August 30, Today’s thought – Job

Good Morning

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Such was Job’s character as given by God.
He asked Satan,
“Hast thou considered my servant Job,
that there is none like him in the earth?”
Satan, in reply, says in effect,
“Strip him and he will curse Thee to thy face.”
Satan sought Job’s fall; God sought his blessing.
Satan gets leave from God to strip Job.
With malignant energy he sets to work,
and in one day he brings the greatest man in all the East
into abject poverty and visits him with sore bereavement.
Blow after flow of such a crushing nature
and with such rapidity falls upon Job,
that one marvels at the testimony of the the Holy Ghost that:
“In all this did not Job sin with his lips.”
What a triumph for God!
What a defeat for Satan!
“from Springs in the Valley, Cowman

Job 1:22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Consider Job’s example . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on August 30, 2013 at 10:02 am  Leave a Comment  

August 28, Today’s thought – Still the Great I AM

july 1 zuc shred 004

 Much shredding becomes . . . see below  

Good Morning

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said,
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
So that we may boldly say,
The Lord is my helper,
and I will not fear what man shall do unto me
Hebrews 13:5-6

Whatever life may bring to you,
“God” will ring true to you:
Star in your sky–
Food in your store–
Staff in your hand–
Friend by your side–
Light on your path–
Joy in your heart–
In your ears music–
In your mouth songs.
Yes, rapid as your race may run,
And scorching as may shine your sun,
And bitter as may blow your blast,
And lonely as your lot be cast–
Whatever life may bring to you,
“God” will aye ring true to you.
~~~Charles Herbert

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Hebrews13:8

july 2 zuc bread Zucchini Bread

Thankful for ‘the same’ness . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on August 28, 2013 at 6:55 am  Leave a Comment  
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August 27, Today’s thought – I Am That I Am

silouette A Sunrise silhouette as seen from our deck at Cozy Acres.

Good Morning

Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

God gave Moses a blank and as life went forward for the next forty years, Moses kept filling in the blank with his special need.

He filled in fearlessness before Pharaoh.
He willed in guidance across the Read Sea.
He filled in manna for the whole population.
He filled in water from the rock.
He filled in guidance through the wilderness.
He willed in victory over Amalek.
He filled in clear revelation at Sinai.

And so, Moses, for the rest of his life, had little else to do than to go quietly alone, and taking God’s blank checkbook, signed by God’s name, I AM THAT I AM, write in I AM guidance; I AM bread. He presented the check and God honored it.
And when ever you come to live upon God’s plan as Moses from that moment did, you may absolutely trust God. And when you come down to the hoar-head you will say, “And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof”. Joshua 23:14.
~~A. B. Simpson

Joshua had tried God forty years in the brick kilns, forty years in the desert, and thity years in the Poised Land, and this was his dying testimony D. L. Moody.

Trust the great I AM . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on August 27, 2013 at 10:23 am  Leave a Comment  
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August 26, Today’s thought – Why Not Now?

Proverbs-31-WomanChrist is teaching me to wait at His feet.

Good Morning

Peter said to Him, ’Lord, why can I not follow You now?’ —John 13:37

There are times when you can’t understand why you cannot do what you want to do. When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don’t fill it with busyness, just wait. The time of waiting may come to teach you the meaning of sanctification— to be set apart from sin and made holy— or it may come after the process of sanctification has begun to teach you what service means. Never run before God gives you His direction. If you have the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt— wait.

At first you may see clearly what God’s will is— the severance of a friendship, the breaking off of a business relationship, or something else you feel is distinctly God’s will for you to do. But never act on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will cause difficult situations to arise which will take years to untangle. Wait for God’s timing and He will do it without any heartache or disappointment. When it is a question of the providential will of God, wait for God to move.

Peter did not wait for God. He predicted in his own mind where the test would come, and it came where he did not expect it. “I will lay down my life for Your sake.” Peter’s statement was honest but ignorant. “Jesus answered him, ’ . . . the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times’ ” (John 13:38). This was said with a deeper knowledge of Peter than Peter had of himself. He could not follow Jesus because he did not know himself or his own capabilities well enough. Natural devotion may be enough to attract us to Jesus, to make us feel His irresistible charm, but it will never make us disciples. Natural devotion will deny Jesus, always falling short of what it means to truly follow Him.

John 13:36-38
Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

Waiting requires Grace . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on August 26, 2013 at 10:05 am  Comments (1)  
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August 22, Today’s thought – Let It Rest!

storyteller 003The Storyteller, from New Mexico

Good Morning

Thinketh no evil. 1 Corinthians 13:5

“Let it rest!”

Ah! how many hearts on the brink of anxiety and disquietude, by this simple sentence have been made calm and happy.

Some proceeding has wounded us by its want of tact; let it rest; no one will think of it again.

A harsh or unjust sentence irritates us, let it rest; whosoever may have given vent to it will be pleased to see it forgotten.

A painful scandal is about to estrange us from an old friend; let it rest, and thus preserve our charity and peace of mind.

A suspicious look is on the point of cooling our affection; let it rest; our look of trust will restore confidence.

Fancy! we, who are so careful to remove the briars from our pathway for fear they should wound, yet take pleasure in collecting and piercing our hearts with thorns that meet us in our daily intercourse with one another.
How childish and unreasonable we are!
~~Gold Dust

Ephesians 4:32
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. KJV

And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you. Amplified Bible

Be ye kind . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours. Leslie

Published in: on August 22, 2013 at 10:43 am  Comments (2)  
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August 21, Today’s thought – We Are All Loved

2010 0425 (17)Yep, I’m loved! (4/2010)

Good Morning

Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. John 11:5

Jesus does not want all His loved ones to be on one old or color. He does not seek uniformity. He will not remove our individuality; He only seeks to glorify it. He loved “Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.”

“Jesus loved Martha”
Martha is our biblical example of a practical woman; “Martha served.” In that place is enshrined her character.
(Luke 10:40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving . . .)

“And her sister”
Mary was contemplative, spending long hours in deep communion with the unseen. We need the Marys as well as the Marthas–the deep contemplative souls, whose spirits shed a fragrant restfulness over the hard and busy streets. We need the souls who sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His Word, and the interpret the sweet Gospels to a tired and weary world.

“And Lazarus”
What do we know about him? Nothing! Lazarus seems to have been undistinguished and commonplace. Yet Jesus loved him. What a huge multitude come under the category of “nobodies”! Their names are on the register of births and on the register of deaths, and the space between is a great obscurity. Thank God for the commonplace people! They turn our houses into homes, they make life restful and sweet. Jesus loves the commonplace. Here then is a great, comforting thought: we are all loved–the brilliant and the commonplace, the dreamy and the practical.

“Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus”
“J.H.Jowett

Remember you are loved . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on August 21, 2013 at 9:40 am  Comments (4)  
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August 20, Today’s thought – Clouds and Darkness

Good Morning

Clouds and darkness are round about him:
righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
Psalm 97:2

A person who has not been born again by the Spirit of God will tell you that the teachings of Jesus are simple. But when he is baptized by the Holy Spirit, he finds that “clouds and darkness surround Him . . . .” When we come into close contact with the teachings of Jesus Christ we have our first realization of this. The only possible way to have full understanding of the teachings of Jesus is through the light of the Spirit of God shining inside us. If we have never had the experience of taking our casual, religious shoes off our casual, religious feet— getting rid of all the excessive informality with which we approach God— it is questionable whether we have ever stood in His presence. The people who are flippant and disrespectful in their approach to God are those who have never been introduced to Jesus Christ. Only after the amazing delight and liberty of realizing what Jesus Christ does, comes the impenetrable “darkness” of realizing who He is.

Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Once, the Bible was just so many words to us — “clouds and darkness”— then, suddenly, the words become spirit and life because Jesus re-speaks them to us when our circumstances make the words new. That is the way God speaks to us; not by visions and dreams, but by words. When a man gets to God, it is by the most simple way— words.
~~~My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers

So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17

Listen . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on August 20, 2013 at 11:41 am  Leave a Comment  
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August 19, Today’s thought – Never Give Up

june30-july1.12 monterey 003Longing for some ocean time

Good Morning

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14

Don’t give up! In 1952 Florence Chadwick attempted to swim the ocean waters between Catalina Island and the California shore—through foggy weather and choppy seas. After 15 hours her muscles began to cramp and her resolve weakened. She begged to be taken out of the water, but her mother riding in a boat alongside, urged her not to give up. She kept trying but grew exhausted. Aids lifted her out of the water. As they paddled a few more minutes, the mist broke. She discovered shore was less than a half mile away. She said, “All I could see was the fog. I think if I could’ve seen the shore, I would’ve made it!”

Friend, don’ t give up! The finish may be only strokes away. God may at this moment be lifting His hand to signal Gabriel to grab the trumpet. The shore may be closer than you think. Stay at it. Stay in the race. And don’t give up!

from Facing Your Giants, Max Lucado

Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark – I pursue along the line; this is a reference to the white line that marked the ground in the stadium, from the starting place to the goal, on which the runners were obliged to keep their eye fixed; for they who transgressed or went beyond this line did not run lawfully, and were not crowned, even though they got first to the goal.
When it was said to Diogenes, the cynic, “Thou art now an old man, rest from thy labors;” to this he answered:. . . “If I have run long in the race, will it become me to slacken my pace when come near the end; should I not rather stretch forward?” Diog. Laert., lib. vi. cap. 2. sec. 6 Clarke’s Commentary(simplified by leaving out original language references)

Keep on, keeping on . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on August 19, 2013 at 9:59 am  Leave a Comment  
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Sunday Bible Reading – 1 Corinthians 13

may30 003

1 Corinthians 13

The Message (MSG)
The Way of Love

13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

11 When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

1 Corinthians 13:8-10
Charity (God’s Love) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.KJV

Trusting in God’s Love . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on August 18, 2013 at 9:09 am  Comments (2)  
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August 14, Today’s thought – Forgiving

aug 2 summertime 004Yes, Buster does have this indignant expression on his face most of the time.

Good Afternoon

Forgiveness is not excusing! Nor is it pretending. To forgive is to move on, not to think about the offense anymore. You don’t excuse him, endorse her, or embrace them. You just route thoughts about them through heaven. Revenge is God’s job.

By the way, how can we grace-recipients do anything less? Dare we ask God for grace when we refuse to give it? It’s a huge issue in the Bible. Jesus was tough on sinners who refused to forgive other sinners. In the final sum, we give grace because we’ve been given grace.

In the story Jesus tells in Matthew 18:32, the master calls the servant in. “You wicked servant, he said, “I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? It’s a good question. We’ve been given grace…. shouldn’t we freely give it?

from Facing Your Giants – Max Lucado

Having freely received, trying to freely give . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on August 14, 2013 at 4:23 pm  Leave a Comment  

August 9, Today’s thougths – Our Refuge

482012 013If you were hiding under these wings,
you’d have a watch hen’s protection.

Good Morning
He has a price on his head. No place to lay his head. But somehow he keeps his head. He turns his focus to God and finds refuge! Refuge is a favorite word of David’s in the Psalms. But never did David use the word more poignantly than in Psalm 57—a song of David when he fled from Saul into the cave. On his face, lost in shadows and thought, nowhere to turn. But then he remembers he is not alone. And from the recesses of the cave his voice floats:

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me:
for my soul trusteth in thee:
yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge,
until these calamities be overpast. verse 1

Make God your refuge. Not your job, your spouse, your reputation, or your retirement account. Make God your refuge! Let Him encircle you. Let Him be the foundation upon which you stand! And that foundation will support you right into eternity.

In the shadow of thy wings – A metaphor taken from the brood of a hen taking shelter under her wings when they see a bird of prey; and there they continue to hide themselves till their evemy disappears. In a storm, or tempest of rain, the mother covers them with her wings to afford them shelter and defense. This the psalmist has particularly in view, as the following words show: “Until these calamities be overpast.” Clarke’s Commentary

Hide in Him . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on August 9, 2013 at 11:14 am  Leave a Comment  
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August 8, Today’s thought – Storm or Calm

june4 003
Good Morning

And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Matthew 14:26 – 32

Henry A. Ironside a minister, wrote, “What Peter should have remembered was that he could no more walk on smooth water than on rough waves, except by the power of the Lord, and that power is as great in the storm as in the calm.”
One of my waves of fear is financial. I know God provides, but when the porch roof is leaking and my car;s odometer is at two hundred thousand miles, I start to sink.
When Peter cried out to Jesus, the Lord pulled him up. “Why did you doubt?” He asked him. When my storms blow in, I cry out. And God lifts me up, whether it;s with a new freelance opportunity, or the realization that a bike ride and a picnic can be as much fun as a movie and eating out.
Why did I doubt?
~~~Marjorie Parker

Trusting despite the weather . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on August 8, 2013 at 10:46 am  Leave a Comment  

August 7, Today’s thought -Will You Go Out. . .

sheep4waiting

Good Morning,

Will you go out without knowing?

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. Hebrews 11:8

Have you ever “gone out” in this way? If so, there is no logical answer possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the most difficult questions to answer in Christian work is,
“What do you expect to do?”
You don’t know what you are going to do. The only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually examine your attitude toward God to see if you are willing to “go out” in every area of your life, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in constant wonder, because you don’t know what God is going to do next. Each morning as you wake, there is a new opportunity to “go out”, building your confidence in God. “. . . do not worry about your life. . .nor about the body. . .” (Luke 12:22). In other words, don’t worry about the things that concerned you before you did “go out”.

Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do–He reveals to you who He is. (me – I love this thought, by trusting in God, I learn who He is). Do you believe in a miracle-working God, and will you “go out” in complete surrender to Him until you are not surprised one iota by anything He does? (me – I think one of the blessing in serving God is being surprised, amazed and in awe of the working of God.)

Believe God is always the God you know Him to be when you are nearest to Him. Then think how unnecessary and disrespectful worry is! Let the attitude of your life be a continual willingness to “go out” in dependence upon God, and your life will have a sacred and inexpressible charm about it that is very satisfying to Jesus.(me – ‘Walk before Me’ to have a life that satisfies Jesus!) You must learn to “go out” through your convictions, creeds, and experiences until you come to the point in your faith there there is nothing between yourself and God.
~~~My Utmost for His Highest – Oswald Chambers

And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. Luke 12:22

Have an attitude of willingness. . .Today
With my prayers, desiring your, Leslie

Published in: on August 7, 2013 at 11:50 am  Leave a Comment  

August 5, Today’s thought – Chose to See

P1000026Lift off at Reno Hot Air Balloon Show, 2007

Good Morning

On the wall of a concentration camp, are carved these words:

I believe in the sun, even though it doesn’t shine.
I believe in love, even when it isn’t shown.
I believe in God, even when He doesn’t speak.

I try to envision a skeletal hand gripping broken glass or stone to cut into that wall; eyes squinting through the darkness as he carved each letter. Whose hand cut such a conviction? Whose eyes saw good in such horror? There’s only one answer: eyes that chose to see the unseen.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever.”

When tragedy strikes, we too, are left to choose what we see: the hurt or the Healer. The choice is ours!

From He Still Moves Stones, Max Lucado

Looking to Jesus . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on August 5, 2013 at 12:53 am  Comments (2)  
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Yarn Along – Afghans and more

yarnalong_gsheller_gray

On Wednesday’s knitters go to Ginny’s to share all the wonderful projects being worked on, finished, frogged, cried over, and learned from. They also tell what they are reading and a little of the storyline or provoking thoughts. I think it is great. So many books, knitting ideas and hints on how to make knitting more enjoyable. (I’m a day late.)

July 31 003
Trisha’s baby blanket is finished.
I love the ruffle,
She has three girls, one born Monday.
I’m knitting  three afghans.
I’m not sure who will get which one,
I may let the older girls pick their favorite.

July 31 007
July 31 006Number 2 – Pinwheel afghan for one of Trisha’s girls.
This is a fun knit.
July 31 010 Number 3 – a favorite afghan, Cuddle wheel,
worked in short rows making 12 pinwheel sections.
I have knit many of these.

July 31 005Summer Flies for Suzanne is knit with Debbie Bliss Eco Cotton,
I like this pattern and the changes in stitches.
I think I would like to knit again in a wool blend of some kind.

July 31 008
July 31 009 And finally a humble dishcloth,
I love garter stitch,
it is so regular and even and simple.

I’m listening to the first book, Hidden Empire, of the Saga of the Seven Suns by Kevin Anderson. I have the first thee books downloaded. I found out there are nine books in the series, I’m not sure I want to listen to all of them.

Join us at Ginny’s.

Published in: on August 1, 2013 at 10:44 am  Comments (6)  
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