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Morning Devotional...


Living Sacrifice
Romans 12:1-21 NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written:
     "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.

On the contrary:
     "If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
      if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
     In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

---

What act of a living sacrifice might God allow you to do today? In this day of constant lawsuits and incessant demands for legal rights, Paul's command sounds almost impossible.  When someone hurts you deeply, instead of giving him what he deserves, Paul says to befriend him.  Why does Paul tell us to forgive our enemies? (1) Forgiveness may break a cycle of retaliation and lead to mutual reconciliantion. (2) It may make the enemy feel ashamed and change his ways.  (3) Returning evil for evil hurts you just as much as it hurts your enemy.  Even if your enemy never repents, forgiving him will free you of a heavy load of bitterness.

The Best of the Bible--365 Must-Read Bible Passages

This is a wonderful devotional Etta Sue.  Very appropriate for November 22nd.....wasn't it 41 years ago on November 22nd that President Kennedy was assassinated? 

Pat, quick where is Jerry's name for him to click on for his cake?  He is here sitting beside me.

I will post this now since I am leaving with Ivalou in the morning so I can give some blood at the doctor's office.  Well, really, the nurse takes my blood for a fasting blood test...cholesterol and all that stuff.  Then we will go grocery shopping for Thursday!!!  Wheeeeee!

<:))))><<~~<:))))><<~~<:))))><<~~<:))))><<~~<:))))
"Don't worry about the world ending today.  It's already tomorrow in Australia."

Awww...  I'm so sorry that Jerry missed his cake!

It's his own name that he clicks on.

Anyone with a birthday and their name appears at the bottom, if you click on that name you see the slice of cake put there by the software.  It's kind of cute.

Good morning, everyone.  I haven't had a chance to read very much tonight, my computer has been really acting like a mule this week, so stubborn!  Right now it is working OK though.  I am getting a new one, scheduled to arrive Wednesday, which just happens to be my birthday.  Nice present!
We will only have Elaine here with us Thanksgiving.  Then Friday morning very early we drive to Lubbock to catch our flight to Little Rock, Arkansas.  My family is having a reunion on Saturday down at Nashville (no, not THE Nashville, just one of the little ones).  My sister lives there. We will fly home next Tuesday.
We had the nicest Thanksgiving dinner at our church Sunday evening. It was great, all of us eating and laughing & praising together as a big family. 
I don't know how everyone's day has gone today, as I didn't get into the NEM for Monday yet.  Hope all of you are doing well.
But I do wish all of you a blessed Thanksgiving, and a good day for those who are not having T-Day the same time we do in USA.  It's always a special day for me because it was the traditional time for my family to get together as long as our parents lived, also because I was born on Thanksgiving Day. 
Love in Jesus! 
Janice

But ... Pat ... It wasn't midnight yet where Etta Sue and Jerry live!  Maybe he still got to see his cake, y'think?    :)

I will be on the road again soon ... Leaving at 10 a.m. to drive to Spokane for Thanksgiving with my youngest daughter and her girls.  My neighbor and a friend are riding with me as far as Portland, where we will spend the night, then on to Umatilla, Oregon Wednesday morning.  I will continue north and arrive at Dot's sometime Wednesday evening.   Don't worry, there's a computer in her house!   :D   I'll try my best to check in on all y'all during the next week while I am away.  I should be home again next Monday evening.  But not for long .........  ::)

Hi Janice!  Sorry you're having 'puter problems ... Enjoy your family reunion on Saturday ... and all the family and friends in between ....

Just checking in to say Good Morning.

Great devotional, Etta Sue. Sorry about confusing you with Ruth Ann.  I'm still a newbie and my memory isn't what it used to be...still don't have everyone's activities and posts connected with the names yet.  You were lucky to get a flu shot.  We're still waiting to see if we can get one here.  Don't think it will happen tho.

Larry:  No, I'm not an author, but my father was.  I've been transcribing his many Bible courses into digital format and making ebooks out of them.

Pat:  Were the pictures I put in the gallery too small? I tried to make them small so they would load quickly.  I'm on dial-up and sometimes pictures take much time to load.

Hope everyone has a grand day. 

Gwen

Good morning everyone, may God have mercy on us all today. ;D

Good morning everyone!  It's cold and a little foggy here (it's always foggy, but sometimes they won't call it that).

Eddie - thanks for replying to my post about being more holy but not more secure.  The apostle Paul, under inspiration, said, "Being confident of this very thing, that He Who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."  Praise God - we're secure the minute He begins His work in us.  Also praise God - we don't hold on to Him, but He holds on to us.  Our faith remains anchored in Christ because His Spirit dwells in us.

Good Morning to erveryone. Thanks Etta Sue for the great devotional this morning.

Judy Mc good to see your cherry post.

Gwen I think everyone of us has a few  slips in  memory from time to time.

Pat Have a great day.

Logar, I need as much mercy as I can get.

Hi Larry, Mike, Jerry, Ruthie, Ruth, Sue, Suzanne, JudyB, Beth, John, Papa John, and everyone else.

Good morning everyone.

Etta Sue, a great devotional and reminder.  I appreciate it today.

Logar......I sure need God's mercy everyday. :)

What a zoo here this morning!  I was up at 4:30, and when the light came on, the puppies did too. lol  They are a riot.  I have to find something for them to play with right away.....get their toys out, or they'll start picking on poor Amy.  What a patient mother she is.  She's chewed on constantly.  She was trying to walk this morning and Rocko was being dragged along, teeth firmly clenched on her haunch. This mothering business is rough on animals.  :)

I'm going to a ladies group this morning.   I'm looking forward to the fellowship and seeing what God has planned for today.   

This is short....I'm just checking in early.  I'll see you all later.  Blessings.  love, Nita

ps: Hi Al and Marilyn.  You got in while I was writing.  :)

Very appropriate for November 22nd.....wasn't it 41 years ago on November 22nd that President Kennedy was assassinated? 

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Yes, it was on that date that JFK was killed.  For as well liked and for what history has written about JFK, I've wondered why a National Holiday has not been declared for that date.

IT'S SNOWING!!!  We got our Christmas lights up already so no worries about freezing while putting them up.

How's the weather in your area?


I have a ton of things to do today.  Bills, errands, clean, laundry (again)  ;D . 

I want to take some pictures of the newly fallen snow..just not sure what to do.  Maybe I will come up with something later.

Great devotion, Etta Sue!



Soni

Quote from: Jane Walker on November 23, 2004, 02:41:01 AM
But ... Pat ... It wasn't midnight yet where Etta Sue and Jerry live! Ã, Maybe he still got to see his cake, y'think? Ã,  Ã, :)

Hi Jane...  Etta Sue and I are in the same time zone I do believe!

Drive safely.  We'll miss you in the Word Association game and the other ones as well.

Quote from: Janice on November 23, 2004, 02:34:50 AM
Good morning, everyone. I haven't had a chance to read very much tonight, my computer has been really acting like a mule this week, so stubborn! Right now it is working OK though. I am getting a new one, scheduled to arrive Wednesday, which just happens to be my birthday. Nice present!


But I do wish all of you a blessed Thanksgiving, and a good day for those who are not having T-Day the same time we do in USA. It's always a special day for me because it was the traditional time for my family to get together as long as our parents lived, also because I was born on Thanksgiving Day.
Love in Jesus!
Janice

Ohhh, Janice are you going to be away for your birthday?  Sorry about your computer problems.  So glad to see you posting.

Oh yeah .... That's Illinois ... on EST.  Sorry.   :-[

I'm all ready to leave but my passengers won't be ready for another hour.  I always like to get an early start, but since we're only going to Portland and then will spend the night, I guess there's no rush.  I heard there are "snow flurries" in Spokane ... That's where I'll be for a few days.  It has become a tradition with my granddaughters that "Grandma always brings the snow!" ... Can't dissapoint the kids, y'know! 

Quote from: gwen on November 23, 2004, 07:36:26 AM

Pat: Were the pictures I put in the gallery too small? I tried to make them small so they would load quickly. I'm on dial-up and sometimes pictures take much time to load.

Hi Gwen...  The photos if you don't upload to the gallery larger than 400 pixels won't have a larger one that you can view.  I try to upload one that is maybe 600 pixels and about 50K to that gallery and then the software produces an intermediate-sized one that isn't slow in loading at all.  Folks can choose to click to see a larger one if they so desire.

Enjoy your trip away, Jane.  Yes, I'm on EST and so is Etta Sue I believe.

 Ok try this again 3rd time  maybe the charm I had 1 post almost done lost it than started another
and my computer started messing up and would not respond,so here goes again.Thank you Etta Sue for this mornings devotional. I am puppysitting George for mom and Darrel while they are away so far he has been a good boy he sleeps in a doggy bed at night by himself and doesn't cry,he is learning to
use the potty traing pads too,has  not left a whole lot of little presents for me where I can't find them.I am wondering what I should do on Thursday stay home and get well or get out and go have dinner at my aunts I feel a little better but I do not want to spread to others so if I change my mind I'lljust stay home and have them bring out a plate for me.May be better to do it that way anyway,well I gotta go do some stuff cya later,Beth

Hi Judy,

Yes, I saw Larry King and was wondering if anyone else saw the
program.

Rev. Warren was so good --never waivered from questions ; no
matter what was thrown at him.

Loved how he explained that we do not have to have all the answers
nor will we know all of the answers.

That's why Christians should reach out to others and make them
understand the meaning of faith --the leap of faith  we take when
we first except our friend, Jesus's invitation to commit our lives to HIM.
Then let HIS love shine through us in our daily works and watch how
others are feeling HIS love through their lives.


I will have to get started and read the book he wrote --Purposeful Live--
I know that some of you have read and reread it and I am anxious to sit
and devour its words.

Maybe I will have a chance this coming holiday --leaving Wed. afternoon
and returning from Penna. on Monday night.

Please have a safe and happy ""healthy """ holiday.

Love in Christ,

Joyce

Beth, if you can get to your aunt's I sure would thing that would be a lovely way to spend Thanksgiving.  You won't be away all that long will you?  Put the pup in a place by himself with food and water.

Hurry and get well.  That's the important thing.

Hi Joyce!

Are you going to check in here while you're away?  You said that they had Internet connection now, right?

you still have the rst of today and Tomoorow to beat those nasty germs that are attacking you hopefully you'll be better by Turkry day, Hope You can make it to Your Aunt's though since you don't get out much now.You were going to bring all the dogs with you to your Aunt's weren't you?

hi folks - first of all thanks for all the very kind comments people have wrote about my photos. Pat you said you wanted a bigger version of one? Well thats fine, just give me your e-amil address!
Good morning to you all!

Nick

 Even if your enemy never repents, forgiving him will free you of a heavy load of bitterness.


I recently heard that forgiving gives up the right of revenge, but it doesn't make what was done to you ok.  It leaves the right to revenge to God who has the BIG picture. 

Good devotional Etta Sue.  Give Jerry a hug from his truck driver friends.

Hi everyone.  Just back from choir practice.  We had it tonight since tomorrow night is the joint Thanksgiving service at another church and so there are no activities at our church.  We are working on our Christmas Cantata and it is such beautiful music and we will be having some special instruments play with us on Dec. 19th.  We got tapes of our parts so we can work on them at home.

I finally started feeling normal again around suppertime this evening.  I spent most of the day laying down, except for about 2 hours I went over to a friends house so we could talk about computers. 

It sounds like we have a lot of travelers this time of the year.  We are staying home and Pat is preparing the family Thanksgiving meal.  We will have one additional guest and perhaps two, depending on whether our daughter invites a friend to attend.  So tomorrow will be a day of food preparation and getting things ready for Thursday.

Jane, hope you have a wonderful trip.  So glad you will be spending the holiday with your daughter and her family. 

Janice, also hope your trip is great and know you must be excited about getting a new computer.  What a nice birthday present.

Etta Sue, thanks for the devotional.

I am going to be brief tonight.  Good to see everyone posting. 

hello everyone
todays full weather.... snow snow snow and more snow... slowly clearing off so we can get ready for more snow this weekend... luckily for us it is a WET snow and by wet i mean really wet......it usually rains for an hour or more before it starts to snow.... makes the roads interesting... tomorrow it's supposed to be sunny and thursday too... friday its supposed to rain and saturday or sunday it will snow... we were supposed to have a game tonight but it got called on account of snow.... school was finally called off at noon..... aren't snow days interesting.... well i'm off for a bit we have to take domenic up to hugoton tomorrow to get his stiches out.... then we will bring him back down again... ttyl
Sarah

Shutting the door early tonight so please continue your conversation in our new topic.  I'm fighting a silly cold and I'm going to bed a little early.

CLICK HERE (http://christianphotographers.com/community/index.php?topic=3726.0)