Big Connection with These 3 Words

Since I am taking care of my granddaughter this month and I have to be at my sons home by about 7am I have not had as much time for my devotionals as I'd really like, but yesterday morning I was happy to have a chance to really study my Bible. This is one thing that I really miss during the month of July. Anyway so I was studying Ephesians 3:14-21. As I studied this passage in the Bible and all the Bible references, I began to truly understand the strong link of these three words.

Faith   Hope   Love

There is such a strong connection with these words and their meanings, especially to us as Christians.

 

"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

1 Corinthians 13:13

 

Why don't you check it out for yourself and see what you find. And if you have any insights I would love for you to share them with me. I have more thoughts on this passage but my time to Blog is so short so I'll have to share more another time. Hope to see you soon.

to be a Great Follwer of Jesus Christ

Just have a few minutes to check in. This morning while I was working on getting some potato salad made for supper and then getting the kitchen cleaned up, I was listening to a sermon from Carlton Byrd from Breath of Life(sorry I don't have time right now to try to find the sermon I was listening to- I was listening from something recorded from 3ABN on my Dish - it is on channel 9393 - at least it is here. Click the button above to check out the station more.) But I wanted to at least share a little lesson that I learned.

"Before you can be a great leader,

You have to be a great follower."

 

 

The pastor was telling the story about Moses and Joshua and that once Moses died- Joshua was able to be a great leader for the children of Israel because he had been a good and faithful follower - of not only Moses but of Jesus Christ. This story really struck a cord with me. In our lives we want to live great lives for the Lord- and in order for us to do great things for Him- we must be great followers of Jesus Christ. In order to be a great follower- we must spend time in prayer and studying the Bible. But not only studying the Word of God but also doing what the Bible instruct us to do. We can not be hearers only- we must be doers of the Word. We must spend precious time in the Word of God and in prayer and sometimes spending time quietly before the throne of God in order to hear what He has to tell us. We will never hear from him if our lives are always in a hustle and bustle of movement and noise. We need quiet time with the Lord every day. May God bless you all as you seek to spend more time with Him and in studying His Word! :O) 

We Got 6 Today

This week end ended up being the week end that SweetPea's Momma wanted with her- when SweetPea heard that she was going to have to leave for the week end she was very sad and said that she really missed her Daddy when she was gone. It broke our hearts to see her upset and there not being anything that we could do. Divorce is so hard on kids - wish she did not have to deal with it.

So this week end has been quite around here. Resting and relaxing has been what we have been doing. I am preparing myself for the next 3 weeks that I will be taking care of her.

This last week was rough - it seems like we noticed that Dewie was not doing well on Monday and by Wednesday afternoon it was apparent that he was not going to make it much longer. It has been hard to get used to him being gone. That has made this week end kind of sad as well. As I cleaned the house yesterday in preparation for Sabbath - I noticed the treats in the trashcan that Dewie did not eat - one of the first signs that I noticed that made me realize that he was not doing well. And it also seems like as I walk into a room - many times I will check out the area that he really liked in that room - looking for him - still can't believe he is gone.

Some cool news - is that our chickens are starting to lay - we are up to getting 1 egg from each of our white chickens every day! That means at least 5 eggs a day. And then yesterday we got our first green egg! And then today we got another one. I am so thrilled that some of the chickens have begun to lay already. When we got the chickens I figured up when they would probably start laying and it ended up being like end of July or even August. And I was afraid that we would not getting eggs until at least August. And so I am thrilled that we are already getting eggs. SweetPea loves going to check for eggs.

The eggs start off small and will get bigger as time passes. There was actually another egg today but my husband used it for his supper.

 

Well my book that I was going through for my Sabbath Posts is done so I will have to figure out something new to do for my Sabbath Posts. If any of you have any ideas - I would love to hear them.

 

Hope you all are doing well. Have a great week end. :O)

RIP Dewie

Yesterday if became very apparent that Dewie was dying. He went down hill quickly. He spent the whole day in our bathroom. And as the day progressed it became more obvious that he was so weak that he could not get up. And when he tried he would cry out some- not horribly loud but enough to get our attention. It made for a rough day. My granddaughter was here and she was very concerned. I knew he was not in good shape and that we would be loosing him but once I realized how close it was I could not keep a brave face any longer. I spent a lot of time crying yesterday. And just sharing this is causing me to feel emotional about it so I will share a little bit about this sweet buddy of mine.

 

He loved to be where I was - even if it meant the sacrifice of fitting into a tight space:

 

 And of course when I would be working on a quilt - many times I would find him curled up on it - or in this case on my ironing board on top of pieces of fabric!

 

Dewie and Stewie- brothers loved each other and loved to sleep together!

 

Once my husband got home from work - he took Dewie to the Vet and we had him put down. His suffering had to stop.
Please continue to keep our family in your prayers.
Pets become part of the family and we will miss him.
Today I am thankful for my granddaughters presence - I think it is helping me to be distracted. I think once July is over - it will hit me even harder. As he was a loyal friend. He loved to sleep with me at nights and I loved his companionship.

 

In Search of Peace

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"The Sermon on the Mount is a guide to peace and contentment. Its truths are directed toward the deeper aspects of life. It presents fundamental emotional attitudes rather than intellectual ideas or mere theory. Spiritual reality goes deeper than rational levels. It is difficult for a Christian to put his experience into words because spiritual experience is always richer than words can relate.

The greatest urge of the human heart is for peace. The achievement of peace and serenity often outweighs all other values which men may gain. Men's activity may be understood only in the light of the search after that which he hopes will bring him peace.

Men search for peace in three distinct ways. The first group seeks peace in the proper arrangement of externals. They hope that a good environment will give them the desired gift of serenity. A large section of modern Christian thought has emphasized the need of social transformation. Society is to be transformed politically, economically, and socially in the hope of providing self- realization for man. The quest for peace by the way of externals has always brought disillusionment. An ideal environment is of little value when the deeper problems of life arise. Externals have their importance, but they do not minister to the core of life. Adequate environmental relationships may be necessary, but they are not the basic requisites for a full life.

A second group searches for peace within themselves. They are not particularly interested in social reform. This group would rather overcome handicaps than completely remove them. Mental discipline, self-analysis, and other like procedures are followed religiously. This second method often yields some results. It, however, is still not the true way to peace. Here a person stays too much with himself.

The third and true method toward peace is the way of union with God. Peace is neither without nor within. Contentment comes from a union with the Creator. Man was made for God and can find peace only in Him. It is as Pascal once said: "Happiness is neither within only or without us; it is the union of ourselves with God."

Men of today have prided themselves with the all- sufficiency of reason. World conditions demonstrate the fact, however, that mere intellect is not enough. Attitude have to do with the heart whereas concepts may be only the superficial product of the head. When man tries to  live by reason alone, he at once shows his lack of understanding of the deeper functions of life. Man is a feeling creature as well as a reasoning creature. It is within man's feelings that all prompts of actions arise. Socrates or Plato may speak to the mind, but Jesus speaks to men's minds and hearts. Philosophers are primarily interested in how men think about the universe. Jesus is interested in man's way of feeling as well as his way of thinking.

One deeply spiritual writer speaks thus of the words of Jesus as uttered in the Sermon on the Mount: "As something strange and new, those words fall upon the ears of the wondering multitude. Such teaching is contrary to all they have every heard from priest or rabbi. They see in it nothing to flatter their pride or to feed their ambitious hopes. But there is about this new Teacher a power that holds them spellbound. The sweetness of divine love flows from His very presence, as the fragrance from a flower. His words fall like 'rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth.' All feel instinctively that here is One who reads the secrets of the soul, yet who comes near to them with tender compassion. Their hearts open to Him, and, as they listen, the Holy Spirit unfolds to them something of the meaning of that lesson which humanity in all ages so needs to learn."
quote from Mount of Blessings pg. 17-18
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Just checking in...

I have shared this photo of our Dewie(gray) and Stewie(black) before, but wanted to share it to ask for prayers. Dewie is not doing good. He has not eaten his treats for at least the last few days. And has not eaten for at least 2 days. He is not acting like himself. He usually sleeps with me but has not for the last few days. And his eyes are dilated. I am very worried about him. I think that we will be loosing him soon. Please pray that he is not in very much pain. It's so sad that it has to be this month - while we have Hailee. It will be hard on her to lose a kitty and hard for me to try to be strong around her.

Next I wanted to show you a great photo that I got of "Feathers" yesterday.

This is my husbands favorite chicken! It's the freebie that we got when we ordered our chickens because we did not order like this.

 

It's not just the bird's that enjoy our birdbath!

SweetPea has enjoyed playing in the water - mixing the water with dirt!

We spend several hours outside yesterday. 

OK and since I am catching you all up on what is going on around here - I will share of our 4th of July "fun."

My Mother in law ended up having to go to the ER and was admitted into the hospital. She may get out tomorrow if her infection has cleared up some by then. We won't find out till tomorrow morning - after they check out the site to see if the infection has gone down.

 

I am being kept busy. I am disappointed because I am not being able to walk like I was. I am trying to at least get out and walk Sunday mornings. And then other days - I am trying to get more exercise/movement in - like taking the granddaughter to the park, and when we play out side. But I am disappointed that my schedule does not give me enough time for a walk - I wish I had a treadmill because if I did I could get a quick walk in that way. But the exercise machine that I got - I am not able to fully get benefits from it because it is really made for someone who is in much better shape than I am in. So I am seriously thinking of selling it and trying to find a treadmill for me to use. But I am going to wait until after July to sell it because my granddaughter likes to use it. And I would hate to take away a chance for her to use up some of her energy.

 

Anyway that gives you a brief glimpse into what is going on around here. So far we have not hit the triple digit mark and I am hoping that we will get a reprieve and not hit it at all - which would be like a miracle for us here in Texas. But I am truly hoping that we don't get very many triple digit days. We have been having temps in the 90's. So it is quite warm still.

What's the weather where you are?

 

God's Promises...series ... 1 John 1:9

God's Promises

 

by

John Bradshaw

 

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins

 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 

1 John 1:9

 

A lady asked me one day if God would forgive her for a certain sin she had committed. When I assured her that, yes, God would forgive her, she said, "But it was a terrible thing I did."

"That's okay," I told her, "God will forgive even the terrible things you've done."

She explained to me that what she'd done was "really, really bad" and that the weight of this awful sin had been pressing upon her ever since she committed it--more than 50 years, sometimes many times a day...I figured she had confessed this sin to God at least 20,000 times!

 

"Do you believe God?" I asked her. "why yes," she asserted. "Of course I do!"

 

Well, it seems to me that you actually think that God is a liar," I answered. "Let's look at a verse in the Bible together."

 

I opened my Bible to 1 John 1:9 and read, "If we confess our sins...You've done that, right?"

"Yes, many, many ties!" "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins... Do you believe that?

 

"If it's in the Bible, I believe it," She said without any hesitancy.
...and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
 

 

"If you really believe the Bible, then you can accept what God says here and  you don't need o confess that sin ever again. In fact, to confess it again would be to tell God that you don't believe what He says!"

 

The next time I saw her, she told me that on the night of our conversation, she had the best night's sleep she'd had in more than half a century. If you've sinned, God is willing and able to forgive you. You should never doubt for a moment that God will pardon you. He has promised.