Funny Friday
joy
Silly Saturday
Funny Friday
Pic came from internet.
Bring Beauty to the Thorns
This life can be like a cactus many times.
The pain, the hardships, the struggles, they can all feel like piercing thorns that stab and poke into your most vulnerable moments.
The difficulties, the mishaps and failures can become like so many briars and dry patches that never seem to end.
But if I could encourage you today…
If I could give you one thought…
Blossom amongst the thistles.
Flourish amongst the bramble.
Don’t allow your circumstances to steal your beauty.
Don’t allow the heartache and brokenness to squelch your lovely fragrance and striking brilliance.
Bloom until you thrive and show the world there’s still elegance despite afflictions.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Isaiah 61:1-3
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
Peace, Peace, Wonderful Peace
What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?
The most important thing I can carry with me at all times is peace.
But peace can be hard to come by in a culture that is full of chaos, in people who are full of flaws, and certainly in a self that can be up and down like a yo yo.
Material possessions can come and go. This world cannot be counted in for my security.
People whom you thought were dependable can let you down, both intentionally and not.
Family and friends are wonderful, but they are still people, still human.
They’re not meant to be my stability.
Anything of this world can fail tomorrow. Nothing is truly perfect or reliable.
But I have found One.
There is One who is ever faithful, ever dependable, and ever stable in all His ways.
Jesus.
Some hate Him. Some love Him. Some choose not to know Him.
But I have found He is all I need.
He has peace beyond our imagination that will surpass our circumstances.
He has love that is unconditional and will sustain us in spite of ourselves.
He has joy beyond our emotions that will consume us regardless of our environment.
And all that He has is free. It costs nothing. It requires no work. It demands no sacrifice.
All we have to do is believe.
…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of theLord shall be saved.”
Romans 10:9-13
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Isaiah 26:3
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Silly Saturday
Don’t Worry. Be Happy
List 30 things that make you happy.
Here’s a list of 30 things that make me happy. Some are in specific order but some are not. You can probably guess which ones are which…
1. My Savior, Jesus Christ
2. My husband
3. Holding his hand and saying, I Love You.
4. My boys, both of them.
5. Hugging our boys.
6. Family
7. Friends who stay and stand the rest of time.
8. Worship music that lifts the soul, connects me to Him or just reminds me Whose I am.
9. Coffee, flavored, with cream
10. The little things often more than the big things.
11. A rosebush blooming.
12. A walk in the woods.
13. Sunsets and waterfalls.
14. A hike up a mountain.
15. Having a hope in an eternal life in eternity.
16. Walking along the beach.
17. My cat purring and wanting to be loved.
18. Watching someone give their heart to Jesus.
19. Watching someone’s life being transformed for good.
20. Giving orphans Christmas presents.
21. Holding a sweet baby, no matter the age.
22. Preaching and seeing that someone actually connected with Him.
23. Listening to our almost grown boys talk about God, life, and things they will do, and realizing they have made good choices.
24. Hearing my husband and sons tell me they love me.
25. Having coffee with a good friend.
26. Cooking a good meal or delicious dessert for my family and knowing they enjoyed it.
27. Traveling to distant lands, flying in a plane, or just taking a road trip.
28. Antiquing in a small town.
29. Having deep conversation, light hearted fun, or anything in between with my love.
30. Being able to bring a smile to someone else.
There’s a ton more I’m sure I could share. And probably tomorrow, I’ll look back over this and realize I’ve forgotten to list something oh so very important.
So, please don’t judge. Just enjoy. And maybe take a moment to think of your own listing.
I wonder if you can now tell me your 30 things that bring such joy?
Silly Saturday
Funny Friday
Be Like Jesus
So many say, “ I want to be like Jesus.”
So many preach, “You must be like Jesus.”
And so many more believe it’s such an easy task.
They claim we simply must be more kind, more loving, and more peaceful.
Yet, when love is proclaimed so elementary by pointing fingers at others and declaring what you must do,
I believe we are neglecting to look in the mirror at our own souls to see what we must do.
When kindness is demanded from others so readily, and it is said to be performed so smoothly,
I believe we are avoiding the reality that our flesh never truly desires to be gracious and kind.
No one is born good. We are not birthed in righteousness.
Our natural tendencies do not lend themselves to be like Christ without first dying to self.
If we long to truly be like Christ, we must remember He had a wilderness where He was hungry, tempted and had to be bold in faithfulness.
If we truly long to be like Christ, we must remember He had a Gethsemane where He was alone, discouraged and had to be brave in love.
If we long to truly be like Christ, we must remember He had a cross by which He was broken, disgraced and had to be truthful in kindness.
If we truly long to be like Christ, we must remember He had a Judas by whom He was betrayed, ambushed and had to be confrontation in peace.
When we profess others should be Christlike, we need to actually know who Christ is and what He did.
When we confess a desire to be Christlike, we need to actually recognize who our Savior is and what He did.
When we assert there is a common ground with a mighty King, we must acknowledge and embrace what must be crucified within us to become someone we are never capable of becoming
Without first, surrendering all to Him.
This is to be Christlike.
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:9-11
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:32
the grizzle grist mill 