Be Doers of the Word

An excerpt from today's,

A Word With You

by Ron Hutchcraft

..................."It's easy to complain about how things are in your family, or how they are at work or how they are at church or at school. But complaining won't change a thing. Neither will condemning or criticizing or preaching. What is needed where you are is someone who will be what they wish others would be - to lead by contagious example. To step out from a climate that is negative or nasty or stressed or prideful or selfish, and to challenge it, not by their words, but by their actions. Decide how you wish everyone would be in your situation, and then start being it yourself!"............. Read more by selecting his link on the side panel.

But the Lord Directs My Steps

I can hardly recollect a single plan of mine, of which I have not since seen reason to be satisfied that , had it taken place in season and circumstance just as I proposed, it would , humanly speaking, have proved my ruin; or at least it would have deprived me of the greater good the Lord had designed for me.

John Newton

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Some defeats are only installments to victory. Jacob Riis

And How Is That My Problem?

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Galations 6:9

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered -

He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning.

"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.... That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. However, his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

Use Your God Given Talents

Todays devotional, Hoarding What You Have, from Proverbs 31 Ministry is so good. Many of us live in fear of making a mistake so instead do nothing at all. If we don't use our special gifts we remain the same. We gain nothing from the experience of sharing ourselves with others, as God intended.

"I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back." Matthew 25:25 (NLT)

http://proverbs31devotions.blogspot.com/

Living Forward

I had to hold fast to the reality that nothing can touch us without passing through God's sifter. He allows only that which is necessary to touch us. And if it does, it has a purpose. But we may not know it for a while. (excerpt from TGIF, Today God is First 1-10-10, Os Hillman)

https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/1261724021a5a022

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Wisdom is using knowledge rightly. Why do we need wisdom when we are going through our trials? It is popular in charismatic circles to want to pray for more power or strength or deliverance. We need wisdom so we will not waste the opportunities God is giving us to mature. Wisdom helps us to use these circumstances for our good and God’s glory.

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey So he invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed, as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off! Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up! Don’t waste the opportunities God gives you to prove Himself. (Excerpt from The Truth About Trials by Ralph Juthman 1/10/10)

"Living A Transformed Life in 2010"

(Wisdom for the Psalms)

Psalm 1:1

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

A time for starting over. A new beginning. A wonderful time to take stock of life and look for ways to improve and grow. Too often, careless resolutions are made that are never kept, and so one year blends into the next with little change. The fact is, all of us have areas in our lives that could stand some improvement. As this new year begins, let us look at our lives with honesty and candor. Let us approach change with a positive spirit, and work toward finding ways to become the people that god wants us to be. Most importantly, ask the Lord to guide and strengthen, for it is through His power that we are able to conquer our failings and turn them into strengths. God is able to see us both as we are and as we can be, and we need that sight in order to truly change. He will steer us away from the ungodly. He will liberate us from the way of sin. He will lead us from scorn to joy. The Lord will do all this and more because of His great and abiding love for His children. Rejoice i n the love of God. he has given us a new year, and desires to give us a new life.
Prayer:
O Lord, cleanse my soul of all wrong. Help me grow in the light of Your love. Lift me above what I have been, and set me onto a new path of righteousness and grace. Amen.
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A Vision for Your Life in the New Year

(Adrian Rogers, Love Worth Finding)

"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."

Proverbs 29:18

Do you have a vision for your life at the threshold of a new year?

We Begin Again in 2010

One ship drives east and another drives west

With the self-same wind that blows.

‘Tis the set of the sail and not the gale

That tells us which way it goes.

Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate,

As we journey along through life;

‘Tis the set of the soul that determines the goal

And neither the calm nor the strife.

Unknown

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LHM advent devotion

SIMEON AND ANNA
December 31, 2009
Luke 2:25 and 36: "Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout ... There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the Tribe of Asher."
We don't know if Simeon or Anna every traveled to Bethlehem. We do know they regularly entered the temple as they did when Mary and Joseph went there to fulfill the obligations according to the Law for Jesus' presentation and Mary's purification. It was their first trip outside Bethlehem since Jesus' birth. It would not be their last trip to the temple. They and Jesus would return often.
This trip was significant and left a lasting impression on Mary and Joseph. In the temple courts, an old man named Simeon took Jesus in his arms and prayed one of those prayers the Church continues to pray to this very day:
"Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You now dismiss Your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory to Your people Israel." (Luke 2:29-32)
Simeon said more. He prophesied about the significant role Jesus would play in His ministry as Savior of the world. He had barely finished when Anna approached Mary and Joseph. She, too, gave thanks for the birth of Jesus, and spoke of what lay ahead for Him.
It is appropriate on this New Year's Eve that we reflect upon Mary and Joseph's experience in the temple. Simeon's prayer might well be our prayer as we complete year 2009. The prophecies of both Simeon and Anna are the promises of the Christ for us as we anticipate 2010. We, too, have seen the Christ and know He promises to be with us every day with His redeeming love.
THE PRAYER: We are so grateful for the words and witness of Simeon and Anna. May our words and witness reflect such a strong faith and such great confidence. Amen