Christian Photographers Community

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Morning Devotional...







"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
(James 1:5)

When you're facing a problem, the very first thing you should ask God for is wisdom. Not money. Not power. Not even healing. But wisdom.

God's wisdom is the key that will unlock every door in your life. It will turn your every failure into success. So, stop wasting your prayer power begging God for things you think you need and spend some time instead listening to what He has to say about your situation.

If you've never tried that before, practically speaking, here's what you need to do.

First: Lay out the entire problem before the Lord, not because He doesn't know what you're going through, but because laying it out helps you. It helps you see things from a more objective point of view.

I remember when I used to take my problems to my father.  Somehow, when I was explaining them to him, they began to look different to me. I'd get a new perspective, and as I talked, he'd point out areas I hadn't considered yet. Explaining your problems to God, point by point, will help you accomplish the same thing.

Second: Listen for the Spirit of God to advise you. Pay particular attention to what He says through the written Word. Most likely, the care of your problem has choked the Word of God right out of your heart (Mark 4:18-19). If so, you need to get the Bible and begin to put that Word back in again. Then the Holy Spirit will begin to speak to you through it.

As you're listening, be sure to remain teachable. Be ready to accept rebuke if necessary. Be very honest with God. Look for ways in which you've been wrong and confess them to Him. It's all right. Those sins won't come as any surprise to Him. He already knows about them. Confession just gives you the opportunity to get rid of them.

Third: Act on the wisdom God gives you. Let go of your own methods and put His methods into operation. Be obedient. If you don't, that wonderful wisdom won't do you any good at all.

As you pray today, set aside your own ideas and start seeking the wisdom of God. It's the only thing that can permanently solve the problems you've been facing. It's truly the most precious gift God has to give.

Seek wisdom.


Scripture Study: Proverbs 8:10-36 
 

Silencing Foolish Men

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"For it is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men" (I Peter 2:15).

The blasphemous diatribes of modern evolutionary humanists against the Word of God and the testimony of His people are really nothing but arrogant foolishness. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools" (Romans 1:22) and "the Lord shall have them in derision" (Psalm 2:4). The Biblical way to "silence the ignorance of foolish men" as our text says is simply by "well doing." This word (also translated "do well") is used almost exclusively by Peter, but he makes the point quite effectively.

Note the following for example, "if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God" (I Peter 2:20). "For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing" (I Peter 3:17). "Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator" (I Peter 4:19).

Our example in this, of course, is none other than Christ Himself, "Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously" (I Peter 2:23). Unbelievers-if they want to badly enough-can reject every argument with some other objection or counter claim, but they have no way to gainsay a godly, law-abiding, righteous, loving life. The unbeliever may ridicule such a life for a time, but he must eventually come to see its sure foundation. "Whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation" (I Peter 2:12). The main reason for "well doing," however, is simply that as our text says, "it is the will of God," and we can safely leave the response and the results to Him. HMM

Janet thank you for the devotional this morning. It is so true that we need to lay all our problems out before the Lord and  trust in Him for all the asnwers. Everything begins with being Obedient. It is my prayer that I can be more and more obedient to the word of God and follow in the foot steps of Jesus in all that I say and do.Oh Lord help me to be  more obedient to you.

It was so nice to see an email from Papa John.  I know he is busy and I know how it feels to have the need to cut down on computer time.  Thanks, Marilyn, for sharing the email with us.

Karma ~ I know you will have a nice 'get away'.  I am praying that all will be just as you wish it to be.

Larry ~ Sounds like a wonderful breakfast brunch.  I like breakfast casseroles, too.  A great do-ahead meal.  As for the Church Directory...somehow this one will be one that we may update ourselves...now I don't know how to do that yet!  As for large churches, we had 1,767 attend our church on Easter Sunday which included Sunrise Service, 2 Adult Services and 1 Kids Service.  Just a few years ago we were astonished to top 1,000. 

I know I am missing someone so I had better quit while I am ahead.  Today I am going to see if I can update my GPS online.  I called them yesterday and after waiting for over a half hour to talk to a human, he said I can do it online.  We will see.  Then I want to order new Street Maps on CD-Rom. 

May 7   

Preaching: A Sense of Inadequacy

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.... 
--2 Corinthians 3:5

I believe I had anticipated that it was going to be a pleasure to expound this beautiful and high soaring Gospel of John. However, I must confess that in my preparation and study a sense of inadequacy has come over me--a feeling of inadequacy so stunning, so almost paralyzing that I am not at this juncture able to call it a pleasure to preach.

Perhaps this will be God's way of reducing the flesh to a minimum and giving the Holy Spirit the best possible opportunity to do His eternal work. I fear that sometimes our own eloquence and our own
concepts may get in the way, for the unlimited ability to talk endlessly about religion is a questionable blessing....

None of us can approach a serious study and consideration of the eternal nature and person of Jesus Christ without sensing and confessing our complete inadequacy in the face of the divine revelation.  Christ the Eternal Son, 3,9.

"Lord, I've so often been at that place of total inadequacy. I've learned that that is so healthy, because then I step aside, I quit relying on my own 'eloquence,' and I allow the Holy Spirit to take
over and do what only He can do anyway! Use me today in my weakness. Amen."

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Oh how vehemently I must amen Mr. Tozer!  First of all, even God's people, still being quite human, wear "sermon-proof" armor.  Secondly, every time I think I've got just the right way of expounding His Word, I find I've botched it completely, stating it awkwardly enough to insult the intelligence of any listener.  Oh God, hear us!  Oh God, have mercy upon us.  We are but men.

I've missed Papa John a lot too.  I must go back and see what Marilyn put here.  Etta Sue:  the red heart under your message goes by too quickly - what does it say?  I can't quite catch the last two words :)

Etta Sue:  I don't recall if you put anything on about Jerry's memorial service.  Did you?  If you did, I missed it.  would you mind emailing me with the details?

- thanks....Judy

Hi everyone.  I see it has been pretty quiet here today.  I had another busy day trying to get my desktop computer up and running again.  The power supply failed a couple of days ago.  Guess it had been failing for several days as it was suddenly rebooting for no apparent reason.  My friend Rod came over after coffee and tested the old power supply and it was dead.  He had picked up a new power supply yesterday as we felt this was the problem and he was up by Fry's Electronics and they had a good one on sale for only $30. 

After getting the computer going again I had a little trouble with the TV card as it said I had hardware failure.  So I turned off the computer and took the card out and put it back as sometimes reseating a card will fix the problem.  So far, so good.  I also put back the additional 256 megs of memory as am now sure it wasn't a problem with the memory but the power supply. 

After lunch I took one of the air cleaner machines back to the Oreck store.  It was making a clicking sound that was very annoying.  We are keeping one of the units however.

Not much else happening here today. It has been a beautiful day with little humidity and very nice temperature.  We still haven't had to turn our A/C on for this year, which is very unusual. 

We had a very nice outing last evening to celebrate my friend, Rod's birthday.  We went to a place that featured a buffet and on the weekends they have a lot of different seafood items.  It was very good and, of course, everyone ate too much.  One of their features is fried green tomatoes, which I don't care for but are a treat to a lot of folks.

This afternoon I got the updating done on the church webpage so have the files ready to upload after the service tomorrow morning. 

Pat is still suffering with both of her hips.  It isn't the joints but the muscles that are terribly sore and she can hardly walk. 

Janet, thanks for the devotional for today and also thanks to Chris and Marilyn for sharing devotional messages.

Talk with you all tomorrow.

Judy - I think it says, "May your heart smile today!"

Well my Happy Dog has had his haircut and did very well. I didn't have a problem getting him in to the car he just jumped right in everytime. I took him up to Fay's to show him off. She liked him a lot. I will take a picture of him and post it later.

For this  present time I am fighting off what looks to be a case of depression.  Every Mother's day I get this way. I miss my Mom, and do not look forward to being alone tomorrow.  I don't even know if  will see Gilbert and the family tomorrow, they are the spur of the moment type of kids. Spontaneous. Hardly ever plan anything  more than a day ahead of time.

I am just stopping in here because I need my  CP family to keep me cheered up.

TTYL

Awwww... Marilyn, that's so cute, Happy having a haircut!  I've never had Geordie's hair cut on his back but lots of trimming elsewhere!  Marilyn, I do know what you mean about feeling depressed about special days like Mother's Day, etc.  I get the same feeling very often.  I really have to bite my lips and try not to get "down there" as it's so difficult to get back up.  Thinking about you, sweetie.



I also think Dr. Tozer's writing today is right on the mark.  Thanks Chris.


I will be having company for a few days so today I've been cleaning the house a bit and baking some bread.

Judy, it was nice to hear from you today on the telephone.  Thanks for phoning.  I'm sorry that Norm isn't feeling well.


Hi Larry...  sounds like you had a nice day.  Take care.  Please give my love to Pat.

Hi, friends,

I've taken the opportunity to clean my living room and hallway while my son is in Virginia. He cannot stand either light or sound; vacuuming and normal cleaning activities make him sick with the bad headache again. Thus, I reserve deep cleaning for when he is away.

I think when my pension from a past job begins in July, I'll arrange for a cleaning service. Then, he will just need to vacate the premises while they're here. I feel, though, that this is a present I should give myself - I just don't have the energy to really clean and keep the house in order given the hours I work.

Well, must go - I'm extremely tired, so it's time for the shower and a nice long nap, I think. Y'all have a wonderful day tomorrow. My son from Atlanta is taking me to breakfast tomorrow morning, then plans to attend church with me at my own church. Normally, we meet on Mothers Day at his best friend's church down in the country. But since the children have been adults, not only child has attended my church with me - I've always been the one to meet them at the church of their choice. So, that's all I requested for Mother Day - someone to sit in my pew with me.

Ruth Ann

I have posted a few pictures  HAPPY'S NEW HAIRCUT HERE (http://christianphotographers.com/community/index.php?topic=4463.new#new)

Thank you Pat I'll be thinking of you too. It cost me $35.00 to have happy groomed, he got the works and even some nice smelling doggie perfume sprayed on him.

Thanks Marilyn.  We'll pray for each other.

Now, it's time to lock the door.

CLICK HERE (http://christianphotographers.com/community/index.php?topic=4464.0)