Calendar

[CatieladyB]

Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts, she made it home safe and sound! The fire started around 6:30 in the evening and they finally got it under control and out around 2am. Apparently, she spent some time in a bucket with a hose, it was probably the first time she had done it! Just so thankful the Lord kept her safe!

[CatieladyB]

A Poem About U

Before U were thought of or time had begun,
God stuck U in the name of His Son.

And each time U pray, you'll see it's true,
You can't spell out JesUs and not include U.

You're a pretty big part of His wonderful name,
For U, He was born; that's why He came.

And His great love for U is the reason He died.
It even takes U to spell crUcified.

Isn't it thrilling and splendidly grand
He rose from the dead, with U in His plan?

The stones split away, the gold trUmpet blew,
And this word resUrrection is spelled with a U.

When JesUs left earth at His upward ascension,
He felt there was one thing He just had to mention.

'Go into the world and tell them it's true
That I love them all - Just like I love U.'

So many great people are spelled with a U,
Don't they have a right to know JesUs too?

It all depends now on what U will do,
He'd like them to know,
But it all starts with U.


Will YOU pass it on.
When Jesus died on the cross he was thinking of you!

(Author unknown)

[CatieladyB]

The Defender

On the Day of Judgment all will stand before the throne, the Accuser stands pointing his finger, ready to spew forth a tale of sin. The eyes of the Accused are cast to the ground; they dare not look up into the face of the Judge, His holy eminence shines forth as a brilliant light. Before the Accuser can voice his accusations, the Defender stands to speak "through thy faith in me and what thou hast done for the least of these, I know thy heart; I have shed my blood to cleanse thee and given my body to spare thee judgment!" The Judge opens the Book of Life, He speaks "your name has been found, you are pardoned, today you will be with Me in Eternity!"

[CatieladyB]

The Pilgrim

The Pilgrim made the long and difficult climb to the mountain top where the guru sat in deep meditation, then breaking the silence asked the age old question "what is the meaning of life?" Looking up the guru spoke without hesitation "have you not heard? The true meaning of life is only found in Christ!" His gaze resting on the tired Pilgrim, lifting his hand he motioned and bid "come, sit and I will tell you of His Magnificent Glory!"

[CatieladyB]

One small act can make a difference!

The other day I stopped into my local Quick Chek store to pick up a sub, some lunch meat and bread. The first thing I always do is to place my sub and lunch meat order on the automated kiosk screen, which I did, then walked around the store gathering all the other things I'd come to get. I returned to wait for my order to be filled, as I stood there I noticed an older woman go up to the machine and start punching the screen. I say older because she was older than me and I'm pretty old, so she was probably in her late 70s or early 80s. I watched for quite awhile as she punched at the pictures on the screen with her fingers, becoming more frustrated by the minute! Finally I got the nerve to go over to her and ask if she needed any help, to which she said yes.

So I then set about to try to help her, but I found that somehow she had gotten the screen into the Spanish mode which I couldn't get it out of, so we moved to the other machine. I managed to direct her in the operation of the machine and she was able to order her half pound of ham thin sliced. She seemed happy that I had taken the time to help her! By this time my order was done and I walked away feeling like I had actually accomplished something!

Although it wasn't a feat of magnificent strength, it was a small gesture which I believe was showing this woman a hint of God's love! I didn't have to rattle on about the attributes of Christ; I just had to be willing to take the time to show her one in a little act of kindness. I believe that even the smallest act of kindness can show God's love to anyone! If we want people to see God through Christ, we need to present ourselves as a mirror of Jesus!

It's important to remember that all we do should be done for the glory of God, every act; every word should be done as a conscious thought, in love. Matthew 25:40 reads "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" And in verse 45 of the same chapter, "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"

Look at all that Christ did for us on the cross, if we truly believe; we should be willing to step into action for Him!

[dhenning3]

Glad to hear your daughter made it back safe and sound! That must've been intense!

[dhenning3]

That "The Defender" writing brings to mind the song "Thief" by Third Day. Very powerful song. If you've never heard it, I highly recommend it! And if you have heard it, another listen is still great

[dhenning3]

One small act can definitely make a difference! I'm glad that you were able to make that difference for that woman in need.
Its not always easy to do so but the effect it can have can easily improve someone's day and subsequently all those that person interacts with afterwards; like a ripple effect.

[rickyz]

 

[CatieladyB]

Another step in the right direction...

A few years ago, I was at the post office in town, buying stamps and mailing a letter. I used the automated service or the machine, mailed my letter and was on my way out the door when I noticed this older woman walking with a cane. She was heading toward the door and walking with great difficulty. She would take a step, then stop and totter as though she was going to fall. I was ahead of her so I went to hold the door for her. She smiled and thanked me, it took her a very long time to get to the door and then through it with her unsteady gait, but finally she and I were outside. I asked her if she needed me to help her to her car and she took me up on my offer, she held my arm as I lead her to her car.

I told her I knew a little bit about how it felt because I had total hip replacement surgery awhile before and had to use crutches and canes. She said hers was because of a disease and it wasn't going to get better. She asked my name and thanked me for all my help.

It was a very simple act of kindness, but it made me feel like I had accomplished something big! I didn't have to say anything about the love of Christ; I just had to show it!

[rickyz]

      

[CatieladyB]

The Perfect Way

As darkness descends we shall shine,
Your body for my folly,
Your grace for my mistakes,
Your blood as cleansing love,
Please sustain me through my time on earth.
Amen!

Author unknown

[CatieladyB]

The Promise of the Rainbow

Genesis 8:20-22
Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will never cease."

Genesis 9:8-17
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

[CatieladyB]

Another Perfect Example of God's Love

In Exodus 32:1-14 another picture of God's great love for us is shown.

"Moses had been up on the mountain with God for a very long time and the people grew tired of waiting, so they asked Aaron "come make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."

So Aaron without thinking tells them to collect all their gold earrings and bring them to him and he uses the gold to make an idol in the shape of a calf. Then the people declare "these are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt!"

Then Aaron builds an alter in front of the calf and tells everyone there will be a big festival to the Lord the following day. Early the next day they all gather and sacrifice burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. They then sat down to eat and drink and turned things into a wild revelry. God sees this and says to Moses "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'"

 "I have seen these people," the Lord said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people.  Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."

But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God saying "why should your anger burn against the people you brought out of Egypt by your great power and mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say that you brought us out for evil intent, only to kill us in the mountains and wipe us off the face of the earth? Turn your fierce anger aside and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your promise to your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.'" Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

This is just another example from the Old Testament of the love God shows his people by sparing them time and again from the judgment that they deserve. His most perfect act of love was sending His son, Jesus, to earth, to live and die once and for all the sins of the past, present and future. Jesus now sits on the throne next to God his Father and intercedes for us whenever things get too hard for us to handle on our own. God only desires to have an intimate relationship with His people, a one on one relationship with each of us. He wants us to take advantage of all He has to offer and this can only be done with the help of Christ. If we truly seek Him through prayer and time spent in the word, He will answer and be our guide to the perfect future. As much as we anger Him, He still does not want us to parish but have everlasting Life through the gift of Jesus Christ, His son!

[CatieladyB]

E.T. Or Part of the Evolutionary Design


Ever wonder if there could really be some truth to those claims of alien life forms from other planets? Oh, not the kind that have become the stuff of science fiction thrillers, you know the kind that can change into different shapes or inhabit people's bodies or have big eyes and heads with little bodies and so many other interpretations of what beings from other planets or worlds would be like, but realistically, from the eyes of the Creator himself! What if Roswell and other events were real, but because scientists couldn't explain it, it was covered up and hidden from us? Much like God, because science can't see and therefore can't explain God, they have tried to cover Him up. I have found that science ultimately points to the magnificence of God, because everything around us seems to scream intelligent design!

Furthermore, since God created our planet, the Earth, along with the rest of the solar system it occupies, and all the other universes, together with all the galaxies in the vastness of space, which goes on forever, doesn't it seem reasonable that God could have created another planet out there that supports life with creatures such as ourselves, but perhaps much older? God is infinite, therefore His love is infinite as well and couldn't He love others from countless planets too? Wouldn't He be able to hear their cries of anguish and feel their pain along with ours? Wouldn't He be able to stretch out His helping hand and infinite grace to them as well? I believe He would want to have the same intimate relationships with them that He desires with us. I also believe that they would have been made in the image of God, just as we are, so they would look and think very similar to us.

Now, I'm not putting forth the theory that God was experimenting with these other creatures on their planets, but I think that God knew exactly what He wanted for each new creation and like us, he set things in motion, probably in a very similar fashion and let them "evolve" through his guidance and nurturing, just as he has done with us. I don't mean evolution like Darwin's theory, because it was just that, a theory and why the scientific community, which should know better, embraced it, is beyond me!  I don't believe that man evolved from an ape, although, we can sometimes behave like them! I believe that man evolved from an earlier form of himself, such as prehistoric caveman, Neanderthal or who ever, which most likely were Adam and Eve. From Adam and Eve came the rest of us and we evolved into what we are today, man with computers, cars, trains, planes, spacecraft, IPhones, IPods , etc.. Man did not change from being a monkey with only natural instincts into human form with a superior intelligence. Man has always been in human form, but has gone from primitive to modern through advancements in technology; with each new discovery whether in science or technology, whatever, we evolve a little more.
 
Now, getting back to my theory, what if God in his infinite wisdom has made many such planets as Earth all over space, all inhabited by creatures like us, with similar histories, God would even have sent Jesus to save them at some point and like us God imprinted "the knowledge of himself" within them, so they could never deny Him. So it is quite reasonable to think that some of them have been around way longer than us and have made advancements in technology way beyond ours, perhaps even to the extent of space travel! Some may be able to travel between planets or other solar systems, maybe even as far as our own solar system and Earth, so some of the "UFO" sightings could very well be real! Perhaps they haven't come to invade or destroy the Earth, but instead, as in Mark 16:15, they were told "go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." They could actually be missionaries from another planet, sent out by God to all the universe (or universes) as in Matthew 28:19 "to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!" and have come here to proclaim His glory! Or instead of Noah and his ark, it was Noah and his spaceship that was being spared from destruction? Sounds pretty far-fetched, like a science fiction novel or movie, but what do we know? We only know the limits of our own little world and its universe. God is infinite, so His possibilities are infinite.

The most amazing thing about God is his abundant love and grace! That He can love each and every one of us the same, that He can answer all our prayers, our questions and provide for us all! That He is by our side 24/7, (Matt. 28:20 "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.") ready and willing to aid us whenever we call on Him. He sent his Son to die and rise again as a final sacrifice for our sins so that we might live and have life abundantly (even for those pesky extra-terrestrials)!  Even if it turns out that we are alone in space and his only creations, He was, is and will be forever! All He asks of us is to believe and trust in Him and He will do the rest!