03/11/12

 

Isaiah 12:2-4

Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.

Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.

And in that day you will say, Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name.  Make known His deeds among the peoples; make them remember that His name is exalted.

03/10/12

Here is a quote I found that I had to read a few times but it made me think!  

If God gives you a watch, are you honoring Him more by asking Him what time it is or by simply consulting the watch?

A. W. Tozer

03/09/12

 

Here is a wonderful devotion I read the other week.  There are so many "self-help" speakers and books out there in the world, but we are still seeing the world tumble into disaster.  

Why?

Because the Lord is the farthest thing from their mind.  This devotion has stuck with me a lot in the last couple of weeks so I wanted to share:

God's Counsel
Psalm 119:1-16

Have you seen the self-help section of the bookstores in your area?  It has shelves packed full of books promising to remedy just about every problem.  With so many topics being covered, you would think that by now everyone's problems would be solved.

For instance, those who struggle with their sense of worth should by now have their egos bolstered to the point of self-actualization, thereby accomplishing just about everything they ever dreamed of and going on to live happily ever after.  But it's not happening.  Why?  Because of all the counsel given in these books, few actually incorporate the counsel of the One who knows us best - God.

I don't think we realize that as Christians we are responsible to help those whom God has placed in our lives.  We can tell them there is no long-lasting solution without Jesus Christ.  We can warn them that there is no new life without the new birth.  We can teach them about God's guidance. We can inform them that God's Word is the number one tool they will need when they start to work on their problems.

Psalm 119 especially stresses the importance of God's Word.

Psalm 119 gives ten different names for the Bible: word, law, saying, statutes, way, commandments, path, testimonies, precepts and judgments.  Each name indicates what the Word is and how we should respond to it.  The writer pictured the Word of God as water, treasure, a companion and counselor, a song, honey, light, and a heritage.  Meditate on these pictures and see what they mean to you and your family's personal life of faith.  (Weirsbe, Warren.  With the Word. Nashville: Oliver Nelson, 1991.)

How beautiful to think of the Bible as a life-giving water, or a treasure worth more than gold, a friend, and counselor!  Think of the meaning in the rest of the descriptive words: honey, light, and a heritage.  Listening to what God says is the best way to live.  There are solutions to problems, comfort of heart, and a variety of other blessings for the one who will adhere to God's Word.

Dwell Devotional - Wednesday, February 22, 2012

03/08/12

Please understand that you will be viewing A LOT of daffodils this spring.  I had the best time photographing them one day and came away with lots of pics I didn't want to delete.  They are cheerful so think of it as a day brightener.

 

I have had a lot of parents over the years of my teaching tell me that they don't want things to be hard for their children.

They don't want them to fail at something.

They don't want them to have a hard time.

They want to make it easier.

They want life to be like Walt Disney World every day.

That is just not reality.

If we never help our children to learn how to fail, we will never teach them how to live.

The Lord never promised our days would be full of fun, no worries, and everything easy.

In fact, God Himself allowed His Son to suffer terribly so that we could have eternal life, His mercy, grace, hope, and truth.

Why, then, do we think we owe it to our children to keep them from any kind of hurt or hard times?

I realize as a parent it is hard to watch your child struggle.  We have been there many times with our own.  

However, I know that what is learned from those times stick with your child so much more than you making everything easy for him/her.  Being THERE for your child is totally different than trying to make everything EASY for your child.

That is how the Lord shows us and helps us grow.  If everything went perfect for us and we had no problems we would begin to depend on ourselves instead of on the Lord.  That is what we begin to teach our children without even realizing it!

Take those times that you want to make things like "Walt Disney World" for your child and turn them into teaching times.  Help them see that the Lord is Who will get them through anything.  This is a life lesson that will take them far and show them that they can do ALL THINGS through CHRIST.

Here is a song by Selah that I just love and fits this so well:

03/07/12

 

Steve and I finally saw The Help this past week.

I loved the movie.

But it made me mad.

I have talked about this on here before, but it's my blog so I can visit it again. :) If you haven't seen The Help I recommend you seeing it.  I don't want to give too much away just in case, but I think you can get my point.

I realize I did not live during that time of turmoil in our country.

I realize it was "normal" for many white people to feel that people with colored skin were inferior, but I must admit that I hope I would have been like the character "Skeeter."

I have asked myself a lot lately when did this type of thing begin?  

Why would any set of people think that they were better than someone else?  Why would someone think they could treat someone poorly just because of the color of their skin?

As I thought on this, I realized it all started with pride.

I am guessing that one group of people began to have more pride and think their way or their color of skin was the "better" way.

Satan is at the root of all of this.  God does not see color as we see it.  I was reminded of this late last week as I was teaching my students about Samuel choosing David to be the next king.  When Samuel thought the oldest of Jesse's children should become the king because of how he *looked*, the Lord clearly spoke to him this:

I Samuel 16:7

...Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

There are plenty of people out there that have the same color of skin as me that I would not want to associate with because of what is in the heart. 

Evolution actually began the "race" card.  

Survival of the fittest as they call it.

Satan began Evolution... he wants to use anything he can to cause us to fight each other and not see each other as God created us to be.

There is no "race"... in fact, it is never mentioned like that in God's Word.  The Lord uses the word "nation" to describe different sets of people.  The verse that always helps me remember how God feels about each persons "race" is this:

Acts 17:24-27

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

If you cut us, we all bleed the same. We all get hungry.  We all cry.  We all laugh.

Yes, God divided the nations at the Tower of Babel because they were coming together for the wrong reason.. a reason that had nothing to do with God Himself.  However, He never stated that one was better than the other.  Even though the Jewish nation is His Chosen nation, we can still become part of that family when we accept Christ.

I know things are better now and people are not as bad about this as they were in the turmoil years of our nation.  However, there are still those thoughts out there of superiority between skin colors.

One thing to remember... the color of your skin is not the color of your heart.  We need to not assume someone is a certain way just because of where they are from or what they look like on the outside.

We need to remember that we are all created in the image of God and He sent His Son to die on the cross for us all.... 

.... Red, Yellow, Black, and White they are precious in His sight.....

Let's sing that from the heart and not just from the lips.

03/06/12

 

Here is your next "Mrs. Fowler Story."  

This is probably the "most famous" one I have told and it is the one my former students always ask if I have told my class yet.

Enjoy:

To help with the story - I realized after I finished recording that I forgot to reveal why my pie crust never stayed together.  After the fiasco I found my nicely measured water for the crust... still in the measuring cup.

You can better believe that I now try to make sure I add all ingredients.  However, I have had repeats but they are always comical.  Just ask my brother.  :)

03/05/12

 

I love these things:

 

Last week in class I was teaching my kids what the word "scout" meant.  I talked about the Girl and Boy Scouts and mentioned that this was the first year in a LONG time that I have not had students... or anyone for that matter.... ask me to buy Girl Scout Cookies.  I shared with them that Thin Mints were may absolute FAV. O. RITE.   I have missed my Thin Mints!  

The next morning one of my students came in handing me a box of Thin Mints... and after my morning meeting I found another box on my desk from another student.

They made my day.  Something I mentioned in passing "out loud" to the kiddos and they went home and "fixed" the problem.  :)

Those are some sweet "chil'ren" to do that for me and I really did appreciate their thoughtfulness.  As I eat my Thin Mints I think of those kiddos!