Victory in Christ...series... chapter 1

Week 1 of our series. I hope that this book blesses you as it has me!! 

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He Loved Me 

This is what touches my heart. It has always been easy for me to believe that God loves the world, and that Jesus loves His Church, but I could never see any reason why He should love me. I have found, however, that there is no reason, so far as I am concerned. That explanation is simple enough when I look to Him and not to myself. He is love. Love is the very essence of His being. Love is His life. Love is the atmosphere in which He lives. he loves because He lives. His love does not speak out the worthy, but the unworthy. Therefor He loves me. 

Jesus deals with us as individuals. His heart is large enough, His love is great enough, and His knowledge is comprehensive enough, for the personal touch with each one. He knows me by name, just as He calls all the infinite number of stars by their names. He knows my experiences. He sympathizes with me in my trials and temptations. He loves me as if I were the only object of His love. He cares for me as if He had no other to care for. I can tell Him of my troubles, and He listens as if I were the only one who came to Him for help. He meets my every need as if I were the only one who felt any need. He is mine and if I had exclusive rights in Him.  

And this intimate, personal relationship does not interfere in any way with my perfect freedom of choice and action. Each morning I choose to accept His love. Each morning I choose to love and work for Him. Each morning I say to Him, "Thy love has found me and drawn me, and I am Thine." I am at liberty to leave Him at any moment, but I am held by bonds that do not chafe- the silken cords of love. I do not wish to go where He cannot go with me. I do not wish to do anything in which I cannot cooperate with Him. He rules me with a rod of love, and life's joy and sweetness are found in the closest association with Him. 

Do you know that He loves you? You are missing the best thing in life if your heart is not the shrine of His love. Remember, He loves you as He loves me. 

"Wonderful things in the Bible I see; 

This is the dearest- that Jesus loves me." 

A New Series Begins ~ Victory in Christ

Recently I found a small book (dated 2001). I read it and it was such a blessing to me that I decided I will share it with you all. It was originally written over 100 years ago and I figure it would be hard for you all to get a hold of - so I would like to type out each short chapter to share with you all. I hope you are all blessed!

"This jewel was written a century ago, and yet is as vibrant and true as when it first flowed from the heart onto the paper W.W. Prescott reveals his innermost, intimate thoughts on the love of his life- his Creator. Prescott shares the steps he has covered in his walk with Christ and invites one and all to join him in the bounty of God's love. unspeakable joy over God's "absolutely free gift" of His righteousness to His children overflows these pages.
The author speaks warmly, personally, of a heavenly Father who knows well the path we tread. And yet this tender God stands ever ready to add His mighty strength to our weakness to give victory over sin, over self, over slavery to fear and doubt. Christ our brother, Christ at one with the Father, Christ our Advocate and High Priest, fought the battle of life and won, in our behalf, for every soul.
Victory in Christ is ours.
Come and meet Prescott's Savior- because He is your Savior too."

This series will be on Sabbath. I will have the first chapter posted as soon as I can get it posted. Then be watching out each week for the next chapter~ 10 altogether :O)

Hi!

So sorry I have been missing in action - it has been a busy week - some parts of it were great some of them very, very stressful. I am hoping next week I can share some cool things with you all that I have found recently. What I would really like to take the time right now to do is to encourage you to spend time with Jesus. Reading the Bible, praying, some quiet time to see what He has to say. You might be surprised by what you will hear! Have a great weekend!! :O)

He Worketh

A devotion from my devotional Streams in the Desert that has been such a blessing to me for many years. It was given to me on my birthday in 2012 and it has helped encourage me through many tough times. :O) 

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He worketh (Ps. 37:5).

The translation that we find in Young of "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass," reads: "Roll upon Jehovah thy way; trust upon him: and he worketh." It calls our attention to the immediate action of God when we truly commit, or roll out of our hands into His, the burden of whatever kind it may be; a way of sorrow, of difficulty, of physical need, or of anxiety for the conversion of some dear one.

"He worketh." When? Now. We are so in danger of postponing our expectation of His acceptance of the trust, and His undertaking to accomplish what we ask Him to do, instead of saying as we commit, "He worketh." "He worketh" even now; and praise Him that it is so.

The very expectancy enables the Holy Spirit to do the very thing we have rolled upon Him. It is out of our reach. We are not trying to do it any more. "He worketh!" Let us take the comfort out of it and not put our hands on it again. Oh, what a relief it brings! He is really working on the difficulty.

But someone may say, "I see no results." Never mind.

"He worketh," if you have rolled it over and are looking to Jesus to do it. Faith may be tested, but "He worketh"; the Word is sure!

Don't Worry

Just a cute little video I found on youtube - it is less than 3 minutes long. I hope you are blessed!! :O)

Some Great News!

Well I have been experimenting with my hair and have found if I curl it - and feather it - I like it a lot better. I have not been able to capture a good photo of it yet. But soon I will post a photo taken the first day and hopefully a photo that captures how it is looking. Still not sure how it all will go but so far I am liking it alright. It isn't as flattering as it was right before my hair cut - I will show that photo as well, but I guess it is just part of the journey...

Hope you all are doing well. Things are going good here. There have been stressors but overall things are good.

I am EXCITED to share that on May 30th - I plan to go to church. I have found a church in my area that gives me the freedom to make the choice to wear a mask or not and I am SO very thankful that God has opened this door for me! I can't even relate to you the joy that I felt once I knew this was a great option for me. I have been watching sermons from this church the last several weeks - and they have been so encouraging to my soul. I look forward to listening to tomorrows sermon online- next week I will be able to worship with other believers! I am sure I will be emotional. It has been like 10 weeks or so since I have been able to go to church. Watching online is so much better then nothing but not the same as being with other believers!

Oh! I was also able to go thrift store shopping this week!!! I was able to try stuff on as well!! And I found 1 pair of bermuda shorts, 1 pair of capris, 1 sleeveless top, 1 short sleeved top, and 1 long sleeved top - all of this for $18.45! What a blessing to get to go - after several months of basically shopping on Ebay - which is considerably higher than thrift store prices. But I found the style of Lularoe sleeveless tops that I LOVE and have been blessed to be able to buy several of them!! Thankful to have that option and to have figured out the style I love!

Hope you all are well! :O)

The ugly Duckling Stage?....

So I finally got a hair cut yesterday. I had to wear a mask while in the building until I got the the room where my hairdresser rents. Then I was able to take it off - thankfully. I have a hard time breathing wearing it and do not feel like it is the best thing to do for my health. I ended up having to go shorter than I had planned on- I am in between hair styles - and you have to make some choices you would rather not in order to move from one style to the other. Because I usually have the layers of my hair shorter in the front - then we had to take the layers all the way around shorter - so now my hair is a little longer than shoulder length - but the layers are shorter than they have been. I haven't gotten hardly any comments on it so I am guessing it isn't as flattering as what it had been. And who knows I may end up going back to my previous style - but not until I give the new one a fair shot. Just pray I can make it look decent from now to when ever it is at the new style.
Have any of you ever went from one style to another that had some growing pains involved? Any help? Was it worth it? Just curious. Thanks :O)

I will try to get a photo of my hair currently and share one of these days. I have been told I look younger - so that is good - of course that is from a very good friend who would try to put a good spin on it instead of hurting my feelings. Thankfully - we all like to feel pretty even when we are in the ugly duckling stage/

Sabbath Praise

Happy Sabbath!
Today I just wanted to share some beauty from my yard. This week my husband and one of my sons worked on extending my flower bed in the front yard. And then we got these great flowers to add beauty to our yard. 

I also wanted to share a great song for us to listen to and sing with - that way we can praise the Lord together. :O) 

Working towards the Victory of Faith

I have gotten back to reading my Streams in the Desert devotional every morning. This devotional has gotten me through some of the roughest times of my life and I have found that I am needing it again. It has blessed me some how every single day that I have read it so far. I hope you are blessed and encouraged.
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All things are possible to him that believeth (Mark 9:23).

The "all things" do not always come simply for the asking, for the reason that God is ever seeking to teach us the way of faith, and in our training in the faith life there must be room for the trial of faith, the discipline of faith, the patience of faith, the courage of faith, and often many stages are passed before we really realize what is the end of faith, namely, the victory of faith.

Real moral fibre is developed through discipline of faith. You have made your request of God, but the answer does not come. What are you to do?

Keep on believing God's Word; never be moved away from it by what you see or feel, and thus as you stand steady, enlarged power and experience is being developed. The fact of looking at the apparent contradiction as to God's Word and being unmoved from your position of faith make you stronger on every other line.

Often God delays purposely, and the delay is just as much an answer to your prayer as is the fulfillment when it comes.

In the lives of all the great Bible characters, God worked thus. Abraham, Moses and Elijah were not great in the beginning, but were made great through the discipline of their faith, and only thus were they fitted for the positions to which God had called them.

For example, in the case of Joseph whom the Lord was training for the throne of Egypt, we read in the Psalms:

"The word of the Lord tried him." It was not the prison life with its hard beds or poor food that tried him, but it was the word God had spoken into his heart in the early years concerning elevation and honor which were greater than his brethren were to receive; it was this which was ever before him, when every step in his career made it seem more and more impossible of fulfillment, until he was there imprisoned, and all in innocence, while others who were perhaps justly incarcerated, were released, and he was left to languish alone.

These were hours that tried his soul, but hours of spiritual growth and development, that, "when his word came" (the word of release), found him fitted for the delicate task of dealing with his wayward brethren, with a love and patience only surpassed by God Himself.

No amount of persecution tries like such experiences as these. When God has spoken of His purpose to do, and yet the days go on and He does not do it, that is truly hard; but it is a discipline of faith that will bring us into a knowledge of God which would otherwise be impossible.

More Encouragement

Prayers please

I have had one of the hardest days that I have had from this whole situation. I was doing alright till I saw an announcement on my church online which told me my church would have its doors closed at least one more week than what I thought. And when it does open it will be limited amount of people and for a very large church that will be hard. I am so disappointed - if I get to go back to that church by June I will be lucky. I have struggled all day long and have had several bouts of tears.  It has come down to which will I have to wait the longest for? A hair cut or going back to church. Seems like forever for both. Many people have either had appointments or have appointments set up for hair cuts and I still haven't heard one word. And trying to be ok since it could very well be June before I get one. There are several other issues I am struggling with today, that I just won't go into. And what is up with all the hate I'm seeing. Please keep me in your prayers I am SO discouraged.

Sabbath Praise

Just a beautiful song! A great way to praise the Lord today!! :O)

Encouragement

Some encouragement for you this morning! If you have a hard time reading - let me know and i will try to enlarge them. Have an awesome day! :O) 

Hair today and Hair tomorrow

Well it is a good thing that I decided to let my hair grow out. I mean I really didn't have a choice when there is a lock down in place and most hairdressers not working. I say that because I know for a fact that some still did and made money under the table. Anyway I decided I need to have a hair style that takes less maintenance - there is no telling when we will be put on lock down again and then again I would have to go months without a hair cut and I would rather be ok with it. It has given me a lot of grieve - the only thing that helped me through it is accepting that I would need to try to change my hair style. 

Yesterday afternoon I heard a report that as of Friday hair salons will open up - that is the ones that want to. But sadly it seems that mine has decided that they want to stay closed longer - I mean who can blame them - they are getting unemployment - yes - my hairdresser said she had to jump through some hoops but she had already gotten her first check - and that was 2 weeks ago. So why should they be in a hurry to get back to work? Oh and not only did mine tell me she got check but another hair dresser I know also told me she started getting hers - and they will back date it so they will get plenty of money. The one I know from school (lost track of her for a few years) is starting to work again come Friday - but she is not taking new clients - wants to take care of her existing clients - I don't blame her. She has done such a great job at keeping her customers up to date on what is going one - I wish mine would do some more communicating with me. I am not holding my breath to hear from her this month at all. In fact, when I saw her 2 weeks ago - (taking her eggs) she hinted at maybe staying closed longer- I think the media's scare tactics got to her.... So there is no telling when she will start working again. So far I am handling my hair just fine. I sure hope that I am able to keep it looking nice through this transition. I would like to at least give something else an honest try. I may like it even better and see this as a blessing that came from this virus mess. 

So here I am over the last couple of weeks - I don't think I am this white - it is the light in the bathroom glaring on me. Anyway so far I am dealing with my hair just fine. I do think this transition would have been easier during the fall/winter months - but I am not giving up. 

I am so very glad that I came to a place of acceptance about my hair because had I not - this whole situation would have me stressed out. Instead I am just feeling thankful that I already had geared myself up to deal with this hair for the rest of this month. 

My husband has already set up an appointment to get his hair cut and his beard trimmed and groomed. He has waited 3 months or so since his last hair cut. I am happy he was able to get an appointment. Now to see how long it takes me to get one. I will let you know once I do. :O) 

How are you guys dealing with not being able to have your hair done? 

Best Deal

So today's post will be a tad bit different than most of the posts that I put under this heading. But it is still my best deal for last week so here it goes. 

We had 5 large red tip photinia bushes in front of our garage. They grew so fast and it seemed hard to keep them trimmed and looking nice. So last week when my husband had a large machine rented to help dig up our sewer line - he decided to pull our bushes out. We had seen a couple of these great stones sticking out but did not realize that we had at least 12 of them buried under all sorts of dirt and gravel. I was so excited because our plan was to pull the bushes out and make a walk way to our porch in that area - and we would need stepping stones. We will also be extending our flower bed that is in front of the porch. I can not wait to have this project done. 

So we found at least 12 of these great stones!! 

These stones run $5.48 a piece. 

It would have cost us $ 65.76 plus tax to get the stones - 

but it cost us $0 thanks to the owners before us who had a walkway - they must not have realized how very big these bushes would get! 

So even though I did not buy anything for this best deal post - I save a good amount of money making it my best deal for the week!! 

I have a best deal for next week I will just need to get it all written up but that will have to wait - I have way too much to do around here. 

Hope you all are staying well. :O)