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Morning Devotional

How Can You Grow?

"I have given them Your Word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You whould take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your Word is truth."  John 17:14-18.

The Christians of this world are supposed to be different from the rest of the people.  Separation is the keyword for Christians.  How can they become and remain different?  Jesus prayed, "Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your Word is truth."  It's the only way.  In fact, the apostle said, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

This all just means that the Word of God, the Bible, is the key tool to make you more pleasing to God, more separate from the rest of the world.  Use it!  Much!

Al Moak

Reading about everybody's snow yesterday makes me glad I live where I do.  No snow here - just partly cloudy with occasional spring-like squalls. (we're having one right now).

Karma, you asked what Paltalk is.  It's actually Paltalk Messenger.  It's sort of like an irc client only you speak, using your mic, and you can hear others.  The room I went too (and there are some really yucky ones!!)had a live sermon from a church service. 

Good Morning from yucky Guelph (weather-wise)...

The snow has pretty well melted but it was windy and rainy most of the night. 

Thanks so much, Al, for those good words today.  I'm going to think more about them as I go about my morning duties here in the house. 

Hi Nita...   Nice to see you.  That messenger system sounds interesting.  Oh, for more time to investigate these neat things.

I pray that you will all have a wonderful day in the Lord as you go about snapping photos, doing laundry, washing dishes...

The Wolf and the Lamb Together

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"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them" (Isaiah 11:6).

This scene seems impossible; could it be merely an allegory? But that isn't all. "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord" (Isaiah 65:25).

Whether this will all come to pass literally (and there is nothing in the context to cause us to question it), it definitely describes what God considers the ideal state of nature. In fact, in the original creation, all animals were herbivorous. "And God said, Behold, . . . to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so" (Genesis 1:29-30).

With man's fall into sin and God's resulting curse on the earth, this ideal state deteriorated. Teeth and claws, originally designed for digging roots and branches, began to be used for tearing and eating flesh. Even man was authorized by God to eat meat after the Flood (Genesis 9:3). It is still true, however, that both men and animals still can survive on a non-carnivorous diet when necessary, for this was designed initially as the best way, all of which leads to the certain conclusion that God did not allow any such reign of tooth and claw on the earth before man sinned. The contention of those who promote the idea of long geological ages, with billions of animals suffering and dying during those ages, charges our God of wisdom and mercy with gratuitous cruelty. In a world made by a loving God, there could have been no death in the world until man brought sin into the world (Romans 5:12). HMM

In reading the above devotional this morning I was surprised to see that man and animals alike were vegetarian in the beginning, As many times as I have read Genesis that is something that I missed. How about the rest of y-all?

Back to work today and back to traction this afternoon. I went through the prayer line again yesterday and let me tell you I got it ALL. Today my knee does not hurt. Praise the Lord.

Thank  you AL for your words this morning also. I hope you get to feeling better too. Friday ni8ght we are having another movie night, this time we will be showing Time Changers. Another Christian movie.

Today it is my turn to take over the Pastor's supper. I have ordered a rack of Ribs for him, and an 8 piece Chicken dinner for Michele and the kinds. Danny does not eat chicken. Macaroni salad mojo potatoes and I will also get some Ice cream for them. If I had more time I would have prepared them a nice supper, unfortunately I don't have the time on any day except Friday to spend the afternoon preparing a full meal.

TTYL

Mojo potatoes, Marilyn?  What is that?  That's new to me!  It sounds like you are fixing enough food for an army, though, so I know they won't go hungry.  I never saw nor heard that about both men and animals being herbivores before the fall, either. 

We had four people show up to help paint.  I had already painted the hall and was working in one bedroom when a lady who had just attended our church yesterday morning for the first time showed up to help!!  Isn't that wonderful?  I know she will be a great member!!  Then two more showed up, and we got all the painting done!  I went by to pick up my ladder and the guys are laying ceramic tile in the master bath.  Some are going in to give the whole place a good cleaning later, and then----IF they get the tile finished and can grout it in the morning EARLY, and IF the carpet layers get the carpet installed either late today or EARLY tomorrow, the house will be ready for our pastor and family.  WHEW!!!  Nothing like a deadline to get people on the ball!  They never should have told the contractor he had this much time, maybe he would have gotten on it quicker.

We had missionaries from Chile last night, and they presented such an interesting program!  I told them I would love to come to Chile and help them for a while, and they were most welcoming!  Maybe we can get a few people to go, or join a group from Colorado, Nebraska or somewhere who are already planning a trip to help build the center for children.   They have many, many orphan children there, as there are in most places in the world, other than Canada and the US.  And possibly Austrailia.  Anyway, they are doing a wonderful work there with children, plus training many workers to help, training local pastors and missionaries.

Nita, I had never heard of Paltalk, either, but when you said you hunted a room, I was guessing it had to be an online something.

Larry, I am happy Pat is recovering from her surgery.  I had no idea her incisions would be so large!  Goodness!  And I hope your blood tests all go well, and the process can continue toward getting you a new heart.  It is really amazing what strides medicine has made.

We didn't have any snow, but it is very cold here.  I hope it doesn't kill all the fruit (again-- )

Tomorrow we go to Amarillo, Beth has two doctor appointments, Darrel has one.  Darrel has something wrong with his arm, has been hurting pretty bad, he said this morning he doesn't know if he can drive.  I hope he can.  I told him I can drive ---- IF my husband doesn't yell at me! 

This is getting too long!  Bye!

Good morning from a sunny, dry, island.  That almost makes me feel guilty  
Thank you for the devotionals this morning. 

The kids have company from Nanaimo and went to a concert last night.  Girls night out.  Wendy, Cathy, Amanda and her friend.  It was in the new stadium.  A drunken woman spilt beer all over Wendy and her seat, also got Cathy and another lady.  Wendy had to spend part of the concert sitting on Cathy's knee.  The security did not evict the woman, who continued to cause a disturbance...half way thro' the concert they finally put cloths down on Wendy's seat and she could sit down again.  This was too painful for Wendy's poor body, for me to even describe.  Simply sitting on a regular chair for anytime, causes terrible pain.  She went to try and have one pleasant evening and this is what happened.  I have told her they need to write and file a formal complaint to the Arena.  The drunken woman was flipping all the seats back when they left....still not evicted.

Yes, I did know about our originally being vegetarians.  When I became a Christian in the '70's, the churches still taught that sort of thiing.  Also Leviticus 11, which tells us about what is clean and unclean food.  We have all gone so far away from the details in our Bibles, that simply is ignored now.  Like so many other things that God instructed Christians about....

I am sort of discouraged with things in general at the moment.  Happy to see that people like Marilyn, are still doing good and helping others.  Wendy's church does that when people are ill and brought dinners for a long time when she was first injured in the accident.  So many of the seniors I know now are only interested in their own lives.  Have given up on going to Senior Centres here as find the people (including many Christians) nasty and selfish.  Changing live-in partners all the time, drinking, etc.  Better to hug the cats and try to lead a quiet but clean lifestyle.

And in the end,
it's not the years
in your life that count.
It's the life in your years.
     ~  Abraham Lincoln
~~~~~~~~~~

Hope everyone has a pleasant and safe day.  God Bless.

Liz

A customer stepped up to my window at the bank. "I would like some U.S. savings bonds, please," she said. "Which denomination?" I replied. "Christian." 


--Contributed

Liz, I am so sorry about Wendy's ruined evening.  And (((((hugs))))) to you today.  Hope you soon feel more optimistic and the world looks brighter for you.  I find a lot of the people at our Sr. Center are very negative and opinionated, very anti-Christian, etc., too.  So I avoid those as much as possible.  I only go maybe once or twice a month, anyway.

I have a new book by Dr. Jordan Rubin called "The Maker's Diet" and in it he does talk about the things in the Old Testament which the Israelis were told NOT to eat, and recommends we follow those instructions.  He himself almost died from Chron's disease and a number of other problems while just a young man in college.  He followed the instructions in the Bible and is now in robust health, and has dedicated his life to helping other people return to full health and vitality.  Great book!

I must get off this computer and get some work done around here!

I hope this one makes you smile!


One of my students could not take my college seminar final exam because of a funeral. No problem, I told him. Make it up the following week. That week came, and again he couldn't take the test due to another funeral. "You'll have to take the test early next week," I insisted. "I can't keep postponing it." "I'll take the test next week if no one dies," he told me. By now I was suspicious. "How can you have so many people you know pass away in three weeks?" "I don't know any of these people," he said. "I'm the only gravedigger in town." 

--Contributed to "All In a Day's Work" by Srinivas Nippani

hahahahaha

i love the jokes.

I'm at work.  It started out busy, but has gotten slow all of a sudden.  My students went on break, and they haven't seen fit to come back in yet.  hmmm.

I hope ya'll's Monday is going great.  It is warming up here, after our snow and stuff, so I am glad to see that!

Take care
karma

Mighty slow day in here today..............................zzzzzzzzzzzzz........................

Hi everyone. 

Pat, you asked about the recovery period for my wife.  She is up and about and basically doesn't require any great assistance.  She had planned ahead on the meals so hasn't had to spend anytime in the kitchen (she has eaten my cooking before).  She will see the doctor and have the drains removed on Thursday. 

That is going to be a full day for us as I have a 9 am appointment at the hospital for a pulmonary functions test, she has an 11:15 appointment with the doctor and then I have the MUGA test, which will take 90 minutes, scheduled for 3 pm.  While it will be a long day it means only one trip since it is an hour away from the house. 

I am just not up to posting today as don't feel well at all.  I haven't been able to bounce back from the long day at the hospital last Friday.  My friend Rod drove me to the doctor's office this morning, which I really appreciated, as I probably had no business driving today. 

Not really much to report.  I saw Jerry today.  The nurse told me he was heavily sedated.  He was restless, agitated, upset, depressed, hurting...something, she didn't know.  But he was constantly moving his right leg and arm and banging the bed with his right leg.  He kept pulling off his oxygen and trying to remove his G-tube (feeding tube).  Plus the night nurse said he was awake all night.  So she sedated him today.  But he didn't even open his eyes...doesn't know I was there.  And I didn't want to wake him.

I took the card I made for him with church member's pictures on it and he didn't even see it.

So I came on home.  After the yucky weather this past weekend, I decided to mow my acre of lawn when I got home.  (More rain tomorrow)  It was windy and cold mowing but it looks pretty good!

Tonight Ivalou and I hostesses at our local Lion's Club.  So I will be gone this evening.

Larry, I am sending healing thoughts and prayers your way.  I am so sorry you feel worn out so often, but am sure that heart is the culprit.  Isn't it amazing that your Spiritual heart is so alive, and the one of flesh is not doing well.

Etta Sue, sorry Jerry didn't get to see that neat card you made for him.  I thought that was the coolest (and most thoughtful) idea.  Glad you got the mowing done!

I want to watch the O'Reilly Factor tonight at seven. (8 Eastern)  It is going to be about the efforts to get English declared our national language.  Something much needed to stop a lot of fraud and stupid, frivolous spending...........

Hope all of you are having a good Monday!

I just came across this, and it is too funny not to share!  I'm still laughing, and imagining his red face! 


Our pastor was winding down. In the back of the church the fellowship committee stood to go to the church hall and prepare snacks for the congregation.  Seeing them get up, Pastor Michel singled them out for praise. "Before they all slip out," he urged, "let's give these ladies a big hand in the rear." 

--Contributed to "Life in These United States.

Yes, the "funnies" in here today are great.  I agree Karma!

Love your photo, Janet! 

Etta Sue, I'm so sorry about Jerry.  I know that this must be discouraging for you.  Hang in there sweetie.

I came across this today and it meant a lot to me so thought I'd share it with you.



Had we not a friend in all the world but the Lord Jesus, we should yet be rich beyond all telling.  He only can help in every time of trouble.  His infinite tenderness and boundless sympathy meet our every need.  His gracious presence may not be distinguishable by any of our natural faculties, but the truly awakened soul can feel and know it.

Oh, Janet.  Thanks for making this a better day.  Sometimes the pain gets my spirit in a mess.  The kids wrote a letter together before leaving and it will soon be in the mail.  One has to see the funny side of things and it could only happen to my daughter.  Seems strange things are always occuring and if nothing else, we usually manage to crack up laughing.  That darn elf keeps following everywhere!

Spent time outside in the sun and Misty wouldn't settle anywhere and kept following me around...table, swing, etc.  I went and found Perkin's old basket, put a towel in it and she curled up and settled down to a wonderful sleep beside the little water fountain.  Hope it keeps her off the glass table and out from under the umbrella....Cat's are not allowed on tables.  She surely does have a stubborn streak despite a gentle nature

I will look for the book recommended and hope it can be found in the library.

Etta Sue, that card sounded great.  Don't despair.  Jerry would appreciate it if he were his old self.  It was a wonderful idea and something others can use if the need arises.  I used to sit beside Al when he was dying and felt so helpless.  Guess lots of folks can relate to that....

Do not usually post twice in one day...sometimes not in one week.  Simply wanted to say thanks.

God Bless,

Liz

Hi, friends,

Well, here it is Monday evening about 8:15, and I'm just getting on the computer. Maybe it's because I didn't get home from work until 7:50???

It's good to hear the reports, but so sad that you feel so bad, Larry. My prayers are with you and your family members.

Etta Sue, I also am sad for Jerry. He would NEVER want to be seen as you see him now. Thank God, when he gets to Heaven, he'll be wonderfully whole. Also, many people can and do recover from strokes, so I continue to pray for improvements day by day.

Liz, I'm so sorry for the pain you're enduring. Protracted pain certainly causes a person to see from a different perspective, doesn't it.

Y'all hang in there. I'm tryin'.

Ruth Ann

My heart goes out to you, dear Liz.  I do know what it's like to have this unbearbable pain and it's so discouraging.  I will be praying for you even more in the coming days.  One thing when you don't sleep well, you have time to pray.

Hi Ruth Ann...

I am posting an urgent prayer request for my dear Grandson Mark.  I think I will tell you here as well..........

Mark called me after 3:00 this afternoon.  I said "How are you doing?" and he said "Not so good right now."  He had an accident in the wood shop at school and almost cut off the two middle fingers of his left hand.  The saw kicked something back and caused it.  It split the fingers lengthwise almost to the nails, really deep.  They rushed him to the emergency room there in Hugoton, but they said he needed a hand specialist, so when Mark called, Diane was taking him to Liberal.  I asked if he were in a lot of pain, and he said not then because they had given him Demerol and a shot of morphine.

Jeff called about two hours ago to tell me the surgeon in Liberal started to work on Mark's hand in her office, but discovered he had severed a tendon and a nerve, so sent them to the hospital for surgery.  We are waiting on pins and needles for more news.  Please pray for Mark.  His goal is to become a commercial pilot, and I pray this accident won't spoil those career plans.  Thanks.

Diane just called to tell me Mark is out of surgery and in a room where they will keep him overnight.  The surgeon was able to repair both the nerve and the tendon.  He will have to keep his hand elevated tonight, and then be in a sling for 6 weeks, then will need therapy; but she feels he will regain full use of his hand, and for that I am praising our loving Father!

She said Mark woke up hungry, as he hadn't eaten since 11:30 AM; which was good as far as having surgery!  So they were on the way to get him something to eat.  Please pray for minimal pain, supernaturally fast recovery and full use of the hand to be regained.  Thank you so much.

I don't feel much like writing a log post so I will just say that I was here reading theposts. Liz that is so sad what happened to Wendy at the concert.

Janet I am praying for all your requests. Beth, Darrel, and Mark. Mojo Potatoes are just Broasted potatoes. I didn't cook I bought it all at Safeway. I tookl over Chocolate Truffle Ice cream for dessert.

I have a head ache so will sign off now

C~U~Manana

Mark just called to talk to me himself.  Said he's had better days.    Thanks for praying for him, Marilyn.

It is a little early, but we are leaving early tomorrow, so I'm closing the door now, hope I don't bonk anyone on the head!

Here is the new clean coffee shop, and I'm sure someone had time to bake goodies---or we can always have toast! 

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