Courage

 

 

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear- not absence of fear." 

- Mark Twain
What a wonderful quote.  

 

Jesus said in Luke's gospel; Chapter twelve and verse thirty two, 

 

"Fear not little flock".  

 

He didn't mean there wasn't any fear, 

he meant take heart, or take courage.

  

Like he said in Deuteronomy Chapter thirty-one, verse six, 

 

"Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid," 

 

and then saying,

 "He will not fail thee or forsake thee".  

Can you and I count on Him?  

 

The answer is YES!  

While things around us may not look good at the present, 

let's do as Mark Twain said, 

"Never be afraid, take courage".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Love

 

Who doesn’t love to think of Christmas?

The very thought brings a smile to most children’s faces.

Let’s think again of all Christmas really means. . .

 Joy, promise, peace, spirit,

and the spirit of Christmas is love.

Yes, love that brought our Savior, Lord Jesus Christ, as a wee boy born in Bethlehem,

 to be our Savior. Taking upon himself all of our guilt, our condemnation, all our sins, and in turn he gave us of himself.

I do, and don’t you, love that exchange?

Let’s become more loving and kind;

giving out and receiving this year that love he so lovingly gave us.

Merry Christmas!

Have a very bright and shining New Year!

For the Fallen

You don't choose your family.

They are God's gift to you;

 as you are to them.

Desmond Tutu (Winnipeg Free Press)

For the Fallen

     They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old: 

Age shall not weary them at the going down of the sun, 

and in the morning, we will remember them.

     In my husband's family, one of his brothers went to war as a stretcher bearer. He was strong, healthy, and had a good personality. Off to war he went. Never to return.

     In my family, because my father was a school teacher, and his brothers were doctors and the other was a judge, they stayed to their studies with no war time for them. They didn't choose their family.

     As I read this morning of God's provision for some of these men, of how they went to war, sending home love letters to their sweethearts while in the thows of great discomfort; I
tried to hold back the tears from my eyes.

    I couldn't imagine all they were going through. 
    In the long run, these men were God's gift to all of us.

   Imagine these ladies recieving a letter, a note, long or short. The excitement it must have given. What a gift!

     Let us truly remember them.

     Let's meditate on good thoughts.
     Thus giving back to them and our ongoing families a better world now and later.

    Lest we forget.

Happy Fathers' Day

Just think of all that God made,

 and when He made it, He said,

 "It was good." 

Genisis 1:25.

Then he said,

 "It was very good." 

Genisis 1:31.

God wanted to make a family, so He started off with Adam and Eve.

God continued wanting families right until the present,

 when He gave us our fathers.

Fathers are in the home supporting and encouraging the family.

I remember my dad;

 when he stuck up for me when I made my first cake.

 (By the way, baked in an old wood stove).

My dad said to my brothers, 

"You boys eat the cake." 

Sure glad he did make them eat it!

Now, I make a good cake that's not burnt.

You may say, "I don't like my dad; I wish he didn't do this or that, he's a big failure." 

Listen, don't worry about failure. 

The failing may be a learning experience,

if you could just spend a few moments praying for him.

Just think, he could change and be a much better person.

(Just like my chocolate cake.)

Happy Fathers' Day!

Keep Looking Up

        My daughter said to me the other day;

        'You can't appreciate what you have done until you move out of where you have been."

        That's so true.

        Just think of a child in grade one. Now he's on his way to grade two; and on up he goes, till he graduates. 
        Then he realizes how much he has accomplished and also where he has been.

        Now he can look back and see how far he has been.

        He may still have a ways to go, but as he looks back he'll be able to have the confidence in himself, knowing how far he has come. 

        And now looking up it won't seem to be as far as he thought it would be.

Keep looking up and let's keep growing in grace

 and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

2 Peter 3:18

Freedom to Enjoy

In our back yard we have a crabapple tree

 and an apple tree.

 And a dear little rabbit comes over 

and is nippling on one of our crabapple trees.

Now to me that's fine. 

'Okay', I say to myself.

 'Wait a moment; it is now chewing on a branch from our apple tree.

 This, I don't like, for I feel it will destroy the tree, 

but it is too cold to go out and chase it away.'

I wish you could see the sight --- 

the rabbit is actually on it's tip-it-tie toes 

reaching up and grabbing a little of the branch 

as he breaks it off and then settles in the bank of snow

 and continues to eat away.

Moments later, the rabbit is enjoying himself as the sun shines on him.

You may be thinking: is the rabbit that free from --- the cats and dogs etc.?

 I can see his nose is always smelling, yes, the neighbour's cat.

We too, in the spiritual world, have our enemy. 

As it says:

Ephesians 6:10, 11

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, 

and in the power of his might.

Putting on the whole armour of God, 

that we may be able to stand against the devil's schemes.

However,

 in the mean time,

 let's be like that dear little rabbit,

 enjoying ourselves.

This Easter

Rushing into the house with a big smile on her face, 

my three year old daughter brought me 

a big beautiful bouquet of flowers (dandelions.)

These dandelions that are considered by many just another weed.

This weed is, in fact, highly beneficial to mankind and of course the bees!

Look at the bees, they look after their young 

with their home-made honey; just pollen and their added love.

Spreading the pollen from flower to flower doing a job of pollinating them.

This we would call a volunteer in the community.

The word of God for those of us called Christians 

is a great source of energy and encouragement

 to all who read the word.

Let's all be a good witness for the one who willingly gave his life for us.

Taking our place on that cruel cross of Calvary.

Just think of this at this Easter time.

Yes, the flowers will appear on the earth;

 the time of the singing of the birds is come.

 The cold winter of 2014 is over.

Song of Solomon chapter 2 Verse 12.

Let us enjoy Spring. 

We all desire a break! 

Oh! I can see those dandelions in my front yard!