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Morning Devotional...


Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.
Titus 3:5

The dying thief on the cross is a beautiful testimony and truth to this scripture.

Salvation is by faith and by faith alone!

The contrite heart of this sinner repented and said, "This man has done nothing amiss," thus confessing that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. He then earnestly prayed, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom."

Assured by the word of the Lord, "Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise," he died forgiven (not by his works but by the Lord's blessed work) and went to heaven.
--E. MacLelland

July 31   

The Church: The Cure for Difficulties

But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his
physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not
see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the
Lord looks at the heart."
--1 Samuel 16:7
Indeed it may be truthfully said that everything of lasting value in
the Christian life is unseen and eternal. Things seen are of little
real significance in the light of God's presence. He pays small
attention to the beauty of a woman or the strength of a man. With Him
the heart is all that matters. The rest of the life comes into notice
only because it represents the dwelling place of the eternal being.
The solution to life's problems is spiritual because the essence of life
is spiritual. It is astonishing how many difficulties clear up without
any effort when the inner life gets straightened out....
Church difficulties are spiritual also and admit of a spiritual answer.
Whatever may be wrong in the life of any church may be cleared up by
recognizing the quality of the trouble and dealing with it at the root.
Prayer, humility and a generous application of the Spirit of Christ will
cure just about any disease in the body of believers. Yet this is usually
the last thing we think about when difficulties arise. We often attempt
to cure spiritual ills with carnal medicines, and the results are more
than disappointing.  The Next Chapter After the Last, 82-83.
"Problems loom so large, Lord, because they seem so prevalent. Help our
church to focus on 'prayer, humility and a generous application of the
Spirit of Christ.' Amen."

Just Pray ?"
By: Gail Rodgers

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may
receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:
16)


Shelly listened intently to the talk in the committee meeting. A fragile
situation had arisen and the committee was divided as to how to handle it.
One said, "We need to pray!" Another said "Yes, but we need to do more
than just pray. We need to do something!" She had some ideas as to how to
fix things.

So often we see prayer as simply a list of our requests to God, our asking
Him to come into our lives and fix our fragile situations. We are often
desperate and pleading. In our panic for an immediate answer to our pain,
we sometimes miss what God is offering us through prayer. Listen to this
invitation from God Himself.

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may
receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:
16)

God knows we will all have times of need. He invites us to come to Him
boldly. This invitation is an opportunity to receive from the Lord
Himself. It is not a promise of an immediate solution to our problem. It
is a promise to find the mercy and the grace... the strength to walk where
we need to walk right there in our need.

Sometimes God answers our crisis prayer right in the moment of need. Other
times there is no immediate answer. He seems to have forgotten us and we
feel prayer is not working. But when He waits with the answer He offers
something that is far deeper. He offers Grace...God's divine influence
operating in our daily life giving us strength and wisdom, patience and
endurance. And He offers mercy...God's love and compassion toward us,
holding us through the storm. And so He helps us in our time of deep need.

The next time a bump in the road of life causes pain or hardship in your
life, pray! Pray for your answer, but continue praying and looking
expectantly to receive just what you need to carry you through. God
Himself invites you to receive.

~Father God,
Thank you for Your open invitation to come boldly to You. Today, in the
things I do not understand and in the answers I am waiting for, let me
receive from You. Pour out Your grace to help me and Your mercy to hold
me. Give me what I need. Divinely put peace and patience in my heart and
mind today. Thank you that You walk beside me and will be my help! In
Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
(LG26)

Howdee all! I haven't been here for a few days and thought I would drop in before church.  The youth group is leading the sermon today.  Should be interesting.

Have a good day!

Where is everyone?  Out and about, I guess. 

Church was awesome as usual.  The Adult Minister announced that there would be an Open House for the church secretary who is retiring at 2 p.m. at the church.  I didn't figure I would go since I leave church by 12:30 p.m. and didn't know what to do until 2 p.m.  Then I saw a lady and asked how her grandmother was and was told she was moved into a nursing home in town.  So I went out for lunch and decided to go see Helen.  Such a pretty lady and wonderful heart.  When I grow up....well, you know.  When I left and was getting in the car, I looked at my watch.  TWO P.M.  So I went back to church and got to give Bev my congratulations on retiring.  I thought I would take a CD by Tony and Charlene's but when I called him, he was in Little Nashville....about 2 hours south of here on the cycle.  So I came home and I am doing some laundry now. 

I am praying that everyone had a great day in God's house.

Judy MC I see you have re-registered under  Judy 2005. How are you doing I haven't seen you in a little bit.

I drove to Eureka  after church to look over a duplex there, I have already notified the property management that I want to  do a walk through. It is real nice inside, I looked through the windows which were open. It is nice and roomy for a 1 bedroom and a nice yard for the doggies. There is a pair of dogs next door and a wire fence between a small portion so they can look at each  through the fence. Rent is ^675.00 We will see I am putting in application for the place.

TTYL

It is 5:36 and it has been a slow day here at NEM.   I hope that means everyone is having a good busy day!

We are just home. it was a friends birthday  so we got together at the beach for swimming and eats.   I missed out on the eats as we met a friend from Guelph.  Al and Nancy were up for Heritage weekend.  Unfortunately Al fell and hurt his arm and wound up in emergency room.    They will be heading home early tomorrow.  Keep him in your prayers please, he has been ordered off work for 2 weeks and their sick pay is minimal.

The weather is c-c-c-cold here today.  The kids went swimming.  I thought for sure they woould come out as popsicles.   We had a great time visiting with our friends.  

Vacation Bible School starts this week, Tuesday to Friday.  We are expectiing about 100 children, mainly from the surrounding homes.  Many of these children have not heard about the saving power of Jesus Christ.  I will be taking Melaura as a helper, and the other two to participate.  There will be a good time for all.

Well that is about it for today I will be back tomorrow.l

Well, we drove down to Oneanta, Alabama, Friday for our Murphree  Genealogical Association meeting.  We really had a good time meeting old friends.  We drove home this morning, about a three hour trip.  Now we are getting ready for church tonight.  Good to see everyone.

--- Papa John          <;D)))><<   

Marilyn,

I have heard that everything is more expensive in California, but is that correct? 675.00?  That is more than my house pmt.  I couldn't imagine that much for a 1 bedroom rental.  Is the rent subsidized?  I don't mean to sound nosy, but like I said, I just can't imagine that!

Hope everyone is having a great day.

Samantha :D

Samantha: Yes that is correct, everything in california is more expensive, $675 fotr a 1 bedroom rental is  low average. They go as high as $1,000. per month in some places up here.
ore than that in the bigger cities.I have applied for Subsidized housing but my application has not been acted on yet The housing authority will go as high as 650 for a 1 bedroom and the tenant would pay  about 1/2 of that.

I do like the place and I am praying for god's will to be done and that I will have great favor withthe Rental agency.

Had a good prayer meeting tonight.

TTYL

Hi everyone.  This has been sort of a lost day for me as didn't feel very good this morning and so we didn't go to church this morning.  Rather I rested.  Finally around 2 pm I realized I was feeling human again so have just been updating the webpage for the church and other little things on the computer. 

Marilyn,  sure hope your application will be accepted as it sounds like this would be an ideal place for you.

JudyB, hope you all have a great Bible School next week.  Sorry to hear about your friend following and having to return home.

Papa John, nice to see that you were able to attend your family Genealogical Association meeting. 

Etta Sue, nice you could visit a friend in the nursing home and then attend the retirement activity.

About time to retire for the night.

:o :o :o  Marilyn, that is outrageous!!  We rent a brick, 6 bedrrom, 4 bath home with double garage for only $600, and have trouble collecting that!!  I just can't imagine paying that for a ONE bedroom!  The rent on our house really should be at least $1200, but it is hard to find people who can pay that, because if they can, they can also buy a home of their own.

We attended a big wedding at our church last night.  Every seat in the sanctuary was filled, and they had to use the fellowship hall for the overflow, where they watched the ceremony on a TV.  There was a dinner reception afterward in another place, and good food was eaten there!  Beth wasn't able to go, so they sent her home a plate with us---and some of the wedding cake, too.  ;D

Both services were good today, just continue to get better.  One person received the infilling of the Holy Spirit this morning.

I am tired, so am heading for bed now.

Guess I'd better check in and see just what;s going on.  Seems like I never get time enough to do this daily and I do enjoy the fellowship of fellow Christians.   :) :)

We've had EXTREMEly Hot weather last week.......over 100 for 3 days and just around 100 for 2 days.  It has cooled down this weekend.

Marilyn, I pray that all doors will be opened for you to get the apt.  Like Samantha I think the price is rather high...but after all you are in Calif.  

We had a good sermon at church this AM and then again tonight.  The youth will have the service next Sunday night telling what happpened at the "Screaming Eagle" camp they attended this past week.  It was in Hendersonville, NC. Is that close to anyone from NC??

May all of you have a blessed week ahead . :) :)

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