil....
vr 23 God gives us peace in our lives! Through prayer and Bible reading we will receive the peace we need to go through life and to make it through the trials that come into our lives.

A Friend Loveth....

Proverbs 17:17a "A friend loveth at all times...."

Are you a friend who loves at all times or do you love as long as it's going your way? I asked myself that the other day. I was having a rough day, and to be honest thought no body cared nobody really wanted to know what Paula was going through.
UNTIL.... a friendcall me and asked how my day was going? Now I started to tell her EVERYTHING then I said, No, I'll be honest but not whine and complain. You know before the conversation was over without my complaining I was feeling better and I knew God had her call for a reason. He was just showing me that through a friend he loved me!! GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!

I watch children as they play and literally in a 5 min period they are best friends and enemies. I laugh cause we as adults do the same. We let our feelings, Satan, get into our minds and play games w/us. We need to focus on the fact that God never leaves us and He's always there no matter what. On earth he gives us those friends who loves at all times. Praise the Lord for true friends.

I could list all kinds of people that are friends, but I don't want to forget anyone. So w/out saying names there's one person whom I've known for some time now. If I ever need a laugh, a shoulder to cry on, or a listening ear I can depend on her! I pray that I'm that kind of friend to all who call me friend.

So I ask you, Are you a friend that loveth at all times?
OR are you the friend who one minute you love then next you're their enemy?

Draw Me Nearer

Do we desire to be nearer to Christ? The hymn Draw Me Nearer is one of my favorites!

Vr 1. I am thine, O Lord I have heard thy voice, and it told Thy love to me;
(I think of John 3:16 here: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. )
But I long to rise in the arms of faith, And be closer drawn to Thee.

Ch: Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, To the cross where thou has died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, To thy precious, bleeding side.

Vr 2. Consecrate me now to Thy service (do you serve the Lord?) Lord, by the pow'r of grace devine; Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, and my will be lost in Thine.
(Are you doing your will or God's will?)

Vr 3. Oh, the pure delight of a single hour that before Thy throne I spend, When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend!
(Do we talk with God as much as we talk with our friends? Better yet, do you talk with God in prayer as much as you, say, watch TV, spend time on the computer, insert what keeps you from communing with God daily)

Vr 4. There are depths of love that I cannot know Till I cross the narrow sea; There are heights of joy that I may not reach Till I rest in peace with Thee.
(I think of those who have gone on before. They are in Heaven they are resting in peace. Heaven is sounding sweeter every day!)

I hope as you read this that in some way it's a blessing to you. Or maybe helps you to realize maybe something needs to be changed in your life so YOU are Nearer to God!

Bought with a price

I Corinthians 6:19-20 "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

....bought with a price... We, you and I, are bought with a price and God paid that price by dying on the cross.
Did he have to do this? no, he could of called the angels to remove him from the cross.
Did he have to leave his home in glory? no, he could of stayed there and not suffered the terrible things he suffered here on earth for you and me.

So why do we not care for the Temple of the Holy Ghost?
Why do we not watch our weight?
Why do we eat and drink that, that we know is not good for us?
Why do we abuse our bodies?

The Bible clearly states that "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost...."
As Christians we are to care for our bodies.
Why?
Let me answer this with other questions...
*Would you destroy the house you live in? Of course not that is YOUR home. Same with the Holy Ghost our bodies are the "house" temple in which he dwells.

*Now your house can't gain weight, but don't you think that since our bodies are the Temple that we shouldn't let it become fat, sloppy, ugly looking? God made each of us in his image because of that we should be proud of the way we look. Not to where we become a "Look at me, I'm beautiful" type person, but where you walk with head held high, and proud that you are Christian and that your body is the Temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells.

*Would you bring bad things in to your home to feed your children? Of course not, so why would you feed yourself things that will destroy your body? Be careful what you eat and drink not only physically but that which could be harmful to spiritual life.
Be careful not quench the Holy Ghost, but listening to Rock music, reading dirty magazine, watch bad TV shows, speaking curse words. You should be feeding the Holy Ghost by listening to Godly music (not gospel rock, not contemporary music) by reading your Bible daily and praying. Feed the Holy Ghost not allowing your self to read, watch, or say that, that would be hurtful.

*Would you abuse your home, by throwing things to break the windows, or burn down your home. No we wouldn't cause that would put us without a place to live. Again going back to the point before we don't want to abuse our bodies with those things. We also don't want to abuse our bodies by drugs and alchol.

As Christians we need to always keep in mind that we are the Temple of the Holy Ghost. We need to make sure that we always "feed" the Holy Ghost. We shouldn't do anything that would quench or grieve him!!

Help in time of need

Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the time of need." KJB

Have you ever wonder why God allows certain people to come into your life? I was thinking about that the other day. A friend, whom I'll not name as to not embarrass her, sent an e-mail to me thanking me for being a friend.

This young lady and I knew each other, we went to school together and I believe became good friends. We ended up going our separate ways, but the Lord never allowed me to forget her. As the years past I would pray for her. Having NO idea what she was going through. Well, back about...... I believe 4 yrs ago we got back in touch with other. I still was unaware of anything in her life, until the other day. She asked me to pray for her, and assured her I was and had been since we had lost contact. Over the past few days we've e-mailed several times and as I was reading in Hebrews today I came across this verse ....find grace to help in the time of need. I had NO idea that one e-mail I sent her would be an encouragement. She shared with me things that she didn't have too and I believe that God brought as together years ago, so that at this time of her life I could help her in the time of need. If she reads this I believe she knows I love her and will be there for her.

Then also I think of a family who has suffered much, and another family whom they were already friends with, was there to help in their time of need.

Is it always easy to help in the time of need? NO
Do we want to help in the time of need? Not always
Does God give the grace needed to help in the time of need? YES!!!

Now, we may not see that grace that is needed to help and we may think, Why me?? May I say that God was there when, You, were in need! God died on the cross at a time that we needed Him. That grace that God gave us, he allows us to share with others.

So the next time you hear of one who needs help think of Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the time of need."

Who might you help this today?

Take Heed, America

This beautiful Poem was written by a lady in our church Ms Jeanine Caldwell

Take Heed, America

Our fathers founded this great land,
The American soil on which we stand,
With Washington, Jefferson
And Franklin too,
With golden deeds and words so true!

A government founded
On the power of God
Will guide us in this great land we trod.
With freedom, and liberty and justice for all,
Will we now refuse to heed God's call?

Our foundation was laid by noble men,
But are we destroying
Ourselves from within?
Let us take heed before God and all,
Before He allows America to fall.

Let us go back to obeying and fearing,
If not, then destruction we are nearing.
Let us go back to reading the Book.
O America, please stop,
Please take time to look!

Although we think that
There is something new,
God's Word is still powerful
And It is true!
O, Please pray, please pray
For our land,
Or, sure as His Word
He will remove His guiding hand.

Have a wonderful day tomorrow!

Happy Easter to everyone! Remember this is the day that our wonderful Lord rose from the grave!!

Trust in the Lord

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths!
This is one of many verses out of Proverbs that I love. Trust in the Lord, do we really put our trust in the Lord? I know as Christians we say, yes I trusted in him to save me. What about since you became a Christian, since you asked him to forgive you of your sins and to live within you. Do you trust him?

The other day one of my children made the statement (not to me) that he didn't trust them. You know once you get to where you can't trust someone it takes a LONG time to regain that trust! God wants us to trust in him for everything from what shoes to wear to what he would have us do with our lives. We simply need to TRUST IN THE LORD!

With all thine heart, do we trust with our whole heart or just part of it?
In all thy ways acknowledge him, do you acknowledge God in ALL your ways, in ALL that you do from day to day? Pretty tough one to say yes to. I want to say, Yes I always trust in the Lord w/my whole heart. I ALWAYS acknowledge him....However how many people would cont. to read my post if I said that?! Not many I promise you. I'm not perfect and there are times when I fail. How about you?

He shall direct thy paths, Do you allow the Lord direct thy path. You know I've done this for years and just this morning I did (again I don't always do this I am human) Prayed that as I went to work he would direct my paths (words, actions etc). I also prayed that the Lord would lead to make the right purchases at the store later today so I don't waste money. Do you allow the the Lord to direct thy paths?

Just a quick thought. I pray all have a tremendous day today.

another Promise of God

Psalm 27:14 "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say on the Lord."


Do you wait on the Lord? Do you allow him to give the strength needed for your day?
Just a few things to think on....

Promise for the Day

I John 5:4-5 "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"

1. With God we can overcome the world
2. We can have Victory in our daily walk in overcoming that which appears before us in the world.
3. Christ overcame the world and so can we.

I'm Glad I Got Lost

The title probably has you thinking why would anyone be glad they were lost. Well, at our Conference this past wk this song was sung by our choir. The story behind it is absolutely wonderful!

I'm Glad I Got Lost

My old life of sin was getting me down, Satan was proud, he tho't he had me forever bound.
But in the still of the night the sweet Spirit came, telling me I was lost, but there was a Saviour who saved sinful men.

I'm glad I got lost so I could be saved, under conviction weary of sin, that was my only way to know that I needed to know a Lamb's blood applied. I'm glad I got lost so I could be found one wonderful night.

Making my way to sweet Calvary, stumbling around in the darkness, trying to see; when I realized I was an old sinner lost, I saw the Light, waiting to save me at an old rugged cross.

I'm glad I got lost so I could be saved, under conviction weary of sin, that was my only way to know that I needed to know a Lamb's blood applied. I'm glad I got lost so I could be found one wonderful night.

Hearing that song, and even reading over it now: I look back to the day in May of 1988 when I settled my salvation! God is so good and has blessed me in so many ways. I Praise the Lord for Loving ME so much that he gave His ONLY begotten son for ME a sinner!!

I wouldn't even want to imagine what the world would be like without Christ! I see in today's world what is happening with people pushing Christ out of everything. I love what my Preacher says, Christmas will ALWAYS be Christmas! In God we trust will ALWAYS be in God we trust! So many area's so many things that people think they're making things better by omitting Christ, the Bible and Prayer. If they just stopped and realized what God did for us so many years ago.

John 3:16 "For God SO loved the World that he GAVE His ONLY begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but HAVE everlasting life."

God loved the WORLD (YOU)
He gave his ONLY SON (JESUS)
So WHOSOEVER (YOU) could believe in HIM
So we could HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.

I pray that this is some way is a blessing or encouragement to someone, to look back to the day they accepted Christ as Saviour. Just take time to remember what HE the one, the only God above has done for YOU!!

This is the day that the Lord hath made I will rejoice and be glad in it.

What can you handle?

Good evening,

I started working this one devotional a few days ago while sitting in the K-4 class at our school. There was one little boy who simply didn't want to obey. This little 4yr old told me, Mrs Steavy (I spelled it the way he says it) I just can't handle it! I asked him what can't you handle. He then replied taking a nap! Now to a 4 yr old that is BIG stuff, but what in your life do you feel you can't handle it anymore?

In I Cor 10 :13 it says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able...."

"...ABOVE THAT YE ARE ABLE...." the little 4 yr old thought he couldn't handle a nap. What in your life do you feel you can't handle?
God is faithful! Why should we worry about what we can handle?
He will NOT suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; so why do we worry about our situations?
I know we all human and we all worry when we really don't need to.
When we are tempted there are times we WILL fail, don't do the famous:
That's not my fault!
The Devil made me do it!
OR if your a child, But mommy he did it!
Simply stand up shake yourself off and say, OK, I failed BUT God didn't and doesn't give me anything that I can't handle. I have to fix this thing I did and not do it again.
IF you feel or say, but I'm always blowing it. Well, join the club of sinners saved by Grace whom God knows we're going to blow it. However, he puts things, people, situations or whatever in our lives. WHY? Because HE KNOWS we can handle it.

So next time you think I CAN"T handle this just go to I Corinthians 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able...."

This is the day that the Lord hath made I will rejoice and be glad in it. Have a great day friends!

Prayer....Does God hear your Prayers?

Joshua 10:12-14
Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.

And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel.

Do you have things you want God to answer? As we see here in Joshua he made the sun and moon to stand still. God can do anything and if we faithfully praying, constantly praying, praying without ceasing. Reading our Bible growing closer to God than ever before he will hear your prayers and answer according to his plan.

Do you want God to hear your prayers?
I know I do.
Do you believe the answer to your problems is prayer?
Joshua sure did, and God hearkened to his voice. He'll also hearken to your prayer. Why?? Prayer IS the answer to all our problems!!!
Teach your young people how to pray!
Have a goal for the year 2010 for things you'd like to see God answer.
God wants to hear your prayers and he wants to answer them. The question is will you allow him to do this by asking in prayer?

Believing in yourself

I looked up 3 different words: self-assured; self-denial and self-esteem. I was curious how they all went together.

Self assured adj. Confident in one's own abilities; self-reliant.
Here we see you are confident in yourself. You can do things and your confident in your abilities. One would hope that you greatly depend on Christ in that confidentiality "I can do ALL things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Self denial N The act or power of denying oneself gratification.
Never allowing yourself to be gratified with the act you are doing. Whether it's for yourself for others. Feeling like you really can't do anything that would satisfy another. I love the verse: Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might.
If what you do, say, or plan to do or say will honor one don't deny yourself the gratification of having done a good deed.

Self esteem N A good opinion of oneself; an overestimate of oneself. This is one that I notice many, many people struggle with. Did I? Yes! It took several many months meeting with my Pastor to get to where I knew not Just in my head but in my heart that I can have good self-esteem of myself. Not to the point I become rude, or miss know it all. Trust me I'm NOT a know it all. I love the passage of scripture that my Preacher asked me to read every day for a month and since last May I've read it almost every day without fail! It is Psalm 139 and the one verse he told me to focus on was verse 14: "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works: and that my soul knoweth right well."
This verse did wonders for me!!

Do I struggle with my self-esteem? Yes
What do I do about it? Read and study Psalm 139
How often do I read and study my Bible? Daily (or I do my best) I'm not perfect so I fail at times.

I you have problems with self-esteem, or any of the topics I touched on make it a point to read Psalm 139 daily for at least 30 days! You'll be amazed how God will change your life and you'll be confident and your esteem will grow to where it's not low.

This is the day that the Lord hath made I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Just a few thoughts.....

I'm sitting here at my desk watching the snow fall, well blow we're in a blizzard at the time. As I looked out the pure white blanket of snow reminded me of how Jesus is PURE!

To be like Christ Pure white and clean! I love the song Whiter than Snow. This says it all for me:
Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole; I want Thee forever to live in my soul.
Break down every idol, cast out every foe.
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow;
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, look down from Thy throne in the skies, And help me to make a complete sacrifice.
I give up myself, and whatever I know.
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat.
I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet.
By Faith, for my cleansing I see Thy blood flow.
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus Thou seest I patiently wait.
Come now, and with in me a new heart create.
To those who have sought Thee Thou never saidst no.
Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

The blessing by faith I receive from above.
Oh, glory! My soul is made perfect in love.
My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know the Blood is applied, I am whiter than snow.
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow; The blood is applied; I am whiter than snow.

What better way to say I want to be like Christ whiter than snow, pure of heart, a complete sacrifice for him! I LOVE it. Today, in our 2nd wk of snow and now in a blizzard the snow has a whole new meaning!

This is the day that the Lord hath made I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Search me, O God....

Psalm 139:
1. O Lord, thou has searched me, and known me.
2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
23. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

search: the act of seeking or looking diligently.

God has searched us diligently. He knows us "inside out".
Since the Lord knows us so well what is it that we are trying to hide from him? What is it that we are not willing to give up? The Lord knows our heart.

Search me, O God, and know my heart.... How much do you really want God to know your heart? Do you want him to know it the point that you want to have fellowship with Him through prayer and Bible Reading. OR do you do the minimum and hope you can make it.

What is it you maybe hiding?
the way you talk
the way you walk
how you treat others
how you look at the opposite sex when your married
what you think
what you watch on TV
what you listen to on the radio
what you look at on the Internet

We are all wicked but God can lead us to everlasting paths!!

Just a few thoughts for us to think on.
Meditate on the Bible and make sure that we are watching, listening, talking and doing all that the Lord would approve. Let the Lord do as the passage of scripture says, and search our lives and know our hearts!!

How Do You think?

I went to a Ladies mtg back a few yrs ago and heard who is now my former Pastors wife speak. I came across my notes from her lesson and really felt the Lord would have me share this with you today.

Mrs Cindy Schaap spoke out of Titus 2 (didn't write the vrs) oops
Well, her topic was very good and it helped me to think about how do I think.
Living on the bright side I Peter 3: 10-11 "For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
Let him eschew eveil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it."
~Refrain from speaking evil
~The thoughts you think what are they?
~ Negative thoughts always lead to negative words.
~Positive thoughts always lead to positive words.

Are your thoughts bringing Death?
1. Worry-it's a sin!
2. Criticism-natural to do but you don't have to be critical
3. Day dream
4. Self Criticism-just as sinful as being critical daily.
5. Jundemental-having an opinion about one without proper information.
6. Suspicion-of others
7. Evil thoughts-wondering what will happen if.....

YOU CAN CONTROL WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT!

Are your thought bringing Life?
1. Thoughts about God's power
2. Thoughts about the Bible Romans 8:11
The spirit that raised Jesus from the grave can lift you up as well.
3. Thoughts about God
4. Edifying Thoughts
5. Thoughts about God's love-Ask God to show you something daily.
6. Thoughts of Praise!
7. Positive thoughts-Satan and God fight for your thoughts! Accept that Satan will always bring up the past. However you can ALWAYS win by being positive.

The mind of Christ is focused!
The mind of Christ is at rest!
The mind of Christ easily makes decisions.

Praise God when you wake up in the morning!
Read that Bible it WILL change your life.

Keep your mind busy!
Ignoring the negative
Keep a Journal
Live one day at a time.
Look for the best in your present situation.

So How do you think?