Casting All

feb24-023

Casting all your care upon him;
for he careth for you.
1 Peter 5:7

Casting all your care
Your anxiety,
your distracting care,
on him,
for he careth for you,
for he meddles or concerns himself,
with the things that interest you.
Whatever things concern a follower of God,
whether they be spiritual or temporal,
or whether in themselves great or small,
God concerns himself with them;
affects them affects him;
in all their afflictions he is afflicted.
He who knows that God cares for him,
need have no anxious cares about himself.

Cast thy burden upon the Lord,
and he will sustain thee.
Psalm 55:22

He will bear both thee and thy burden
Clarke’s Commentary

Casting the whole of your care,
all your anxieties,
all your worries,
all your concerns,
once and for all on Him,
for He cares for you affectionately
and cares about you watchfully.
1 Peter 5:7
Amplified Bible

Published in: on February 11, 2017 at 1:21 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , ,

Being Christ’s Disciple

joy

If you want Joy be a disciple of Christ

What does it look like to be a disciple of Christ?

Romans 12:9-21 shows us
Let love be without dissimulation.
Abhor that which is evil;
cleave to that which is good.
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love;
in honour preferring one another;
Not slothful in business;
fervent in spirit;
serving the Lord;
Rejoicing in hope;
patient in tribulation;
continuing instant in prayer;
Distributing to the necessity of saints;
given to hospitality.
Bless them which persecute you:
bless, and curse not.
Rejoice with them that do rejoice,
and weep with them that weep.
Be of the same mind one toward another.
Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.
Be not wise in your own conceits.
Recompense to no man evil for evil.
Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
If it be possible,
as much as lieth in you,
live peaceably with all men.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath:
for it is written,
Vengeance is mine;
I will repay, saith the Lord.
Therefore if thine enemy hunger,
feed him;
if he thirst,
give him drink:
for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Be not overcome of evil,
but overcome evil with good.

Christ’s disciple puts others needs before their own desires.

John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give unto you,
That ye love one another;
as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another.
By this shall all men know
that ye are my disciples,
if ye have love one to another.

Published in: on November 21, 2016 at 12:37 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , ,

July 3, Today’s thought – Suitcases of Guilt

March 29-30 YP cabin trip 033Sticky notes on the cross list sins
the Blood of Christ cleansed from our hearts.
The pile of bags represents the burdens we carry, good and bad;
Christ says “Come unto me . . .”

Good Morning

Matthew 11:28-30
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. KJV

Do you carry a load of guilt?
So many do.
If our spiritual baggage were visible, you know what you’d see?
Suitcases of guilt,
bulging with binges,
blowups, and compromises.
The kid with the baggy jeans and nose ring?
He’d give anything to retract the words he said to his mother.
But he can’t.
So he tows them along.
The woman in the business suit that looks like
she could run for Senator?
She can’t run at all.
Not hauling that carpet bag wherever she goes.
So what do we do?

In Psalm 23:3 David said it like this, “He leads me in the paths of righteousness.” The path of righteousness is a narrow, winding trail up a steep hill. At the top is a cross. At the base of the cross are bags, countless bags full of innumerable sins. Calvary is the compost pile for guilt. Would you like to leave yours there as well? Max Lucado

Matthew 11:28-30
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good–not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne. Amplified Bible

Casting the whole of your care
[all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all]
on Him,
for He cares for you affectionately
and cares about you watchfully.  Amplified Bible
1Peter 5:7

What is weighing you down. . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on July 3, 2013 at 11:22 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , ,

Five Minute Friday – Loud

On Fridays, many weeks I join with Ginny @ The Gypsymama and write.

I never know what will appear. sometimes it is hard to start, sometimes hare to stop. Sometimes I find myself laughing, sometimes crying. Sometimes I am please with my work and I want everyone to see what I have written. Most of the time what I write looks young and needy, waiting to grow.

Ginny says “We finger paint with words. We try to remember what it was like to just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.”

So remember finger painting can be very messy, indeed

Prompt  —  loud

start:

“When the voice in my head is so loud I can’t hear what I’m saying.”

That is the first thought that came to mind when I saw the prompt for today.

The voice in my head

Sometimes I just want to stuff a sock in it’s mouth

Be quiet

Leave me alone

Let me have a little time to find out what I need to know

I’ve listened to you over and over

And I’m still in the same place.  .  .  stuck.

There is a saying if you want different results you have to stop doing what you have been doing.

So, Voice, you need to hush!

I figure out what is good for me.

So I go to my secret place.

I leave the voice and the busyness and the cares

And I meet with the One who said,

“I am the way, the truth and the life”

And I find rest.

stop.

Published in: on March 23, 2012 at 11:50 am  Comments (1)  

One Thousand Gifts — February Joy Dare

One Thousand Gifts in2012

February Joy Dare–capturing these gifts and joining Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience.

“Joy is always a function of gratitude — and gratitude is always a function of perspective. If we are going to change our lives, what we’re going to have to change is the way we see.”

February 1

a gift found at 11:30, at 2:30 and at 6:30

at 11:30 am   —  fresh vegetable juice from the Farmer
at 2:30 pm  —  littlies sleeping
at 6:30 pm  —  safely arriving home

February 2

3 things over heard today all gifts

“Temper your expectations so you aren’t  overcome with discouragement”

Chorus from a song  — “God will make this trial a blessing though it sends me to my knees, Though my tears flow like a river yet in Him there’s sweet relief, There’s no need to get discouraged there’s no need to talk defeat, God will make this trial a blessing and the whole wide world will see”

“I put 30.00 worth of gas in the car today” the Farmer

February 3

3 gifts found in writing

Linking with Five Minute Friday and being reminded that Jesus and His sacrifice is Real

An excerpt from Streams in the Desert  February 1, This Thing is from Me

In my devotions;  Proverbs 16:23  “The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips”. ever striving to have “the law of kindness is in her mouth.”

February 4

3 gifts found when bent down

I have difficulty physically bending down, so in my heart I am bowing:

A gift while bending low in devotions I found: Proverbs 17:8  A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth. In the center column for ‘a precious stone’ I read ‘a stone of grace’.

Receiving the  gift of forgiveness while bending low in saying I’m sorry.

When bending down, little hands reach up.

February 5

One gift stitched:  A quilt as a memento of our Journey across the USA

One gift , hammered  This shed hammered, nailed, sawed, painted by my son and his friends became my pantry, office supply station, yarn and fabric stash home, daycare storage, and pile it place. Thank you!

One gift woven:  The love of  a daughter and mother can have woven together

February 6

3 gifts found outside

The front porch deck

Just after the deck was finished, October 2010

What the deck looked like in July, 2011

 A row of iris blooming happily in their new home
The green leaves of bulbs heralding the coming of spring

February 7

3 gifts red

The Words of Christ
A new-to-me sweater
A red almond  M&M

February8

a gift broken,  what I brought to Christ  – a broken and contrite heart

a gift fixed,    the foot control for my sewing machine by the  Farmer

a gift thrifted  —  a long sleeved blue flat knit sweater I’d been wanting to use to layer

February 9

3 gifts that were surprises  —  unexpected grace

“Would you like to do something Tuesday?

How easy Christ’s yoke has been regarding a need that seemed so hard!

Last year’s hyacinth re-blooming

February 10

3 times you heard laughter today

My three daughters laughing at something I said.

During Sunday’s message at an example of Christian living that rang true, lemons trees and lemons

Friendly laughter while visiting an ill friend

Gifts 209  —  239

Published in: on February 13, 2012 at 3:59 pm  Leave a Comment  

Five Minute Friday — Beauty

August 12, 2011

BEAUTY

We agreed to write it down – write down the only definition of beauty that matters:

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14.

Write for Five Minutes then link here:

http://thegypsymama.com/2011/08/five-minute-friday-beauty/

I’ve never thought of myself as beautiful. I never heard myself described as beautiful. I’ve heard ‘pretty’. In my twenties, I heard my mother say “I’ve always thought you had pretty legs’, but I don’t remember any words before that from her. As I have aged, I’m almost 62, next week, and overweight, I know that I don’t appear beautiful in my eyes at all.

I do know one day He said   “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ” Mat 11:28 KJV  He didn’t care about the outward woman, and He died to change the inward woman into a new woman. He gave beauty for ashes and put hope in the heart.

I know inside this house of flesh is a heart whose main desire is to encourage others to keep on trusting Jesus, to take one step at a time even though it is dark, to hold on to the Hand that is . . .

Isa 61:1  THE SPIRIT of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound, (3) To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn in Zion–to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit–that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.  Amplified Bible

Scriptures were added after the ding.

I need to make something very clear. My Mother is not a mean person. She is perfect.  In the era I was raised, you didn’t tell your children they were pretty or they did a good job. You didn’t want them to get a big head or be spoiled. We were all raised the same.  I’ll never forget the day Mom called and said guess what I just heard on the radio…’It is okay to tell your children they have done a job well!’ It was if she were liberated, as if this is what she wanted to do all the time but didn’t have permission to do! She immediately started telling the grand children that they were’ good workers’,’ thank you for doing such a good job’. She told her children also, ‘your house looks really nice’, ‘I like that shirt on you.’

My Mom is beautiful!

Published in: on August 12, 2011 at 5:10 pm  Comments (3)