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Posted on 01/01/2024 3:15:48 PM PST by luvie
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Happy GratiTuesday!
Lots of daffodils blooming here, hyacinths, and the early tulips.
🌷🪻🌷🪻🌷
Bible in a Year :
There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
Pastor Damian’s schedule included hospital visits to two people nearing death who’d chosen two different life paths. In one hospital was a woman beloved by her family. Her selfless public service had endeared her to many. Other believers in Jesus had gathered around her, and worship, prayer, and hope filled the room. In another hospital, the relative of a member of Pastor Damian’s church was also dying. His hardened heart had led to a hard life, and his disheveled family lived in the wake of his poor decisions and misdeeds. The differences in the two atmospheres reflected the contrasts in how each had lived.
Those who fail to consider where they’re headed in life often find themselves stuck in uncomfortable, undesirable, and lonely places. Proverbs 14:12 notes that “there is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Young or old, sick or well, wealthy or impoverished—it’s not too late to reexamine our path. Where will it lead? Does it honor God? Does it help or disrupt others? Is it the best path for a believer in Jesus?
Choices do matter. And the God of heaven will help us make the best choices as we turn to Him through His Son, Jesus, who said, “Come to me, . . . and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Reflect & Pray
What about your path of life needs reexamination or correction? What’s keeping you from asking for God’s help and courage to make corrections?
Dear Jesus, You’re the source of life. Please give me the courage and strength to surrender my life to You and do what honors You.
For further study, read Taking Sin Seriously.
I love hyacinths. I had some once, but they died. Our hot dry summers are really hard on bulbs. ;(
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Happy WF Wednesday!
We survived 2 tornado warnings last night.
Got away with only rain and not much wind, no hail.
That’s a big win!
😀
Whew! So happy that you stayed safe from those tornadoes!
Bible in a Year :
To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek.
A 2017 video of a dad comforting his two-month-old son while the baby received his routine vaccinations garnered international attention for the way it captured a dad’s love for his child. After the nurse finished administering the vaccinations, the dad tenderly held his son close to his cheek, and the boy stopped sobbing within seconds. There’s almost nothing more reassuring than the tender care of a loving parent.
In Scripture, there are many beautiful descriptions of God as a loving parent, images that invoke God’s deep love for His children. Old Testament prophet Hosea was given a message to deliver to the Israelites living in the Northern Kingdom during the time of the divided kingdom. He called them to return to a relationship with God. Hosea reminded the Israelites of God’s love for them as he pictured God as a gentle Father: “when Israel was a child, I loved him” (Hosea 11:1) and “to them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek” (v. 4).
This same reassuring promise of God’s loving care is true for us. Whether we seek His tender care after a season where we’ve rejected His love or because of pain and suffering in our lives, He calls us His children (1 John 3:1) and His comforting arms are open to receive us (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced the love of God as a caring Father? What concerns might you bring to Him today?
Heavenly Father, thank You that You call me Your child and provide tender care when I run to You.
Happy Thankful Thursday!
I am thankful for a warm, dry house on this rainy cold day.
🌷🌷🌷
That was an interesting evening. Two different storm fronts came through, one around 6, the other around 8:30. We had severe thunderstorm warnings all evening and they added tornado warnings when cloud rotation was seen. Good times. 😳
Cold and rainy here too!
What happened to Spring?
Well, at least exciting! LOL! 🌪😳
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Bible in a Year:
Clothe yourselves with compassion.
Building benches isn’t James Warren’s job. He started building them, however, when he noticed a woman in Denver sitting in the dirt while waiting for a bus. That’s “undignified,” Warren worried. So, the twenty-eight-year-old workforce consultant found some scrap wood, built a bench, and placed it at the bus stop. It quickly got used. Realizing many of the nine thousand bus stops in his city lacked seating, he made another bench, then several more, inscribing “Be Kind” on each one. His goal? “To make people’s lives just a little bit better, in any way I can,” Warren said.
Compassion is another way of describing such action. As practiced by Jesus, compassion is a feeling so strong that it leads us to take action to meet another’s need. When crowds of desperate people pursued Jesus, “he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34). He turned that compassion into action by healing their sick (Matthew 14:14).
We too should “clothe [ourselves] with compassion,” Paul urged (Colossians 3:12). The benefits? As Warren says, “It fills me up. It’s air in my tires.”
All around us are needs, and God will bring them to our attention. Those needs can motivate us to put our compassion into action, and those actions will encourage others as we show them the love of Christ. Reflect & Pray
When did you see a hurt or need that, with compassion, you helped solve? How did your compassion make you feel?
As I see pain and need, Loving God, soften my heart to act with Christlike compassion.
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What a happy face!
Well, he’s got a brand new red bandanna! Who wouldn’t be happy?
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WEARING RED ON FRIDAY
