Christian Photographers Community

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Morning Devotional...


And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master.
Luke 17:13

Ye call Me Master...and ye say well; for so I am.
John 13:13


Five very different Greek words are translated "Master" in our KJV Bibles.

First is one which signifies Owner, as He is to control my decision making.

Second we have the aspect of Teacher, one who controls what goes into my mind.

Thirdly we have a Guide, who controls where I go.

Fourth we have a High Commander who controls what I am to do.

Finally we have a Sovereign, whose will directs what I am and what I will become.

While the flesh may draw back from such truths, the Lord Jesus must be owned and obeyed as my own Master, for in fact and reality He truly is.
                                                                                       --Rick Morse




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It is amazing isn't it?  You give Jesus complete control of your life, and instead of losing your "freedom" you find that before you were a slave, and by surrendering, THEN you become free!!!!

I guess that's what it means when it says, "If Christ shall make you free, you shall be free indeed!"

Pat- yet another thought provoking and wonderful devotional. I trust that all is hectic with your prepartions. Much in my thoughts and prayers this week.

'I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Romans 1:16 & 17

'Not ashamed!'

A good position to be in, full of faith and resting entirely upon God for all things. Fear and trembling will be our portion today through unbelief if we do not take God at His word.

Paul as he was about to experience shipwreck, boldly stated to his shipmates. 'Sirs be of good cheer, for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me.' He was going to witness for His Lord in Rome and neither shipwreck nor a bite from a deadly viper was going to prevent him from doing so.

God had purposed it.

To be able to take God at His word is peace indeed. That is what living by faith is all about. We are to believe with all our hearts that what God has promised in His word He will indeed perform.

This is an easy statement to make, yet can prove very difficult in practice. The Gospel is simple, we complicate it!

God has said, 'thy sins and iniquities I will remember no more.' Are we to question whether this Word is directed at us or not? No! As a child of God we are indeed washed clean by and through the blood of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary for us.

Clean means clean! Not quite clean with a few stains here and there, but clean. 'Come now, and let us reason together saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be as crimson, they shall be as wool.'

When first we believed, we experienced great joy as we found all our sins and guilt washed away. We accepted fully what was written in His Word. We accepted that we were sinners, destined for a lost eternity, yet coming as beggars we accepted wholeheartedly God's way of escape and God's way of salvation.

We did not doubt then that our sins were forgiven, did we?

Why then when we confess our sins now do we still feel guilt, shame and inevitably sin lying at our door. Why is it that our stains now are so difficult to remove? Has God changed? Has He changed His mind about saving us? Has the blood lost power?

Are our sins worse now than when we were first believed? With all this guilt our souls are left paralysed with fear and trepidation.

Guilt is something that plagues the Christian. It is different now as we are sinning against light. We are supposed to have a clean heart and a right spirit before God. We are to be walking in the light, yet so often our paths are clothed in darkness.

The realisation of our sinfulness makes us wonder whether God will indeed continue to have mercy upon us.

Surely there is no greater sinner in the world than me!

No Christian could think the things that I think, nor give so little time and energy to the things that matter as I do. Surely these thoughts should not be passing through my mind. I should be different. I should be clean yet I feel dirty!

I feel guilt because I am letting God and His people down in some way or other. There is a great battle within me. The good that I would do, and the evil that I do!

My expectation is to live a perfect life, yet it is impossible. I am a sinner. I am a sinner saved by grace. Saved by grace, yet still a sinner! I still need my Saviour!

The truth of the matter is that I need my Saviour more today than I ever did. I hate sinning against Him, yet I know of no other place to go with my sin than to the feet of Jesus. Satan would prevent me from going.

Pride often does as well. I am however a beggar and today I must go to Him, come what may, for He alone has the words of everlasting life. There is power in the blood.

Our warfare is to keep looking to Jesus, not to ourselves and our own failings. Our relationship with our Lord now is a personal one. We feel the shame and guilt more as a direct result of that relationship.

We know whom we are sinning against and the last place that we would want to take our sin and guilt is to the One whom we have sinned against.

To whom else can we go?

God has not changed and He wants us to come with our sins and our guilt, just as we are and lay them before Him.

It is sin not to!

Our sin has been laid upon Christ. Christ has suffered the punishment due to that sin. Does God punish sin twice? Is there yet another sacrifice to be made? There is no other sacrifice available to us. It is either this way or no other way.

It is either God's way or an eternity in Hell. Which will it be?

Next time Satan comes to you with accusations causing guilt and shame, remember the words of our Lord to all who were weak and heavy laden. 'Come unto me!'

God is glorified in our coming to Him. As parents we love it when our children are obedient and when they do as they are told. God also rejoices in the obedience of His children.

We are not to feel ashamed in coming to our Saviour with our guilt and our misery. He awaits our coming with outstretched arms and with words of great comfort to our souls. 'Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.'

I believe that is it a greater sin NOT to come to the Light with our sin than it is to feel our shame and stay away!

'If the Son therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed.' Free, from guilt, sin and misery! Free indeed through the sacrifice of Jesus for sinners just like you and me.

One thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. The just shall live by faith. Let us not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.

Sorry it's so long.

LOL

Your brother in Christ

Iain

  Mr Iain, it is not at all so long when it is so wonderful.

It is such a wonderful day today. It is tomorrow for you mr Iain. Will it too be a wonderful day for me? I can not see it yet for many hours.  

Oh Ms Grandma Bice   HOW WONDERFUL, GEORGIA FAITH BICE. a gift from the hand of God. I am SO glad she will grow with a wonderful family. It is my wish for every child.

Hello Ms Ria
and
Hello Ms ByGrace
It is wonderful you are here to share a time with everyone.
It is very nice to meet you both.

Ms JudyB, I am SO happy to know you are again in a good health.

Papa John, did they chase you in the store and ask you NOT to ride the car any more?      They are mad when i ride them.    Now they will only allow me to ride them when the store is closed.   I think i was too fast for them to catch.

Ms Shinenlite your pictures they are VERY nice. It is nice to see them.

9.a.m.
Goodmorning everyone.

I am just reporting in for a mo. as I have a dental appointment. Ouch, I broke a tooth on some muesli!!!

Christoper has just gone into the city for his interview at Inland Revenue (prayers please...they usually take a few days to decide as this goes before a board for points to be assessed).

Iain that was lovely and not too long. More, more, more please Iain.

Iain....I find it hard sometimes to take communion as my sins come to mind..but I need to and I do...You are right.... It is a worse sin not to come to Him with our faults and failings once we have acknowledged Him as Master.

hello your all it is 11.15 o'clock in the morning in Holland Thanks Pat for all your help. We have still the heat wave in Holland but in Holland it is very warm but
also sultry. Judy have you read what i have writen yesterday? i Hope that you all could read it i know i make mistakes. But i read what you have writen there learn i from i think it is good for my english. Pat i wish yoy a very nice trip God bless you. To who must i write
when i have problems? haha I am a little bit sad my
father has cancer but the doctors say they have hope
that he can heal. He has prostate cancer i must have
radio therapie. I hope that will him make better but he
is old 78 years old but we pray for him. Every sunday
he is coming to me since my mother is dead. I wish you
all a very good day. We all are brothers and sisters in
Christ. I love your all.
Have a nice day

Bye bye  Ria

Sorry Pat i must send a new mail one thing have i writen wrong not i but my fater must have radio therapie  Bye Ria

 :)Good morning to all & may God bless each of you
throughout the day

It is so nice to see you, Ria!  I will be praying for your father as he undergoes treatment.  

Mieka, you have such a sense of humor!  It takes me a minute or two to catch on and I can just see you in the car riding away from all!  

Pat, take care with your traveling.  I am excited for all of you.  

I appreciated your morning devotional, Iain, as it reminds me more and more how unworthy I am to come before the Throne of Grace. But thanks be to God for His forgiveness, strength and love as I bring my sins before Him each day.  I thank God that He can knock me off my feet and bring me to my knees when that ugly sin of PRIDE comes to me.  

School starts today in our county. I'm taking the 2 teenage girls so must get ready..

TTYL  (Marilyn's quote)  kathy

Good morning.  It is good to see so many in here already today.  I always appreciate the devotionals.

Mieka, unfortunately the cart that I usually ride was not working yesterday so I found me a chair and just spoke to the people as they passed by and Cornelia did the shopping.

Ria, it is good to see you today.  Welcome again to CP.  We have visited Holland a number of times.  We saw the beautiful tulip gardens in the spring.

After while we are going to visit a dear friend who just got home yesterday from the hospital.  She had a knee replacement.  From there we are going to the hospital for me to get these four injections of steroids in my back.  Not a lot of fun.  But it may do some good.

Pat, when are you leaving?  How long will you be on the road?  Be careful on the trip.

--- Papa John              <)))><<

 

I think I have a cold this morning.  Yesterday, I was at the Veteran's Hospital in Denver for most of the day while Don had his intricate hand surgery.  He is doing well.  I wrote letters and read an entire book "The Messenger" by Joseph F. Girzone - there are some interesting passages in it.  

Here is one quote " We can become so focused on incidentals that we often fail to see precious gifts lying right before our eyes."

I  guess his message is to our spiritual leaders in that they bring together people of different beliefs and welcome the poor and downtrodden  people back to church.

My prayer for myself today is that I will see the precious gifts that God has given me.  Carol

Welcome Ria!  It is wonderful to read your post!

Welcome ByGrace.  Just love your name.

Carol

Good Morning everyone, I am sorry not to call you all  by name. I have a heavy heart this morning as my little dog is not doing well at all. She is having difficulty breathing and I am going to be at the vet as soon as they open the doors at 8 a.m.

Jenny I have been praying for Christopher last night, in the middle of the night and this morning. I pray that all goes well for him.

I am sorry not to comment on the devotionals Pat and Iain, I read them but right now my mind is on gitsie. I may have to have her put down. I feel so bad about that. She is such a sweet little dog.

I'll be back later

Jenny - I am reminded of a story I heard a while ago. Some parish or other was having their communion services and there happened to be a wonderful Christian lady in the congregation.

She had been through much and had managed to scrape through a period of depression shortly before the communions started.

She was renown throughout the Highlands of Scotland. Her Christian character was immense though she was often plagued with the guilt of her sins.

The preacher on the Sunday of communions noticed that this woman was not sitting with the rest of the members of the congregation, but was seated at the rear of the church along with the adherants.

When the preacher came to serving the wine, he stepped down from the pulpit, took the cup of wine with him and went to the woman at the back of the church.

He handed her the cup and said, 'Take it  woman, it's for sinners!'

Hi everyone.  Iain, what a powerful devotional this morning.  What you have said is something we all need to be reminded of repeatedly.  Pat, that was also a very good devotional message this morning.

I want to welcome Bygrace to the CP site and will look forward to reading his postings.  

Ria, prostrate cancer is something where they have great success in treating and I understand it is also a very slow growing cancer most of the time.  I will be praying for your father that the treatments stop the cancer.  It was nice to see your picture and you are doing very well in your postings.  Should you desire to change something in your writing after you have posted it all you need do is so to that message and click on the "modify" button, make your change and hit the post button again.

Carol, certainly glad that Don's surgery is now behind him.  My father had that surgery a number of years ago and it was most successful.

Marilyn, so sorry to hear that your little dog is not doing well.  These animals become so much a part of our family and when they hurt we hurt.  

Papa John, hopefully by the time you read this your shots will be over and you will be feeling the beneficial effects.  I am sure it is not a pleasant experience to go through the shots but hopefully it is temporary discomfort for lasting results.

Jenny, I hope the interview your son has today has gone very well and that he will be employed as a result.

Kathy, Ria, Al, Karmat and Mieka (and anyone else I have missed mentioning) it is good to see your postings.

I have a SeniorNet Learning Center Board meeting to attend this afternoon.  Hopefully it will be a short meeting.  

Hi Everyone...

I'm home from Hamilton..a little late but that's ok.   Only one more trip for poor Larry and then he has a rest from these radiation treatments and then must go back to the hospital on August 25 to see the doctor and get a report on how things are doing.  I fear that they are not going too well.


I've been sitting perusing your message, Iain.  What a powerful message for those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Personal Saviour.  Thanks so very much.  Oh that more Christians would say, "I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ!"


Papa John, I leave Saturday morning at 5 am and then I will get back around August 22 or 23.  Not sure yet since the last day we have a ferry ride across from Manitoulin Island to Tobermory cutting out several driving miles but you never know if you might miss one ferry and have to wait for the next.

I'm so sorry about the wee dog, Marilyn.  Boy!  I don't know what I'd do if something happened to Geordie.  


Hello to the rest of you.  We sure are missing Janet.  I know she's busy though with her judging and then picking up her grandchildren.  IT's so good to be able to spend special time with grandchildren.  I've been missing mine lately.  


Talk to you later--at the next coffee break!  HAHAHAHA!

BYGRACE!!!
It is getting close.  I am all packed.  The yard is mowed.  A list is made for Kaye Don and Barb, keepers of Ali, the house, mail and yard.  All I need to do now is clean up, get Jerry's mail and visit him today with a long visit.  Then whether it is Ivalou or I, the first to wake up after 5AM is to call the other and then we will head out shortly for Canada tomorrow morning.  We are trusting in God that we will have a safe, eventful trip.  

I am praying that I can get online so that I can talk to Jerry on IM.  I am confident that he will be able to manage the computer when he gets home.  And we have the cell phone of Ivalou's and I am praying that we can call Jerry and not having Roaming fees.  

So if I am so busy looking at the sites that I don't have time to get on CP, I pray that all of you have a wonderful vacation from my posts and that all of you are God Blessed in my absense.

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"Thank goodness for August--the time to lie back and wallow in the knowledge that there is absolutely no occasion to rise to."

Sad News. Poor little Gitsie has gone on to Rainbow Bridge to wait for me. The vet said she had pneumonia.

I'm so sorry that you lost your Gitsie, Marilyn.  It is so difficult saying bye bye to one of our pets we've become so attached to.

Hello, dear ones!  I am just stopping in to greet all of you and tell you I made it home safely with the three grandboys.  We got here around 10:30 last night, after (for me) a very long day.  I drove about 550 miles yesterday, plus judging at the fair.

Consultation judging the 4-H-ers work is so much fun!  The kids are so honest, and just tell you like it is!  I learn a lot from them, and always try to give them positive comments and make them feel good about themselves and their abilities.  So many of them do really wonderful work!  It is just amazing.

I called Abby this morning, and she says she received one Grand Champion, and then all her other stuff got Blues and Reds, except her duck.  She made a little duck in ceramics class, it didn't win.  I expect there was a lot of competition in ceramics.  I must get her with her stuff  for photos!

Marilyn, I am so sorry about your little Gitsie.  But I know that you will be all right, and that she is waiting at the Rainbow Bridge for you, as you said.  ((((hugs))))

Hey, Pat!  Don't wear yourself completely to a frazzle before you leave!  My goodness, I wish you had a couple days to unwind before leaving, but life is like that sometimes.  I'm feeling a bit pressured myself.

My boys all want to do some painting while they are here, plus lots of swimming, plus they want Abby to come, plus..........and we only have until Monday to get everything done!  

Justin wants to use the computer, so I will go now, and come back later to read all the messages I have missed the past couple of days.

H to all, and a BIG welcome to the newcomers.

So sad that  I can't visit on a continous basis but what fun when I come back and see "new" faces along with the "old" ones--oops, I mean regulars here.

Sad for you Marilyn about your Gitsie--my english setter just turned seven years old and never been sick until last Friday. Has upper respitory but is responding to the cough suppressant and antibiotics.
Vet said this humidity and nasty rain spell we are having in New Jersey is really bad on her.

Please put me on your prayer list for problem that I can't get to write about--need the good LORD above to step in and fill me with HIS unconditional love , wisdom and understanding so that I may stay strong for all concerned.

Hurry up and get well all who are under the weather.

GOD makes great people and by reading your postings; I see we are graced by quite a few great people in Christ's name here.

Take care and as always,

Love in CHrist,
Joyce

My husband wanted me to post for him:

He said that the local church has a great sign up:

GOD answers Knee Mail.

He (his name is Jim)  wanted to share that with you.
He really enjoys my conversation about you wonderful
Christian folks.

Take care and as always,

Love in Christ,
Joyce

<Pat...panting and panting...>

Here I am...  Time for coffee!!!  I've been out delivering Avon.  Got two more to deliver and then I'm done!

Then I have to start packing.

Whewwww...

Hey, Janet!  What's Minesweeper Flags???  I see a message on my computer from you while I was out saying that?  I've never heard of that!  HAHAHA!  550 miles?  Well, if you can do it, we can too.  That's about what we plan to do on Saturday to get to Marquette, Michigan to sleep the first night.  Hopefully, we'll be meeting some seniors on the way for lunch.

Now, I've had my coffee, have to go mow the lawn.  Or maybe I'll wait till it's cooler out.  It's very hot outside right now.  Think I'll go and do some packing!

TTYL

That's a great sign, Joyce!  We all could probably spend more time on our knees.

Hello everyone!  Just a quick note to say hi before I'm off to take up house sitting duties!  Sorry I haven't been on in a while, but I just got home, I was house sitting at another place for a while as well.

Good day all!!  I am just spending a couple of minutes before my student gets here at 3.   Travis has a major boo-boo.  Well, not major, but it does look painful.  He was vacuuming vaccuuming vaccumming using that thar electric broom thing yesterday at my in-laws.  He picked it up and tried to carry it and somehow got three toes involved on his left foot.  A big ole hunk of skin is gone of the bottom of his big toe   and a couple of little pieces off the next two.  He walks fine, but doesn't want you to mess with it at all!!!

I hope all our Calgary bound friends have fun.  Don't worry too much about us, Pat, I mean what is the most damage we could possibly do while you are gone??  Nevermind.  Have a good time anyway.

Marilyn, I am so sorry to hear about Gitsie.  

to the others whom I have not personally identified -- HELLO!!!!!!!!!!

Have an awesome day yalll

Hello - sorry I've been missing today. This cold is "un-fun."

Marilyn, sorry about your loss of Gitsie. That's SO painful, but you can be satisfied that you did all you could possibly do for her. Now she is at peace and no longer suffering.

Also, for the hand surgery - my goodness, that must be painful. It's good that you can support him and also that you had the time to do your reading. When I am at the hospital, reading is a good way to pass the time of day.

Mieka, I know you'd love little Georgia if you could see her in person. Babies are SO special, aren't they.

To our new posters - it's such a joy to see new members of our group. And, it's amazing how easily people become simply one of us - a member of God's family first but also a member of our own cyberfamily, as well. So brothers and sisters, it's great to see you.

I wish I could comment on all the other posts, but rest assured, I read each with interest and pray as prayer is requested, then review the prayer requests on a daily (and sometimes twice daily) basis to keep reminded of the needs.

Y'all have a good day.

Ruth Ann

Quote from: karmat on August 07, 2003, 01:05:20 AM
It is amazing isn't it?  You give Jesus complete control of your life, and instead of losing your "freedom" you find that before you were a slave, and by surrendering, THEN you become free!!!!

Yes, it is amazing - and WONDERFUL!  Too bad it's so difficult to explain to an unsaved person who thinks that they will lose all freedom by saying 'yes' to Jesus.

Quote from: Marilyn on August 07, 2003, 12:16:55 PM
Sad News. Poor little Gitsie has gone on to Rainbow Bridge to wait for me. The vet said she had pneumonia.

Marilyn...is this the one that got wet when the roof leaked?  I'm sorry for you.  I know that's hard to lose an animal.