Saturday, July 18, 2020

Learn, Change, Grow, Reflect


Make sure you test positive for faith.
Keep your distance from doubt.
Isolate yourself from fear.
Trust in God through it all.


“What if 2020 isn’t cancelled?
What if 2020 is the year we’ve been waiting for?
A year so uncomfortable, so painful, so scary, so raw –
that it finally forces us to grow.
A year that screams so loud, finally awakening us
from our ignorant slumber.
A year we finally accept the need for change.
Declare change.  Work for change.  Become the change.
A year we finally band together, instead of
Pushing each other further apart.
2020 isn’t cancelled, but rather
the most important year of them all.”
~ leslie dwight


“LIFE is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance,
you must KEEP MOVING.”
~ Albert Einstein


“Open yourselves to something different, be an ambassador of change, and open your heart before you open your mouth.  Let’s love people for the content of their character and not the color of their skin.”
~ Ron Brown


“The person who spends time with God radiates His glory in a manner that is warm and inviting, never cold and forbidding.”
~ Jerry Bridges


Live like you want to be remembered.


“Imagining something may be the first step in making it happen, but it takes the real time and real efforts of real people to learn things, make things, turn thoughts into deeds or visions into inventions.”
~ Fred Rogers


“The quieter you become,
the more you can hear Him.”
~ Toby Mac


“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”
~ Abraham Lincoln


SOMETIMES
GOD
DOESN’T CHANGE
YOUR SITUATION
BECAUSE
HE
IS TRYING
TO CHANGE
YOUR
HEART.


Begin each day with a grateful heart.


“What lies behind us and what
lies before us are small matters compared
to what lies within us.”
~ Emerson


“We need Christians to be public Christians, not private saints.  Until the church steps up, nothing will work.  It will only be a Band-Aid.”
~ Dr. Tony Evans


“When we see the risen Lord,
he moves us beyond
a “Come and See” faith
to a “Go and Tell” faith.”
~ Dr. Duane Brooks



“Most High, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me true faith, certain hope, and perfect charity, sense and knowledge, Lord, that I may carry out Your holy and true command.”
~ Saint Francis (1182-1226) 


SOMEONE
SOMEWHERE IS
DEPENDING ON
YOU TO DO WHAT
GOD HAS CALLELD
YOU TO DO.


“Some people could be given an entire field of roses and only see the thorns in it.  Others could be given a single weed and only see the wildflower in it.  Perception is a key component to gratitude.  And gratitude is a key component to joy.”
~ Amy Weatherly


Don’t treat people as bad as they are.
Treat them as good as you are.


Happiness is not about getting what you want all the time, it’s about loving what you have and being grateful for it.


If a Tiny Virus can do this much Damage…
Imagine what a Mustard Seed of Faith can Do…


Gratitude helps us to see what is there…instead of what isn’t.


May we be willing to learn, change, grow, and be a reflection of God’s love and light during these days.


You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:16

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

Saturday, July 11, 2020

Headlines

A friend recently shared a post, written by Beverly Geer, that continues to stay with me.  Suffice it to say, I have been moved, inspired, encouraged, convicted, challenged, and motivated by two people I have never met, but who give me hope for a better today and tomorrow.

Sometimes I just want it to stop.  Talk of COVID, protests, looting, brutality.  I lose my way.  Become convinced that this “new normal” is real life. 

But then I meet an 87-year-old who talks of living through Polio, diphtheria, Vietnam, protests and yet is still enchanted with life.  He seemed surprised when I said that 2020 must be especially challenging for him.  “No,” he said slowly looking me straight in the eyes, “I learned a long time ago to not see the world through the printed headlines, I see the world through the people that surround me.  I see the world with the realization that we love big.  Therefore, I just choose to write my own headline.  “Husband loves wife today.”  “Family drops everything to come to Grandmas bedside.”  He patted my hand “Old man, makes new friend.” 

His words collide with my worries, freeing them from the tether I had been holding tight.  They float away.  I am left with a renewed spirit.  My headline now reads “woman overwhelmed by the spirit of kindness and the reminder that our capacity to love is never ending.”

And we, too, have the opportunity to choose and make the headlines we believe in, live by, and trust.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.
Philippians 4:8

Saturday, July 4, 2020

Freedom


This freedom
which we enjoy
did not originate with
the Founding Fathers.
- - -
This great boon of freedom
and respect,
for the dignity of man,
came as a gift from
the Creator.
~ Ezra Taft Benson


May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”
~ Peter Marshall


“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must,
like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
~ Thomas Paine


Christian freedom does not mean being free to do as we like; it means being free to do as we ought.”
~ William Barclay


“For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
~ Robert D. Hales


“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. 
With freedom comes responsibility.”
~ Eleanor Roosevelt


“Freedom is never given.  It is won.”
~ Philip Randolph


“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”
~ Abraham Lincoln


May we never forget freedom isn’t free.


“For to be free is not really to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
~ Nelson Mandela


Freedom is not the right to do anything.
Freedom is the right to do the correct thing.


And as we celebrate Independence Day for our country today, may we also give thanks for our personal freedom that comes from knowing Jesus.  John reminds us that when we know Jesus, the Truth, the truth will set us free.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:36

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
Romans 6:22

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:13

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Ephesians 3:12

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
Hebrews 9:15

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.
James 1:25

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slave.
1 Peter 2:16