Christian Photographers Community

Morning Devotional...

The God of peace be with you all.
Romans 15:33


Already in this chapter, Paul has spoken of God as, “the God of hope”, and the “God of patience”, and now he says, “the God of peace be with you all. Amen”.

It is as if he has kept the best until lastâ€"fresh, sparkling and satisfying. Regardless of what awaited him in Rome, Paul knew the supremacy, the support and the serenity of His peace which would outlast all the storms of life.

What a deep sense of calm, composure and confidence with such a legacy (Jn. 14:27).

Do you have His peace?
â€"Les Rainey

Well my friend Colleen has just left and it is almost 1 am here.  The movie ended about 11:15 but we have been talking ever since.  She called me earlier this afternoon and asked if she could come over tonight for a visit.  So of course I said yes and we decided to make dinner together.  So once all that was finished she turned to me and said "So I thought maybe we could watch the Passion of the Christ"  Well I was completely stunned because she has never showed an ounce of interest before.  I just know that God is at work here as I have been a Christian for close to a year now but in the past month or so she has been asking so many questions.  It's almost as if she is noticed something in me and I don't know, maybe it is starting to shall we say appeal to her.  She wept through a lot of the movie as well as asked several questions so  I was reading bible passages and answering her questions as we went along.  I think she is beginning to realize that she can talk to me about God and even though she pushes and challenges me I never seem to get my back up or argue with her as I know we should never be fighting about God.  I think she notices this to be a real significant change in me as there have been many times in the past when her and I have several heated debates about certain things.  I am just so excited right now about the possibility of someone very close to me possibly coming to Christ.  I will continue to pray for her.  Sorry if I am babbling on here about this but I am just so "on fire for God" right now and I wanted to share that!!
better get to bed now as mt first kids arrive at 6:20 am so this is going to be a very short night sleep tonight.
God Bless you All,
Carrie 

Carrie ~ It is God's plan for his creations to get to know him.  Then He changes you.  Then others see that change and want a part of it as well.  Isn't that just the greatest feeling to think that someone sees God in you and wants God in them?

Al ~ I forgot to mention that your devotion yesterday and the way to think about a paragraph or two is a wonderful idea.  My church has given each one of us a devotional book that has us to read the Bible and then we answer three questions and write it in the devotional book.  Really makes you think.  In two years, we will cover the entire Bible.

Another gloomy day but, hey, it is winter!  I did get a good nights rest and I thank God for that.  My pc is running great!  Thank you, God.  Now I have a few things I need to get done...upload some pictures to show you our ice, work with my fonts again, make a few animations and think about a devotion to post.  So I had better get busy!!!

"Through diligent and creative love, a family can fit like a hand in a glove; each finger in its own space, together creating a warm handclasp." [/b]                   

Etta Sue - that is so true it amazes me everyday to see how God works.  I am so excited about this.  I don't think she is quite there yet but just the fact that she is so much more open to the concept of Christianity is something to definately praise God for!  Glad to hear you got a good night's sleep.  Sounds like you are pretty busy today.
Our church is beginning a church-wide course called the Purpose Driven Life for 40 days, as I am sure you all have heard of that book.  We are having a Kick-off Rally tomorrow evening where we will watch a couple of viedos in preparation for the next 40 days and then I beleiev we start the next day.  So I am quite excited for that and to see what God has planned there, for not only me as an individual but corporately as well.
Well I think I might go lay down for a bit before I have to go back to the school for my kindergarden kids as I am quite tired after that very late!
Have a great day everyone!!

 Hey Pat thank you for todays devotional,Carrie thats such good news to hear your friend is interesteded in Christ,I have the book and journal for the "Purpise driven life,I guess I will do it on my own since I have no one to partern up with,but I think I'd like to  do it with another person or even a group.I also am reading a few other books and have workbooks with them just have to fig out which one to do first and not try 2 or 3 at the same time,as I only need to concentrate on one at a time.I miss having John here and sure enjoyed our time together,I only wish I could freese time and just keep him here,we did not get to do all we wanted to as time just ran out ,we don't know yet when we will see one another again but probably not util the month starts with a "J" and thats gonna be a while and it's not Jan.I think I am ready to sell my cockatoo now,I've had her since 1998 and she is needing more than I can give her she enjoys getting out and making me chase her for 2 hrs and it's getting hard for me to catch her so I am looking for a new owner and someone willing to buy her not think she sould be free,I do need a little something from her.Well I got online to try and catch John but looks like I either missed him or he is not coming on yet.I also am starting to have another head ache so I am going to go finish a few things online then get off and read or do something else my dishes and kitchen need cleaned,thanks for having this site up I have a few more people interested in seeing the pictures of John and I that my mom posted and I have invited them to come look as a guest.I have to send them the addy so they can look.Take care and God Bless,Beth

Good Morning. It is pouring rain this morning. Central CAlifornia is really getting hit hard lots of snow int he Sierras.

Thank you Pat for the devotional. Etta Sue I am sure you will come up with the perfect devotional to post of your day to start NEM.

Today I am having my nails done by a different person than I have been going to. That person was one of the one who was involved in th trouble at the church and all she wanted to talk to me about was about the church. I got tired of hearing it everytime I went to her so I have switched to someone else. I also have to go grocery shopping for Fay either today or tomorrow. Tai Chi class at 9 am and I want tot ry tog et to the Gym again today. I am trying to go 3 times per week.

Have y-all seen the photos I took at the beach yesterday? You can see them  in the Photo section or you can go to my gallery  HERE The calm before the storm.

Pat there are some there that I know you will enjoy seeing.

TTYL

Good morning to all of you!

Nard

Wow, Beth, such a nice long post today!  Good for you!  Uh.........did you know your Mom is also looking for a partner to do The Purpose Driven Life?  Huh?    I tried doing it with Jeanie last time, but we both fizzled out.  I'm hoping our church will do it together, that would be great!

I had "restless legs" last night, very little sleep.  And I have to go cut some glass and finish up some framing so I can take the finished pieces to Hugoton when we go to talk to the first graders.

Blessings to all of you today.  I'm off to see the beach!  (In Marilyn's photos, that is.) 

Carrie - Your enthusiasm is so infections. Keep it up lass and keep up a faithful and steady witness with your friend.

Primrose - so many 'J's' in your post! I know of a J that will fill in the months until the other 'J' returns.

Pat - Isn't is strange the amount of money spent needlessly in our world by folks seeking the peace that you mentioned in your devotional? So much hussle and bussle in our lives, so little time and so much to do. I wonder what Martha's advice would be to us today?

Al - I replied to your helpful devotional yesterday but it must be lost in cyberspace! I hope to send you a devotional of mine own at the beginning of next week if you can find the time and energy to edit it for me, I'd be most obliged.

Etta Sue - 'My pc is running great!  Thank you, God.' How I love Christians sis who honour and acknowledge our God in ALL areas of their lives.

Marilyn - I'll take a look at your pics later when I have a bit more time. Glad to hear that our weather here is the same as California's!!!!!

Hi Nards and all others

LOL

Your brother in Christ

Iain

Good day!

Hope you ALL have a wonderful weekend!

Soni

Hello all!
Just a quick post before I'm off and running (figuratively speaking, of course).

Take care and have a wonderful weekend.  I have a retreat tonight and tomorrow so it will probably be Sunday before I'm back in here!

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Welcome Lasenza!!
Glad to see you here Jen, you will enjoy it here I'm sure!!

I feel like singing, do you?





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January 7   

Personal Life: The Call of God

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful;
nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of
righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 
--Hebrews 12:11

"Your calling," said Meister Eckhart to the clergy of his day,
"cannot make you holy; but you can make it holy. No matter how
humble that calling may be, a holy man can make it a holy calling.
A call to the ministry is not a call to be holy, as if the fact of
his being a minister would sanctify a man; rather, the ministry is
a calling for a holy man who has been made holy some other way
than by the work he does. The true order is: God makes a man holy
by blood and fire and sharp discipline. Then he calls the man to
some special work, and the man being holy makes that work holy in
turn....

Every person should see to it that he is fully cleansed from all
sin, entirely surrendered to the whole will of God and filled with
the Holy Spirit. Then he will not be known as what he does, but as
what he is. He will be a man of God first and anything else second.
We Travel an Appointed Way, 59-60.

"You've called me to be holy, Lord, not famous; to be holy, not
successful. Keep me focused today on being the person You want me
to be, no matter how significant or insignificant the work You ask
me to do. Amen."

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Carrie, may the Lord pour out His Spirit upon you and make you His most joyful witness to His saving grace.
Amen.

AMEN, Chris!  Isn't it refreshing to see Carrie's zeal for her Lord?

We love you, Carrie!  And we'll be praying for you as you continue to witness for our wonderful Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you everyone for welcoming me.

I just wanted to share with you that last night I had a wonderful experience. People from a church I attend came to my new apartment and we had a house blessing. It was such a nice thing for them to do. They all prayed for me and my new place. What a privledge that was. I never had experienced that before for my own place. My parents had it twice a priest came and blessed the house, but it was so much more special now for 2 reasons. One this is my own place and two now being a follower of Christ. It just amazes me day after day what the Lord has given me.

Have a great day everyone,

God Bless

Hi everyone.  I spent a good part of today working on the webpage for our church.  We have a monthly newletter that is done is Microsoft Publisher and when you convert it to be a webpage it does something to some of the layout so it require a bit of rework to make it look presentable on the website.  I also added some color to it just for variety.

Welcome to Lasenza and Jen.  We are happy to have you joining us here on the CP site.

Carrie, it is wonderful to read the excitement in your postings.  Obviously the Holy Spirit is working in the heart of your friend. 

Beth, hope you can find a good home for your bird.  You sure don't need something you have to chase around. 

Etta Sue, I have been using the free version of the AVG Virus Protection software for well over a year and have been very happy with it.  They recently came out with an updated version that is even nicer to work with.  It automatically updates and so far I have experienced no problems with it.  Glad you didn't experience any major ice problems and hope your power stays on.  It is still reasonably warm down here today but has been overcast and we are suppose to have some rain tonight.

Tbear, it sounds like you were very domestic today!     Your lemon poppy seed muffins sound good.  One of our friends gave us a quart jar with a cookie mix dry ingredients in it with the recipe attached.  My wife fixed them yesterday and I have been enjoying them.  They are made with chocolate coated raisens.

Marilyn, Nita and Jane, it sounds like the west coast is really getting hit hard with rain and bad weather.  Hope you all can stay dry.

Pat, thanks for the devotional today and the hymns you have posted.  I am trying to remember to click on at least 4 ads each day, although know that some days I forget to do so.  I know this will help generate revenue to pay for the cost of keeping this website and it is an easy way we can all contribute. 

Janet, bet you really wow'ed the school kids with the scuba gear and photos.  It is wonderful that you and Darrell are willing to take the time to do that. 

Kathy, you have more patience than I do in filing down your computer cabinet.  It looks like they would make the openings a standard size but know they don't.

I have read everyone's posting but won't try to mention everyones name today as this is already getting pretty long.

http://christianphotographers.com/community/index.php?board=32.0

Christian churches are up in arms here in the UK, people are walking up and down outside the BBC headquarters with placards, Praise God!




http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4154385.stm

Well done Jen, that is the way to do it.
When we got this home we gave it back to the Lord for His blessing, the same when we bought the car etc, always thank Him for it then give it back to Him to bless, then all goes wonderfully well. 

Thank you very much Pat and Chris.  I am truly amazed and extremely blessed!! 
Thank you all for remebering this situation in your prayers!!
Have a good night everyone!!
Blessings, Carrie

Vancouver Island is now white instead of green.  We are experiencing a heavy snowfall and temps. far below normal.  No end of the snow in sight and more forcast for a later date!  I posted a couple of pictures in Photographs......

Thanks for the music and devotionals.  It is always helpful to read the postings of other Christians. 
I think that it might be a good idea for my computer to experience Avast.  Thanks for the tip, Etta Sue.  I also use Norton's and have reservations about getting 2005 version

Carrie, it is great to read of your joy in experiencing Jesus as Saviour.  One of my devotionals had a nice little blurb about this....

QuoteTo make an appeal to the Living God costs a struggle. It means asking God to take over one’s life. If we invite the Living God into our homes, instead of just into our hearts, there is naturally going to be a fight, because then he will have to enter into even the nitty-gritty aspects of our lives.

Yet if the Living God does not enter our lives, then despite all our best efforts to do good each day, things can go terribly wrong. Our homes will be places of unpeaceâ€"full of fighting and bickering, turmoil and confusion. That is why we need God’s help.

When we get up each morning we must see the opportunity to experience something of redemption in the course of the day. The Living One, he whom we sense in the whole of creation, must be at our side. In him we will always find joy.

True peace definately comes from knowing God.

Time to go and check on Misty.  She does not like having to stay indoors and gets lonely in the garage.  Problem is that she also likes to chase birds and my canary would be first on her list for a quick snack!

God Bless,

Liz

Hi, friends,

It's a very cool evening here in Tennessee, with lots and lots of rain. Makes the old bones ache, but then the winter rains in Tennessee are what we depend upon to help keep our underground water table at proper levels.

So, while I may WISH to complain, I certainly won't! God knows what He's doing, and I'm thankful for those wintry rains.

It's such a blessing to hear of those who have the courage to witness for our Lord. I've been able to do so several times with success and oh how thankful a person feels when their work seems to bear fruit. How precious to be used by Him to participate in the decision making of a soul!

God bless each of us here in CP. I appreciate every one of you and read your NEM postings. There are limitations to my time, but on occasion, I'm also able to check out other sites like the foods area and the wonderful photos. Maybe at some point I'll gain the expertise and have the time to be able to learn to post online photos, too, since I have that little inexpensive digital camera now.

Y'all have a good evening.

Ruth Ann

Brrrr it is cold here on the Coast of california. The weatherman said that there maybe snow all the way down to the ocean and chains needed down the coastal highway (101). That is sure a cold front. Yes Larry we are getting hit hard with this storm.