Christian Photographers Community

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Morning Devotional...




But now, O Lord, Thou art our father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand.                       Isaiah 64:8

..So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.       Jeremiah 18:4



When the pressure of circumstance on the outside becomes too great, how reassuring to feel the gentle touch of the Potter's hand supporting us from the inside.

May we respond to His hand as He applies His own Word to enlarge and shape us to be vessels which are useful in His great house.  (2 Tim. 2:20... But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.)


The Potter uses two hands to shape the vessel.

Using only one would leave it marred or lopsided.
                                                                     --M. Peters

Mr John. I thank you for your help again. I like the way you teach me. It make it much more easy for me.  

Mr Moak, I thank you too for your words on the many Bibles. And for all the talk from everyone on these many Bibles. I think I undarstand it now too.  

Ms Karmat it is very nice to see you here, you have been away for a long time.  

and a good night to everyone.  

My, you stay up laters must have went to bed early last night.  Not even Anthony has arose yet.  But this is Saturday, isn't it?  He is probably at college.

Pat ~ Thanks for the devotion.  I am so glad that His hand supports me.  I would be shattered and broken if not.  He provides for us in so many ways.  

Mieka ~ Good night/morning.  I am glad you are enlightened with the many versions of the Bible.  I guess that any reputable Bible is fine as long as you understand it.  I can't see reading if you don't understand.  

I am all ready for the driver to pick Ivalou and I up.  I got up 3 hours before her appointment so I would have time to get on here and have my morning coffee before leaving.  I have 45 minutes to spare now.

I think Jerry is coming over this afternoon.  We would like to mow (again) but from the looks of it out there, I doubt if we mow.  Very cloudy!!!

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"A pessimist has no starter, an optimist has no brakes."

Good morning, friends,

I'm thankful to be up and around and feeling pretty good this morning.

I've often thought of the Potter as he molds and shapes these vessels of clay called "humans." His attention to detail is great - and the fact that He makes us each special and different constantly amazes me.

Thank you, Pat, for your wonderful devotionals - and for your loving care shown to all who come here.

Ruth Ann

Good Morning Everyone...

Well, this is a holiday weekend here in Canada.  This is the weekend that marks the beginning of gardening in my part of the country!  It's also the first long weekend trek up north to cottage country and sadly marks the beginning of the many holiday weekend traffic accidents.  

But the weather is not great outside today.  It's grey and overcast so I don't know if I'll get any gardening started or not.  I also have to drive Larry down to the cancer centre this afternoon so maybe I'll just work on inside jobs as my brother and his wife are coming tomorrow night to take me to supper.


Great to see you Mieka.  I'm glad that we're all able to help you with your questions.    Papa John's and Al's replies to you helped me as well!  


Ruth Ann, great to see you.  Do you have a holiday weekend in the states this weekend?  This is our Queen Victoria's Birthday weekend.  Her birthday was the 24th of May but we always have it the closest Monday to the 24th.  Jack and I got married this weekend 42 years ago.  We chose this weekend so that we'd have a long weekend to have a honeymoon!  


Sounds like you're having the same weather as us, Etta Sue.  No lawn mowing here.  Everything is far too wet.

Well, I'll be off.  I'll come back when it's time for coffee.  Maybe by then others will have checked in.  I think Anthony does have college in the morning, doesn't he?  Oh!  But it's not morning now in the UK.

Pat Great devotional. Isn't there a song, that has the line, " You are the potter and I am the clay, mold me and make me in your own special  way."? Pat ???Karma ???Help me here, please.

BTW Karma where has Nards been. Y-all must be pretty busy with  the summer coming on and family activities. How is  Nards,?How about his grandfather, How is he? Tell him that we miss his occassional posts.

Please remember Inez's son Junior in your prayers today. He is traveling from Louisana to Arizona. driving straight through about 2000 miles, last night and today. Right through tornado territory.

Hi Pat we are posting at the same time. I hope it doesnt rain on you in your garden..

I'll be back later must get busy now.

Hi Marilyn...

Are your poppies blooming?  Al Moak's are Click Here to see them

The thread in the Photos section of where people "compute" is really growing.  Etta Sue started in and we've all been adding our photos of our computer spaces in there.  Al Moak's is the latest!  Have a look!

Hello everyone.  I'm just on a short break before I go back out and sit with the stuff for our garage sale again.  Just thought I'd pop in and say a quick hello.  God bless you all.  Jen.

Jen:
Good to see you this morning. Well it is morning here in California anyway.

Pat: I haven't seen any poppies here in the desert. Just those little yellow flowers that grow all over the desert before they turn into big tall weeds.

Brother Al: I haven't seenyou posting very much, are you lurking. haha

Great to see you Jen!  I had planned on coming over to your garage sale but then promptly forgot about it!    They say "age" does this!

We have a new Jigsaw Puzzle for you all to work at.  It's a photo by Etta Sue!

I want to tell you all that I love you very much and I thank you for being my friends, You loving ways and your faithful caring is so much more than I can say. You are my brothers and sisters so full of God's own special ways. Each of you holds a very special place in my heart and I feel that I know each one and your families personally.
Who would have thought that such good friendships could be made on the internet.  Certainly friends like we have become are hard to find even where we live.
So this is my special card to ALL here. Love and God's Blessing upon you all.  
Marilyn

MARILYN~  That is so nice!  

Marilyn, thanks for the pretty card!  Friends are the best!

Jen, so good to see your post, and I hope you sold out with your garage sale!

I have been planting, too.  The wind killed all the plants I put out earlier, now we have had a nice rain and it is cool, so we went and got more plants today, and I got those out.  I surely hope they will grow and thrive this time!

Hello, Mieka!  What are you doing today?

Hi everyone.  It is late afternoon and it appears it has been pretty quiet here today.  This is my first chance to get to the website as have been busy and then resting.  Pat and I attended a luncheon for our Gwinnett Senior Golden Olympics that had just finished their games today and had a nice catered luncheon.  I have been doing their webpage this year and they presented me with 2 nice gift cards to a local restrurant.  I was doing this work as a volunteer so certainly didn't expect anything.  They also agreed today to buy a domain name for the site so we won't have to have such a complicated website address and to do away with the advertising that you get on the free Geocities site.

We are awaiting the delivery of 4 new dinette chairs and then we are going out to have dinner with friends that called this morning at a nearby Mexican place that we all enjoy.  So this has been the day to eat out. (They just delievered them).

Marilyn, thanks for that nice card.  It is certainly true that we have made some nice friendships  rather quickly as we have shared our love for Christ and the fellowship involved.

We are hearing lawnmowers busy here today as the grass is growing very quickly with all the rain we have had and much more expected tonight and the next few days.  Do hope it holds off until we get back from our evening out.

Pat, I will look forward to working the new jigsaw puzzle from Etta Sue's picture.  Hope you enjoy your holiday weekend and your visit with your Brother and Sister-in-Law.  My Sister lives about 1100 miles from me and with Mother's passing I doubt that I will be able to see her very often.  Hopefully when my Brother-in-Law gets out of the military they might be able to come down and see us.  One of the positive things about my folks being in the nursing home where my Sister lives is that I got to see her and her family quite a few times.

Hope everyone has a nice evening.  See you all tomorrow.

Hello Everyone!

I'm back from Hamilton.  It was a lovely trip today--not much traffic on the roads.  

Hope you all are having a great weekend.

Pat

Pat: Didja get any gardening done?, before you left for Hamilton?
After I got all my errands done and back home by 11 am. I made a big bowl of spaghetti, and decide to rest for the rest of the day, just take it easy for a change..

No gardening, Marilyn.  It was too wet and drizzly out there.

Yes, Larry, pretty quiet in here today.  Guess everyone is out doing "weekend" things.

Here I am posting in the evening.

Pat: Wonderful devotional, two hands are best for making a perfect mould.

Pat: We are east of you and had sun all day, not even a hint of rain.  

Pat is having her brother and wife visit her tomorrow and we are going to Scarborough to spend some time with Mel's Aunt and her son.  She wishes that perhaps I will give her some computer hints (not that I know very much)  She is 83 and has only had the computer for approx. 2 yrs and is having a great time.

Perhaps next week-end will be the time for planting flowers, as a friend suggested the cost of flowers is up because this is the long week-end so I will wait.

Ruth

My goodness, Ruth!  Maybe you'll pass my brother and his wife on the road tomorrow!!!

She'll do well on the computer.  So many elderly on SeniorNet have their own home pages and digital cameras, etc. and they seem to learn so quickly!

Well, I came in and read all the posts since I was here last night.  We left this morning at 8:00 and drove over to Oak Ridge.  The wedding was at 2:00 this afternoon.  It was a beautiful wedding with our son-in-law performing the ceremony for his daughter, Rebekah, our granddaughter.  This is our third granddaughter to get married and we have just one more to go.  Ruth will be married July 26th.

I can't comment much on the posts for today because I am tired and almost ready to turn in for the night.  I do want to say that I especially appreciated the card and comments of Marilyn.  I feel close to each one of you.  Friends are so important.  I wish we could all get together sometime but I suppose that would be impossible.

Some years ago when we left our work in Papua New Guinea many gathered around.  There were some tears shed.  Many said, "If we don't see you again here we will see you in heaven."

--- Papa John              <)))><<

 

Pat:  Speaking of being a clay person and needing a Potter - our Saturday night sermon was along the same line.    Our pastor gently reminded us to be more involved and it is helping Don and me make a decision on some volunteer work we have been talking about but not committing to as yet.  

Janet:  Retro 70's - did you know that avacado and orange colors are coming back?  Never again for me!  

Etta Sue:  We will have lots of time in Calgary to scope out a few places to eat - looking forward to everything.

Marilyn:  I hope that your knee is better by tonight - owie - Thank you for the card.

Mieka:  I like several versions of the bible but prefer reading special verses of Psalms for instance, in the KJV.  And, I like the Lord's Prayer in the KJV as it is the only version I have memorized and I just can't remember the newer one.  

Goodnight all and Good Morning to Anthony!!!  Rise and shine - Anthony!!!!

Ruth Ann Bice ~ Isn't it wonderful to know that God gives us a new day every morning?

Pat ~ I didn't realize this was a holiday weekend in Canada.  I looked at my calendar and it tells me that today is Armed Forces Day...I didn't know that either.   'Course, the month of May is hectic in central Indiana because of qualifications and race day for the 500 Mile Race at Speedway.  I used to keep track of all of it and then I grew up....
And yes, no qualifications today.  Rain.  Thanks, Pat, for putting one of my photos in the puzzle area.   That is neat!

Marilyn ~ Yes, we have sang that song in church.  I really like it.  I don't know the words or the tune, but I could sing it softly with you.   Thank you, Marilyn, for the friendship card.  It is true...you can develop great friendships over the internet.  BTW, that is how I met Jerry!!!!!    

Jen ~ It would have been too cold for a garage sale and too rainy for one here today.  Did you have much business?  Did you sell a lot?  Make money for a weeks vacation?

Jane ~ I really like your little 'Thank you All, so much!' card.  

Janet ~ Now if you had only known the wind was going to ruin your plants, you would have saved time, exercise AND money in planting your plants.  Let's pray that this time, they will take root and the wind won't bother them.

Larry ~ Now how are you going to get use out of your new dinette chairs when you get gift certificates at restaurants and keep eating out with friends?    Just kidding.  I have only eaten at my dining room table twice in a year and a half!!!!

Papa John ~ Our Youth Minister moved to Oakridge and is a Senior Minister at Oakridge Christian Church.  You could have looked him up and said Hi to them from me.    Small world, isn't it?  Yes, if we don't meet in this life, we will meet  later!  Wonderful thought.  Get some much needed rest.  How is your back?

I went to Jerry's today since I couldn't mow grass because of rain.  I didn't even have to work and he fed me grilled chicken breast that was marinated with some great tasting stuff, huge baked potato, bread and butter and Diet Dr. Pepper.  It was soooooo good.  I almost licked my plate.  He is a great cook!  

I pray that everyone gets a good night's rest so they can spend some time in God's house tomorrow.

Marilyn, here is what I remember of the song you mentioned:

Have Thine own way, Lord, Have Thine own way,
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me, after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Does that help?

Thanks Janet for those words...  It helped me to search and so, here are all of the words for you, Marilyn...

I was especially so happy to read the History of the Hymn...


HYMN HISTORY:

A young woman sat in a prayer meeting over eighty years ago. She was so pressed down by the weight of despair that she was hardly able to concentrate on what the speaker was saying.

Adelaide Pollard had a burden for the continent of Africa and was convinced that God wanted her to go there as a missionary. She had been on the very point of sailing away but then had to cancel everything, because the necessary funds just couldn't be raised. You can imagine her disappointment.

As she sat there the words of a prayer, often uttered by an old lady she knew, came into her thoughts: 'It's all right, Lord! It doesn't matter what you bring into our lives; just have your own way with us!'

In a moment her burden had lifted as she bowed in submission to the will of God.

Running home that night she meditated on the story of the potter, recorded by Jeremiah:

'Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.' Jeremiah 18:34.

These words seemed to fit Miss Pollard's own life and experiences exactly.

Adelaide Pollard had been born in Iowa in 1862. She had been well educated and for several years taught in a girl's school. She also had a talent for writing, both prose and poetry, and produced many religious artides, as well as a few hymns.

But her real concern was for the lost. She longed to see them reached with the message of Christ Jesus. Eventually, she began a ministry in Bible teaching and, travelling widely throughout the United States, spoke to numerous groups and churches.

Miss Pollard was also passionately interested in foreign missions. For a while she taught at the Missionary Training Institute at Nyack, New York and hoped that she would, herself, be a missionary one day. However, now it seemed that God, who had been with her all her life, was suddenly deserting her.

'But,' she thought, 'perhaps my questioning of God's will shows a flaw in my life, so God has decided to break me, as the potter broke the defective vessel, and then to mould my life again - in His own pattern,'

As she bowed in humble consecration before God, the words of a poem took shape in her mind, and she wrote:


Adelaide Pollard had learned that even Christians can be self-centred, self-possessed and self-willed. Even when doing God's work, like her planned trip to Africa, she had to be careful lest it be done in the wisdom and strength of self.

In God's own time he allowed her to go to Africa. She also spent several years in England during the first World War, returning later to her travelling ministry in the USA.

She continued to speak publicly until the age of 72 when, on her way to yet another meeting, she was taken ill in a railway station in New York City and died soon after.

The world will always have cause to be thankful for the life and ministry of that frail little woman who wrote:

My friend Jan came out to see me for a short while tonight. I knew she was coming because I stopped by her place while I was in Apple Valley this morning. we have been friends ever since I got saved, in fact that is how I met her. She has given me so much encouragment over the past 5 years. she soes have her own problems though, and some vices that I do not approve of, but I don't condemn her for them.

Pap John it sound like you had a wonderful time at the wedding, now when are we going to see some photos?

Larry, please encourage Pat to start posting again.



Etta Sue your dinner with Jerry sounds fantastic.

Jerry so you are a good cook. Hey you wanna come to my house and cook.? hahahahaha

Janet I sure do hope those winds don't come up again and ruin your flowers.

It is still 83 here at 7:30 pm HOT But I think I will call it a night. I am so looking forward to church tomorrow, I love singing to the Lord, worship is my thing.


Pat i see we were posting at the same time. How interesting it is to read the history of the hyms. I agree with you.

The scripture associated with that hymn is...

Jeremiah 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.