Friday, April 30, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.” PROVERBS 9:9 NIV
“I wandered so aimless,” these are the first words of the Hank Williams song, “I Saw the Light.” It was the first gospel song that I ever played and sang. I think back to that time in the early seventies and how my life wandered from one curb to another down life’s road. My life was like riding in the bumper cars, aimlessly wandering and bumping into others. Sometimes going forward, other times going backward. Bumper cars are fun, but at a point they turn off the juice and you must get out and walk away. I am so grateful for a loving God in my life, who helped me turn off the juice of alcohol and drugs, and made me use the “shoe leather express.” Today the road is much narrower, but a lot straighter. I still wander some but it is not aimless. My meetings and reading the Bible daily are the curbs on the road of my life today. The old juice that used to power my life has been replaced by a Power greater than myself. It is a truly a clean Power with no pollution, I am grateful. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE
“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
PSALM 16:11 NIV
***********************
CONFESSION AND INTERCESSION
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
PSALM 51:9
The wisest believer is that one who comes openhearted for cleansing, and who knows that God’s summons to repentance is gracious. Repentance makes way for a progressive alteration of our thinking, attitude, and heart. God invites us to experience His cleansing and forgiveness, but not self-condemnation or death-dealing despair.
In other words, introspection and confession are to release us…and that release opens the door for bold, history-shaping, nation changing intercession.
JACK HAYFORD……………Moments with Majesty
***********************
“Ongoing recovery is dependent on our relationship with a loving God who cares for us and will do for us what we find impossible to do for ourselves.”
Narcotics Anonymous, basic text page 96
Shoe leather express
Thought for the day: “The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.” PROVERBS 9:9 NIV
“I wandered so aimless,” these are the first words of the Hank Williams song, “I Saw the Light.” It was the first gospel song that I ever played and sang. I think back to that time in the early seventies and how my life wandered from one curb to another down life’s road. My life was like riding in the bumper cars, aimlessly wandering and bumping into others. Sometimes going forward, other times going backward. Bumper cars are fun, but at a point they turn off the juice and you must get out and walk away. I am so grateful for a loving God in my life, who helped me turn off the juice of alcohol and drugs, and made me use the “shoe leather express.” Today the road is much narrower, but a lot straighter. I still wander some but it is not aimless. My meetings and reading the Bible daily are the curbs on the road of my life today. The old juice that used to power my life has been replaced by a Power greater than myself. It is a truly a clean Power with no pollution, I am grateful. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE
“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
PSALM 16:11 NIV
***********************
CONFESSION AND INTERCESSION
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
PSALM 51:9
The wisest believer is that one who comes openhearted for cleansing, and who knows that God’s summons to repentance is gracious. Repentance makes way for a progressive alteration of our thinking, attitude, and heart. God invites us to experience His cleansing and forgiveness, but not self-condemnation or death-dealing despair.
In other words, introspection and confession are to release us…and that release opens the door for bold, history-shaping, nation changing intercession.
JACK HAYFORD……………Moments with Majesty
***********************
“Ongoing recovery is dependent on our relationship with a loving God who cares for us and will do for us what we find impossible to do for ourselves.”
Narcotics Anonymous, basic text page 96
Thursday, April 29, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “God Himself does not to propose to judge a man until he is dead. So why should you?” Author unknown
I sowed seed yesterday. We’ve had a little break between two storm systems and I took the opportunity to get some of my garden planted. I put in sweet corn, okra, green beans, squash, cucumbers and cantaloupe. I already have onions and potatoes coming up. Later today my plans are to set out my tomatoes and peppers. I have hope that it is not too early, and that there are not any frosts to come. Each year it takes many hours and some sweat to prepare the soil for planting. I plant in faith, with hope for a harvest, but I never know what the outcome will be. My dreams and visions are what propel me to break a sweat each spring. I have dreams of green beans, new potatoes and onions flavored with bacon; Hot sweet corn rolled in butter; Ripe juicy tomatoes and cucumber salads; Sweet cantaloupe that you hold in your hand and eat and the juices run to your elbow. Each year I have these dreams, but they don’t always come true. Last year I did not get one potato, the ground stayed so wet that they rotted. I’ve had cutworms take nice tomato plants, one after another and shear them off at ground level. It has been so hot that the cucumber vines just wither and dry up. I have had every ear of corn infested with worms. Even though I realize that there are forces working against what I do, I still dream. And one thing for sure, if I didn’t sow seed there would be nothing. The same is true in my spiritual life. I must sow “good” seed to reap a harvest of love, friendship, serenity, prosperity, health, and sobriety. I dream of these things, and I sow seed. If I don’t sow seeds I produce nothing. I become isolated, lonely, and bitter. I am so grateful for a loving God that helps me grow in recovery. Tonight I will go to another meeting and sow seeds, and have seeds sown in my life by others. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……JRE
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-8 NIV
***********************
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57
Haydn, the great musician, was once asked why his church music was so cheerful. He replied, “When I think upon God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap, as it were, from my pen, and since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful spirit.”
Haydn had discovered the secret to lasting joy: “I think on God.” Looking at our circumstances won’t bring us lasting joy. It may even make us depressed or angry. But when we “think on God,” when we turn our minds and hearts to His power and His love for us, we can’t help but be joyful. Paul said, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2). Discouragement flees in the face of joy.
Every day brings battles and temptations. But the strength we need for conquering them comes from Christ. We can do like the little girl who said that when the devil came knocking with temptation, she just sent Jesus to the door!
BILLY GRAHAM
Green beans and new potatoes
Thought for the day: “God Himself does not to propose to judge a man until he is dead. So why should you?” Author unknown
I sowed seed yesterday. We’ve had a little break between two storm systems and I took the opportunity to get some of my garden planted. I put in sweet corn, okra, green beans, squash, cucumbers and cantaloupe. I already have onions and potatoes coming up. Later today my plans are to set out my tomatoes and peppers. I have hope that it is not too early, and that there are not any frosts to come. Each year it takes many hours and some sweat to prepare the soil for planting. I plant in faith, with hope for a harvest, but I never know what the outcome will be. My dreams and visions are what propel me to break a sweat each spring. I have dreams of green beans, new potatoes and onions flavored with bacon; Hot sweet corn rolled in butter; Ripe juicy tomatoes and cucumber salads; Sweet cantaloupe that you hold in your hand and eat and the juices run to your elbow. Each year I have these dreams, but they don’t always come true. Last year I did not get one potato, the ground stayed so wet that they rotted. I’ve had cutworms take nice tomato plants, one after another and shear them off at ground level. It has been so hot that the cucumber vines just wither and dry up. I have had every ear of corn infested with worms. Even though I realize that there are forces working against what I do, I still dream. And one thing for sure, if I didn’t sow seed there would be nothing. The same is true in my spiritual life. I must sow “good” seed to reap a harvest of love, friendship, serenity, prosperity, health, and sobriety. I dream of these things, and I sow seed. If I don’t sow seeds I produce nothing. I become isolated, lonely, and bitter. I am so grateful for a loving God that helps me grow in recovery. Tonight I will go to another meeting and sow seeds, and have seeds sown in my life by others. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……JRE
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-8 NIV
***********************
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57
Haydn, the great musician, was once asked why his church music was so cheerful. He replied, “When I think upon God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap, as it were, from my pen, and since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful spirit.”
Haydn had discovered the secret to lasting joy: “I think on God.” Looking at our circumstances won’t bring us lasting joy. It may even make us depressed or angry. But when we “think on God,” when we turn our minds and hearts to His power and His love for us, we can’t help but be joyful. Paul said, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2). Discouragement flees in the face of joy.
Every day brings battles and temptations. But the strength we need for conquering them comes from Christ. We can do like the little girl who said that when the devil came knocking with temptation, she just sent Jesus to the door!
BILLY GRAHAM
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Information without application leads to frustration.” Anonymous
I can be told how to handle different situations in my life. I can read and get information on what to do with my life, but if I don’t ever get around to applying what I’ve heard and learned, what good is what I know? I listen every day to Chuck Swindoll on the radio. I enjoy his teaching. He most always will have three points with a common theme, an illustration of the points in his life and the lives of others, and applications of how the points can be used in our lives. Hearing this is well and good, but if I don’t take action and use the information, what good is it? In my AA and NA program I have just finished doing another fourth step, my personal inventory of myself. Sometime in the near future I will make a list of all people I have harmed and become willing to make amends to them all. This is an example of applying information that I have. I have worked this step before and have found the application to truly set me free. Praise God. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……….JRE
Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”
MATTHEW 18:21-22 NKJV
Jesus then goes on to tell Peter a story of a servant who owed a lot of money to the king and could not pay. He was ordered into prison, but he begged forgiveness and it was given him, and his debt canceled. This guy then turned around and found someone who owed him and demanded to be paid. No forgiveness was given to the second man, and he was put in prison. When the king found out he called the first man a wicked servant and had him tortured and held until he paid all he owed. What a lesson. What goes around comes around. May I learn to forgive……..JRE
STEP 8: Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
Step 8 encourages us to admit our own responsibility in problem situations and relationships.
The story Jesus tells the apostle Peter is a good springboard to Step 8 whether we are the forgiver or the one asking forgiveness. Peter, Jesus said, should not be like the servant, who after being forgiven for his huge debt, then refused to show mercy and compassion toward the person who owed him a much smaller debt.
God, in His mercy, forgave us and saved us even in the depths of our addictive illness. Now we must become willing “from the heart” to forgive and be reconciled with others.
If, on the other hand, we are in the position of needing to make amends for wrongs we have done, the underlying attitude must still be “from the heart.” When God sees such a heart, He will move and work and bless far above our ability to ask or even think.
NELSON SERENITY BIBLE page 31
What goes around comes around
Thought for the day: “Information without application leads to frustration.” Anonymous
I can be told how to handle different situations in my life. I can read and get information on what to do with my life, but if I don’t ever get around to applying what I’ve heard and learned, what good is what I know? I listen every day to Chuck Swindoll on the radio. I enjoy his teaching. He most always will have three points with a common theme, an illustration of the points in his life and the lives of others, and applications of how the points can be used in our lives. Hearing this is well and good, but if I don’t take action and use the information, what good is it? In my AA and NA program I have just finished doing another fourth step, my personal inventory of myself. Sometime in the near future I will make a list of all people I have harmed and become willing to make amends to them all. This is an example of applying information that I have. I have worked this step before and have found the application to truly set me free. Praise God. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……….JRE
Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”
MATTHEW 18:21-22 NKJV
Jesus then goes on to tell Peter a story of a servant who owed a lot of money to the king and could not pay. He was ordered into prison, but he begged forgiveness and it was given him, and his debt canceled. This guy then turned around and found someone who owed him and demanded to be paid. No forgiveness was given to the second man, and he was put in prison. When the king found out he called the first man a wicked servant and had him tortured and held until he paid all he owed. What a lesson. What goes around comes around. May I learn to forgive……..JRE
STEP 8: Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
Step 8 encourages us to admit our own responsibility in problem situations and relationships.
The story Jesus tells the apostle Peter is a good springboard to Step 8 whether we are the forgiver or the one asking forgiveness. Peter, Jesus said, should not be like the servant, who after being forgiven for his huge debt, then refused to show mercy and compassion toward the person who owed him a much smaller debt.
God, in His mercy, forgave us and saved us even in the depths of our addictive illness. Now we must become willing “from the heart” to forgive and be reconciled with others.
If, on the other hand, we are in the position of needing to make amends for wrongs we have done, the underlying attitude must still be “from the heart.” When God sees such a heart, He will move and work and bless far above our ability to ask or even think.
NELSON SERENITY BIBLE page 31
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.” Nikka age 6
Children have a way of cutting through all the trash, and getting down to the real nitty gritty. At times I feel that they see life and life’s situations through eyes that are not cluttered with excuses and explanations. There is a simple solution to most of the situations that rub me the wrong way. It is simple but not easy. The solution is love. When I actually put aside my feelings and put myself in some one’s place and try and feel and experience what their side may be, I can’t help but feel compassion. But first I must sacrifice by putting aside my pride, and that is a job that takes more than words to get accomplished. Prayer, self-examination, and meditation are the tools I can use to get to the roots of my pride. At times my pride is hard to budge, but at other times with enough pain it can be moved to allow love to live. Situations that rub me the wrong way are like sandpaper on a very hard surface. They scratch and rub, and produce friction and heat, and they don’t get anything accomplished just irritate. Love when allowed to live and work takes on a nature that is like air and water. The sandpaper has no effect or become soft and useless. Love will soften any hardness in my heart or any sandpaper that rubs me the wrong way. But only when pride has been pried aside. God’s love is doing for me today what I could not do for myself………….JRE
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7 NIV
***********************
DAILY CONFESSION
If we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. 1 John 1:9 TLB
We must offer daily confession, both for known sins that blot a day’s activities and for sins we may have overlooked.
When we do this, we are assured that through the blood of Christ we have instant and complete forgiveness.
Every aspect of our lives, regardless of what the world says is right or acceptable, needs to be brought under the searching eyes of the Lord.
JACK HAYFORD……………Our Daily Walk
***********************
“Gradually, as we become more God-centered than self-centered, our despair turns to hope.” Narcotics Anonymous, basic text page 92
pride pried aside
Thought for the day: “If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.” Nikka age 6
Children have a way of cutting through all the trash, and getting down to the real nitty gritty. At times I feel that they see life and life’s situations through eyes that are not cluttered with excuses and explanations. There is a simple solution to most of the situations that rub me the wrong way. It is simple but not easy. The solution is love. When I actually put aside my feelings and put myself in some one’s place and try and feel and experience what their side may be, I can’t help but feel compassion. But first I must sacrifice by putting aside my pride, and that is a job that takes more than words to get accomplished. Prayer, self-examination, and meditation are the tools I can use to get to the roots of my pride. At times my pride is hard to budge, but at other times with enough pain it can be moved to allow love to live. Situations that rub me the wrong way are like sandpaper on a very hard surface. They scratch and rub, and produce friction and heat, and they don’t get anything accomplished just irritate. Love when allowed to live and work takes on a nature that is like air and water. The sandpaper has no effect or become soft and useless. Love will soften any hardness in my heart or any sandpaper that rubs me the wrong way. But only when pride has been pried aside. God’s love is doing for me today what I could not do for myself………….JRE
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7 NIV
***********************
DAILY CONFESSION
If we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. 1 John 1:9 TLB
We must offer daily confession, both for known sins that blot a day’s activities and for sins we may have overlooked.
When we do this, we are assured that through the blood of Christ we have instant and complete forgiveness.
Every aspect of our lives, regardless of what the world says is right or acceptable, needs to be brought under the searching eyes of the Lord.
JACK HAYFORD……………Our Daily Walk
***********************
“Gradually, as we become more God-centered than self-centered, our despair turns to hope.” Narcotics Anonymous, basic text page 92
Monday, April 26, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Life is a series of surprises. We do not guess today the mood, the pleasure, the power of tomorrow, when we are building up our being.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today I must live life on life’s term, and accept things to be just as they are. That way I have some serenity. We are truly blessed with the opportunities that God gives us. I’ve heard it said that when God closes one door He opens another. If we rise above our self-centeredness, and keep our focus on our Higher Power, we will see the doors of opportunity open before us. It’s like driving down the road. If we’re not paying attention to where we’re going and just listening to the music, we can miss our turn. The doors of opportunity are there if we keep focused on God. We can’t miss God’s Light as it shines on the sign that says, “turn here, this is the Way.” Service to each other is the fuel that keeps us on the road and not in the ditch. Thanks for letting me share. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………………JRE
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” MATTHEW 20:25-28 NIV
***********************
A LISTENING HEART
Hear, O My people, and I will speak. PSALM 50:7
Mark it down, things do not “just happen.” Ours is not a random, whistle-in-the-dark universe. There is a God-arranged plan for this world of ours, which includes a specific plan for you. And through every ordinary day and every extraordinary moment, there is a God who constantly seeks you.
You’re walking through [life] and you suddenly encounter one event among the countless myriad of events that happen every day and every night. All of a sudden, life changes. Something’s different. And never doubt it! The God who loves us and redeemed us uses those moments to advance His purposes.
He doesn’t speak vocally from heaven, shouting down His word at you. He uses His book, He uses His people, and He uses events in your life. And through the blending of those unusual events, He says, “Listen to Me …..Pay attention, and I will speak to you. Answer My call, and I will use you.”
All that is needed is a hushed spirit and a listening heart.
CHARLES SWINDOLL……Moses: A Man of Selfless Dedication
*************************
“We surrender quietly and let the God of our understanding take care of us.” Narcotics Anonymous, basic text page 26
A lighted Highway
Thought for the day: “Life is a series of surprises. We do not guess today the mood, the pleasure, the power of tomorrow, when we are building up our being.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today I must live life on life’s term, and accept things to be just as they are. That way I have some serenity. We are truly blessed with the opportunities that God gives us. I’ve heard it said that when God closes one door He opens another. If we rise above our self-centeredness, and keep our focus on our Higher Power, we will see the doors of opportunity open before us. It’s like driving down the road. If we’re not paying attention to where we’re going and just listening to the music, we can miss our turn. The doors of opportunity are there if we keep focused on God. We can’t miss God’s Light as it shines on the sign that says, “turn here, this is the Way.” Service to each other is the fuel that keeps us on the road and not in the ditch. Thanks for letting me share. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………………JRE
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” MATTHEW 20:25-28 NIV
***********************
A LISTENING HEART
Hear, O My people, and I will speak. PSALM 50:7
Mark it down, things do not “just happen.” Ours is not a random, whistle-in-the-dark universe. There is a God-arranged plan for this world of ours, which includes a specific plan for you. And through every ordinary day and every extraordinary moment, there is a God who constantly seeks you.
You’re walking through [life] and you suddenly encounter one event among the countless myriad of events that happen every day and every night. All of a sudden, life changes. Something’s different. And never doubt it! The God who loves us and redeemed us uses those moments to advance His purposes.
He doesn’t speak vocally from heaven, shouting down His word at you. He uses His book, He uses His people, and He uses events in your life. And through the blending of those unusual events, He says, “Listen to Me …..Pay attention, and I will speak to you. Answer My call, and I will use you.”
All that is needed is a hushed spirit and a listening heart.
CHARLES SWINDOLL……Moses: A Man of Selfless Dedication
*************************
“We surrender quietly and let the God of our understanding take care of us.” Narcotics Anonymous, basic text page 26
Friday, April 23, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Fears are negatives that need not be developed.”
Anonymous
My sponsor’s wife has a saying, “fear knocked at the door, faith answered, and no one was there.” From time to time we all experience some form of fear. If we allow fear to thrive, it will consume our every waking thought. Just as a tiny flame from a match in a totally dark room will make the darkness flee. A small amount of faith in a mind overwhelmed by fear will bring reassurance and peace. Faith must be exercised, it is just like the muscles in our bodies, if we do not exercise our faith, it becomes weak. Training our faith to work when we need it takes practice. Just as the mechanic goes to his tool box for a tool, I have a spiritual tool box from which to reach in and get the special tool for the situation. I am grateful to the programs of AA and NA for putting in my tool box little slogans that are chucked full of faith. They work if we use them from our heart. Some of them are: “This too shall pass,” “But for the grace of God,” “Easy does it,” “Keep it simple,” and one I use often “No matter what happens, if I don’t drink or use, today is a success.” These little thoughts of faith when spoken from the heart will dispel the darkness from fear. Thanks for letting me share. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…….JRE
Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “Your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.
MATTHEW 9:22 NIV
***********************
Most of our prayer lives could use a tune-up. Some prayer lives lack consistency. They’re either a desert or an oasis. Long, arid, dry spells interrupted by brief plunges into the waters of communion….
Others of us need sincerity. Our prayers are a bit hollow, memorized, and rigid. More liturgy than life. And though they are daily, they are dull.
Still others lack, well, honesty. We honestly wonder if prayer makes a difference. Why on earth would God in heaven want to talk to me? If god controls all, who an Ito do anything?…..
Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference.
MAX LUCADO…………….He Still Moves Stones
***********************
“Sometimes when we pray, a remarkable thing happens: We find the means, ways, and energies to perform tasks far beyond our capacities.”
Narcotics Anonymous, basic text page 44
Spiritual tool box
Thought for the day: “Fears are negatives that need not be developed.”
Anonymous
My sponsor’s wife has a saying, “fear knocked at the door, faith answered, and no one was there.” From time to time we all experience some form of fear. If we allow fear to thrive, it will consume our every waking thought. Just as a tiny flame from a match in a totally dark room will make the darkness flee. A small amount of faith in a mind overwhelmed by fear will bring reassurance and peace. Faith must be exercised, it is just like the muscles in our bodies, if we do not exercise our faith, it becomes weak. Training our faith to work when we need it takes practice. Just as the mechanic goes to his tool box for a tool, I have a spiritual tool box from which to reach in and get the special tool for the situation. I am grateful to the programs of AA and NA for putting in my tool box little slogans that are chucked full of faith. They work if we use them from our heart. Some of them are: “This too shall pass,” “But for the grace of God,” “Easy does it,” “Keep it simple,” and one I use often “No matter what happens, if I don’t drink or use, today is a success.” These little thoughts of faith when spoken from the heart will dispel the darkness from fear. Thanks for letting me share. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…….JRE
Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “Your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.
MATTHEW 9:22 NIV
***********************
Most of our prayer lives could use a tune-up. Some prayer lives lack consistency. They’re either a desert or an oasis. Long, arid, dry spells interrupted by brief plunges into the waters of communion….
Others of us need sincerity. Our prayers are a bit hollow, memorized, and rigid. More liturgy than life. And though they are daily, they are dull.
Still others lack, well, honesty. We honestly wonder if prayer makes a difference. Why on earth would God in heaven want to talk to me? If god controls all, who an Ito do anything?…..
Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference.
MAX LUCADO…………….He Still Moves Stones
***********************
“Sometimes when we pray, a remarkable thing happens: We find the means, ways, and energies to perform tasks far beyond our capacities.”
Narcotics Anonymous, basic text page 44
Thursday, April 22, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” Bobby age 7
In 1967 I spent Christmas in Vietnam. As I recall, on Christmas Eve we had been in the field, and because of the Holiday we were called back to base camp. I had the fellowship of the guys in my platoon, and what we had to look forward to was maybe a package from home, turkey dinner in the mess hall, and a little sack from the Red Cross. Many times these sacks were hand sown by people back in the states. In them you would find a tooth brush, tooth paste, soap, shampoo, and hand lotion. Many of us took these little gifts for granted, but we always used every article. Twenty-nine years later I spent the Christmas season in the Wright County Jail. I spent the day reading the Bible and enjoying the Christmas tree that we assembled by sowing cut pieces of Styrofoam dinner plates together. Even in those extreme times, if I would stop and listen, Love was what was in the room. I got out January 5, 1997, after doing 30 days for a DWI, that was the last time I was in jail. Today I need to remember and honor a loving God for the renewing of my life, for the Love that was in the room when I took the time to listen. This was for me today. Thanks for sharing it with me. God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself….JRE
“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” JAMES 1:16-17 NIV
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GOD RENOVATES OUR SOULS
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. PSALM 51:6
God must break through several hard, exterior barriers in our lives before He can renovate our souls. His persistent goal is to break through to the inner person.
What are those resistant layers in our hearts, and how does He break through to that hidden part? First, He finds pride. And He uses the sandpaper of obscurity to remove it ever so gradually.
Then He finds us gripped by fear, dread of our past, anxiety over our present, and terror over what may lie ahead, and He uses the passing of time to remove that fear. We learn that things aren’t out of hand at all; they’re in His hand.
He next encounters the barrier of resentment, the tyranny of bitterness. He breaks down that layer with solitude. In the silence of His presence, we gain a fresh perspective, gradually release our cherished rights, and let go of the expectations that held us hostage.
CHARLES SWINDOLL…….Moses: A Man of Selfless Dedication
***********************
“By surrendering control, we gain a far greater power.”
Narcotics Anonymous, basic text page 43
Love is
Thought for the day: “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” Bobby age 7
In 1967 I spent Christmas in Vietnam. As I recall, on Christmas Eve we had been in the field, and because of the Holiday we were called back to base camp. I had the fellowship of the guys in my platoon, and what we had to look forward to was maybe a package from home, turkey dinner in the mess hall, and a little sack from the Red Cross. Many times these sacks were hand sown by people back in the states. In them you would find a tooth brush, tooth paste, soap, shampoo, and hand lotion. Many of us took these little gifts for granted, but we always used every article. Twenty-nine years later I spent the Christmas season in the Wright County Jail. I spent the day reading the Bible and enjoying the Christmas tree that we assembled by sowing cut pieces of Styrofoam dinner plates together. Even in those extreme times, if I would stop and listen, Love was what was in the room. I got out January 5, 1997, after doing 30 days for a DWI, that was the last time I was in jail. Today I need to remember and honor a loving God for the renewing of my life, for the Love that was in the room when I took the time to listen. This was for me today. Thanks for sharing it with me. God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself….JRE
“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” JAMES 1:16-17 NIV
***********************
GOD RENOVATES OUR SOULS
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. PSALM 51:6
God must break through several hard, exterior barriers in our lives before He can renovate our souls. His persistent goal is to break through to the inner person.
What are those resistant layers in our hearts, and how does He break through to that hidden part? First, He finds pride. And He uses the sandpaper of obscurity to remove it ever so gradually.
Then He finds us gripped by fear, dread of our past, anxiety over our present, and terror over what may lie ahead, and He uses the passing of time to remove that fear. We learn that things aren’t out of hand at all; they’re in His hand.
He next encounters the barrier of resentment, the tyranny of bitterness. He breaks down that layer with solitude. In the silence of His presence, we gain a fresh perspective, gradually release our cherished rights, and let go of the expectations that held us hostage.
CHARLES SWINDOLL…….Moses: A Man of Selfless Dedication
***********************
“By surrendering control, we gain a far greater power.”
Narcotics Anonymous, basic text page 43
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.” PROVERBS 21:13
It’s all “one to another” stuff. All the things that we do that we find good and upright, are “one to another stuff.” To me the proverbs speaks of reaching out to many kinds of poverty. The poor materially, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. The people who are weak in social graces because of bad influences, and have come under bondage to fads of drug use. These people are poor also. A lot of young people think it is cool to get high and drunk. These are the poor also. When I need help, I want to be heard and answered, so I must continue to seek the lost and the poor. I must give it away to keep what I have. This is how AA works. I am grateful, thanks for letting me share. I must hurry today to meet with my sponsor and spiritual mentor, what we have is nothing more than “one to another stuff.” God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………….JRE
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HONEST BEFORE GOD
If we confer our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all righteousness. 1 JOHN 1:9
The Greek word for “confess” is homologeo. It means “to speak the same thing.” That is, to say about sin what God is saying to you about it.
Confession involves being honest, forthright, and not excusing yourself either to God or to your own conscience.
If the Father says, “I don’t want you to do that,” then respond, “Lord, I don’t want to do that.”
JACK HAYFORD………….Rebuilding the Real You
One to another stuff
Thought for the day: “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.” PROVERBS 21:13
It’s all “one to another” stuff. All the things that we do that we find good and upright, are “one to another stuff.” To me the proverbs speaks of reaching out to many kinds of poverty. The poor materially, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. The people who are weak in social graces because of bad influences, and have come under bondage to fads of drug use. These people are poor also. A lot of young people think it is cool to get high and drunk. These are the poor also. When I need help, I want to be heard and answered, so I must continue to seek the lost and the poor. I must give it away to keep what I have. This is how AA works. I am grateful, thanks for letting me share. I must hurry today to meet with my sponsor and spiritual mentor, what we have is nothing more than “one to another stuff.” God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………….JRE
***********************
HONEST BEFORE GOD
If we confer our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all righteousness. 1 JOHN 1:9
The Greek word for “confess” is homologeo. It means “to speak the same thing.” That is, to say about sin what God is saying to you about it.
Confession involves being honest, forthright, and not excusing yourself either to God or to your own conscience.
If the Father says, “I don’t want you to do that,” then respond, “Lord, I don’t want to do that.”
JACK HAYFORD………….Rebuilding the Real You
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Good timber does not grow with ease; the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees.”
It ain’t all smooth sailing. Here in Missouri, we have a saying, “if you don’t like the weather, wait fifteen minutes.” More than once I’ve seen days that started off in the seventies end up in the twenties. I’ve seen forecasts of partly cloudy skies six inches deep, that you’ve had to shovel with a snow shovel. Winds of adversity will always blow in our lives, and they will destroy us if we do not resist. When we resist them with an attitude of love and tolerance of others, and a heart of forgiveness, we get stronger. Last night I heard at an AA meeting that when we pray for someone we have resentments against, it is an act of forgiveness. And if we continue to pray for them we will somehow have a change of attitude in our heart; that will forgive them and ourselves as well. I live two miles north of the town square, and as I prepare to ride my bicycle to town I am aware of a south wind. Most days during the spring and summer there is some wind from the south. For the last five years and seven months when I head to town this time of year, I have to go against the flow. I have gotten stronger because of it. I am grateful. As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual. When the winds of adversity blow, I will stand, and get stronger. God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself………….JRE
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up unto him who is the Head, that is Christ.”
EPHESIANS 4:14-15 NIV
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LIVE FORGIVINGLY
Put on tender mercies,…forgiving one another. COLOSSIANS 3:12-13
Don’t forget to forgive! Don’t return to joyless living by becoming a forgetful servant. You have been forgiven. Now live forgivingly. Give up your claim to being “right.” Give over you burden of bitterness to God. Give in to the Holy Spirit’s correction when tempted not to forgive.
Forgiving keeps the soul and body healthy.
Forgiving allows a reconciled relationship.
Forgiving maintains gratitude for God’s grace.
JACK HAYFORD……………The Key to Everything
***********************
“It will not make us better people to judge the faults of another. It will make us feel better to clean up our lives….”
Narcotics Anonymous, basic text, page 37
Smooth Sailing
Thought for the day: “Good timber does not grow with ease; the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees.”
It ain’t all smooth sailing. Here in Missouri, we have a saying, “if you don’t like the weather, wait fifteen minutes.” More than once I’ve seen days that started off in the seventies end up in the twenties. I’ve seen forecasts of partly cloudy skies six inches deep, that you’ve had to shovel with a snow shovel. Winds of adversity will always blow in our lives, and they will destroy us if we do not resist. When we resist them with an attitude of love and tolerance of others, and a heart of forgiveness, we get stronger. Last night I heard at an AA meeting that when we pray for someone we have resentments against, it is an act of forgiveness. And if we continue to pray for them we will somehow have a change of attitude in our heart; that will forgive them and ourselves as well. I live two miles north of the town square, and as I prepare to ride my bicycle to town I am aware of a south wind. Most days during the spring and summer there is some wind from the south. For the last five years and seven months when I head to town this time of year, I have to go against the flow. I have gotten stronger because of it. I am grateful. As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual. When the winds of adversity blow, I will stand, and get stronger. God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself………….JRE
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up unto him who is the Head, that is Christ.”
EPHESIANS 4:14-15 NIV
***********************
LIVE FORGIVINGLY
Put on tender mercies,…forgiving one another. COLOSSIANS 3:12-13
Don’t forget to forgive! Don’t return to joyless living by becoming a forgetful servant. You have been forgiven. Now live forgivingly. Give up your claim to being “right.” Give over you burden of bitterness to God. Give in to the Holy Spirit’s correction when tempted not to forgive.
Forgiving keeps the soul and body healthy.
Forgiving allows a reconciled relationship.
Forgiving maintains gratitude for God’s grace.
JACK HAYFORD……………The Key to Everything
***********************
“It will not make us better people to judge the faults of another. It will make us feel better to clean up our lives….”
Narcotics Anonymous, basic text, page 37
Monday, April 19, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Never be afraid of giving up your best, and God will give you His better.” JAMES HINTON
I need to be jump-started this morning. Hold on a minute while I pray….you may do the same while your waiting……………………there, I can now move on a little further. I feel like there is a cloud hanging over me this morning, a cloud with no rain. I could be in a spiritual dry place, but I will not let myself dry out. This morning I washed myself with the water of the Word of God, there is no dust on me. If I get dry and dusty during the day, I know where to go to get refreshed. To my knees, and back to my Bible. One thing that has been passed on to me by my family is our need for good clean water. My great grandfather was a water well driller. My grandfather was a well driller. My father worked for my grandfather as a well driller. My uncles worked as well drillers, and one still drills. If I’m at a dry place, I need to drill a new well. When Moses led the Hebrew people out of Egypt and into the wilderness, they became dry and needed water. The Father told Moses to speak to the Rock and water would come. This morning I speak to the Rock of my salvation, Jesus, and water comes. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
“Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”
EPHESIANS 5:25-27 NIV
***********************
DO THE GOOD YOU CAN
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. PROVERBS 3:27
Matthew Henry wrote: “Wherever the Providence of God casts us, we should desire and endeavor to be useful; and, when we cannot do the good we would, we must be ready to do the good we can. And he that is faithful in little shall be entrusted with more.”
That thought moves me. If you can’t do the good you would, do the good you can. You may have had big-time plans for your life, major league dreams that haven’t panned out. You were going to write a best-selling book, but the opportunities just haven’t come along. Are you willing to write for your church newsletter?…..
Maybe you wanted to teach in seminary or bible school, but the pressures of life forced you in a different direction. Are you willing to teach a Sunday school class?….Maybe you’d hoped to be a missionary…but for one reason or another, that door has never opened….Are you open to working with Hispanic or Vietnamese people in your own city?
CHARLES SWINDOLL…..Moses: A Man of Selfless Dedication
***********************
“If we are hurting, and most of us do from time to time, we learn to ask for help.” NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS Basic Text, page 80
You don't miss your water till your well runs dry.
Thought for the day: “Never be afraid of giving up your best, and God will give you His better.” JAMES HINTON
I need to be jump-started this morning. Hold on a minute while I pray….you may do the same while your waiting……………………there, I can now move on a little further. I feel like there is a cloud hanging over me this morning, a cloud with no rain. I could be in a spiritual dry place, but I will not let myself dry out. This morning I washed myself with the water of the Word of God, there is no dust on me. If I get dry and dusty during the day, I know where to go to get refreshed. To my knees, and back to my Bible. One thing that has been passed on to me by my family is our need for good clean water. My great grandfather was a water well driller. My grandfather was a well driller. My father worked for my grandfather as a well driller. My uncles worked as well drillers, and one still drills. If I’m at a dry place, I need to drill a new well. When Moses led the Hebrew people out of Egypt and into the wilderness, they became dry and needed water. The Father told Moses to speak to the Rock and water would come. This morning I speak to the Rock of my salvation, Jesus, and water comes. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
“Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”
EPHESIANS 5:25-27 NIV
***********************
DO THE GOOD YOU CAN
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. PROVERBS 3:27
Matthew Henry wrote: “Wherever the Providence of God casts us, we should desire and endeavor to be useful; and, when we cannot do the good we would, we must be ready to do the good we can. And he that is faithful in little shall be entrusted with more.”
That thought moves me. If you can’t do the good you would, do the good you can. You may have had big-time plans for your life, major league dreams that haven’t panned out. You were going to write a best-selling book, but the opportunities just haven’t come along. Are you willing to write for your church newsletter?…..
Maybe you wanted to teach in seminary or bible school, but the pressures of life forced you in a different direction. Are you willing to teach a Sunday school class?….Maybe you’d hoped to be a missionary…but for one reason or another, that door has never opened….Are you open to working with Hispanic or Vietnamese people in your own city?
CHARLES SWINDOLL…..Moses: A Man of Selfless Dedication
***********************
“If we are hurting, and most of us do from time to time, we learn to ask for help.” NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS Basic Text, page 80
Friday, April 16, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him.” ALDOUS HUXLEY
Do we experience a situation or do we get experience from a situation? Or do we do both? Can we experience something and not have it affect what we do? Most of the time when I write this small paragraph I write from experience, and I find myself using the word experience over and over. So this morning when I came across this quote it opened up a whole new avenue of thought about what experience is. I am learning one thing about experiencing different situations. I will reap what I sow. It’s how I react to a situation that sows the seeds of the harvest to come. If I get uptight, you can bet I will harvest a crop of big-time uptightness. If I am passive I will harvest a crop apathy and indifference. If I accept the situation as being part of God’s creation and pray, I harvest serenity, wisdom, direction, and peace with my fellow man. Knowing where the peace and serenity come from in my life, I wonder why at times I still get uptight? It’s the “little ole me” pushing aside Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and saying, “look at me, look how big I am.” The truth when it comes to God is, I can’t even walk without holding His hand. God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself…………JRE
***********************
WORDS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL AND JESUS
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “MY GRACE IS MADE SUFFICIENT FOR YOU, FOR MY POWER IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10 NIV
***********************
Perhaps the best thing of all for me is to remember that my serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations. The higher my expectations of Max and other people are, the lower is my serenity. I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations. But when my “rights” try to move in, and they too can force my serenity level down. I have to discard my “rights,” as well as my expectations, by asking myself, How important is it, really? How important is it compared to my serenity, my emotional sobriety? And when I place more value on my serenity and sobriety than anything else. I can maintain them at a higher level, at least for the time being.
Dr. Paul, from his story in Alcoholics Anonymous page, 420.
Are you experienced?
Thought for the day: “Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him.” ALDOUS HUXLEY
Do we experience a situation or do we get experience from a situation? Or do we do both? Can we experience something and not have it affect what we do? Most of the time when I write this small paragraph I write from experience, and I find myself using the word experience over and over. So this morning when I came across this quote it opened up a whole new avenue of thought about what experience is. I am learning one thing about experiencing different situations. I will reap what I sow. It’s how I react to a situation that sows the seeds of the harvest to come. If I get uptight, you can bet I will harvest a crop of big-time uptightness. If I am passive I will harvest a crop apathy and indifference. If I accept the situation as being part of God’s creation and pray, I harvest serenity, wisdom, direction, and peace with my fellow man. Knowing where the peace and serenity come from in my life, I wonder why at times I still get uptight? It’s the “little ole me” pushing aside Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and saying, “look at me, look how big I am.” The truth when it comes to God is, I can’t even walk without holding His hand. God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself…………JRE
***********************
WORDS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL AND JESUS
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “MY GRACE IS MADE SUFFICIENT FOR YOU, FOR MY POWER IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10 NIV
***********************
Perhaps the best thing of all for me is to remember that my serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations. The higher my expectations of Max and other people are, the lower is my serenity. I can watch my serenity level rise when I discard my expectations. But when my “rights” try to move in, and they too can force my serenity level down. I have to discard my “rights,” as well as my expectations, by asking myself, How important is it, really? How important is it compared to my serenity, my emotional sobriety? And when I place more value on my serenity and sobriety than anything else. I can maintain them at a higher level, at least for the time being.
Dr. Paul, from his story in Alcoholics Anonymous page, 420.
Thursday, April 15, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Life becomes what you believe it to be.
Anonymous
If you would have asked me when I was seven or eight years old, what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have told you a Forest Ranger. I think I got this idea from a children’s TV show that was on in the Washington D.C. area in 1953. I still have a little wallet size card that says that I am one of Pick Temples Rangers. I held on to this dream for many years. After graduation from High School and serving in the military, I attended college. The idea of becoming a forest ranger had faded and my studies led me in the direction of my new passion, music. In 1974 I received an Associates of Arts degree, and soon found myself looking for work. I was hired by the city of Kansas City, Mo. as an equipment operator, watering trees that had been planted along the streets and parks. This rekindled an old dream. I soon was planting trees and during the next three years I helped plant over twenty thousand street trees in the city. I also learned the skills of trimming and removal of trees, which led to fifteen years of working in the field of tree care. Today when I go to Kansas City and travel down streets where I worked, I see trees that have grown for the last thirty years and I am amazed. At the time of planting, I had no idea of what the outcome would be thirty years later. “Life becomes what you believe it to be.” Twenty years ago, I believed I needed a Power greater than myself in my life in order to survive. Today I need and enjoy the fellowship of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the written Word. I believed, and it became life to me. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………….JRE
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
ROMANS 1:16-17 NIV
***********************
JOY AND STRENGTH
The joy of the LORD is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10
Whatever trial, tragedy, stress, or disappointment I may face, joy remains constant. It continues to rise from the well-spring of God’s loving purpose for me, I am of Him, He is with me, and no matter what, I will be victorious.
Once that deep-seated confidence possesses you, and the conviction of certain triumph grips your soul, you come to understand the meaning of the eternal word: “the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
JACK HAYFORD………Come…and Behold Him!
***********************
“In God’s economy, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is.”
BILL W. a letter dated 1942
Pick Temples Rangers
Thought for the day: “Life becomes what you believe it to be.
Anonymous
If you would have asked me when I was seven or eight years old, what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have told you a Forest Ranger. I think I got this idea from a children’s TV show that was on in the Washington D.C. area in 1953. I still have a little wallet size card that says that I am one of Pick Temples Rangers. I held on to this dream for many years. After graduation from High School and serving in the military, I attended college. The idea of becoming a forest ranger had faded and my studies led me in the direction of my new passion, music. In 1974 I received an Associates of Arts degree, and soon found myself looking for work. I was hired by the city of Kansas City, Mo. as an equipment operator, watering trees that had been planted along the streets and parks. This rekindled an old dream. I soon was planting trees and during the next three years I helped plant over twenty thousand street trees in the city. I also learned the skills of trimming and removal of trees, which led to fifteen years of working in the field of tree care. Today when I go to Kansas City and travel down streets where I worked, I see trees that have grown for the last thirty years and I am amazed. At the time of planting, I had no idea of what the outcome would be thirty years later. “Life becomes what you believe it to be.” Twenty years ago, I believed I needed a Power greater than myself in my life in order to survive. Today I need and enjoy the fellowship of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the written Word. I believed, and it became life to me. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………….JRE
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
ROMANS 1:16-17 NIV
***********************
JOY AND STRENGTH
The joy of the LORD is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10
Whatever trial, tragedy, stress, or disappointment I may face, joy remains constant. It continues to rise from the well-spring of God’s loving purpose for me, I am of Him, He is with me, and no matter what, I will be victorious.
Once that deep-seated confidence possesses you, and the conviction of certain triumph grips your soul, you come to understand the meaning of the eternal word: “the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
JACK HAYFORD………Come…and Behold Him!
***********************
“In God’s economy, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is.”
BILL W. a letter dated 1942
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “To listen well is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well.” Chinese proverb
This morning I woke up with the sounds of children in the house. Not the normal morning for me. Usually for me the first sounds of the day are sounds coming from the highway and the roosters crowing. This morning I heard children. What a blessing. My daughter and three grandsons are visiting for a few days on spring break. The boys, ages are ten, almost three and almost two. This kind of reminds me of the little plastic eggs that you open and find another little egg, which you open and find another little egg, and on and on. You see my mother came to this very same house to see her grandparents. I came to the very same house to see my grandparents, and my grandsons come here to see me. Sometimes the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree. Today I wake up and feel and see the benefits of being clean and sober. I am so thankful that my grandsons have never seen or even heard of me being drunk. I give God all the credit for loving me enough to let me do what I wanted, and allowing me to get sick and tired of being sick and tired. And then with open arms the Father sent the Son to show the Way. For those of you who are in recovery, continue to trust God and exercise your faith, and God will take you places and show you things that are beyond your thoughts and dreams. Today God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………………JRE
But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. GALATIANS 4:4-7 NIV
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THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
Romans 11:33
It was the mystery of lightning (so the story goes) that prompted Benjamin Franklin to attach a key to the tail of a kite during a thunderstorm, to prove the identity of lightning and electricity. We have always tried to understand the world around us; it is one of the things that sets us apart from the animals.
Some of the mysteries of the past have been fathomed by science. Others still puzzle us. This fact remains: all of the garnered wisdom of the ages is only a scratch on the surface of humanity’s search for the knowledge of the universe.
This inability to comprehend fully the mysteries of God’s creation does not in any way cast doubt on the Christian faith. On the contrary, it in enhances our belief. We do not understand the intricate patterns of the stars in their courses, but we know that He who created them does, and that just as surely as He guides them, He is charting a safe course for us.
The next time you look into the heavens at night, remember the words of the Psalmist: “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1).
BILLY GRAHAM
Little plastic eggs
Thought for the day: “To listen well is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well.” Chinese proverb
This morning I woke up with the sounds of children in the house. Not the normal morning for me. Usually for me the first sounds of the day are sounds coming from the highway and the roosters crowing. This morning I heard children. What a blessing. My daughter and three grandsons are visiting for a few days on spring break. The boys, ages are ten, almost three and almost two. This kind of reminds me of the little plastic eggs that you open and find another little egg, which you open and find another little egg, and on and on. You see my mother came to this very same house to see her grandparents. I came to the very same house to see my grandparents, and my grandsons come here to see me. Sometimes the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree. Today I wake up and feel and see the benefits of being clean and sober. I am so thankful that my grandsons have never seen or even heard of me being drunk. I give God all the credit for loving me enough to let me do what I wanted, and allowing me to get sick and tired of being sick and tired. And then with open arms the Father sent the Son to show the Way. For those of you who are in recovery, continue to trust God and exercise your faith, and God will take you places and show you things that are beyond your thoughts and dreams. Today God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………………JRE
But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. GALATIANS 4:4-7 NIV
***********************
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
Romans 11:33
It was the mystery of lightning (so the story goes) that prompted Benjamin Franklin to attach a key to the tail of a kite during a thunderstorm, to prove the identity of lightning and electricity. We have always tried to understand the world around us; it is one of the things that sets us apart from the animals.
Some of the mysteries of the past have been fathomed by science. Others still puzzle us. This fact remains: all of the garnered wisdom of the ages is only a scratch on the surface of humanity’s search for the knowledge of the universe.
This inability to comprehend fully the mysteries of God’s creation does not in any way cast doubt on the Christian faith. On the contrary, it in enhances our belief. We do not understand the intricate patterns of the stars in their courses, but we know that He who created them does, and that just as surely as He guides them, He is charting a safe course for us.
The next time you look into the heavens at night, remember the words of the Psalmist: “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1).
BILLY GRAHAM
Monday, April 12, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD have never forsaken those who seek you.” PSALM 9:10 NIV
Today my sponsor in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous celebrates forty-five years of sobriety. I am so blessed to have him in my life. He has been more than just a guide in the working of the twelve steps. He is my friend and spiritual advisor, my mentor. When I grow up, I want to be just like him. Of course that is a joke. We don’t really completely grow up in the program. We just grow. Sometimes I find myself growing in directions that are not spiritually prosperous, this is when I need a friend to help me understand and to give an objective view of the situation. I look forward to the times I meet with my sponsor to have lunch, and just touch base. Many times there is no real need that has to be met. Just a casual fellowship, that may uncover some area that needs work. My congratulations go out to my sponsor and friend, for forty-five years of service in helping others realize their dreams. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself….JRE
“AS IRON SHARPENS IRON, SO ONE MAN SHARPENS ANOTHER.”
Proverbs 27:17
***********************
THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We become believers through the work of the Holy Spirit, the personal expression of the power of God. We also are empowered in recovery by the Holy Spirit. He brings new life to us; even the faith to believe and the courage to admit our own powerlessness are gifts from him. The Holy Spirit instructs, guides, leads, and gives us power. It is he who delivers us from our bondage to evil desires and addictive patterns and creates in us love, joy, peace and serenity.
The Life Recovery Bible……..page, 1410
***********************
PREPARING THE HEART
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” PSALM 103:12
Confession does for the soul what preparing the land does for the field. Before the farmer sows the seed he works the acreage, removing the rocks and pulling the stumps. He knows that seed grows better if the land is prepared. Confession is the act of inviting God to walk the acreage of our hearts. “There is a rock of greed over here Father, I can’t budge it. And that tree of guilt near the fence? Its roots are long and deep. And may I show you some dry soil, too crusty for seed? God’s seed God’s seed grows better if the soil of the heart is cleared.
And so the Father and the Son walk the field together; digging and pulling, preparing the heart for fruit. Confession invites the Father to work the soil of the soul.
MAX LUCADO…………..In the Grip of Grace
forty-five years of service
Thought for the day: “Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD have never forsaken those who seek you.” PSALM 9:10 NIV
Today my sponsor in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous celebrates forty-five years of sobriety. I am so blessed to have him in my life. He has been more than just a guide in the working of the twelve steps. He is my friend and spiritual advisor, my mentor. When I grow up, I want to be just like him. Of course that is a joke. We don’t really completely grow up in the program. We just grow. Sometimes I find myself growing in directions that are not spiritually prosperous, this is when I need a friend to help me understand and to give an objective view of the situation. I look forward to the times I meet with my sponsor to have lunch, and just touch base. Many times there is no real need that has to be met. Just a casual fellowship, that may uncover some area that needs work. My congratulations go out to my sponsor and friend, for forty-five years of service in helping others realize their dreams. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself….JRE
“AS IRON SHARPENS IRON, SO ONE MAN SHARPENS ANOTHER.”
Proverbs 27:17
***********************
THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We become believers through the work of the Holy Spirit, the personal expression of the power of God. We also are empowered in recovery by the Holy Spirit. He brings new life to us; even the faith to believe and the courage to admit our own powerlessness are gifts from him. The Holy Spirit instructs, guides, leads, and gives us power. It is he who delivers us from our bondage to evil desires and addictive patterns and creates in us love, joy, peace and serenity.
The Life Recovery Bible……..page, 1410
***********************
PREPARING THE HEART
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” PSALM 103:12
Confession does for the soul what preparing the land does for the field. Before the farmer sows the seed he works the acreage, removing the rocks and pulling the stumps. He knows that seed grows better if the land is prepared. Confession is the act of inviting God to walk the acreage of our hearts. “There is a rock of greed over here Father, I can’t budge it. And that tree of guilt near the fence? Its roots are long and deep. And may I show you some dry soil, too crusty for seed? God’s seed God’s seed grows better if the soil of the heart is cleared.
And so the Father and the Son walk the field together; digging and pulling, preparing the heart for fruit. Confession invites the Father to work the soil of the soul.
MAX LUCADO…………..In the Grip of Grace
Friday, April 09, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “World's greatest management principle: You can work miracles by having faith in others. To get the best out of people, choose to think and believe the best about them.” Anonymous
I wonder why they call it Good Friday? What a strange name to give a day when an innocent man was put to death. Actually Jesus was sentenced to death, but they did not kill Him. They couldn’t, they had no power over Him at all. Jesus gave up His life. Scripture says He “gave” up the ghost, He “breathed His last.” These were things that Jesus did. I believe that if the people who nailed Jesus to the Cross had not done it, Jesus would have put Himself there. The Father had a plan that had been in action ever since the garden. This plan involved the recovery of God’s people who because of self-will and bad decisions had strayed from the presence and glory of God. For thousands of years the only way man could be reconciled to God was through a priest or some other representative. Today through Jesus I personally have access to the throne on God. The reason? It’s because I am forgiven. God’s mercy is renewed everyday and goes on forever. Two thousand years ago, God did for me what I could not do for myself. I stand in grateful awe………………….JRE
Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. LUKE 23:46 NIV
***********************
ALWAYS ON TIME
“We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.”
EPHESIANS 2:10
Jesus Christ is very direct with His disciples. He never issues a call that we’re incapable of responding to, but the timing of His call always seems too soon for us. We think we need more time, more money, more preparations, more qualifications, more………
But the Savior is also a saver of time when it involves His purposes. He won’t waste it by calling us into His purpose prematurely or by allowing us to linger beyond the timing He knows is best.
JACK HAYFORD…………The Power and Blessing
***********************
“It is not where we were that counts, but where we are going.”
Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text p.22
TGIF
Thought for the day: “World's greatest management principle: You can work miracles by having faith in others. To get the best out of people, choose to think and believe the best about them.” Anonymous
I wonder why they call it Good Friday? What a strange name to give a day when an innocent man was put to death. Actually Jesus was sentenced to death, but they did not kill Him. They couldn’t, they had no power over Him at all. Jesus gave up His life. Scripture says He “gave” up the ghost, He “breathed His last.” These were things that Jesus did. I believe that if the people who nailed Jesus to the Cross had not done it, Jesus would have put Himself there. The Father had a plan that had been in action ever since the garden. This plan involved the recovery of God’s people who because of self-will and bad decisions had strayed from the presence and glory of God. For thousands of years the only way man could be reconciled to God was through a priest or some other representative. Today through Jesus I personally have access to the throne on God. The reason? It’s because I am forgiven. God’s mercy is renewed everyday and goes on forever. Two thousand years ago, God did for me what I could not do for myself. I stand in grateful awe………………….JRE
Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. LUKE 23:46 NIV
***********************
ALWAYS ON TIME
“We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.”
EPHESIANS 2:10
Jesus Christ is very direct with His disciples. He never issues a call that we’re incapable of responding to, but the timing of His call always seems too soon for us. We think we need more time, more money, more preparations, more qualifications, more………
But the Savior is also a saver of time when it involves His purposes. He won’t waste it by calling us into His purpose prematurely or by allowing us to linger beyond the timing He knows is best.
JACK HAYFORD…………The Power and Blessing
***********************
“It is not where we were that counts, but where we are going.”
Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text p.22
Thursday, April 08, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Envy, if surrounded on all sides by the brightness of another’s prosperity, like the scorpion confined within a circle of fire, will sting itself to death.” CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Today once again I think of gratitude. As I sit and look out my window, I see the highway U.S. 60. Without the leaves on the trees I have a good view of what goes by. Most of it shines in some way, the new trucks, fancy cars, long campers, nice boats, good sounding motorcycles, tour busses, brand new modular homes, and all kinds of people, some working and some on vacation. As the busy world goes by, I sometimes feel that I would like to be caught up in the rush and just go, but I can’t. You see I ride a bicycle. Because of some bad decisions I made I lost my driving privileges for ten years, I still have two years seven months left. I’m not telling you this to get some form of pity, but to express my gratitude for my life today. Riding a bicycle everyday has probably been the best physical thing to happen to me in the last thirty years. I have logged over twenty-three thousand miles since I became clean and sober five and a half years ago. I am grateful that God allowed me to use my self-centered will until I had only one choice and that was to surrender. Since my surrender, Jesus has walked with me from one victory to another. My life is not perfect, but I can claim progress. I heard once at an AA meeting that, “happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.” This attitude keeps me “happy, joyous and free” (AA page 133). Today God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………….JRE
Words of Jesus found in Matthew 6:19-21 NIV:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
***********************
ABUNDANT LIFE
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. JOHN 10:10
Because it is short, life is packed with challenging possibilities. Because it is uncertain, it’s filled with challenging adjustments. I’m convinced that’s much of what Jesus meant when He promised us an abundant life. Abundant with challenges, running over with possibilities, filled with opportunities to adapt, shift, alter, and change. Come to think of it, that’s the secret to staying young. It’s also the path that leads to optimism and motivation.
With each new dawn, life delivers a package to your front door, rings your doorbell, and runs. Each package is cleverly wrapped in paper and big print. One package reads: “Watch out. Better worry about this!” Another: “Danger. This will bring fear!” And another; “Impossible. You’ll never handle this one!”
When you hear that ring tomorrow morning, try something new. Have Jesus Christ answer the door.
CHARLES SWINDOLL………..The Finishing Touch
Wanting what you have
Thought for the day: “Envy, if surrounded on all sides by the brightness of another’s prosperity, like the scorpion confined within a circle of fire, will sting itself to death.” CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Today once again I think of gratitude. As I sit and look out my window, I see the highway U.S. 60. Without the leaves on the trees I have a good view of what goes by. Most of it shines in some way, the new trucks, fancy cars, long campers, nice boats, good sounding motorcycles, tour busses, brand new modular homes, and all kinds of people, some working and some on vacation. As the busy world goes by, I sometimes feel that I would like to be caught up in the rush and just go, but I can’t. You see I ride a bicycle. Because of some bad decisions I made I lost my driving privileges for ten years, I still have two years seven months left. I’m not telling you this to get some form of pity, but to express my gratitude for my life today. Riding a bicycle everyday has probably been the best physical thing to happen to me in the last thirty years. I have logged over twenty-three thousand miles since I became clean and sober five and a half years ago. I am grateful that God allowed me to use my self-centered will until I had only one choice and that was to surrender. Since my surrender, Jesus has walked with me from one victory to another. My life is not perfect, but I can claim progress. I heard once at an AA meeting that, “happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.” This attitude keeps me “happy, joyous and free” (AA page 133). Today God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………….JRE
Words of Jesus found in Matthew 6:19-21 NIV:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
***********************
ABUNDANT LIFE
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. JOHN 10:10
Because it is short, life is packed with challenging possibilities. Because it is uncertain, it’s filled with challenging adjustments. I’m convinced that’s much of what Jesus meant when He promised us an abundant life. Abundant with challenges, running over with possibilities, filled with opportunities to adapt, shift, alter, and change. Come to think of it, that’s the secret to staying young. It’s also the path that leads to optimism and motivation.
With each new dawn, life delivers a package to your front door, rings your doorbell, and runs. Each package is cleverly wrapped in paper and big print. One package reads: “Watch out. Better worry about this!” Another: “Danger. This will bring fear!” And another; “Impossible. You’ll never handle this one!”
When you hear that ring tomorrow morning, try something new. Have Jesus Christ answer the door.
CHARLES SWINDOLL………..The Finishing Touch
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Love is what makes you smile when you are tired.”
TERRI age 4
The other day I got an email, which had a list of quotes by young children. The subject was, “what love is.” I have found many of them to be so simple, but so true. Love can be seen expressed in an infinite number of ways. Each person, each minute, each situation, can bring about a new demonstration of love. Love does not have even the smallest speck of bad in it. Love is pure, and flows from God. Love, does not just spring up on its self, it flows from God. Love, is not something you can just fall in and have it, it flows from God through us to others. Love never has to go back and refresh its self. It is new all the time. Love lives in the moment, not in the past or the future. “Love is what makes you smile when you are tired.” Thanks for letting me share, God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself…….JRE
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not love God, because God is love.” 1 JOHN 4:7-8 NIV
***********************
The Bible is the greatest book on recovery ever written. In its pages we see God set out a plan for the recovery of his broken people and creation. We meet numerous individuals whose hurting lives are restored through the wisdom and power of God. We meet the God who is waiting with arms outstretched for all of us to turn back to him, seek his will, and recover the wonderful life he has for each of us.
Many of us are just waking up to the fact that recovery is an essential part of life for everyone. It is the simple but challenging process of daily seeking God’s will for our life instead of demanding to go our own way. Recovery is letting God do for us what we cannot do for ourselves while taking the steps necessary to draw closer to our Creator and Redeemer. It is allowing God to heal our wounded soul so we can help others in the process of healing. All of us need to take part in this process; it is an inherent part of being human.
From the Preface to “The Life Recovery Bible.”
***********************
“Day by day we try to move a little toward God’s perfection. So we need not be consumed by maudlin guilt for failure to achieve His likeness and image by Thursday next. Progress is our aim, and His perfection is the beacon, light-years away, that draws us on.”
BILL W. a letter dated 1966
Flowing from God
Thought for the day: “Love is what makes you smile when you are tired.”
TERRI age 4
The other day I got an email, which had a list of quotes by young children. The subject was, “what love is.” I have found many of them to be so simple, but so true. Love can be seen expressed in an infinite number of ways. Each person, each minute, each situation, can bring about a new demonstration of love. Love does not have even the smallest speck of bad in it. Love is pure, and flows from God. Love, does not just spring up on its self, it flows from God. Love, is not something you can just fall in and have it, it flows from God through us to others. Love never has to go back and refresh its self. It is new all the time. Love lives in the moment, not in the past or the future. “Love is what makes you smile when you are tired.” Thanks for letting me share, God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself…….JRE
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not love God, because God is love.” 1 JOHN 4:7-8 NIV
***********************
The Bible is the greatest book on recovery ever written. In its pages we see God set out a plan for the recovery of his broken people and creation. We meet numerous individuals whose hurting lives are restored through the wisdom and power of God. We meet the God who is waiting with arms outstretched for all of us to turn back to him, seek his will, and recover the wonderful life he has for each of us.
Many of us are just waking up to the fact that recovery is an essential part of life for everyone. It is the simple but challenging process of daily seeking God’s will for our life instead of demanding to go our own way. Recovery is letting God do for us what we cannot do for ourselves while taking the steps necessary to draw closer to our Creator and Redeemer. It is allowing God to heal our wounded soul so we can help others in the process of healing. All of us need to take part in this process; it is an inherent part of being human.
From the Preface to “The Life Recovery Bible.”
***********************
“Day by day we try to move a little toward God’s perfection. So we need not be consumed by maudlin guilt for failure to achieve His likeness and image by Thursday next. Progress is our aim, and His perfection is the beacon, light-years away, that draws us on.”
BILL W. a letter dated 1966
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Some people are always grumbling that roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.” ALPHONSE KARR
Today I want to continue with thoughts of gratitude. If it were not for the thorns that have hurt me in my struggle in dealing with self-centeredness, I would not have gotten close enough to the bloom to smell the rose. There are still some thorns on the stem, but when I take time and listen for the small voice inside, I hear it saying, “isn’t that a wonderful aroma.” For me, gratitude is taking the time to be thankful for all the things that have brought me to where I am today. The thorns as well as the flowers I’ve passed on the way. I can not afford to just sit comfortable and hang around the flowers, I must continue to climb the vine and grow and learn as I travel. I find love to be the fuel that powers my journey, and love will keep me as I go. Love never fails. Thanks for letting me share, God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself………..JRE
Words of Jesus found in John 15:5-8 NIV:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is my Fathers glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
***********************
FINDING COURAGE IN GRACE
I was given mercy so that in me, the worst of all sinners, Christ Jesus could show that he has patience without limit. 1 TIMOTHY 1:16
During the early days of the Civil War a Union soldier was arrested on charges of desertion. Unable to prove his innocence, he was condemned and sentenced to die a deserter’s death. His appeal found its way to the desk of Abraham Lincoln. The president felt mercy for the soldier and signed a pardon. The soldier returned to service, fought the entirety of the war, and was killed in the last battle. Found within his breast pocket was the signed letter of the president.
Close to the heart of the soldier were his leader’s words of pardon. He found courage in grace. I wonder how many thousands more have found courage in the emblazoned cross of their heavenly king.
MAX LUCADO……………In the Grip of Grace
***********************
…..there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.25
Climbing the vine
Thought for the day: “Some people are always grumbling that roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.” ALPHONSE KARR
Today I want to continue with thoughts of gratitude. If it were not for the thorns that have hurt me in my struggle in dealing with self-centeredness, I would not have gotten close enough to the bloom to smell the rose. There are still some thorns on the stem, but when I take time and listen for the small voice inside, I hear it saying, “isn’t that a wonderful aroma.” For me, gratitude is taking the time to be thankful for all the things that have brought me to where I am today. The thorns as well as the flowers I’ve passed on the way. I can not afford to just sit comfortable and hang around the flowers, I must continue to climb the vine and grow and learn as I travel. I find love to be the fuel that powers my journey, and love will keep me as I go. Love never fails. Thanks for letting me share, God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself………..JRE
Words of Jesus found in John 15:5-8 NIV:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is my Fathers glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
***********************
FINDING COURAGE IN GRACE
I was given mercy so that in me, the worst of all sinners, Christ Jesus could show that he has patience without limit. 1 TIMOTHY 1:16
During the early days of the Civil War a Union soldier was arrested on charges of desertion. Unable to prove his innocence, he was condemned and sentenced to die a deserter’s death. His appeal found its way to the desk of Abraham Lincoln. The president felt mercy for the soldier and signed a pardon. The soldier returned to service, fought the entirety of the war, and was killed in the last battle. Found within his breast pocket was the signed letter of the president.
Close to the heart of the soldier were his leader’s words of pardon. He found courage in grace. I wonder how many thousands more have found courage in the emblazoned cross of their heavenly king.
MAX LUCADO……………In the Grip of Grace
***********************
…..there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.25
Monday, April 05, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “The first generation tries to preserve, the second generation tries to forget, the third generation tries to remember.”
I heard this statement yesterday on a Public Television program. It was a program that was about the Jewish people, their traditions and their celebrations. All of us in our lives, if we live long enough become all three generations. At around the age of twelve or thirteen I became aware of my generation. I did not start out trying to preserve anything, I wanted to forget what my parents and grandparents were about and thought I had found something new in life. I thought my generation was different than any before. The next stage was in my late twenties when I realized that it was cool the way my parents were raised, and I admired what my grandparents were about. Like a lot of things in my life that I’ve had to learn by doing them backwards, I am at the stage were I want to preserve my beliefs and what I know about my parents and grandparents. Today as I sit and look out my window I see a piece of ground that my great-grandparents sweat over just to survive. With each generation it got a little easier. Today I mow it like a yard and go to Wal-mart to get my stuff. I want to still preserve the memory of those who put a lot of sweat into life so that I could be comfortable. Today I work on gratitude, it keeps me sober. Thanks for letting me share, God surely is doing for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE
The apostle Paul writing to his son in the faith, Timothy:
“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” 2 TIMOTHY 1:5-7 NIV
***********************
“One exercise that I practice is to try for a full inventory of my blessings and then for a right acceptance of the many gifts that are mine, both temporal and spiritual. Here I try to achieve a state of joyful gratitude. When such a brand of gratitude is repeatedly affirmed and pondered, it can finally displace the natural tendency to congratulate myself on whatever progress I may have been enabled to make in some areas of living.”
“I try to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits. When brimming with gratitude, one’s heartbeat must surely result in out going love, the finest emotion that we can ever know.”
BILL W. A.A. Grapevine, March 1962
Wal-mart stuff
Thought for the day: “The first generation tries to preserve, the second generation tries to forget, the third generation tries to remember.”
I heard this statement yesterday on a Public Television program. It was a program that was about the Jewish people, their traditions and their celebrations. All of us in our lives, if we live long enough become all three generations. At around the age of twelve or thirteen I became aware of my generation. I did not start out trying to preserve anything, I wanted to forget what my parents and grandparents were about and thought I had found something new in life. I thought my generation was different than any before. The next stage was in my late twenties when I realized that it was cool the way my parents were raised, and I admired what my grandparents were about. Like a lot of things in my life that I’ve had to learn by doing them backwards, I am at the stage were I want to preserve my beliefs and what I know about my parents and grandparents. Today as I sit and look out my window I see a piece of ground that my great-grandparents sweat over just to survive. With each generation it got a little easier. Today I mow it like a yard and go to Wal-mart to get my stuff. I want to still preserve the memory of those who put a lot of sweat into life so that I could be comfortable. Today I work on gratitude, it keeps me sober. Thanks for letting me share, God surely is doing for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE
The apostle Paul writing to his son in the faith, Timothy:
“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” 2 TIMOTHY 1:5-7 NIV
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“One exercise that I practice is to try for a full inventory of my blessings and then for a right acceptance of the many gifts that are mine, both temporal and spiritual. Here I try to achieve a state of joyful gratitude. When such a brand of gratitude is repeatedly affirmed and pondered, it can finally displace the natural tendency to congratulate myself on whatever progress I may have been enabled to make in some areas of living.”
“I try to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits. When brimming with gratitude, one’s heartbeat must surely result in out going love, the finest emotion that we can ever know.”
BILL W. A.A. Grapevine, March 1962
Friday, April 02, 2004
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: 4-2-04
Yesterday evening around 7pm my long time friend Patsy King passed into eternity, to live forever with her Savior and Friend Jesus Christ. She was peaceful as she passed over. Patsy and I were the same age, I was born at 9pm August 2, 1946, and Patsy was born 9am August 3, 1946. Patsy is a Christian, we spent many hours together reading the Word of God and just enjoying fellowship in the presence of our Lord.
I first met Patsy in 1986, she worked at the laundry mat here in Mountain Grove. Patsy and my wife Evelynn became close friends over the years, and when Evelynn passed in 1995, Patsy and I continued to maintain our friendship. In 1998 by the grace of God I entered into treatment for alcohol and drug addiction. Part of my recovery program involves the study of the Bible each morning before I leave the house. The state took my driving privileges for ten years in 1996, so today I ride a bicycle. Each morning as I leave the house to go to town I pass by Patsy’s house. I would stop and say hello, and this soon led to a Bible study, which lasted five years. We would read aloud to each other, I would read half of a chapter and then she would read half a chapter. We would usually read three chapters a day. Over the years we read the Bible completely through two times. When I look back I realize that this was probably one of the most awesome accomplishments I have done with another person. Patsy and I discussed many times about the trip to heaven and how to be sure that we will make the journey. We talked about the fact that there is nothing we do to earn heaven. Only by believing in Jesus Christ the Son of God, and the finished work of the Cross, do we become citizens of heaven. Once we understood this we would sit down daily and feast upon the Word. I will miss Patsy here on earth, but I am not sorry about her passing. I know where she is, she just beat me there. I thank you for the prayers, and ask that you continue to pray for her daughter Renee’, granddaughter Pressia, grandson Levi, Dan, and her many friends who will miss her. Patsy could put together the best Thanksgiving dinner you ever ate. But most of all I will remember the feast we had as we sat at the Lord’s table. Today God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……….JRE
Patsy King
Thought for the day: 4-2-04
Yesterday evening around 7pm my long time friend Patsy King passed into eternity, to live forever with her Savior and Friend Jesus Christ. She was peaceful as she passed over. Patsy and I were the same age, I was born at 9pm August 2, 1946, and Patsy was born 9am August 3, 1946. Patsy is a Christian, we spent many hours together reading the Word of God and just enjoying fellowship in the presence of our Lord.
I first met Patsy in 1986, she worked at the laundry mat here in Mountain Grove. Patsy and my wife Evelynn became close friends over the years, and when Evelynn passed in 1995, Patsy and I continued to maintain our friendship. In 1998 by the grace of God I entered into treatment for alcohol and drug addiction. Part of my recovery program involves the study of the Bible each morning before I leave the house. The state took my driving privileges for ten years in 1996, so today I ride a bicycle. Each morning as I leave the house to go to town I pass by Patsy’s house. I would stop and say hello, and this soon led to a Bible study, which lasted five years. We would read aloud to each other, I would read half of a chapter and then she would read half a chapter. We would usually read three chapters a day. Over the years we read the Bible completely through two times. When I look back I realize that this was probably one of the most awesome accomplishments I have done with another person. Patsy and I discussed many times about the trip to heaven and how to be sure that we will make the journey. We talked about the fact that there is nothing we do to earn heaven. Only by believing in Jesus Christ the Son of God, and the finished work of the Cross, do we become citizens of heaven. Once we understood this we would sit down daily and feast upon the Word. I will miss Patsy here on earth, but I am not sorry about her passing. I know where she is, she just beat me there. I thank you for the prayers, and ask that you continue to pray for her daughter Renee’, granddaughter Pressia, grandson Levi, Dan, and her many friends who will miss her. Patsy could put together the best Thanksgiving dinner you ever ate. But most of all I will remember the feast we had as we sat at the Lord’s table. Today God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……….JRE
