Monday, January 31, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well.”
Abraham Lincoln
“Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:15-16 NASB
How do we praise when it is a sacrifice to do so? How do we give thanks when all we feel is pain? These are some tough questions and the answers to them do not just come to us automatically. It is by experience that we learn how to offer up a sacrifice of praise.
Around twenty years ago I first heard a statement that helped me to rise above some of my personal problems. I don’t recall exactly where I first heard it, but it was in church somewhere. It goes like this, “You can’t complain about your situation and praise God at the same time.” What a revelation this was to me. The instant I took my mind off myself and put it on God, the less my problem appears to be. This is not to say that problems will just go away. A person still needs to work on the source of our problems whether it is personal or internal or external. Many external problems we cannot change and we must learn to accept them the way they are. It is through this acceptance that we receive peace and are able to offer up praise. When we offer up a sacrifice of praise we start living in the solution. In AA we have a story in the Big Book that relates to this. It says, “When I focus in the problem, the problem increased. When I focus on the answer the answer increases.” How true this has been for me, when I offer up a sacrifice of praise, I focus on the solution. God does for me what I could not do for myself……….JRE
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“He only ask thee to yield thyself to Him, that He may work in thee to will and to do by His own mighty power. Thy part is to yield thyself, His part is to work; and never, never will He give thee any command which is not accompanied by ample power to obey it.”
Hannah Whithall Smith
********************
“AA has given me a new pair of glasses. I can again focus on my wife’s good qualities and watch them grow and grow and grow.
“I can do the same thing with an AA meeting. The more I focus my mind on its defects, the late start, long drunkalogs, cigarette smoke, the worse the meeting becomes. But when I try to see what I can add to the meeting, rather than what I can get out of it, and when I focus my mind on what’s good about it, rather than what’s wrong with it, the meeting keeps getting better and better. When I focus on what’s good today, I have a good day, and when I focus on what’s bad, I have a bad day. If I focus on a problem, the problem increases; if I focus on the answer, the answer increases.” Dr. Paul………..Alcoholics Anonymous page 419
Focus
Thought for the day: “Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well.”
Abraham Lincoln
“Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:15-16 NASB
How do we praise when it is a sacrifice to do so? How do we give thanks when all we feel is pain? These are some tough questions and the answers to them do not just come to us automatically. It is by experience that we learn how to offer up a sacrifice of praise.
Around twenty years ago I first heard a statement that helped me to rise above some of my personal problems. I don’t recall exactly where I first heard it, but it was in church somewhere. It goes like this, “You can’t complain about your situation and praise God at the same time.” What a revelation this was to me. The instant I took my mind off myself and put it on God, the less my problem appears to be. This is not to say that problems will just go away. A person still needs to work on the source of our problems whether it is personal or internal or external. Many external problems we cannot change and we must learn to accept them the way they are. It is through this acceptance that we receive peace and are able to offer up praise. When we offer up a sacrifice of praise we start living in the solution. In AA we have a story in the Big Book that relates to this. It says, “When I focus in the problem, the problem increased. When I focus on the answer the answer increases.” How true this has been for me, when I offer up a sacrifice of praise, I focus on the solution. God does for me what I could not do for myself……….JRE
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“He only ask thee to yield thyself to Him, that He may work in thee to will and to do by His own mighty power. Thy part is to yield thyself, His part is to work; and never, never will He give thee any command which is not accompanied by ample power to obey it.”
Hannah Whithall Smith
********************
“AA has given me a new pair of glasses. I can again focus on my wife’s good qualities and watch them grow and grow and grow.
“I can do the same thing with an AA meeting. The more I focus my mind on its defects, the late start, long drunkalogs, cigarette smoke, the worse the meeting becomes. But when I try to see what I can add to the meeting, rather than what I can get out of it, and when I focus my mind on what’s good about it, rather than what’s wrong with it, the meeting keeps getting better and better. When I focus on what’s good today, I have a good day, and when I focus on what’s bad, I have a bad day. If I focus on a problem, the problem increases; if I focus on the answer, the answer increases.” Dr. Paul………..Alcoholics Anonymous page 419
Friday, January 28, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “We discover the truth of Scripture not by intellect, but by obedience. Man’s approach to spiritual life has always been learn, that you may do. The divine formula is, ‘Do, that you may know.’”
Lawrence O. Richards
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
Romans 12:9-13 NIV
If I had to pick out of all Scripture what I would consider to be the code of behavior for Christians, what Paul wrote to the church at Rome would be high on my list. When Jesus quoted the Old Testament by saying, “love your neighbor as yourself,” we find a code of behavior that pretty will sums it all up. But coming from the heart of someone other than Jesus, who loved the Lord and his fellow man, Paul, has laid down a pretty good list that could be called our code. “Love must be sincere.” I am guilty as I am sure many others are of saying “I love you” and not really meaning it. In my life somewhere during the 1970’s the word love got all stretched out of proportion and I found myself using it very loosely. I found myself using it for words such as like, lust, friendly, kind, pretty, and so on. My heart knew that I was not sincere when I expressed love, and to keep the same thing from happening to myself by others, I put up a love proof shield. I don’t think I consciously put up a shield around my heart, but the hardness of my own heart towards others created the shield. Hard got harder. One day my heart was so brittle and because of my alcoholism I fell again for the umpteenth time and shattered it. Only then was sincere love able to reach my soul. That love entered in by the testimony of Smitty, a guard at Leeds Prison Farm, Kansas City Missouri. Also I was able to get a Bible, and with the crusty hard shield around my heart shattered, the grace and love of God was able to enter in. Today I still find myself trying at times to say the word love without meaning it, and I still from time to time find myself building up a shield around my heart. But with the reading of the Word which brings about spiritual fervor, serving the Lord by serving others, and practicing prayer I can work on not having a hard heart. It’s a daily thing and the work is all on the inside. Thanks for letting me share, God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE
********************
This stubborn, adolescent will of mine
Is making me a spiritual delinquent!
It drives me recklessly about on life’s freeways,
At times endangering both myself and others along the way.
If I bring it daily unto God in prayer,
Surely He can curb these tendencies
With His understanding love
And gently bend it to His will and way
During this difficult period of growing up
Toward spiritual maturity.
Carolyn N. Rhea
Code
Thought for the day: “We discover the truth of Scripture not by intellect, but by obedience. Man’s approach to spiritual life has always been learn, that you may do. The divine formula is, ‘Do, that you may know.’”
Lawrence O. Richards
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
Romans 12:9-13 NIV
If I had to pick out of all Scripture what I would consider to be the code of behavior for Christians, what Paul wrote to the church at Rome would be high on my list. When Jesus quoted the Old Testament by saying, “love your neighbor as yourself,” we find a code of behavior that pretty will sums it all up. But coming from the heart of someone other than Jesus, who loved the Lord and his fellow man, Paul, has laid down a pretty good list that could be called our code. “Love must be sincere.” I am guilty as I am sure many others are of saying “I love you” and not really meaning it. In my life somewhere during the 1970’s the word love got all stretched out of proportion and I found myself using it very loosely. I found myself using it for words such as like, lust, friendly, kind, pretty, and so on. My heart knew that I was not sincere when I expressed love, and to keep the same thing from happening to myself by others, I put up a love proof shield. I don’t think I consciously put up a shield around my heart, but the hardness of my own heart towards others created the shield. Hard got harder. One day my heart was so brittle and because of my alcoholism I fell again for the umpteenth time and shattered it. Only then was sincere love able to reach my soul. That love entered in by the testimony of Smitty, a guard at Leeds Prison Farm, Kansas City Missouri. Also I was able to get a Bible, and with the crusty hard shield around my heart shattered, the grace and love of God was able to enter in. Today I still find myself trying at times to say the word love without meaning it, and I still from time to time find myself building up a shield around my heart. But with the reading of the Word which brings about spiritual fervor, serving the Lord by serving others, and practicing prayer I can work on not having a hard heart. It’s a daily thing and the work is all on the inside. Thanks for letting me share, God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE
********************
This stubborn, adolescent will of mine
Is making me a spiritual delinquent!
It drives me recklessly about on life’s freeways,
At times endangering both myself and others along the way.
If I bring it daily unto God in prayer,
Surely He can curb these tendencies
With His understanding love
And gently bend it to His will and way
During this difficult period of growing up
Toward spiritual maturity.
Carolyn N. Rhea
Thursday, January 27, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “It’s not what we have. It’s what God can and will do with what we have that counts!” Lawrence O. Richards
“Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11 NASB
It doesn’t take much to do God’s work. Mainly a willingness to be used will go a long way in doing the will of God. I have seen people in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous with only thirty days sober go up to someone with only one day sober and say, It’s gets easier, just keep coming back.” They really don’t have much to offer the newcomer except a willing heart. I can remember my first year in the program of AA, how I would listen intently to the old timers when they spoke. Most of them had between twenty-five and forty years sober. I would hang on every word as they shared their experience, strength and hope. But forty years sober was a chunk of time that I could not really grasp. I was hoping to just make one more day sober, and eventually reach that one-year mark. Where I really got my encouragement was from my peers, the individuals who had been in the program only six months. I also got much encouragement from the individuals who had less time sober than myself. When you sit and watch a person with only six weeks sober start to feel better physically, their mind starts to clear up, and spiritually they start reaching up and out. When I experience these changes in the life of someone who is desperately trying to bring about a better life, then I myself am renewed with spiritual power to continue forward in my own program. It’s like we are all in the ocean of life dog paddling, if we paddle over to someone to offer an encouraging word to “keep paddling,” we keep ourselves from sinking. When I let someone paddle over to me to offer encouragement, they stay afloat. I am so grateful today for those who paddled my way. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
“Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
James 4:10 NASB
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“The Spirit of God is always the spirit of liberty; the spirit that is not of God is the spirit of bondage, the spirit of oppression and depression. The Spirit of God convicts vividly and tensely, but He is always the Spirit of liberty. God who made the birds never made birdcages; it is men who make birdcages, and after a while we become cramped and can do nothing by chirp and stand on one leg. When we get out into God’s great free life, we discover that that is the way God means us to live ‘the glorious liberty of the children of God.’”
Oswald Chambers
********************
“It is worth noting that people of very high spiritual development almost always insist on checking with friends or spiritual advisers the guidance they feel they have received from God.” BILL W. A.A. 12X12 page 60
Dog paddling
Thought for the day: “It’s not what we have. It’s what God can and will do with what we have that counts!” Lawrence O. Richards
“Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11 NASB
It doesn’t take much to do God’s work. Mainly a willingness to be used will go a long way in doing the will of God. I have seen people in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous with only thirty days sober go up to someone with only one day sober and say, It’s gets easier, just keep coming back.” They really don’t have much to offer the newcomer except a willing heart. I can remember my first year in the program of AA, how I would listen intently to the old timers when they spoke. Most of them had between twenty-five and forty years sober. I would hang on every word as they shared their experience, strength and hope. But forty years sober was a chunk of time that I could not really grasp. I was hoping to just make one more day sober, and eventually reach that one-year mark. Where I really got my encouragement was from my peers, the individuals who had been in the program only six months. I also got much encouragement from the individuals who had less time sober than myself. When you sit and watch a person with only six weeks sober start to feel better physically, their mind starts to clear up, and spiritually they start reaching up and out. When I experience these changes in the life of someone who is desperately trying to bring about a better life, then I myself am renewed with spiritual power to continue forward in my own program. It’s like we are all in the ocean of life dog paddling, if we paddle over to someone to offer an encouraging word to “keep paddling,” we keep ourselves from sinking. When I let someone paddle over to me to offer encouragement, they stay afloat. I am so grateful today for those who paddled my way. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
“Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
James 4:10 NASB
********************
“The Spirit of God is always the spirit of liberty; the spirit that is not of God is the spirit of bondage, the spirit of oppression and depression. The Spirit of God convicts vividly and tensely, but He is always the Spirit of liberty. God who made the birds never made birdcages; it is men who make birdcages, and after a while we become cramped and can do nothing by chirp and stand on one leg. When we get out into God’s great free life, we discover that that is the way God means us to live ‘the glorious liberty of the children of God.’”
Oswald Chambers
********************
“It is worth noting that people of very high spiritual development almost always insist on checking with friends or spiritual advisers the guidance they feel they have received from God.” BILL W. A.A. 12X12 page 60
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: (Morning prayer) “Good morning, God, I love You! What are You up to today? I want to be part of it.” Norman Grubb
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
ROMANS 5:1-5 NKJV
Paul wrote in this Scripture to the Romans about having faith, peace, tribulations, perseverance, character, and hope. What a list of experiences, many of which are as different as day and night. Peace and tribulations don’t seem to be related in the natural world, but in realm of spirituality they can be all part of the same process that we go through to be mature. To be able to draw from the traits of peace, hope, perseverance, and good character we must first be justified through faith. I used to be baffled by the term justification that is used by the apostle Paul. Only until I related it to my own personal legal experiences was I able to fully understand. I am not proud of my drunk driving record, and have been over eight years, without driving privileges. I still have one year and ten months to go before I can drive again. God has taught me many lessons during this time. One was to take my court experiences and use it to understand justification. I have stood in front of a judge many times, most times a sentence of guilty was handed down. There have been a few occasions where I obtained legal help and a judgment of not guilty was reached. In these times I was able to feel a peace come over me as I walked out the courtroom a free man. This has happened to me concerning my spiritual life. I have believed by faith, that Jesus is the Son of God, and because of His shed blood I have forgiveness of my sins. I stood in front of the Judge, Father God, guilty, Jesus Christ, who is the Judges Son, and because of my faith in Him is my advocate, my lawyer. The Judge knows that I am guilty, but to see me He must look through His Son Jesus. Jesus has already paid the price through the giving of His life, for my guilty sins. The Father who is the Judge, realizes that the price was paid, once for all, and pronounces me not guilty. I am at peace with God, I am at peace with Jesus, I am at peace, with myself. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………JRE
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“I have written much about the need to come to terms with sin, about repentance and Christians’ duty to change and live by God’s ways. So perhaps it is a good time to remind ourselves that the relationship between man and God is always a two-way street. The corollary to man’s repentance is God’s grace, His loving forgiveness. Grace is what that singular moment in history at Golgotha is all about. For only through the power of Christ’s resurrection can we find the forgiveness which makes life bearable.”
CHUCK COLSON
********************
“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 outgoing love, the finest emotion that we can ever know.” BILL W.
Justified through faith
Thought for the day: (Morning prayer) “Good morning, God, I love You! What are You up to today? I want to be part of it.” Norman Grubb
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
ROMANS 5:1-5 NKJV
Paul wrote in this Scripture to the Romans about having faith, peace, tribulations, perseverance, character, and hope. What a list of experiences, many of which are as different as day and night. Peace and tribulations don’t seem to be related in the natural world, but in realm of spirituality they can be all part of the same process that we go through to be mature. To be able to draw from the traits of peace, hope, perseverance, and good character we must first be justified through faith. I used to be baffled by the term justification that is used by the apostle Paul. Only until I related it to my own personal legal experiences was I able to fully understand. I am not proud of my drunk driving record, and have been over eight years, without driving privileges. I still have one year and ten months to go before I can drive again. God has taught me many lessons during this time. One was to take my court experiences and use it to understand justification. I have stood in front of a judge many times, most times a sentence of guilty was handed down. There have been a few occasions where I obtained legal help and a judgment of not guilty was reached. In these times I was able to feel a peace come over me as I walked out the courtroom a free man. This has happened to me concerning my spiritual life. I have believed by faith, that Jesus is the Son of God, and because of His shed blood I have forgiveness of my sins. I stood in front of the Judge, Father God, guilty, Jesus Christ, who is the Judges Son, and because of my faith in Him is my advocate, my lawyer. The Judge knows that I am guilty, but to see me He must look through His Son Jesus. Jesus has already paid the price through the giving of His life, for my guilty sins. The Father who is the Judge, realizes that the price was paid, once for all, and pronounces me not guilty. I am at peace with God, I am at peace with Jesus, I am at peace, with myself. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………JRE
********************
“I have written much about the need to come to terms with sin, about repentance and Christians’ duty to change and live by God’s ways. So perhaps it is a good time to remind ourselves that the relationship between man and God is always a two-way street. The corollary to man’s repentance is God’s grace, His loving forgiveness. Grace is what that singular moment in history at Golgotha is all about. For only through the power of Christ’s resurrection can we find the forgiveness which makes life bearable.”
CHUCK COLSON
********************
“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 outgoing love, the finest emotion that we can ever know.” BILL W.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Brethren, be great believers. Little faith will bring your souls to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your souls.” CHARLES SPURGEN
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
PSALM 90:1-2 NIV
From everlasting to everlasting, now that’s a stretch of time to ponder upon. And to think that somewhere in that vast infinite period of time where God exists, some small point of time, anytime, I can call upon God. What a privilege we have as believers. Of course for none believers it is different. They can still call on God, but they must believe in order to call. I think back in my life to a time when I considered myself an agnostic. At that time I was in the Army and in Vietnam. The moment when I needed a Power greater than myself other than the military support we were receiving, I called out to God. I knew nothing of God, and at that moment I did not become a born again Christian, but I became a believer. Because you cannot call out to something you don’t believe in. It took fifteen years of believing that God exists, trying this religion and that, to reach a point of having a God of my understanding. The understanding that spoke most to my soul was the spiritual principle of forgiveness and unconditional love. Those two concepts just reached out and pulled me ever closer to Jesus. Here I want to stay. Were even I understand what it means when I read “everlasting to everlasting.” Thanks for letting me share. God still does for me what I could not do for myself………….JRE
“Some people praise God for the good feelings it gives them; they praise Him because they think it makes everyone else feel good; they praise Him because they think that is simply what every good Christian should do. They do not focus their minds on God. The result is that their false praise drives out the true. Praise becomes mere pleasant-feeling babble.
“We need to speak directly to God, not to ourselves or our neighbors. As we look at Him, we will naturally praise Him for the real qualities we see. Our awkwardness will fade into the background as our attention is less and less on ourselves and more and more on Him.” TIM STAFFORD
Everlasting
Thought for the day: “Brethren, be great believers. Little faith will bring your souls to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your souls.” CHARLES SPURGEN
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
PSALM 90:1-2 NIV
From everlasting to everlasting, now that’s a stretch of time to ponder upon. And to think that somewhere in that vast infinite period of time where God exists, some small point of time, anytime, I can call upon God. What a privilege we have as believers. Of course for none believers it is different. They can still call on God, but they must believe in order to call. I think back in my life to a time when I considered myself an agnostic. At that time I was in the Army and in Vietnam. The moment when I needed a Power greater than myself other than the military support we were receiving, I called out to God. I knew nothing of God, and at that moment I did not become a born again Christian, but I became a believer. Because you cannot call out to something you don’t believe in. It took fifteen years of believing that God exists, trying this religion and that, to reach a point of having a God of my understanding. The understanding that spoke most to my soul was the spiritual principle of forgiveness and unconditional love. Those two concepts just reached out and pulled me ever closer to Jesus. Here I want to stay. Were even I understand what it means when I read “everlasting to everlasting.” Thanks for letting me share. God still does for me what I could not do for myself………….JRE
“Some people praise God for the good feelings it gives them; they praise Him because they think it makes everyone else feel good; they praise Him because they think that is simply what every good Christian should do. They do not focus their minds on God. The result is that their false praise drives out the true. Praise becomes mere pleasant-feeling babble.
“We need to speak directly to God, not to ourselves or our neighbors. As we look at Him, we will naturally praise Him for the real qualities we see. Our awkwardness will fade into the background as our attention is less and less on ourselves and more and more on Him.” TIM STAFFORD
Monday, January 24, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “At last I have found my calling! My calling is love.”
Therese de Lisieux
“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:26-27 NIV
Sometimes I have trouble with the word religion. Of course when I run across it in the Word of God I don’t take it lightly, and understand that it has a deeper meaning than our everyday use of the word as pertaining to church, church activities, and church people. The first time I saw a difference between religion and spirituality was in 1992 when I was in an alcohol treatment program at the VA in Poplar Bluff. There was this gentleman who has since went on to be with the Lord named Brad. He had less than a year sober, but would come to the treatment program almost daily to share with us. I see now that it was helping him stay sober also. We were sitting out in front of the hospital enjoying the sunshine and talking when Brad showed me in the Big Book of AA where it explains that AA is a spiritual program and not a religious program. Up to that time I had considered God to be sought only through some form of religion. It was like a light coming on when I realized that God was bigger than religion. God has been around long before there were any religions, and will be around long after all religions have ceased to exist. Later on after I was involved in the assembling together of Christians for the purpose of worship, instruction, and service to the community, I started hearing about how it was not a good thing to have a religious spirit. I also started hearing about how religion and religious people were the one’s who were against Jesus and His ministry. I have heard many say that Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. I agree with this. Knowing Jesus for me is not so much a set of rules to follow, but staying focused on walking with my Lord, seeking the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and striving to love my neighbor as myself. It is easy for me to stay in the guidelines of my faith if I try and practice the spiritual principle of love in all my affairs. I am still learning and hope to learn each day by love. Thanks for letting me share. God does for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
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“Ideally, when Christians meet, as Christians, to take counsel together, their purpose is not, or should not be, to ascertain what is the mind of the majority but what is the mind of the Holy Spirit, something which may be quite different.”
Margaret Thatcher
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THE FOUNDATION OF COURAGE
“I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Hebrews 8:12 NIV
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NIV).
“[God] justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26 NIV).
For those in Christ, these promises are not only a source of joy. They are the foundations of true courage. You are guaranteed that your sins will be filtered through, hidden in, and screened out by the sacrifices of Jesus. When God looks at you, he doesn’t see you; He sees the One who surrounds you. That means that failure is not a concern for you. Your victory is secure. How could you not be courageous?
MAX LUCADO…………The Applause of Heaven
Religion
Thought for the day: “At last I have found my calling! My calling is love.”
Therese de Lisieux
“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:26-27 NIV
Sometimes I have trouble with the word religion. Of course when I run across it in the Word of God I don’t take it lightly, and understand that it has a deeper meaning than our everyday use of the word as pertaining to church, church activities, and church people. The first time I saw a difference between religion and spirituality was in 1992 when I was in an alcohol treatment program at the VA in Poplar Bluff. There was this gentleman who has since went on to be with the Lord named Brad. He had less than a year sober, but would come to the treatment program almost daily to share with us. I see now that it was helping him stay sober also. We were sitting out in front of the hospital enjoying the sunshine and talking when Brad showed me in the Big Book of AA where it explains that AA is a spiritual program and not a religious program. Up to that time I had considered God to be sought only through some form of religion. It was like a light coming on when I realized that God was bigger than religion. God has been around long before there were any religions, and will be around long after all religions have ceased to exist. Later on after I was involved in the assembling together of Christians for the purpose of worship, instruction, and service to the community, I started hearing about how it was not a good thing to have a religious spirit. I also started hearing about how religion and religious people were the one’s who were against Jesus and His ministry. I have heard many say that Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. I agree with this. Knowing Jesus for me is not so much a set of rules to follow, but staying focused on walking with my Lord, seeking the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and striving to love my neighbor as myself. It is easy for me to stay in the guidelines of my faith if I try and practice the spiritual principle of love in all my affairs. I am still learning and hope to learn each day by love. Thanks for letting me share. God does for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
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“Ideally, when Christians meet, as Christians, to take counsel together, their purpose is not, or should not be, to ascertain what is the mind of the majority but what is the mind of the Holy Spirit, something which may be quite different.”
Margaret Thatcher
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THE FOUNDATION OF COURAGE
“I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Hebrews 8:12 NIV
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NIV).
“[God] justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26 NIV).
For those in Christ, these promises are not only a source of joy. They are the foundations of true courage. You are guaranteed that your sins will be filtered through, hidden in, and screened out by the sacrifices of Jesus. When God looks at you, he doesn’t see you; He sees the One who surrounds you. That means that failure is not a concern for you. Your victory is secure. How could you not be courageous?
MAX LUCADO…………The Applause of Heaven
Friday, January 21, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “It is the heart that senses God, and not the reason. That is what faith is. God perceptible to the heart and not to reason.” BLAISE PASCAL
There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to by food. Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
JOHN 4:7-10 NASB
Jesus violated tradition when He spoke to the Samaritan woman and asked her for a drink. First of all most Jews did not even travel through Samaria, it would have been like going right through a bad part of town in a major city. We have a tendency to avoid places like that. It’s not that the Samaritans were bad or dangerous people, they were of a mixed race, part Jew and part Assyrian, and the Jews had a tradition of keeping to themselves. The next tradition that Jesus could of violated was to take a drink from her vessel or cup. This would have made Jesus unclean in the eyes of tradition. When a Jew became unclean by breaking one of the traditions, or one of the laws that Moses gave them, there was a process they had to go through to become clean again. This involved several rituals and up to several days. I have not once read in the Word of God where Jesus went through any cleansing process. The way I look at it, in His ministry, which lasted three and a half years, He spent a lot of time being unclean. He touched lepers and many who were sick; He touched, spoke to, and fellowshipped with those that had been demon possessed; and He touched the physically dead. But most importantly He touched the spiritually dead. One of which was myself. I searched for many years for spirituality by having a certain diet, doing certain exercises, meditation and chanting. This was very good for my physical well being, but I seemed all alone in my conscious contact with God. I also searched for spirituality by exploring the inner reaches of my mind with drugs. That left a void in my spirit that took several years to begin to heal. It wasn’t until I was sitting in jail doing time for a DWI that He touched me. It was something someone else said about Jesus working in their life that moved me closer to God and I allowed Jesus to touch me for the first time. I had known of Jesus from early childhood, but had never allowed myself to get close enough to be touched. Today I don’t want to go back to my old way of life, I’ve tried and it just doesn’t work anymore. What works is daily “Letting go, and letting God.” Thanks for letting me share, God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………….JRE
Share this with me:
Living water. New life through the Spirit. Salvation is a gift from Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Messiah. Notice that Christ asked the woman to receive Him and His Gift without any prerequisite change in her life. After she believed, and because she believed, her way of living would be changed.
RYRIE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD STUDY BIBLE page 1685
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“Take care not to frighten away by stern rigor poor sinners who are trying to lay bare the shocking state of their souls. Speak to them rather of the great mercy of God, and make easy for them what is at best a difficult task. Be especially gentle with those who from weakness of age or sex have not the courage to confess the ugly things they have done. Tell them whatever they have to say will be no news to you. Sometimes people are helped by your telling them about your own lamentable past.” FRANCIS XAVIER
Touched
Thought for the day: “It is the heart that senses God, and not the reason. That is what faith is. God perceptible to the heart and not to reason.” BLAISE PASCAL
There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to by food. Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
JOHN 4:7-10 NASB
Jesus violated tradition when He spoke to the Samaritan woman and asked her for a drink. First of all most Jews did not even travel through Samaria, it would have been like going right through a bad part of town in a major city. We have a tendency to avoid places like that. It’s not that the Samaritans were bad or dangerous people, they were of a mixed race, part Jew and part Assyrian, and the Jews had a tradition of keeping to themselves. The next tradition that Jesus could of violated was to take a drink from her vessel or cup. This would have made Jesus unclean in the eyes of tradition. When a Jew became unclean by breaking one of the traditions, or one of the laws that Moses gave them, there was a process they had to go through to become clean again. This involved several rituals and up to several days. I have not once read in the Word of God where Jesus went through any cleansing process. The way I look at it, in His ministry, which lasted three and a half years, He spent a lot of time being unclean. He touched lepers and many who were sick; He touched, spoke to, and fellowshipped with those that had been demon possessed; and He touched the physically dead. But most importantly He touched the spiritually dead. One of which was myself. I searched for many years for spirituality by having a certain diet, doing certain exercises, meditation and chanting. This was very good for my physical well being, but I seemed all alone in my conscious contact with God. I also searched for spirituality by exploring the inner reaches of my mind with drugs. That left a void in my spirit that took several years to begin to heal. It wasn’t until I was sitting in jail doing time for a DWI that He touched me. It was something someone else said about Jesus working in their life that moved me closer to God and I allowed Jesus to touch me for the first time. I had known of Jesus from early childhood, but had never allowed myself to get close enough to be touched. Today I don’t want to go back to my old way of life, I’ve tried and it just doesn’t work anymore. What works is daily “Letting go, and letting God.” Thanks for letting me share, God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………….JRE
Share this with me:
Living water. New life through the Spirit. Salvation is a gift from Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Messiah. Notice that Christ asked the woman to receive Him and His Gift without any prerequisite change in her life. After she believed, and because she believed, her way of living would be changed.
RYRIE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD STUDY BIBLE page 1685
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“Take care not to frighten away by stern rigor poor sinners who are trying to lay bare the shocking state of their souls. Speak to them rather of the great mercy of God, and make easy for them what is at best a difficult task. Be especially gentle with those who from weakness of age or sex have not the courage to confess the ugly things they have done. Tell them whatever they have to say will be no news to you. Sometimes people are helped by your telling them about your own lamentable past.” FRANCIS XAVIER
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are wise and very beautiful; but I never read in either of them; ‘Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden.’” St. Augustine
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Ezekiel 36:26 NASB
As I read the words of the prophet Ezekiel written 2600 years ago, I realize that God made provisions for me to have a change of heart long before I was even born or even thought of. God always has made provisions for a way out of our self-centered misery that we create for ourselves. The law and commandments was given to Moses so that by obedience the people could have new life. Today by faith, which leads to obedience we have new life, a new heart, and a new spirit. A way out was provided for me way before I ever needed it, all I had to do was believe and receive. I find in my life that there is some daily maintenance that helps me keep within the workings of a new heart. I must continue to have fellowship with God through prayer and meditation and the reading of the Word. And I also must reach out to others in ways that will probably cost me something, either my time or my money, or a piece of my heart. I have noticed that any time I give a piece of my heart that God will continue in His promise of giving me a new heart. The building permit has been approved, and construction is in progress. No hard-hat necessary on this job site. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………..JRE
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“Faith makes all evil good to us, and all good better; unbelief makes all good evil, and all evil worse. Faith laughs at the shaking of the spear; unbelief trembles at the shaking of a leaf; unbelief starves the soul; faith finds food in famine, and a table in the wilderness. In the greatest danger, faith says, ‘I have a great God.’ When outward strength is broken, faith rests on the promises. In the midst of sorrow, faith draws the sting out of every trouble, and takes out the bitterness from every affliction.” Robert Cecil
Under construction
Thought for the day: “I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are wise and very beautiful; but I never read in either of them; ‘Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden.’” St. Augustine
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Ezekiel 36:26 NASB
As I read the words of the prophet Ezekiel written 2600 years ago, I realize that God made provisions for me to have a change of heart long before I was even born or even thought of. God always has made provisions for a way out of our self-centered misery that we create for ourselves. The law and commandments was given to Moses so that by obedience the people could have new life. Today by faith, which leads to obedience we have new life, a new heart, and a new spirit. A way out was provided for me way before I ever needed it, all I had to do was believe and receive. I find in my life that there is some daily maintenance that helps me keep within the workings of a new heart. I must continue to have fellowship with God through prayer and meditation and the reading of the Word. And I also must reach out to others in ways that will probably cost me something, either my time or my money, or a piece of my heart. I have noticed that any time I give a piece of my heart that God will continue in His promise of giving me a new heart. The building permit has been approved, and construction is in progress. No hard-hat necessary on this job site. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………..JRE
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“Faith makes all evil good to us, and all good better; unbelief makes all good evil, and all evil worse. Faith laughs at the shaking of the spear; unbelief trembles at the shaking of a leaf; unbelief starves the soul; faith finds food in famine, and a table in the wilderness. In the greatest danger, faith says, ‘I have a great God.’ When outward strength is broken, faith rests on the promises. In the midst of sorrow, faith draws the sting out of every trouble, and takes out the bitterness from every affliction.” Robert Cecil
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Beware of an overconcern for money, or position, or glory. Someday you will meet a man who cares for none of these things. Then you will know how poor you are.” RUDYARD KIPLING
“Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.” TITUS 2:6-8 NJKV
The apostle Paul in writing to Titus is explaining the duties of a minister, and he is also encouraging him to work with the younger people. Titus and Paul were from different worlds, but still they found a common bond in their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Titus was born a Gentile, he was a Greek, and Paul was a Jew of the sect of the Pharisees, and was a Roman citizen. They were different, but the same. I see Paul as a mentor to several younger men and in turn he encourages them to be mentors to others. In this day and age it is difficult to allow someone to help us. We have been taught in some ways that it is a sign of weakness to receive help, and out pride we refuse help because we don’t think we need it. As little children we are rewarded for being big enough to do things on our own. Things like being potty trained; feeding ourselves, walking, riding bikes, and so on. Then as we grow older we are given responsibilities like mowing the yard, doing dishes, doing our own laundry, and our homework from school. As young adults the concept of doing for ourselves is ingrained into our way of thinking, and the idea of having a mentor is not really encouraged. In many professions we find apprenticeships that instruct on the knowledge and skills needed for those professions, but they do not deal with principles like integrity, reverence, and incorruptibility. The Promise Keepers movement in this country helped to encourage accountability. We all could use the benefits of having someone work with us and we in turn having someone to work with. I am so grateful for the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, which has taught me to trust another person, so that I can be honest. When I trust someone and I am able to communicate what is going on in my life, I find myself being honest with myself, and when I am honest with myself it is like having a new pair of glasses. May I always reach up, and out. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………….JRE
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“Come now, little man! Flee for a while from your tasks, hide yourself for a little space from the turmoil of your thoughts. Come, cast aside your laborious pursuits. For a little while give your time to God, and rest in Him for a little while. Enter into the inner chamber of your mind, shut out all things save God and whatever may aid you in seeking God; and having barred the door of your chamber, seek Him.” Anselm of Canterbury
Exhort the young
Thought for the day: “Beware of an overconcern for money, or position, or glory. Someday you will meet a man who cares for none of these things. Then you will know how poor you are.” RUDYARD KIPLING
“Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.” TITUS 2:6-8 NJKV
The apostle Paul in writing to Titus is explaining the duties of a minister, and he is also encouraging him to work with the younger people. Titus and Paul were from different worlds, but still they found a common bond in their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Titus was born a Gentile, he was a Greek, and Paul was a Jew of the sect of the Pharisees, and was a Roman citizen. They were different, but the same. I see Paul as a mentor to several younger men and in turn he encourages them to be mentors to others. In this day and age it is difficult to allow someone to help us. We have been taught in some ways that it is a sign of weakness to receive help, and out pride we refuse help because we don’t think we need it. As little children we are rewarded for being big enough to do things on our own. Things like being potty trained; feeding ourselves, walking, riding bikes, and so on. Then as we grow older we are given responsibilities like mowing the yard, doing dishes, doing our own laundry, and our homework from school. As young adults the concept of doing for ourselves is ingrained into our way of thinking, and the idea of having a mentor is not really encouraged. In many professions we find apprenticeships that instruct on the knowledge and skills needed for those professions, but they do not deal with principles like integrity, reverence, and incorruptibility. The Promise Keepers movement in this country helped to encourage accountability. We all could use the benefits of having someone work with us and we in turn having someone to work with. I am so grateful for the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, which has taught me to trust another person, so that I can be honest. When I trust someone and I am able to communicate what is going on in my life, I find myself being honest with myself, and when I am honest with myself it is like having a new pair of glasses. May I always reach up, and out. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………….JRE
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“Come now, little man! Flee for a while from your tasks, hide yourself for a little space from the turmoil of your thoughts. Come, cast aside your laborious pursuits. For a little while give your time to God, and rest in Him for a little while. Enter into the inner chamber of your mind, shut out all things save God and whatever may aid you in seeking God; and having barred the door of your chamber, seek Him.” Anselm of Canterbury
Monday, January 17, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but on what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.”
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
“In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” John 1:4 NASB
The apostle John in the first few words of his account of Jesus, uses the words life and light. The Greek word for life used in this Scripture is “zoe.” Another Greek word used for life is “bios.” To me the word zoe is more than just physical life, it is more than just being alive. When we experience zoe we go beyond the physical. I hear people talk about “enjoying life,” and I take this to mean more than just being glad we have a physical body. Of course it does! Enjoying life means having some honest feeling of enjoyment about where we are at in the broad scale of existence. It means being able to take the ups and downs that we experience and roll with the flow, knowing that down is not down forever, and up is never up forever. Enjoying life is being able to stub your toe and not let it ruin your whole day. Enjoying life is having unexpected blessings showered upon you and not letting it take you somewhere you regret later on. Enjoying life is knowing that there is more to what the eyes see than just bios. There is life that was before, life now, and life after. For me, enjoying life has been and still is knowing that “In Him was life and the life was the Light of men.” The foundation of my recovery from my addiction to alcohol has been knowing that there is new life for those who seek it. I have discovered “Zoe” and it was “In Him.” Thanks for letting me share. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
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Many attempts have been made to find an analogy that will help us better grasp the mystery of the Trinity: the Three-in-Oneness of Scripture’s one God. All fall short. The Trinity remains a mystery. Perhaps the best suggestion though was made in the fourth century of our era by Saint Augustine. Augustine argued that God must be a Trinity, for God is love. Before the Creation of the world, God must have had someone to love, and some way to convey love. It follows, Augustine taught, that there must be Three within the oneness of God: a Father to love, a Son to be the object of that love, and a Holy Spirit to convey and express love.
What a thought. Before God created, God was a Person who loved. Because He existed as a Trinity, God has always been able to express that love fully within His own being. And yet God’s love is so great that it overflowed beyond His own self. In love God created the world and populated it with persons in His own image. In love God gave those persons freedom of choice. And, in love, God sacrificed the Son He loved to preserve all who believe, from the disastrous and eternal consequences of the choices they have made.
Lawrence O. Richards…………….Devotional Commentary page 761
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“Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends, this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.”
Alcoholics Anonymous page 89
Enjoying life
Thought for the day: “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but on what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.”
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
“In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” John 1:4 NASB
The apostle John in the first few words of his account of Jesus, uses the words life and light. The Greek word for life used in this Scripture is “zoe.” Another Greek word used for life is “bios.” To me the word zoe is more than just physical life, it is more than just being alive. When we experience zoe we go beyond the physical. I hear people talk about “enjoying life,” and I take this to mean more than just being glad we have a physical body. Of course it does! Enjoying life means having some honest feeling of enjoyment about where we are at in the broad scale of existence. It means being able to take the ups and downs that we experience and roll with the flow, knowing that down is not down forever, and up is never up forever. Enjoying life is being able to stub your toe and not let it ruin your whole day. Enjoying life is having unexpected blessings showered upon you and not letting it take you somewhere you regret later on. Enjoying life is knowing that there is more to what the eyes see than just bios. There is life that was before, life now, and life after. For me, enjoying life has been and still is knowing that “In Him was life and the life was the Light of men.” The foundation of my recovery from my addiction to alcohol has been knowing that there is new life for those who seek it. I have discovered “Zoe” and it was “In Him.” Thanks for letting me share. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
********************
Many attempts have been made to find an analogy that will help us better grasp the mystery of the Trinity: the Three-in-Oneness of Scripture’s one God. All fall short. The Trinity remains a mystery. Perhaps the best suggestion though was made in the fourth century of our era by Saint Augustine. Augustine argued that God must be a Trinity, for God is love. Before the Creation of the world, God must have had someone to love, and some way to convey love. It follows, Augustine taught, that there must be Three within the oneness of God: a Father to love, a Son to be the object of that love, and a Holy Spirit to convey and express love.
What a thought. Before God created, God was a Person who loved. Because He existed as a Trinity, God has always been able to express that love fully within His own being. And yet God’s love is so great that it overflowed beyond His own self. In love God created the world and populated it with persons in His own image. In love God gave those persons freedom of choice. And, in love, God sacrificed the Son He loved to preserve all who believe, from the disastrous and eternal consequences of the choices they have made.
Lawrence O. Richards…………….Devotional Commentary page 761
********************
“Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends, this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.”
Alcoholics Anonymous page 89
Thursday, January 13, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “When a man does love his enemies, he knows that God has done a tremendous work in him, and everyone else knows it too.” OSWALD CHAMBERS
“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant.”
1 Corinthians 13:4 NASB
What strange weather we are having in Southern Missouri. We had temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s the week before the start of the new-year. Then we had sub-freezing temperatures in the single digits the next week. Then we had a very small amount of snow, and the next week after that the temperatures were again in the mid 60’s. Today it is below freezing and a light snow is falling. By this weekend the temperatures are suppose to again be down in the teens. Everything is confused, the grass is trying to grow, and my lilac bushes have swelling buds and look like they are getting ready to bloom. I’m sure that the animals are as confused as the plants. Each year seems to bring a difference in the seasons, or so it seems to my eyes. Probably when we look at the big picture of thousands of years, the change would not be as obvious. In my observation of “things” I have found very few things that do not change, one is God and another is Love. Love is always good. I know that when a person shows an act of love to another person what is experienced is permanent. It doesn’t matter if it’s raining, snowing or sun shining; 10 degrees, 70 degrees or 102 degrees; love feels good! When someone is patient and kind with us and is not full of arrogance, our hearts, will have the thermostat set in the comfort zone, even if it’s below freezing on the surface of our skin. This morning in writing this page, I was interrupted by a gentleman from the power company, who came to make arrangements to install a new breaker box on the power pole. As we sat in his truck and talked about what was needed somehow the subject of God came up, and we both shared of our experiences. We attend two different types of churches, but the one fact that remained the same in our lives was how the Love of God had been extended to both of us and how our lives were being transformed day by day. This crazy weather will change again tomorrow, but the love I share and receive today will not. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…….JRE
********************
I sought Him in the still, far place where flowers blow
In sun-bathed soil;
I found Him where the thousand life-streams flow
Through sin and toil.
I listened for His step within the still, deep-cloistered shrine
Of secret thought;
I heard it o’er the world’s heart tumult, still divine,
The Voice I sought.
I thought, far off, alone, to feel His presence by my side,
His joy to gain;
I felt His touch upon life’s weary pulse beside
A bed of pain.
So those who seek the Master following their own way…
Or gain, or loss…
Will find Him where their dreams of self are laid away,
And there…a cross.
DOROTHY CLARK WILSON
Love is patient
Thought for the day: “When a man does love his enemies, he knows that God has done a tremendous work in him, and everyone else knows it too.” OSWALD CHAMBERS
“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant.”
1 Corinthians 13:4 NASB
What strange weather we are having in Southern Missouri. We had temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s the week before the start of the new-year. Then we had sub-freezing temperatures in the single digits the next week. Then we had a very small amount of snow, and the next week after that the temperatures were again in the mid 60’s. Today it is below freezing and a light snow is falling. By this weekend the temperatures are suppose to again be down in the teens. Everything is confused, the grass is trying to grow, and my lilac bushes have swelling buds and look like they are getting ready to bloom. I’m sure that the animals are as confused as the plants. Each year seems to bring a difference in the seasons, or so it seems to my eyes. Probably when we look at the big picture of thousands of years, the change would not be as obvious. In my observation of “things” I have found very few things that do not change, one is God and another is Love. Love is always good. I know that when a person shows an act of love to another person what is experienced is permanent. It doesn’t matter if it’s raining, snowing or sun shining; 10 degrees, 70 degrees or 102 degrees; love feels good! When someone is patient and kind with us and is not full of arrogance, our hearts, will have the thermostat set in the comfort zone, even if it’s below freezing on the surface of our skin. This morning in writing this page, I was interrupted by a gentleman from the power company, who came to make arrangements to install a new breaker box on the power pole. As we sat in his truck and talked about what was needed somehow the subject of God came up, and we both shared of our experiences. We attend two different types of churches, but the one fact that remained the same in our lives was how the Love of God had been extended to both of us and how our lives were being transformed day by day. This crazy weather will change again tomorrow, but the love I share and receive today will not. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…….JRE
********************
I sought Him in the still, far place where flowers blow
In sun-bathed soil;
I found Him where the thousand life-streams flow
Through sin and toil.
I listened for His step within the still, deep-cloistered shrine
Of secret thought;
I heard it o’er the world’s heart tumult, still divine,
The Voice I sought.
I thought, far off, alone, to feel His presence by my side,
His joy to gain;
I felt His touch upon life’s weary pulse beside
A bed of pain.
So those who seek the Master following their own way…
Or gain, or loss…
Will find Him where their dreams of self are laid away,
And there…a cross.
DOROTHY CLARK WILSON
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “If people speak ill of you, live so that no one will believe them.”
Plato
Then they came to Jericho. And as HE WAS LEAVING Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus.
And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.
Mark 10:46-52 NASB
Wow, what a story about being persistent. Many were telling poor blind Bartimaeus to “shut up!” After all he was a blind poor beggar, why should he have an audience with the great physician? Did he really deserve a chance to see Jesus? After all what had he done in his life that was worthy of being singled out of the crowd by Jesus, the Son of God? He had done nothing to be worthy, and could do nothing. He was a blind beggar. Bartimaeus did have the freedom to make a choice in his heart, he couldn’t do anything else, but he could decide to believe that Jesus could give him his sight. Standing upon this decision that he made, he could not be quieted. What did he have to loose? His situation couldn’t get any worse, what could they do to him, put out his eyes and make him beg? I believe that when Jesus heard his voice he could hear more than just words. He could hear Bartimaeus’s heart crying from a place that could not be moved. And that’s the way it is, if your heart is firmly grounded in faith, you will get an answer. When out of great need I came to Jesus for the first time in my life, I was not a physically blind beggar. But I was a spiritually blind beggar, I could not see one inch in front of my heart and I was begging for help. Just like Bartimaeus, the Word of God asked me “What do you want?” In my heart I replied, “I want to regain my sight!” For me vision did not come all at once, but has been a gradual process. I try to begin each day by saying “please,” and each evening, I try and remember to say “thank you.” With these two simple acts of gratitude, my vision keeps improving. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…..JRE
“On Sunday they come from the town and stand in the doorway and so keep out the cold. One is not cold among his brothers and sisters. What if there is less fire on the hearth, if there is more in the heart!” Henry David Thoreau
Blind Bartimaeus
Thought for the day: “If people speak ill of you, live so that no one will believe them.”
Plato
Then they came to Jericho. And as HE WAS LEAVING Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus.
And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.
Mark 10:46-52 NASB
Wow, what a story about being persistent. Many were telling poor blind Bartimaeus to “shut up!” After all he was a blind poor beggar, why should he have an audience with the great physician? Did he really deserve a chance to see Jesus? After all what had he done in his life that was worthy of being singled out of the crowd by Jesus, the Son of God? He had done nothing to be worthy, and could do nothing. He was a blind beggar. Bartimaeus did have the freedom to make a choice in his heart, he couldn’t do anything else, but he could decide to believe that Jesus could give him his sight. Standing upon this decision that he made, he could not be quieted. What did he have to loose? His situation couldn’t get any worse, what could they do to him, put out his eyes and make him beg? I believe that when Jesus heard his voice he could hear more than just words. He could hear Bartimaeus’s heart crying from a place that could not be moved. And that’s the way it is, if your heart is firmly grounded in faith, you will get an answer. When out of great need I came to Jesus for the first time in my life, I was not a physically blind beggar. But I was a spiritually blind beggar, I could not see one inch in front of my heart and I was begging for help. Just like Bartimaeus, the Word of God asked me “What do you want?” In my heart I replied, “I want to regain my sight!” For me vision did not come all at once, but has been a gradual process. I try to begin each day by saying “please,” and each evening, I try and remember to say “thank you.” With these two simple acts of gratitude, my vision keeps improving. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…..JRE
“On Sunday they come from the town and stand in the doorway and so keep out the cold. One is not cold among his brothers and sisters. What if there is less fire on the hearth, if there is more in the heart!” Henry David Thoreau
Monday, January 10, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “There is only one golden rule for spiritual discernment, and that is obedience. We learn more by five minutes’ obedience than by ten years study.”
Oswald Chambers
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9 NIV
“If we don’t give up.” These words are key to accomplishing anything we set out to do. When I was young I remember myself as being very impatient. I still have some impatience in my life but not like it was in my younger days. I can remember dreaming up great plans of doing something and actually getting started on the project, but a short time into it losing interest and quitting. One example of this was when in 1964 after graduating from High School I decided to take a couple of college courses at night. How boring it was to me, and it took from my freedom of enjoying the evenings with my friends. After no more than a month, I quit. Four years later after my time in the Army and my experiences in Vietnam I went back to college, this time I had a little more “stick to it” and managed to get one year in. The next three years were spent sowing seed of youth in many self-centered ways, and then I returned to college for two years and received an Associates Degree. My intentions were to continue my education and get my Bachelors after a short time working. I never mad it back. Instead I became entangled in the grips of a progressive illness called alcoholism. I always set my goals way out ahead of myself so far, that what I did today would have no obvious affect on them, or so I thought. How wrong I was, quitting was never a decision I made upfront, it was a gradual process of changing my values a little each day. Today I have a different attitude in the recovery of my alcoholism than I did with the many goals that I set that I never accomplished. All I have to do is “not give up” today. Regardless of what happens on a daily basis, if I love and trust God and reach out in love to those that I may be of some service, than my day is successful. If I don’t give up at the proper time I will reap a harvest. I might not be able to put what I harvest in my pocket, but it sure fits well into my heart. Thanks for letting me share, God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:37-39 NASB
********************
“The person who has the abundance of life Christ came to bring us can spend virtue lavishly because his resources are plentiful. He can care for people unreservedly, the people near him and all over the earth, people of his own creed, color, and nationality and those of other faiths, races, and nations, because his resources of care are attached to the limitless reservoirs of god’s care.
“He can afford to be slighted, shunned, hurt, because he has enough forgiveness in his heart for any crisis that comes his way. He can squander love upon the undeserving and the unresponsive because he knows there will always be more love where the last love came from.” Harold E. Kohn
********************
“Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now….the dark past is…..the key to life and happiness for others.” Alcoholics Anonymous page 124
Stick to it
Thought for the day: “There is only one golden rule for spiritual discernment, and that is obedience. We learn more by five minutes’ obedience than by ten years study.”
Oswald Chambers
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9 NIV
“If we don’t give up.” These words are key to accomplishing anything we set out to do. When I was young I remember myself as being very impatient. I still have some impatience in my life but not like it was in my younger days. I can remember dreaming up great plans of doing something and actually getting started on the project, but a short time into it losing interest and quitting. One example of this was when in 1964 after graduating from High School I decided to take a couple of college courses at night. How boring it was to me, and it took from my freedom of enjoying the evenings with my friends. After no more than a month, I quit. Four years later after my time in the Army and my experiences in Vietnam I went back to college, this time I had a little more “stick to it” and managed to get one year in. The next three years were spent sowing seed of youth in many self-centered ways, and then I returned to college for two years and received an Associates Degree. My intentions were to continue my education and get my Bachelors after a short time working. I never mad it back. Instead I became entangled in the grips of a progressive illness called alcoholism. I always set my goals way out ahead of myself so far, that what I did today would have no obvious affect on them, or so I thought. How wrong I was, quitting was never a decision I made upfront, it was a gradual process of changing my values a little each day. Today I have a different attitude in the recovery of my alcoholism than I did with the many goals that I set that I never accomplished. All I have to do is “not give up” today. Regardless of what happens on a daily basis, if I love and trust God and reach out in love to those that I may be of some service, than my day is successful. If I don’t give up at the proper time I will reap a harvest. I might not be able to put what I harvest in my pocket, but it sure fits well into my heart. Thanks for letting me share, God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:37-39 NASB
********************
“The person who has the abundance of life Christ came to bring us can spend virtue lavishly because his resources are plentiful. He can care for people unreservedly, the people near him and all over the earth, people of his own creed, color, and nationality and those of other faiths, races, and nations, because his resources of care are attached to the limitless reservoirs of god’s care.
“He can afford to be slighted, shunned, hurt, because he has enough forgiveness in his heart for any crisis that comes his way. He can squander love upon the undeserving and the unresponsive because he knows there will always be more love where the last love came from.” Harold E. Kohn
********************
“Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now….the dark past is…..the key to life and happiness for others.” Alcoholics Anonymous page 124
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Oswald Chambers
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9 NIV
“If we don’t give up.” These words are key to accomplishing anything we set out to do. When I was young I remember myself as being very impatient. I still have some impatience in my life but not like it was in my younger days. I can remember dreaming up great plans of doing something and actually getting started on the project, but a short time into it losing interest and quitting. One example of this was when in 1964 after graduating from High School I decided to take a couple of college courses at night. How boring it was to me, and it took from my freedom of enjoying the evenings with my friends. After no more than a month, I quit. Four years later after my time in the Army and my experiences in Vietnam I went back to college, this time I had a little more “stick to it” and managed to get one year in. The next three years were spent sowing seed of youth in many self-centered ways, and then I returned to college for two years and received an Associates Degree. My intentions were to continue my education and get my Bachelors after a short time working. I never mad it back. Instead I became entangled in the grips of a progressive illness called alcoholism. I always set my goals way out ahead of myself so far, that what I did today would have no obvious affect on them, or so I thought. How wrong I was, quitting was never a decision I made upfront, it was a gradual process of changing my values a little each day. Today I have a different attitude in the recovery of my alcoholism than I did with the many goals that I set that I never accomplished. All I have to do is “not give up” today. Regardless of what happens on a daily basis, if I love and trust God and reach out in love to those that I may be of some service, than my day is successful. If I don’t give up at the proper time I will reap a harvest. I might not be able to put what I harvest in my pocket, but it sure fits well into my heart. Thanks for letting me share, God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:37-39 NASB
********************
“The person who has the abundance of life Christ came to bring us can spend virtue lavishly because his resources are plentiful. He can care for people unreservedly, the people near him and all over the earth, people of his own creed, color, and nationality and those of other faiths, races, and nations, because his resources of care are attached to the limitless reservoirs of god’s care.
“He can afford to be slighted, shunned, hurt, because he has enough forgiveness in his heart for any crisis that comes his way. He can squander love upon the undeserving and the unresponsive because he knows there will always be more love where the last love came from.” Harold E. Kohn
********************
“Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now….the dark past is…..the key to life and happiness for others.” Alcoholics Anonymous page 124
Stick to it
Thought for the day: “There is only one golden rule for spiritual discernment, and that is obedience. We learn more by five minutes’ obedience than by ten years study.”Oswald Chambers
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9 NIV
“If we don’t give up.” These words are key to accomplishing anything we set out to do. When I was young I remember myself as being very impatient. I still have some impatience in my life but not like it was in my younger days. I can remember dreaming up great plans of doing something and actually getting started on the project, but a short time into it losing interest and quitting. One example of this was when in 1964 after graduating from High School I decided to take a couple of college courses at night. How boring it was to me, and it took from my freedom of enjoying the evenings with my friends. After no more than a month, I quit. Four years later after my time in the Army and my experiences in Vietnam I went back to college, this time I had a little more “stick to it” and managed to get one year in. The next three years were spent sowing seed of youth in many self-centered ways, and then I returned to college for two years and received an Associates Degree. My intentions were to continue my education and get my Bachelors after a short time working. I never mad it back. Instead I became entangled in the grips of a progressive illness called alcoholism. I always set my goals way out ahead of myself so far, that what I did today would have no obvious affect on them, or so I thought. How wrong I was, quitting was never a decision I made upfront, it was a gradual process of changing my values a little each day. Today I have a different attitude in the recovery of my alcoholism than I did with the many goals that I set that I never accomplished. All I have to do is “not give up” today. Regardless of what happens on a daily basis, if I love and trust God and reach out in love to those that I may be of some service, than my day is successful. If I don’t give up at the proper time I will reap a harvest. I might not be able to put what I harvest in my pocket, but it sure fits well into my heart. Thanks for letting me share, God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:37-39 NASB
********************
“The person who has the abundance of life Christ came to bring us can spend virtue lavishly because his resources are plentiful. He can care for people unreservedly, the people near him and all over the earth, people of his own creed, color, and nationality and those of other faiths, races, and nations, because his resources of care are attached to the limitless reservoirs of god’s care.
“He can afford to be slighted, shunned, hurt, because he has enough forgiveness in his heart for any crisis that comes his way. He can squander love upon the undeserving and the unresponsive because he knows there will always be more love where the last love came from.” Harold E. Kohn
********************
“Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now….the dark past is…..the key to life and happiness for others.” Alcoholics Anonymous page 124
Friday, January 07, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “I cannot tell why there should come to me a thought of someone miles and years away, in swift insistence on the memory, unless there is a need that I should pray.” Rosalind Goforth, missionary to China
“For who ever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
Mark 3:35 NASB
Jesus says that those who belong to God’s family were closer than members of his own family. This was true, Jesus had siblings that did not come to accept who He was until later in His ministry. I can understand this. After all they had come from the same household and had watched Him grow up. He was the older brother, and I know from experience that older brothers don’t always do everything right. Sometimes older brothers get more privileges and responsibilities, and without supervision can get sidetracked at times. Possibly Jesus’ siblings thought maybe He had went off and joined a cult? All I know is that the Bibles says that they did not believe who He was until later in His ministry. Sometimes in our own lives we have those who knew us when we were running full of self-will, and they can only see us in that light. After coming to Jesus we have a change of heart and become a “new creation” with the same old outside appearance. Those who don’t take the time to listen to our heart see only the “old creation.” In time if we continue to walk with Jesus we can be changed to be more like Him. The Bible is full of examples of individuals who continued to walk with God and had remarkable changes on the inside and evidence was seen on the outside. I know that all who knew me will not accept me for being a Christian, but I am not going back. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
“’Blessed are the poor in spirit’ means: ‘Blessed is the man who has realized his own utter helplessness, and who has put his whole trust in God.’ If a man has realized his own utter helplessness, and has put his whole trust in God, there will enter into his life two things which are opposite sides of the same thing. He will become completely detached from things, for he will know that things have not got it in them to bring happiness or security; and he will become completely attached to God, for he will know that God alone can bring him help, and hope, and strength. The man who is poor in spirit is the man who has realized that things mean nothing and that God means everything.”
William Barclay
“My stability came out of trying to give, not out of demanding that I receive.” BILL W. …………THE BEST OF BILL, pages 46-47
God's family
Thought for the day: “I cannot tell why there should come to me a thought of someone miles and years away, in swift insistence on the memory, unless there is a need that I should pray.” Rosalind Goforth, missionary to China
“For who ever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
Mark 3:35 NASB
Jesus says that those who belong to God’s family were closer than members of his own family. This was true, Jesus had siblings that did not come to accept who He was until later in His ministry. I can understand this. After all they had come from the same household and had watched Him grow up. He was the older brother, and I know from experience that older brothers don’t always do everything right. Sometimes older brothers get more privileges and responsibilities, and without supervision can get sidetracked at times. Possibly Jesus’ siblings thought maybe He had went off and joined a cult? All I know is that the Bibles says that they did not believe who He was until later in His ministry. Sometimes in our own lives we have those who knew us when we were running full of self-will, and they can only see us in that light. After coming to Jesus we have a change of heart and become a “new creation” with the same old outside appearance. Those who don’t take the time to listen to our heart see only the “old creation.” In time if we continue to walk with Jesus we can be changed to be more like Him. The Bible is full of examples of individuals who continued to walk with God and had remarkable changes on the inside and evidence was seen on the outside. I know that all who knew me will not accept me for being a Christian, but I am not going back. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
“’Blessed are the poor in spirit’ means: ‘Blessed is the man who has realized his own utter helplessness, and who has put his whole trust in God.’ If a man has realized his own utter helplessness, and has put his whole trust in God, there will enter into his life two things which are opposite sides of the same thing. He will become completely detached from things, for he will know that things have not got it in them to bring happiness or security; and he will become completely attached to God, for he will know that God alone can bring him help, and hope, and strength. The man who is poor in spirit is the man who has realized that things mean nothing and that God means everything.”
William Barclay
“My stability came out of trying to give, not out of demanding that I receive.” BILL W. …………THE BEST OF BILL, pages 46-47
Thursday, January 06, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Worldliness is a spirit, a temperament, an attitude of the soul. It is a life without high callings, life devoid of lofty ideals. It is a gaze always horizontal and never vertical.” J. Henry Jowett
As I sit an look out my window this morning, I see a light skiff of snow, the temperatures slightly above twenty, the skies are cloudy, and the birds and squirrels are scampering about the feeders taking advantage of the corn and seeds that have been given to them. I am amazed at how when the weather is warmer and nice, how the many different kinds of birds will squabble over the food. Even the squirrels will fend each other off for the ear of corn that has been left for them. But when situations get worse and we have snow and bitter cold temperatures, everyone seems to forget about their individual problems and they get along. You can even find the birds and squirrels eating together out of the same feeder. I find as people we can be the same way. When everything is going pretty good and we are comfortable, sometimes we don’t get along well together. But let a snowstorm, or an ice storm hit, where we all have one common enemy and we will pull together as one big team. I’ve seen people stuck in parking lots covered with ice and snow help each other by getting out and pushing the cars so they can get going. Many times we never even get a thank you because once the car is going it must keep going in order not to get stuck again. Don’t we feel good in our heart when we do something like that? Even when we know that we will never get thanked. Some where in this paragraph, I find one of the keys to happiness in my life. Doing without expecting anything in return. This evening I hope to attend a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, Possibly, I can find someone that I can help get unstuck. Better yet may I find the grace to let someone help me get unstuck. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself. Thanks for letting me share………………..JRE
“These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:13-16 NKJV
“Shortly before Christmas, John Sung (later the great evangelist of China) accompanied some fellow students to a special evangelistic campaign at the First Baptist Church. He expected to hear Dr. Haldeman, an eloquent and learned preacher, but instead, the speaker was a 15-year old girl! She spoke simply and yet powerfully. The proud, skeptical heart of the Ph.D. scientist was moved to the depths. He determined to discover for himself the secret of such spiritual power. He began reading Christian Biographies ‘to investigate the secret of the effective ministry of great Christians of the past’ and ‘soon discovered that in each case it was the power of the Holy Spirit that made the difference.’ Turning down opportunities to teach science in America and China, he decided rather to give his life to preaching the Gospel.”
John T. Seamands
“The Power that brought us to this program is still with us and will continue to guide us if we allow it.” Narcotics Anonymous basic text page 26
Unstuck
Thought for the day: “Worldliness is a spirit, a temperament, an attitude of the soul. It is a life without high callings, life devoid of lofty ideals. It is a gaze always horizontal and never vertical.” J. Henry Jowett
As I sit an look out my window this morning, I see a light skiff of snow, the temperatures slightly above twenty, the skies are cloudy, and the birds and squirrels are scampering about the feeders taking advantage of the corn and seeds that have been given to them. I am amazed at how when the weather is warmer and nice, how the many different kinds of birds will squabble over the food. Even the squirrels will fend each other off for the ear of corn that has been left for them. But when situations get worse and we have snow and bitter cold temperatures, everyone seems to forget about their individual problems and they get along. You can even find the birds and squirrels eating together out of the same feeder. I find as people we can be the same way. When everything is going pretty good and we are comfortable, sometimes we don’t get along well together. But let a snowstorm, or an ice storm hit, where we all have one common enemy and we will pull together as one big team. I’ve seen people stuck in parking lots covered with ice and snow help each other by getting out and pushing the cars so they can get going. Many times we never even get a thank you because once the car is going it must keep going in order not to get stuck again. Don’t we feel good in our heart when we do something like that? Even when we know that we will never get thanked. Some where in this paragraph, I find one of the keys to happiness in my life. Doing without expecting anything in return. This evening I hope to attend a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, Possibly, I can find someone that I can help get unstuck. Better yet may I find the grace to let someone help me get unstuck. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself. Thanks for letting me share………………..JRE
“These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:13-16 NKJV
“Shortly before Christmas, John Sung (later the great evangelist of China) accompanied some fellow students to a special evangelistic campaign at the First Baptist Church. He expected to hear Dr. Haldeman, an eloquent and learned preacher, but instead, the speaker was a 15-year old girl! She spoke simply and yet powerfully. The proud, skeptical heart of the Ph.D. scientist was moved to the depths. He determined to discover for himself the secret of such spiritual power. He began reading Christian Biographies ‘to investigate the secret of the effective ministry of great Christians of the past’ and ‘soon discovered that in each case it was the power of the Holy Spirit that made the difference.’ Turning down opportunities to teach science in America and China, he decided rather to give his life to preaching the Gospel.”
John T. Seamands
“The Power that brought us to this program is still with us and will continue to guide us if we allow it.” Narcotics Anonymous basic text page 26
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Greatness after all, in spite of its name, appears to be not so much a certain size as a certain quality I human lives. It may be present in lives whose range is very small.” Phillips Brooks
Gratitude keeps me clean and sober. It was some time before I came to realize the importance of gratitude in my staying clean and sober. Of course my gratitude first is aimed at God and the finished work of the Cross. Second my gratitude is directed toward those who have supported me in my choice of abstaining from all mind and mood altering substances. This group is made up of my family, sponsor, friends, counselors, pastors, and everyday people who have accepted me back into society. In my first couple of years of sobriety I kind of just held on by myself. I knew that God had worked a miracle in my life, but the way I looked at it, I alone was doing all the hard work. As I experienced more sobriety I began to see how those that supported me by encouragement and love were really the wind beneath my wings. At some point I came to realize that if I was to continue to fly the direction I was headed I needed to have a humble attitude of gratitude to those who were traveling with me. Today in my daily reading I came across a study in gratitude, share this with me:
While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
When He saw them, He said to them, “ago and show yourselves to the priest.” And as they were going, they were cleansed.
Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.
Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine, where are they?”
Luke 17:11-17 NASB
I can not afford to be one of the ten and not give thanks, I don’t want to go back to my old life. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………..JRE
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“In Thy presence if fullness of joy. At Thy right had are pleasures forever.” We cannot find true happiness by looking for it. Seeking pleasure does not bring happiness in the long run, only disillusionment. Do not seek to have this fullness of joy by seeking pleasure. It cannot be done that way. Happiness is a by-product of living the right kind of life. True happiness comes as a result of living in all respects the way you believe God wants you to live, with regard to yourself and to other people.
HAZELDEN…………………Twenty-Four Hours A Day
Wind beneath my wings
Thought for the day: “Greatness after all, in spite of its name, appears to be not so much a certain size as a certain quality I human lives. It may be present in lives whose range is very small.” Phillips Brooks
Gratitude keeps me clean and sober. It was some time before I came to realize the importance of gratitude in my staying clean and sober. Of course my gratitude first is aimed at God and the finished work of the Cross. Second my gratitude is directed toward those who have supported me in my choice of abstaining from all mind and mood altering substances. This group is made up of my family, sponsor, friends, counselors, pastors, and everyday people who have accepted me back into society. In my first couple of years of sobriety I kind of just held on by myself. I knew that God had worked a miracle in my life, but the way I looked at it, I alone was doing all the hard work. As I experienced more sobriety I began to see how those that supported me by encouragement and love were really the wind beneath my wings. At some point I came to realize that if I was to continue to fly the direction I was headed I needed to have a humble attitude of gratitude to those who were traveling with me. Today in my daily reading I came across a study in gratitude, share this with me:
While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
When He saw them, He said to them, “ago and show yourselves to the priest.” And as they were going, they were cleansed.
Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.
Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine, where are they?”
Luke 17:11-17 NASB
I can not afford to be one of the ten and not give thanks, I don’t want to go back to my old life. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………..JRE
********************
“In Thy presence if fullness of joy. At Thy right had are pleasures forever.” We cannot find true happiness by looking for it. Seeking pleasure does not bring happiness in the long run, only disillusionment. Do not seek to have this fullness of joy by seeking pleasure. It cannot be done that way. Happiness is a by-product of living the right kind of life. True happiness comes as a result of living in all respects the way you believe God wants you to live, with regard to yourself and to other people.
HAZELDEN…………………Twenty-Four Hours A Day
Monday, January 03, 2005
jralphengland@Yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “The Creator of the universe wants to meet with you alone daily. How can you say no to such an opportunity?” Emilie Barnes
As I start this new-year off, one of my desires it to grow closer to God through prayer. To learn more of what prayer truly is about; to improve my methods of prayer; to learn how to develop a genuine humble heart from which to speak to God from, and to be more consistent in my prayer habits. This is a large order for me, but I have learned from experience that if I continue in a discipline for twenty days or so, I can form a habit and continuing this discipline becomes easier if I have the desire. My prayer life has been one of my weak points, I so much more seem to enjoy the reading of the Word, the singing, and the fellowship of other believers. When I do pray, my mind seems to be so busy, and with one thought after another flooding in with out my conscious consent, it is difficult for me to focus. This morning I noticed that I could experience small moments of quietness, and peace in my morning prayer when I deliberately focused on my existence in the presence of God, and not so much on my communication with God. Today I learned that when I concentrate more on what I have to say to God I communicate less, and when I focus on the very presence of God there seems to be more of a two-way communication. I have always known that communication involves a speaker and a listener, and then the positions are reversed and the listener becomes the speaker. I know that my prayer life has been mainly of my speaking to God, today I want to be in the Presence and be a good listener. Thanks for letting me share this. As my fingers push the keys I learn because I am forced to look inward. It is truly an “inside job.” God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………………JRE
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 NASB
“There are two forces at work in the world: the force of evil, and the force of good. And I think that the wars we read about in newspapers are only reflections of the wars that go on in almost everyone’s heart. Scripture teaches that there is a war in our hearts. We need to decide to whom we will yield day by day. It is not just a one-time thing. It’s a daily commitment to God where we say, ‘Lord, You have to handle today. Without Your help I will think thoughts that I shouldn’t think and do things I shouldn’t do.’ I have to have the help of the Holy Spirit every day in my life. That’s the prayer I pray every morning.”
Billy Graham
AA Step Eleven: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
prayer
Thought for the day: “The Creator of the universe wants to meet with you alone daily. How can you say no to such an opportunity?” Emilie Barnes
As I start this new-year off, one of my desires it to grow closer to God through prayer. To learn more of what prayer truly is about; to improve my methods of prayer; to learn how to develop a genuine humble heart from which to speak to God from, and to be more consistent in my prayer habits. This is a large order for me, but I have learned from experience that if I continue in a discipline for twenty days or so, I can form a habit and continuing this discipline becomes easier if I have the desire. My prayer life has been one of my weak points, I so much more seem to enjoy the reading of the Word, the singing, and the fellowship of other believers. When I do pray, my mind seems to be so busy, and with one thought after another flooding in with out my conscious consent, it is difficult for me to focus. This morning I noticed that I could experience small moments of quietness, and peace in my morning prayer when I deliberately focused on my existence in the presence of God, and not so much on my communication with God. Today I learned that when I concentrate more on what I have to say to God I communicate less, and when I focus on the very presence of God there seems to be more of a two-way communication. I have always known that communication involves a speaker and a listener, and then the positions are reversed and the listener becomes the speaker. I know that my prayer life has been mainly of my speaking to God, today I want to be in the Presence and be a good listener. Thanks for letting me share this. As my fingers push the keys I learn because I am forced to look inward. It is truly an “inside job.” God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………………JRE
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 NASB
“There are two forces at work in the world: the force of evil, and the force of good. And I think that the wars we read about in newspapers are only reflections of the wars that go on in almost everyone’s heart. Scripture teaches that there is a war in our hearts. We need to decide to whom we will yield day by day. It is not just a one-time thing. It’s a daily commitment to God where we say, ‘Lord, You have to handle today. Without Your help I will think thoughts that I shouldn’t think and do things I shouldn’t do.’ I have to have the help of the Holy Spirit every day in my life. That’s the prayer I pray every morning.”
Billy Graham
AA Step Eleven: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
