Christian Photographers Community

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Morning Devotional...


I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
1 Corinthians 15:10

I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
Galatians 2:20


I, yet not I.

Paul had replaced an "I" for an "I."  After becoming a Christian, Augustine, who had lived the life of a profligate, was approached by a dissolute woman he had formerly known.  

She tugged at his coat, saying, "Augustine, it is I."

He responded, "Yes, but it is not I!"

The life he now lived, he lived by faith in the Son of God.

Is He at work in our lives today?
                                                                       --Elliot Van Ryn

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Yes, PAT ... I know about needing the quiet.   Thank you for the devotional and the poem by Alice Mortenson.  I am really enjoying my book received Friday ... The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers... Nita came over yesterday and I gave her the cd that has the complete works plus the complete text of the KJV Bible... What a treasure ... all in one volume!  

Y'all have a good day and I'll be checking in on you later ...

Matilyn you are indeed a riot!  You have me rotfl.  You wait one of these days I am going to see David my cousin in GardenGrove and I will knock on your door too!

Sunday was a garder day for me.  Saturday I felt so good that I overdid it, and Sunday I paid.  I am not one to slow down when I am feeling well.

Pat I enjoyed the devotional.  With the others I ask how is Iain?  Has he got the puter problems sorted out? Will he be back soon?

How was your trip to camp?  Who did you take?

Ruthie I have a picture of you that Murray gave me dated 1956!  Shall I pass it on to Pat and let her post it for you?

I am sitting listening to the rain.  More than rain water buckets pouring down.  There has been so much humidity that hopefully the rain will cut it.

Pat you are so right about needing the quiet.  So often we carry on through life with noise. Even if that noise is christian music, it needs tobe turned off to have quiet.  Then there are children's voices, as pleasant as they are it is good to have them say good night and then quiet.

Well all it is late.
Love Judy

My dear brothers and sisters - thank you so much for your kindness and your prayerful, support. I received good news last week with my biopsy results (something that was very worrying indeed) and my cardiac tests were also good although I have to lose some weight!

I am going to post a devotional and then spend the day trying to get my PC back to some sort of normality. I lost quite a bit of work due to faulty CD's. I thought that I had everything backed up but was disappointed to find blank CD's of corrupted ones. Bah!!

You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

Belated birthday greeting to the lads.

Congrats to the new Mam & Dad and Granny!

Larry - I'm delighted to hear that things are looking up for you. Sounds as though you have more energy now that I have!!

Etta - Tell Jerry that we are all praying for a full and speedy recovery.

Marilyn - I truly hope that you will enjoy Al's preaching. I would love to hear him from the pulpit.

There is a saying in Scotland - Some things are better 'felt' than 'telt!'

'But God was with him.'

Acts 7:9

There can be times, perhaps many times in the Christian life when God seems to be very far away from us. It may 'feel' as though He has left us altogether. That my friend will never be the case.

God is not one for breaking promises. He has said I will never leave thee or forsake you. He will not go back on His word.

When we have backslidden and eventually come to a realisation of our position, the gulf between ourself and God may seem insurmountable. In fact the last place where we would want to go with our burden of guilt is to our Holy God. To whom else can we go?

Repentance is turning from our sin and corruption unto God.

God may also seem at a distance from us even in the path of duty and obedience. Faith may be so obscured by what we are feeling that we find it impossible to see exactly where God fits in to our situation.

If ever we find ourselves thinking on these terms then we must put all such thoughts to the sword. It is a lie from Satan to make us think that we have been forsaken. As a child of God, it will never happen. We must not let feelings get the better of us.

I am an emotional person by nature and I find this very difficult indeed. I love my feelings. I love to 'feel' good. I have come to realise that even in the severest pain there can be unspeakable joy! I am a poor scholar in the school of faith. I count myself the dunce of the class.

Thankfully my Teacher has not given up on me.

I often wonder how Joseph felt being betrayed by his brethren. Being the unjust subject of sleaze and false allegations and being forgotten by fellow prisoners who had promised to speak on his behalf on release.

Joseph suffered much yet we never hear of him murmuring against God. He sought to honour his God in whatever situation he found himself to be in. I am sure that many a day and many a long night Joseph would have spent in that dungeon wondering where his God was.

Why had these things fallen out to me? Why must I suffer these things when I have done nothing wrong? Will I ever be free? Natural fears and natural questions. I have often asked similar questions.

Joseph's greatest test however was to keep believing the Word of God. When things were at there darkest, still he had faith to cling on. Hoping against hope.

There may be many days when all we can do is to 'cling on!' Thankfully His hold on us is greater than our hold on Him.

Believing when there was no outward evidence to encourage him in any way. Trusting, trusting, trusting in God's word alone. 'Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross (thy word) I cling. This can be so difficult. The endless waiting. Looking for something, anything, that would bring hope of better days to come.

We may plan many ways of escape from such trials, however if we do so in our own strength we will find that the storms rage, and the ties that bind become even tighter.

It is best to leave our situation with God believing that He is with us. Let us have ears to hear this word from God today. 'As I was with Moses, so I will be with YOU!'

His method and timing of our deliverance will be absolutely perfect. Perhaps in a way we had not even thought of and at a time when we least expected.

Joseph was taken from the prison to the palace in the same day. God will have some good thing planned and prepared for us. Let Him take over the reins of our life and allow Him to work out our deliverance.

No matter what we may be going through today. Be sure of this one thing. God is with us. If God be for us, then who can be against us. When faith lays hold on the truth that God is with us, then we can do all things.

We can cope with everything that comes our way. Why? Because the God who is with us, loves us with an everlasting love. The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.

LOL

Your brother in Christ

Iain

Thanks, Pat and PTL that Iain is back with us!
I loved the poem from Mrs. Widdington..just let Christ be glorified through me is my prayer every day..and I do fail every day. But our God is a merciful God and He lets me pick up the pieces, ask for and recieve forgivness and just continue on being a child of the King.  Ain't God grand!!!

Last night I tried to 'catch-up' on all that I had missed for 3 days, but I couldn't quite finish.  I'll go back today and see if I can finish.  

Everyone have a blessed day.  Let's just Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord! Let's just lift out hands toward heaven and Praise the Lord!

Good morning all
Pat and Iain- thanks so much for a wonderful start to this rainy Florida morning! So many wonderful reminders fo God's faithfulness and our place in His economy.
Have to go back and read what's been up over the weekend. Mine was relaxing and productive.
I am, however, sorry to say I didn't make church yesterday.  Had to go to Ft Myers and check up on Teresa. She has another treatment this Friday. Having a rough time with the Chemo. Her hair was falling out a lot after the first treatment, so she has all but shaved her head. Please continue to pray for her. She has 6 treatments to go. One every 3 weeks.
I did, however, listen to the local pastor on the radio talking about our place in the Father's hands and His will for our lives. It was quite good and really spoke to my heart. I will try again next week to visit the local church.
Well, it's time to go to work already, so I'll close for now.
Glad to hear of your good report, Iain.
Wishing everyone a blessed day in the Lord.

Good Morning Everyone!

I certainly hope our weather today is much better than we had yesterday!  Torrential downpours took place most of the day and when it wasn't raining heavily, it was drizzling.  But the children arriving at camp were not fazed by the inclement weather.  I'm sure that at home, they would have run into their homes complaining of the wetness of their clothes but here they were playing tether ball and volleyball in it!  

Today, I plan to start putting some things into suitcases for my little trip to Calgary.  Hopefully, I'll be ready by Saturday morning to leave!


It's SOOOOO good to see you back among us, Iain!  And what a good feast you brought with you.  I'm happy too, that you had good results from your biopsy.  Great news.


Judy, I took Colin  to camp.  Ian's power steering went on his car so he couldn't drive it.  My trip was actually terrible and stormy but I made it fine.  I had a good Pilot at the steering wheel looking after me!  Praise the Lord.


Hi Kathy...  Lovely to see you posting.  It's difficult to catch up when you miss 3 days in here!  Glad to see you.


And there's Jo (Shinenlite)!   Nice to see you in rainy Florida!  LOL  (It's supposed to be sunny there all the time, isn't it?)  We're sorry to read of Teresa's time with chemo.  I know that when I go to Hamilton with Larry, it's just awful to see the sad cases that walk in and out of that institution or are wheeled in and out.  It's heart breaking.  Such sadness in our world.


Goodmorning to all who have checked in that I haven't mentioned...Jane (great to see you late at night!) and where's Mieka?  

Talk later...   Must go and see if there are new photos!  Have you all checked out our Bridges challenge[/b]?  


Urgent Prayer Needed for British Columbia... They are saying that this is the worst situation for fires in 50 years.  11,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and many homes have been lost.

QuoteNo matter what we may be going through today. Be sure of this one thing. God is with us. If God be for us, then who can be against us. When faith lays hold on the truth that God is with us, then we can do all things.

We can cope with everything that comes our way. Why? Because the God who is with us, loves us with an everlasting love. The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.

Great thought to take along with us, Iain!  Thanks for that.

Iain:  It is good to see you online again - good wishes towards your health concerns.

Jeanne:  Don and I are both Stephen Ministers but I do not have anything going on right now.  Don may be talking to a new retiree who is having a difficult time adjusting - if this man wants a Stephen Minister.  Best to your minister who is going through the training.

Jane:  Oh, that is super news that you received a letter from your grandson, Tim.  It must make your heart sing.  

I may not have time to write again for a few days as we are ready to leave for Denver once again and hope that the VA hospital will finally do Don's hand surgery on Wednesday.  Prayers accepted.  

Carol

Oh, Carol, great to see you.   Hopefully Don's surgery will go just fine.  Yes, we'll be praying for you.  Hopefully you'll be able to check in soon to let us know.


I just came back here to give you a link about the fires.

Western Canada Fires.

Good Morning. Iain so great to have you back online with the daily devotionals. I pray you will be able to recover all you have lost in your computer. Praise the Lord re your tests.  

We have a wonderful Bible Study last night on Accountability. For those of us who live alone we may not think we are accountable to anyone but ourselves, NO! NO! NO! We are still accountable to God. He is always watching us and we must always remember that He is there with us.

Sometimes I feel so inadequate in my prayer life. There are times when I just don't know what to say or feel like I am only saying the words with no "heart" in those words. It is my prayer today to get closer to the Lord and in my walk with Him. To become more prayerful in EVERYTHING, from the little things to the big things.  And always to remember that My God is in control.

With  this large bill for the Vet now, I am concerned that I will not have enough to pay the bills after I have given the Lord His share of my income.  In the past there have been times when I didn't have enough to even pay my rent after giving my tithe and it took me months to catch up on my rent. I know the right thing to do is to give the tithe and pray that God will provide the rest. Please give me some further insight on this, Iain, Al and Papa John.

Be Back Later.

Good morning everyone.  Good to see each one.  Welcome to our new members.

I have always liked that passage:  

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.  (KJV)

What I like about it is he is saying He loves  me!.  It is true that God loves the world.  He loves everyone.  But it is special to think that he loves me!  When Jesus died on the cross he paid the price of my redemption.  And so Paul gave Him all the credit.  "Christ is living in me."  "I live in the flesh by faith in the Son of God."

Whenever one becomes discouraged and begins to think that no one cares.  That person can be reminded that God loves him/her.  Think about it.  "He loves me and gave himself for me."

I hope you all have a nice day.

--- Papa John              <)))><<

 

Good Morning All.  
Thanks to both Pat & Iain for the devotionals.  This is such a nice way to start the day and all of the postings help to strengthen my faith each day.
We seem to be bombarded with noise in our daily life and it continues to grow.  I wrote a little poem about that a few years ago and it was published in a Christian paper.  People seemed to agree:

           Listen to the noise filling air,

           Sounds of a world driven by
           
               despair.

            Discordant anger out of control.

            Hurting the ears, searing the

                soul.

             Christian listen, listen, beware!

Sometimes it seems that the noise of the world is driving out all the beauty God created.

Please continue to pray for the fires here in BC.
So many people without homes and jobs.  Some of the mills are lost for good.  It is going to be devastating to the economy also...God truly seems to be trying get peoples' attention.
Lets pray that they seek Him rather than turn away.  God Bless.

And a great good morning to you, too, Judy B; Iain(How wonderful to see you here today); Kathy; Jo (what a shinenlite you are!); Carol (Thank you, my heart is still singing, and rejoicing, and smiling...and smiling... and...); Marilyn; Papa John; Elizabeth and PAT!!

Pat, that article mentions fires in Alberta also ... will this be a problem for the Calgary Bash?  I am really praying for an abundance of rain SOON!  

Hi Jane...  No, this fire in Alberta is south-west of Calgary in the mountains .  It's huge too.   But thankfully, it's not near Calgary.

We'll probably see the smoke though.  

How great to have Iain and his devotional back today!  And I am so happy you got a good report from your biopsy, too.  God bless you, dear brother.

Those forest fires are so devastating, even though we are told they do good in the long run.......pretty hard for those affected to believe, I would say.  I will pray that the over-abundance of rain you are getting in your area, JudyB and Pat, will move over the fire areas and just drench everything and put out those awful fires!

Abby and I have more fair porjects to work on today, plus she is baby-sitting Mieka for Beth when she goes to the chiropractor a little later.  Then this evening she will be going back home.  I asked her last night if she is missing her Mama, and she said "No, 'cause I have my Grama, and you are my mom's mom!"

We enjoyed our swim together this morning.  Now it is time to get busy.  I had a friend who always used to say "If you don't get anything accomplished on Monday, you won't get anything done all week!"

Larry, thanks for sending those cute animal photos--I really enjoyed them, and have shared them with others, too!

Hey, Pat!  Saturday, already???  What are we gonna do without you here??  But I know you will have a great time, and you deserve some time away!  

Judy, hope you and Norm, and Etta Sue and Ivalou also have a great time in Calgary.  We'll miss you, though.

Hi, "Julia!"  Hehehehe!

QuoteWhat are we gonna do without you here??  

LOL...  Janet, I'm sure you'll get along just fine without me!  

Hi Ria...

When you've read all the messages in here, then click on the button below that says, "REPLY" and then type your message in the blue box and then click on "POST"

Hmmm, I don't think I ever posted yesterday.  I read several times, but I never actually posted anything.  Sorry about that.  I am here, I promise.

Today has been a fairly good day.  Not as good as my weekend, but good.  

I hope everyone's monday is going well.  I don't remember who said it, but it does seem so true that whatever I do on Monday sets the tone for the entire week.

Glad to see Iain popping in -- hope you get your 'puter fixed.  That can sure be annoying, can't it.  Ours crashed sometime back, and, well, it was ugly.  Fortunately, nothing vitally important was lost (that we can tell).

If I haven't said it recently, I really enjoy reading each of your thoughts and ponderings.  So many times, I read something that lifts me up just a little, and I forget to say thanks.  I also like to come in here and just read.  It is like a convienient conversation between several friends.

Have a great day ya'll!!!

Iain Welcome!  You were missed.

Ruth Ann I have been looking for pictures of the baby, I think I have missed them.  Can you tell me please where they are?

Pat wouldn't it be good if we could barrel the water for those needing it?  We had so much that our basement flooded?  We usually only have that happen with spring run-off.

Abby sounds like a wise little girl.  It amazes me the comments they make that contain so much wisdom.


Papa John I agree, it blows me away that He loves me knowing my thoughts and motivations.  That is a WOW for sure.

Marilyn, accountability is a hard thing to teach.  So often I have heard a child say "As long as mom doesn't know it is ok!"  You can say that God knows but, it takes Him to get through the other teaching.

Pat will Janice get to see Colin?  Did you get any pictures?  Remember the Pilot will be at the wheel to Calgary too.  Are you going by the USA or across the top?  If across the top maybe we could meet for tea?

Well folks I am out of here, I am taling the girls for an outing for the holiday weekend, so I had better move it!

God bless all
JudyB

They haven't been downloaded to Pam's computer yet. Hopefully sometime soon.

Ruth Ann
(the tired grandma)

Ruth Ann I am sure you are exhausted with this work of love!  I will be praying your health holds up and that you get some needed rest!

Hi everyone.  I usually try to get here early each morning and then read the later postings in the evening.  However, today it is once again afternoon before I got here.  I second what the others have said in being so glad to see Iain back up and running and to read of the good report on the medical front for you, Iain.  I also could stand to lose a few pounds.

Just a few minutes before church was over yesterday a very, very heavy downpour started.  Fortunately, one man had a big golf umbrella and I was able to walk under it with him to my car and get a couple of small umbrellas.  We then loaned the umbrellas to folks to get to their car and they would come back under the overhang at the entry and return the umbrella and let their passengers get into the car without getting soaked.  It took quite awhile but those two umbrellas really came in handy.  We finally got everyone into their cars and then the rain had slackened.  We went on to the Chinese place for lunch with our friends.  Then last night it rained a lot again.  We had over 1 1/4 inches of rain yesterday and last night.

This morning, after coffee with my retired men friends, I went over to the home of a fellow church member to help her in using her computer.  She was having trouble understanding file management and how to make a mail group and do an attachment to an e-mail.  The next thing I knew the morning was gone.

I have read all the messages but am not going to try to address individuals today.  It is good to see everyone here.

Yes, Judy, she'll see Colin.  She's the Camp Director.


It will be nice when we see Ria posting.  I hope that she manages it soon.


Hi Ruth Ann...

Well, I think we should sing!  I pray that you all can sing this from your heart.




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Aaahhhh yes, Pat!  It IS well with my soul!  I love this song.

Hey there, KARMA, RUTH ANN, and LARRY    Have a great day for yourselves, okay?  Gotta run.  

I'm going over to the church to get the worship/praise music going again.  Our pastors want praise and worship music going 24/7 and an atmosphere of worship built in the entire building.  People drop by whenever they can to spend time in prayer for Pastor Bev.

Hello Everyone:
I was up in Keswick.  Stayed overnight at my son and daughter-in-law Shawn & Kim's place.  They have little twin daughters, conceived by invitro fertilization and almost 1 year old.  How precious they are, but how busy Mom & Dad are and yesterday I helped with them. I came back to a lovely sunny day.
Hi Pat. Happy to hear you got to camp without any problems.  Love Ruthie

Just a quick note while I'm online. I want to thank you all for your support and kindness. It means a lot to me and I thank God for our bond in Christ.

May we all be able to say.' It is well, it is well with my soul.'