Christian Photographers Community

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Morning Devotional...

[Solomon] spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.
1 Kings 4:32


The fifth poetical book of the Old Testament, the Song of Solomon, is one of a thousand and five songs King Solomon wrote. It begins with the phrase "The song of songs, which is Solomon's."

This book is the chief of a thousand and five, the song of all songs that he wrote.

What makes this song the chief of all? Surely it is the theme of the song. The main character, the Bridegroom, is the fairest of the fair, and this song of songs portrays for us the lovely attributes of our own Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ, the "chiefest among ten thousand."
—Sam Thorpe

I thought my thoughts might be too longwinded for this forum - but I see other long ones so I'll tell what I'm thinking.  I do apologize if it's inappropriate and hope you will tell me so.  Thanks

James 3 - Misused Tools


"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers this should not be.  Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?  Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."

We are told that a salt spring cannot produce fresh water.  What does that mean in the analogy of blessing and cursing with our tongue?  If our tongue, like the spring, cannot produce both blessings and cursings, then the tongue that curses is not able to bless, not able to praise our Lord and Father.  Using our tongues for evil is not only wrong in that we should not curse men who have been made in God's likeness, but we also diminish our ability to use our tongue for it's intended purpose, to praise God.  So in one moment of weakness we wrong the cursed man, offend HE who reserves to Himself Alone the right to curse men and reduce our ability to do that for which we were created - namely praise God.  In addition, the more we misuse our tongue, the less inclination we will have to use it for its intended purpose. How can you praise God after badmouthing someone?  You can't.  What's even worse is that you have no inclination to try.  Habitual misuse of your tongue will diminish your appetite for praising God, in exactly the same way as habitual misuse of drugs or alcohol will diminish your appetite for wholesome food.

Does this principal not apply to every useful tool that God has given us?  If we use any of the gifts God has given us for evil purposes, we not only do wrong, but we also reduce our ability to use that gift for it's proper purpose AND we lose the desire to use it for its proper purpose.

For example, our minds are at their best when they are used to contemplate how great and wonderful is our God is all His ways.  If we use this mind that God has given us to harbour resentment, nurse grudges and contemplate revenge, for example, we not only do wrong, we also diminish our minds' ability to contemplate God, and we develop mental habits and patterns which bring our thoughts circling back to these unwholesome themes of self pity and anger.  On some level we know that if we were instead to contemplate God's greatness and all He has done for us, our petty grievances would be put into perspective and we would have to give them up.  Our unwillingness to abandon these cherished injustices prevents us from using our minds to contemplate God's goodness, lest we be deprived of our favorite complaints.  Just as in the example of the tongue, misuse of the mind makes us both less able and less willing to use our minds properly and obediently.

The same holds true for our bodies.  If we use them to do useful work they become strong, sturdy and skillful and the work is satisfying.  But if we are lazy, our bodies become weak, clumsy and sluggish.  This in turn makes work seem even harder and more distasteful to us.   If we fail to use our bodies as God intended, that is, doing useful work so that we will have enough to share, then our body loses it's strength and we begin to see all work as a cruel and tiresome imposition on our lives - in addition we are robbed of the important satisfaction that comes from doing useful work.  Solomon tells us that a man can nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.  So laziness is wrong because it is disobedience to God, but it is also harmful because it makes us less able to work and less willing to work and deprives us of the healthy satisfaction that work provides.

In all these examples, we see that disobedience leads to a downward spiral, in which the less we obey, the less we are able to obey and the less we are willing to obey.   Most importantly of all, these gifts were given to us to be used for God's glory.  When we fail to glorify God with all the resources He has given us, those resources become weak and useless. 

Let us instead use every talent and gift that God has given us to praise and glorify HIM- for there is no higher calling in all creation than to glorify the Creator.  And then instead of our talents and gifts becoming weakened and crippled by misuse, they will become stronger and more skillful every day, when they are used for their highest and best use - to praise our wonderful God.  So let's make up our minds to be like the man in the parable who received the talents from his master and then used them wisely.  And how did the master respond?
Well done, good and faithful servant!  Come and share your master's happiness. 

May each one of us hear those words.

Sorry Pat, I jumped the gun and created a "new every morning~July 3" before yours came up.  I'm not trying to take over, honest!

HAHAHA!

Maybe it might be a good idea!  LOL

Steven, it's so nice to see you here.  Has it been as hot in Ottawa as it has been here in Guelph?

Last night was pleasant but then the heat came back today.

All fixed, Steven.  And now I'm going to read it.  Thanks for that.

Very hot for the better part of 2 weeks now, but I won't complain.  I like the heat much better than the cold, but I know there are those who suffer terribly when it gets hot.

Thanks again for the encouraging words Pat.  Boy, we all need encouragement.

Your meditation has sure hit home with me.  I'm printing it out and I'll take it into my room to read it again.  Oh, that we might watch our tongues in the coming days and use it to Praise our Father.

Thanks Steven! 

Good Morning everyone

Stepher I too have printed what you wrote to read on my break today.  Unfortunelately I have to work.

It is a beautiful day today.  No humidity and only 19*C  I enjoy summer and the heat really doesn't bother me.  We got all the seeding done to the garden last night abd we will have a good crop of food to freeze this year.  Enough for Bonnie too.

Well dog is barking to come in and I have yet to get ready.  Melaura is going with Dad.  She will have a good tiime.  They may just meet up with Ruth Anne for a bit tomorrow.

Well bye for now
God bless
Judy

Good  Morning. Thank you to Pat and to Steve for the devotionals this morning. Good to see you back Steven and your devotional is awesome, a very good word for today and every day. The tongue  blesses and curses. Oh that we would all be careful of the things we say to others..

Yes Janet I would definitely have to condense down a lot but I have been meaning to do that anyway.  I just have not had the time nor the inclination.I have been putting it offf for a long time and now that I have so much already packed it would be a good idea for me to go back through what I have packed and remove  that which I do not  need.

JudyB Don't you live way up in northern Canada? Do you have the extra hours of sunlight?

My next post will be my contribution of  a devotional for today.

TTYL

The Blessing of Prophecy (#20050703)
by Henry Morris, Ph.D.
"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand" (Revelation 1:3).
There seems to be an increasing interest in Biblical prophecy in recent years, but the great majority of professing Christians (especially in the so-called mainline denominations) continue to reject or ignore the great portions of the Bible dealing with the prophetic future. This is most unfortunate because there is genuine blessing in the study of these prophecies. It is significant that only the book of Revelation makes a specific promise to this effect. Not only in its opening verses as above, but also in its final chapter is such a blessing promised: "Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth [i.e., `guardeth'] the sayings of the prophecy of this book" (Revelation 22:7).

Note also the exhortation in Peter's final epistle, just before his martyrdom. "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts" (II Peter 1:19).

For those who ignore these prophecies concerning the Second Coming, Christ's rebuke to certain disciples who had failed to believe the prophecies concerning His first coming may well come to be appropriate again: "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken" (Luke 24:25). The book of Revelation ends with an even more serious warning: "If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy [note, not just the concepts, but the words!], God shall take away his part out of the book of life" (Revelation 22:19). It is clearly very important that Christians read, understand, believe, and obey the divinely inspired prophecies, as well as all the other revelations of the Holy Scriptures. HMM

Hi everyone.  I don't have to sing in the choir this morning as we have the entire month of July off from practice (this is our normal practice) so we don't have to leave for church as early as normal.  I slept in this morning as didn't need to leave the house around 7:30 am as usual. 

Pat, I hope you will not be hesistant to call the police if the neighbor bothers you again.  Don't take any chances.

Ruth Ann, sure hope your feet and legs are much less swollen today.  It sounds like you are pushing yourself too hard at your work again.

Marilyn, certainly hope this new place is what you are looking for as it sounds very nice.

JudyB, you must really have a large garden.  I was able to buy fresh tomatoes, yellow squash, cucumbers, and green beans from my friends garden yesterday.  We had some of the green beans and cucumbers for dinner last night and they were so good.

Thanks to everyone for the devotional thoughts today.

Hope everyone will have a nice day. 

Well. we are not having any lack of devotionals these days!  Thank you, one and all!  That was especially good, Steven.  It certainly tells us why we sometimes become so spiritually sluggish - we haven't exercised our minds and tongues for good, and we've gotten them into bad habits.

Thanks Larry...  I won't hesitate. 

It's a little bit less humid here today.  And that's good.  I can usually take the heat if it's not humid but it's been terrible for a couple of weeks or more here in this part of Ontario.

I'm still meditating on Steven's post.  It sure was powerful. 

Oh, my phone is ringing...  I'll have to finish later.

The same holds true for our bodies.  If we use them to do useful work they become strong, sturdy and skillful and the work is satisfying.  But if we are lazy, our bodies become weak, clumsy and sluggish.  This in turn makes work seem even harder and more distasteful to us.   If we fail to use our bodies as God intended, that is, doing useful work so that we will have enough to share, then our body loses it's strength and we begin to see all work as a cruel and tiresome imposition on our lives - in addition we are robbed of the important satisfaction that comes from doing useful work.  Solomon tells us that a man can nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.  So laziness is wrong because it is disobedience to God, but it is also harmful because it makes us less able to work and less willing to work and deprives us of the healthy satisfaction that work provides.

This is the part that really hit home with me today.  That's because I am dealing with two memebers of my family who have lost a lot of their physical capabilities, are using resources and time going to therapy, but when they go home, they do NOTHING to help themselves.  It is very frustrating to me, and I can imagine God is not happy with us when we do that same thing in either the physical or spiritual realm.

Uh.....Pat...........you didn't answer Jen's question about posting photos.  I hopw you talked to her privately, as we are waiting to see her little Mercy girl.   

This is a  busy day for our church family.  Service this morning was really great!  This afternoon from 2-4 is a birthday party for one of the ladies who has been in that church most of her life.  She is recovering from surgery in which an artificial valve was put in her heart, then a stroke followed that.........she is back in church, but quite weak and frail.  Tomorrow is her 77th birthday.  Then this afternoon starting at 6 we are going out to a ranch owned by other members for a cookout, games and fellowship.  So it's a full day.

I need to find a bite of lunch before going to the party.  Talk to you all later!

Janet can I come to that cook out with you. I am home doing nothing this afternoon and evening. No prayer meeting today as the Pastor gave us the afternoon off to spend with our families. Mine is not at home.   So it is me and Jesus this afternoon.       

There was a message on my machine from the lady with the little trailer for rent. I returned her call but she must be out.

We had a wonderful message this morning on relationships. Pastor Danny told his testimony, talked about his family growing up, about his marriage and family.

Pastor Dennis teaches sunday school and ever since he came we have been learning about the Kingdom of God, today was on Righteousness, Peace and Joy the second concering those three. He is also the Worship leader so our class has been cut short so now it is only 45 minutes IF we start on time.

Absolutely, Marilyn!  Come on over!!

We are just back from the birthday party, and Geraldine was looking really tired.  I hope this day doesn't prove too much for her.

Marilyn ~ Versailles was really nice.    The celebration was for two ladies....80th Birthdays...Sisters-in-laws.  One lady Ivalou knew and I had met before.  The drive was really nice.  About a 100 miles of State Highway driving one way.  I know I hadn't been on parts of the drive.  Hope you get that little mobile home...it sounds darling.

vec2 ~ I am sure you are glad to be home.  Nothing like home, is there?

Karma ~ I used spray Skin So Soft.  Betty used spray OFF.  But I really think Conner Prairie sprays the grounds.  I didn't even notice bugs flying between a light and me.  Really a nice evening without bugs! 

JudyB ~ I think I have been on your Highway 17.  Is that the one that goes from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  Canadian Transcontinental Highway? 

Ruth ~  And I remember that Tim Horton coffee....great coffee.  Did you see Pat?

Janet ~ No, bugs at the Symphony on the Prairie but uarrrggghhh, those pesky deer flies are around here at my home....the ones that light on you and dig in!  You have to brush them off with your hand...just moving doesn't budge them.  I know...I water at dusk and that is when they come out of hiding. 

Larry ~ I haven't heard that the fabric softener sheets are a bug repellent.  I know they say if you know you are going to be outside for awhile to forego the perfume and hair sprays. 

Ruth Ann ~ I would ask you if anything really ever gets you down but I know better to ask that question.  You are like the Energizer Bunny....on and on and on and on.

Al ~ I never understood why anyone would hit a ball, go after it and then hit it again.....at least, 18 times??

Pat ~ Glad I am not the only one that gets my days mixed up.  I have to put it on my calender or I can't remember anything.

Jen ~ I will be praying for your knee.  You are too young for knee problems.

stevenayer ~ Great devotion.  He created us so we should use His creation for His purposes.

On the way to Versailles, I stopped at Greensburg and took a couple of photos of the tree growing out of the tower at the Court House.  I have them in The Gallery. 

Another awesome time at church today.  I was making mega mistakes with the duplicating of the cassettes and CD's...was using next weeks cassettes so had to make new labels for some because some were already taken when I realized the wrong date was on them.  The master CD's weren't finalized...I didn't do that but two CD's were given out but I got them back and told them to pick up their next Sunday after Jen figures out what is wrong. 

After church, I had KFC and did some shopping at WalMart.  I have nothing planned for the rest of today or tomorrow.  I think I will like that.

I trust that I do not really confuse everyone but what I meant by Pat's Tim Horton's was  sitting here reading CP and   comparing the social part of Tim Horton's to that of CP.

I have been to the Tim Horton's in Guelph but not for a very long time.



Marilyn:  I trust that you will be accepted for the new home you are looking at.


Now I must head outdoors and water my plants.



Ruth

Every[/size][/color]body is invited to our barbeque tomorrow at 5:30 PM at the Church (Sunnybrae Church, 555 Bayside Rd., Arcata, CA 95521).  We have about 2 or 3 acres in back of the church, mostly in grass.  We'll have chicken, burgers, etc.  We'll have our own fireworks at about 9 or a little after, then from our elevation, we can easily view the fireworks being put on by the city (about a mile away) and another by the Police Athletic League (less than a quarter mile away)!  So be there for food, fellowship, and fun!

We had a sermonette on true liberty this morning.  Our true independence (from sin and its effects) has been bought by our Savior, and we can appropriate it by His Spirit.

Hi, friends,

Yes, Judy. I'm eager to meet with them when they come through. And, all of y'all know that anytime you're within, say, a couple of hours driving time (if it's not during the work day), I'd love to meet with y'all.

Our spiritual family here is really precious to me.

Most likely you're right, Etta Sue - I think sometimes my "Wanna" dos take over when the "oughta stay homes" should rule. 

Y'all have a good evening.

Ruth Ann

Hello All
Too many post to try and respond to, but I have enjoyed catching up on all the happenings of the various posters.

A belated Happy Birthday to Canada. 

Marilyn, hope you can find the right living quarters for your self.  I know what a job it is trying to find a place to move to.

Nards, glad to hear you are teaching Travis the game of golf.
I never played the game until I was in my forties, and then did not have the time to play much.  It was much later that I felt like I could devote the time to the game.  I now play three days a week and sometimes more.

Karmat, you guys live closer to the Waynesville CC than I thought.  I knew you all were in the area but not as close as 15 minutes away.

I hope Mary and I can meet you guys while we are in North Carolina.  I will be playing golf Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and leaving for home early Thursday.  The schedule calls for a formal dinner each evening, and a Worship service after the dinner.

So if your schedule would fit in for any kind of a visit, let us know the time suitable for you guys. 

There have been some very good devotionals posted the last few days.

Pat, has the neighbor been a bother before last night?   

Have a good evening every one.

Boots

I have been home all afternoon, Tomorrow I work at Fay's in the AM  she will probably let me go early,then in the aftrnoon Versal and I are going grocery shopping. Not much new here, it has been a very quiet afternoon.

Thank you Boots I will go to the place the Lord provides.I'm not stressing ove it, It is in God's hand now, If he wants me to have that place then I will have it. The only bad thing is that I would have to give up my washer and dryer no hook ups there.

Well, it's that time again.  Join us in the new day! CLICK HERE