Friday, December 12, 2008

The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and His disciples were also invited to the celebration. The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told Him, “They have no more wine.” “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”  But His mother told the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”  [John 2:1-5]

“Celebration”

Happy Friday!   

Nothing like a good celebration.  I find it interesting that the very first public miracle that Jesus performed was at a wedding celebration. Turning water into wine().  A wine so good that,

“When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over.  “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!”

Somehow, somewhere along the way in the history of the church, Gods’ people became viewed as dry, lifeless, no smiling creatures with no joy.  Fun was a ‘dirty’ word… having a good time synonymous with doing something wrong, and dancing was strictly frowned upon.  If anybody should have joy it should be those who serve a God as wonderful as our God.  Balance.. Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a time a place for everything … Focus… years ago, I was attending a service where the minister asked everyone to take out a dime.  He told us to hold the dime up in front of us.  In the broad scope of our vision the dime did not take up much space, but when we moved the dime closer to our eyes our whole perspective changed until the dime was all that would could see.  That is how life is at times.  Something or someone can fill our vision to the point we can’t see anything beyond it.  I believe that is the reason many people commit suicide or generally check out of life… either mentally or emotionally.  They could not see or imagine life beyond where there were. Breakthroughs are happening constantly… don’t miss yours. The bible assures you that if you seek God… you will find Him….. Enjoy today.

Some Assembly Required -Proverbs 3:5,6     Life is complicated, and it can be hard to fit all of the pieces together. The Bible is our instruction manual from God for how to put our lives in order. December 7, 2008

(a Father/son dance-this is a video you don’t see everyday )

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Garment of Praise -Isaiah 61:3 91 of 102   All around us in this world is the spirit of heaviness, despair and depression. The garment of praise can protect us from these, even though it may look silly to some. August 10, 2008

Good Morning Beloved,

Suit up!  Put on the full armor of God, but don’t forget to overlay it with the garment of praise. So many of the saints are going through… losing their homes, wayward children, job loss, crazy relationships.  Many are having to sacrifice in ways they never thought they would have to.  Moving in with relatives and friends, selling their homes, over-all downsizing.  With the holidays coming up it is easy to become focused on what we want, what the kids want, what we don’t have, what we need.  We can become over-whelmed, stressed and depressed.  God’s Word tells us that, “God will supply all of our need according to His riches in Glory.” He will provide for us.  It may not come in the way we thought it would, but He will provide.  The songwriter said “be grateful because there is someone else who’s worse off than you”.  If we can look around our table and our circle is unbroken, be grateful, so many have recently lost their loved ones.  If we have a job to be irritated with …be grateful, people are losing their jobs in droves.  If we have a family that gets on our nerves… be grateful, there are people who have no family at all.  If we ate anything at all… be grateful, there are people in the world literally eating dirt.  The old song used to say, “count your blessings, name them one by one, count your many blessings see what God has done”.  That is a good exercise… when storms and trials try push us to the brink of despair and hopelessness… count your blessings and remember how God made a way for you in the past…. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever….

… and that my Royal sibling, is good news!

U Blessed!

Have A Fabulous Day

Regina

(The Hawkins “God Is Standing By”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsyNYTw6Vt8

(The Hawkins “Be Grateful”)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUEkRp69aIU

Ok… today was one of those mornings…. I was not late, but I was closer to being late than I wanted to be, so I decided to catch the bus rather than walk.  If you’ve ever ridden the bus during rush hour, you can imagine the scene… people crammed into each other… no one smiling…. some are sleeping… some just look mad at the world.  Then the bus driver and a passenger started talking, their talking led to laughter and the passenger nearly fell out of his seat laughing.  Another passenger that was close to them remarked,  ”It ain’t that funny”… he told her that he was laughing at the bus driver… she couldn’t hear all of what the bus driver was saying, she was reacting to the passenger.  Pretty soon I saw an amazing transformation, people from the front all the way to the back of the bus starting smiling…. they had no idea why..it was like a wave… this bus driver and passenger had completely changed the atmosphere… no wonder why the bible tells us that “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)“.  In the words of Nehemiah, “…Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)

Change the atmosphere today for the good!

TAG!…… YOU’RE IT!

You are the apple of God’s Eye
You are fearfully and wonderfully made
You are an overcomer
You are a mighty warrior
You are blessed
You are compassionate
You are giving
You are prosperous
You are stunning
You are powerful
You are amazing
You are intelligent
You are fabulous
You are Holy
You are a beautiful work in progress
You are all that God says that you are…… the greatest of all of His creationsWhat do you have to do with this message?  Send it to 10 people in 10 minutes and get 10 million dollars? NOPE..just give Him praise

and

tell the Lord THANK YOU!
                                            

Stretch out and enlarge your territory… something you’ve been meaning to do… do it.  Everywhere you look people are running scared.  Scared of the economy… scared of terrorists… scared of the government…scared of global warming… scared, scared, scared of everything.  Any wonder why God’s Word instructs us to fear not.  He knew that we would have plenty of opportunity to live in fear.  Remember He knows the end from the beginning… nothing shakes or surprises Him.  Regardless of what happens… remember the end of The Book….. WE’VE WON!  Everything we go through is strengthening us for the next leg of the journey… exercising our “spiritual muscles”…. Also, remember the saying “necessity is the mother of invention”.  There are still inventions yet to be created, children to be raised and nurtured, people to be cared for, houses and land yet to be possessed, ideas yet to come into fruition, scripts yet to be written, songs of strength yet to be released into the atmosphere.  I’m a living witness that when you’re “down to nothing… God is up to something”.  Be encouraged Beloved of God…. you’re going to make it.

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. (1 Chronicles 4:10)

Cartoonist’s Comment:

If your mind is being bombarded by fear and worry and doubt, seek the shelter of God’s peace by going to Him in prayer.