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Morning Devotional...




READ: 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands (2 Corinthians 5:1).

What marvelous words! It is obvious that here is a description of the present body of flesh and bones we live in contrasted with the same body, risen and glorified by the activity of the Spirit of God. When you compare these words with those in 1 Corinthians 15, you can see that Paul is talking here about the resurrected body, that body we shall receive in which he says mortality will be "swallowed up" in immortality. He uses the same terminology here. It is the body, he says, that we shall enter "in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed" and this new body will be given to us (1 Corinthians 15:52). Here he is contrasting the two. The present body, he says, is like a tent. We are living a temporary experience, as people do when they live in a tent.

I sometimes feel uncomfortable in this tent of my earthly body. I am sure you do, too. A tent is not very satisfying. The stakes begin to loosen, the poles begin to sag, the tent itself sags in various spots, the cold penetrates, and it is not very comfortable. Some of us feel that way as we grow older. But we are looking forward to the resurrection body, the permanent building, that which God had in mind when He made us in the beginning, the permanent dwelling place designed by God without any human help, "a house not made with hands." Nothing human produces it or adds to it; nothing that the undertaker does while our body is being prepared for the grave adds a single thing to what God will do that will produce the body of glory that is to come. The point Paul makes is that it is already ours in eternity. "We have," he says. Notice the present tense: not "We will have." "We have an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands" already there, waiting for us to put on.

The apostle says that this new body, the resurrected body, is an experience of not being disembodied but being further embodied. He changes the idiom from the building to the body and says it is like being further clothed, so that it is more than we have at the moment. If you feel like you are clothed by being in a body, then in that body you will feel even more clothed, "further clothed." No one wants to float around in a bodiless existence. Paul says your actual experience will be this: "You will be further clothed upon death as believers. You will have a new body. That is a weight of glory beyond all description, and it will come instantly, for the one who has prepared us for this very thing is God."

I thank You, Lord, that when that moment of glory breaks upon my startled heart, I shall at last see Him whom I have long loved and served.

From the Writings of Ray Stedman

Ivalou called this morning and she still isn't feeling well.  Not going to church.  Cutting her medicine in half hasn't helped.  Today she is going to take the medicine for prevention of gout.  Hope that works!  She has pain all over her body that moves from sight to sight...stinging pain, she has no appetite and all she wants to do is sleep!  I don't like it when my sister isn't feeling well. 

Off to church in a few minutes.!

Father , I pray for Ivalou that You will fill her with Your peace.  I pray You'll let her know that You love her and that she's safely in Your hands.  I pray You'll touch her body with healing in just the way You know is best for her and for Your glory through Jesus our Lord.

Our latest mini challenge, "Let His Light Shine" is still open for entries - until next Sunday, the 27th!  If you haven't had a chance, now would be a good time to check out what has been entered so far.  Click Here  Maybe you'll be inspired to enter something, too.   

Jeanne ...My you were up early this am!

The girls have brought a bug home and I have caught it.  I am staying home today. 

I will suggest wrapping the tomatoes to my DIL.  she may want to try that.  I have decided on a relish recipe and a green tomato mincemeat recipe for this year.

I am not doing much today. I'll be back.

Judy, take it as easy as you can - get extra rest and don't try using up those tomatoes yet. 

It wasn't so much up early as it was the middle of one of those broken nights - sleep an hour or two, awake an hour or two, sleep an hour or two, etc.   

Hi everyone.  I got home from my weekend meeting in Macon, GA about 4:30 this afternoon.  We had a long meeting this morning with lots of sitting and my legs are aching.  Guess I need a take a Tylenol as it would help the discomfort.  We did have a good meeting and I am glad I was able to attend.  I will be turning in early this evening.  I am tired and I did the driving this weekend with a friend accompanying me, which made the trip down and back much more enjoyable.

We continue to get lots of rain.  Fortunately I didn't have to drive in the rain.

Pat, thanks for the devotional thoughts for this week.  Hope you have a good trip back to Canada.

Larry, I am so glad you are getting good rains there; also that you didn't have to drive in the rain.

Judy, hurry and get that bug flushed out of your system!

We attended Sunday School this morning, then went to Hugoton for Lexi's party.  She's sure a cutie, but so independent!  She won't let any of us hold or cuddle her.  Of course, she was lavished with far too many gifts, again.  I guess that's the way young parents operate these days, but this ggma isn't sure it's the best for the kids.  Lexi did "oooh and aaahh" over each one, stopped to look through the books, said "pretty" and such....so she did seem to appreciate each gift.  That's a good thing.

It was good to have the day off to rest, recouperate and visit with family.  Wish I didn't have to go back at it again tomorrow.......

Janet, please don't overdo getting ready for the auction.  We don't want to hear that you've collapsed from complete exhaustion one of these days. 

Jim D. - I too have some of the puritans in my library, as does our pastor locally.  I have Manton on John 17, Brown on Hebrews, Manton on James, etc.   I've read most of Owens' works in the past, as well as Flavel.  Jonathan Edwards has long been a favorite.  I attended Westminster Theo. Seminary, where the teachings of the puritans is highly esteemed.  I truly thank God for these men and their teaching.  I'm an Associate at the local church (which just means I'm a retired pastor who isn't really retired!).  The pastor has a much larger library than mine and is always seeking new sources for books from the puritan period among others.

Our son and Megan came over and brought supper with them.  Good meal she is a very good cook.

The chickens are gone.  Elizabeth is happy to be rid of that chore, and we have good eating for the coming year.

Jeanne I won't start the tomatoes till friday.  I have enough on my plate till then.  Janet yes I am flushing the syster,  I don't have time to be under the weather.

It is 10:25 and I am ready for bed.  Night all!

I meant to say yesterday that Ivalou didn't take the medicine for the prevention of gout.  I saw her yesterday afternoon and she said she felt better, just weak from not eating.  I took her a Sticky Bun from the restaurant where we ate and she said it was delicious.  I called this morning and she sounded stronger.  She said she was going to call the doctor's office and tell them that she wasn't going to take that medicine any more.  Hopefully she will get better all the time.  It took awhile for it to get into her system...started Aug 29th so it will probably take awhile to get it out of her system. 

Today I am going to a 50th class reunion meeting.  We will discuss what we need to do now.  Perhaps will be writing a letter for us to send email and snail mail.  Maybe a questionnaire for a Memory Book.  May 2010 will be here before we know it! 

It has been raining.  Not hard.  Just gentle rains.  The colors have sure changed in the last week.  Soybeans are being harvested and the corn fields are turning yellow.  Some trees are becoming fall colors.  But the nicest thing is the grass isn't growing!!!!

Hi everyone.  We really have a rainy and very overcast day.  During the night we had a thunder storm with heavy rain that lasted at least 3 hours.  We have had so much rain that most of the schools are closed today, roads flooded all around the area and at least two people have died when their vehicles were swept away with flooded creeks.  One of these is not too far from where I live here in our county.  There was also a major mudslide on one of our major roads going into Atlanta from this area.  More rain is on its way today and the next couple of days.  Where I live there really isn't a danger of flooding and the roads I travel don't cross creeks so that isn't a problem.

I have my regular men's Monday luncheon today and that is all that is on the schedule.

Tomorrow Pat has a doctor's appointment down across from where our daughter lives.  Our daughter is still not over the throat condition she has been fighting for days and has a very sore throat and husky voice.  Do hope we get a break in the rain tomorrow while we made the trip downtown.

Judy, it sounds like you are not letting your illness slow you down much.  I am sure you were glad to have the chicken project completed for this year.  Hope John is feeling better.

Janet, so glad to read that you and Darrel took a day off from the sale preparation.  I think most of us find we really don't miss much of what we get rid of since we obviously weren't using it to start with.  However, our upbringings in terms of wasting nothing is hard to overcome.

Al and Jim, that sounds like some heavy reading you are describing.  Our pastor amazes us in our weekly Bible study with his recall of different authors and what they have written.  I guess that was part of his training for his PHD.  

Etta Sue, glad to ready that Ivalou is feeling better.  We sure don't look like fall down this way, more like spring.

Good Morning I don't have much to say just checking in.

Larry I have seen the news of the flooding in Atlanta and am glad to hear that you are not affected.

I have a German Chocolate cake in the oven that will be done before I leave for yoga class.

Marilyn, may I have a piece of your cake when it's done?  Nobody in my family (Terry & the kids) likes German Chocolate cake but me, so I don't fix it very often!

Hope y'all are doing great!

I finally gave in and took an ambien last night, then slept until 8:30 this morning.  My whole day feels off-kilter, but at least I am not as tired.

It is quite cool here today, and windy.  We are working on the water system at the big house, getting it ready for the guys to move in.  We really need to mow, but both mowers have problems; meaning at least a half-day of work for Darrel to get them running again.  Always something, it seems. 

I was given a ticket to the Community Concert tonight in Garden City.  It features Nearly Neil and the Solitary Band.  If I am not too tired I will go ride the Senior Bus and go.  They are leaving at 4:00 so they will have time to eat somewhere.  They always have to eat! 

I'd better go see if Darrel needs my help!

Fotobirder has posted an Urgent Prayer Request HERE

Let's all pray with him.

The concert last night was really good!  Bobby Bruce is from Canada, and he sounds exactly like Neil Diamond--uncanny! And each of his four band members is tremendously talented, as well.  It was a fun evening with friends, after a not-so-good start.  The bus had mechanical problems, and we wound up splitting up and going in some personal vans.  As long as I didn't have to drive, I was happy!  And my car isn't big enough to take but three people plus the driver.

We had to call the well repair man........sigh.  More expense.

Larry, hope you are staying above the high waters!  Prayers for all in the Atlanta area.

We had a little shower here last night, much more moisture in surrounding areas.

Time to get busy again!

I pulled a Janet last night.  Couldn't get to sleep.  So I got up and worked some on the Memory Book for LHS Class of 1960.  Went back to bed around 4 something and got up at 9:07!! 

Ivalou seems to be much better today.  That medicine was killing her! 

I also found lots of relatives and lost friends on Facebook.  Love the search feature and see what friends others have on there. 

Kitty is having eye surgery today.  Cataracts and implants.  She says she goes back tomorrow to be checked and the other eye done.  Then Thursday back to have that eye checked.  Not sure if she has to go back again after that or not!  I am praying that her vision is much better and that colors are more prominent. 

Not much planned today.  Cloudy and overcast.  I am sure praying for those who live in flood areas with all the rain down south!

We have a warm day up here today.  This is nice ,  We have had too many cool damp days this past week.

We are finishing canning carrots, and chopping cabbage for sauerkraut.  I am procrastinating.  It has been a long season of canning and I am glad to be to the end on it.

We are praying that John will be going back to work this weekend.  This has been a long hard haul for us.  Employment Insurance doesn't cover needs.  Thankfully the end is in sight.

Got to go.  Have a lot to get accomplished.    I am praying for the folk in Atlanta. 

Judy:  Canning carrots do you mean preparing and freezing.  Sauerkraut how do you do that or better still send some down for Mel to have.

I will be getting the last of my tomatoes stewed and put in jars. I will be glad when that is done.  

As this is the last day of summer until 5:22 p.m. I am enjoying it to the fullest.  Sunny and warm.  Could this be a sign of what is ahead for the fall season?

Ruth No I am canning the carrots.  Sauerkraut is easy.  Shredded cabbage and salt til the crock is full then when fermenting is done into jars. 

I understand the gladness when the produce is done.  We still have green tomatoes to do and I am wanting to make a batch of grape juice and grape jam....John's favourite jam.

Larry how is the rain?  is it still a problem?

Have a great night everyone.  I am off.

No, no, no, Etta Sue!  Don't start having Janet kind of nights!  NOT fun at all.  Glad Iva Lou is feeling better.  And it's true, some medicines just really mess people up!

Judy, I used to can so much stuff, hundreds and hundreds of jars every summer.  And I made sauerkraut, too!  Just one summer, though.  Darrel doesn't care for kraut at all, so I don't have to worry about doing it again.  That was years ago, before Darrel was in my life.  But we surely wish we had enough tomatoes to can.  We enjoy canning tomatoes with peppers and onions in them, useful for many things.  But we have barely had a few to use on the table this summer.

The photos on TV look so awful of the flooding in Georgia.  So sad to lose your life's accumulation of possessions that way, and last I heard there were 9 deaths from the flooding, too.  Will remain in prayer for all those involved.

I have been digging in my painting/crafts/scrapbooking room all day, getting rid of stuff and deciding what to sell.  Have barely made a dent---WAY too much stuff.  I used to teach children's classes as well as different kinds of classes for adults, am not doing that now, so out it goes.  I have been meditating on the passage in Ecc. that says...'a time to keep, and a time to throw away.....'  and I think this is that time to throw away.  It will be a huge relief to have all this stuff gone!!

Larry, that's so true, growing up with little taught us to keep and save and make do...but now is the time in our lives to downsize in a big way.  I feel like all this stuff is just squeezing the life out of me, and I can't wait to see it leave!

I need to call my friend Pat and see how she is doing today.  Yesterday, she was a little better, hope she is even better yet today.

Hi everyone.  We have had last night and today with no rain but more is apparently on the way.  The sun was actually out today and it was nice to see the blue sky.  Some of the pictures we are seeing on the news are really said with all the flooding.  Many homes over West of the city have flood waters up to the second floor level.  One entire school is flooded and there have been 8 or 9 reported deaths and they are still looking for some missing people.  The Governor has declared 20 counties, including ours, as disaster areas.  A lot of people have water in their basements.   I don't have a basement so don't have to worry about that with this house.  

Pat saw the foot doctor today and he removed the stitches.  She is now able to get her sock and shoe on that foot.  We came home and then went out to lunch at a Cajun place.  It was a new one for us and we both liked what we had.  

We were going to take our daughter out to lunch but she was in a lot of pain with her foot and elected to pass on it.  When I got to her apartment house to park this morning (Pat's appointment was in the building next door) there were police cars, an ambulance and fire truck in front of the building.  There had been some kind of crime situation as they arrested a man and took someone off in the ambulance.  By the time we had visited with our daughter for a few minutes and left everything had cleared out.

Good Morning everyone. Hope all is well with you folks this fine day. Larry been watching the news about the flooding in your part of the world. Our prayers are with you folks there. It was good to hear that you are not seriously effected by it. But the rains will still leave things pretty soggy. I have been through and around Atlanta many times in my work as well as pleasure. Things are a bit wet here today but nothing to worry about. Just enough to keep activities to the indoors for today. Pat hope your arm feels better soon. i know how that feels as many years ago while unloading a heavy office desk from a truck I ripped that muscle in my right arm. That resulted in that arm forming what the doctor called a Popeye muscle to compensate for the lost use of the injured muscle. Well my situation seems to keep improving. The doctors have finally hit on something that seems to be working. Got to go see the doctor Friday Morning and hope to get released to return to work. Just in time to get ready for the winter season BRRRRR. Was talking to one of the drivers this past week and he said things are getting busy. Gearing up for the Christmas season again. Just wish I could get at the wood for the winter heating season but that is still a bit of an issue. Just hope that those who promised to help come through. Well got to run for now. Blessings everyone. Enjoy your day for this is the day that the Lord has made. Bonesy.

Bonsey, good to see you posting and great that you're truly "on the mend".

First I couldn't get online.  I powered down the modem and restarted the laptop.  Still not online.  I looked at the modem.  The internet light wasn't on.  So I called Embarq.  'Parts of Indiana unable to connect to the internet...will be fixed by 8pm this evening'!  Wow!  A day without internet!  So I was playing a game and a friend came on Skype.  Internet was on and here I am! 

Janet, after a 'Janet' night, last night I slept soooo good!  I don't think I moved from about 3am on!! 

Ivalou is feeling much better!  She is getting her appetite back and wants to go get some groceries in this afternoon. 

I am going to Greenfield to have lunch with some co-workers that some I haven't seen for 16 years!  I know it will be fun!  I had forgotten Greenfield had a Cracker Barrel...what better place to have lunch?

Kitty got one of her eyes worked on yesterday and today will be the other one!  I know she will be glad when it is all over!

So good to see Bonesy post and to pray that he will return to work soon.  Glad to hear the rain has subsided in Atlanta!  And everyone else...good to see you posting! 

And yes, it was great to talk to Gord yesterday.  Love the accent.  Of course, I don't have an accent!   

Good Morning not a whole lot going on here for the last few days.
Etta Sue was it the gout medicine that made Iva Lou sick or did she have the "Bug"?
Both of Keith's parents had gout and his mother got Cirrhosis of the liver from the gout medicine. That is what she died from.

Bonesy good to see you posting and glad that you have improved, I hope you can get back to work.

Janet is one of your houses A Geodesic dome house? I asked you that question a few days ago but didn't get an answer. I don't mean to pry.

Larry praying for Pat and Stacey.

Pat are you back in Canada now and how is Geordie?

Latest Praise report on Grandson who has MRSA - a terrible staph infection.  Thanks be, he is on the road to recovery and no more pain.  He is even skating once again. 

Here, it is raining but close to being snow.  Yep, it has snowed a few times in the last few weeks and then we have a really nice day as well.  My cousin & wife are in Iowa or Kansas now as he is making a loop drive from Washington & he went to meet some relatives in Minnesota.  He will be here Friday.  I have a 2 hour dental appointment    on Thursday so it is good they won't arrive on that day. Meanwhile, am cleaning all the corners of this house. 

MRSA is such a terrible disease.  Thankfully John has tested clear.

Well my carrots are done!  That was a labour intensive job. 

Don This year we had purple carrots.  They had a orange inner core and they boiled up purple.  Have you seen these before?  They taste good just I haven't seen them before.