I really don't think any of these things that I call secret are intended to be secrets by God. The scriptures are clear but Satan seems to fog our minds and keeps us from learning the things in this life that really bring happiness. So keep praying to be filled with His Spirit and Satan will lose his power to confuse us and things will be made plain to us so that we can understand God's will for us.
All my life I have thought that it was OK to let people know how you feel about different things and to make it clear to them feelings or no feelings involved. I'm talking about simple conversations, that take on emotions and when emotions get involved anything can happen.
When you share your home with someone, you are in close proximity all the time and when it is a family member that you haven't lived with for years, it can get quite complicated getting use to each others ways and habits.
My son and I are sharing my motor home together, talk about close proximity, even though it is a large motor home it is small quarters for two people that have not been together for years. I am very happy to have him with me, having rescued him from a very abusive situation and I mean abusive. That's all I am going to say about that, but I want to say that what he has been through and other members of my family have been through is very difficult to know how to deal with the after effects and not understand the pain that they have gone through.
So together we have learned that our tongue can be a tool for happiness or unhappiness and cause us to be depressed or happy. We have learned it the hard way, instead of reading the word of God and taking it to heart, we are a stubborn people and usually have to learn things the hard way by experience. That's what has happened to us, by little insinuations we have hurt each other and I am probably more guilty than he is, not knowing how to handle someone that has been hurt to the core and the pain of it is so real it shows on their countenance.
Just recently we have been studying the book of Proverbs and not knowing what being filled with the Spirit will do we realized that God had sanctified our tongues and that the happiness that it brings is unreal. No more worries about what the other thinks or does, we just accept each other as they are and pray for each other. It brings happiness that nothing else can compare.
James 3:2 "For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body." Now I am not saying that we are perfect, not at all, perfection is
something to strive for but for us to know what our condition is about is for God to judge and not for us to brag about and end up with a load of pride that is worse than before. This is not a brag session, this is real life situations that God takes in His own hands and gives us the remedy and sometimes we don't know that He is even working it out. If I'm bragging at all it is about what God is able to do for us and through us if we ask Him in sincerity. This is another gift of the Spirit, a Sanctified Tongue. It brings a world of happiness that nothing can be compared. You might say all these gifts are a gift of love that God pours out on those who come in sincerity and in humility asking for His fullness.
Be filled with His Spirit and enjoy the blessings of love that He pours out in your life each and every day and share some of them with me. I would love to hear of your experiences that God is pouring out in your life. Grandma Joan
Saturday, January 31, 2015
A Secret That Shouldn't Be
It seems to be a secret anyway, I never hear anyone talking about it, not even from the pulpit and now that I've discovered it, I am going to let it out to the public. It's a shame to keep anything so wonderful a secret and I personally don't think God intended it to be that way but for some reason no one that I know of talks about it.
I touched on it the other morning but yesterday as I was thinking about what God had done for me I was overwhelmed with thanksgiving and wonderment and love for Him. I am nothing special and when I asked to be filled with the fullness of God, I didn't think about the results of that request.
Several times now, not just once but several times I have been aware that He has taken something away that was offensive to Him and I didn't know it until it revealed itself in my daily life. For example:
Someone offended me in a very offensive way some time back and it not only did me in, it did my children in that observed it. I was hoping that I would never be confronted with the person again. BUT, I was, very recently and you know what? I was so surprised by my reaction that I haven't gotten over it yet. I greeted them with happiness and was actually glad to see them. It surprised me so much that I just have to share what being filled with the Spirit means. My feelings of horror were gone and I was able to be Christlike. It never occurred to me what being filled with God's Spirit would do in my life. I didn't do anything to deserve this except ask for God's infilling, so I know from experience that we do not earn these gifts that God wants to pour out in our lives. They are gifts. That happened to be the gift of forgiveness, and it's a wonderful gift of the Spirit.
There is another gift of the Spirit that is powerful:
I was the one that offended someone and I noticed a few days later that the peace in my heart vanished and I was overwhelmed with uneasiness and could not figure out why and so I asked God to help me and show me why my peace had vanished. Then I remembered what I had said and I had to pray for help in making it right and when I finally did, my peace returned. I was overcome with sorrow that I had hurt someone unintentionally but had really hurt someone. That is called the gift of repentance, and that is a wonderful gift also. I didn't ask for these gifts, I asked to be filled with the fullness of God and that is what I received as an answer to my prayer. Wonderful gifts of the Spirit.
Another gift of the Spirit I discovered was when I pray for the conversion of a friend or family member I thought I had to do something to straighten them out. Wrong idea. I guess I always thought it was my duty to inform them of their sins and they would respond. I guess they did respond by ignoring me and I can't say as I blame them, now that God has revealed the real way to win souls, I see how wrong I was and not only wrong but it was offensive to them. I have been impressed that love is the only way God works in our lives and in the lives of others, anything else fails and fails miserably. So I have decided to pray for them and let God do the work on their hearts and can you believe it, it really works. Being patient and letting God do His work is another gift of the Spirit. It is not our job to convict or convert, it is God's and He does His work well. The secret here is to stay out of His way by trying to do His work and let Him have full sway in their lives and in our lives.
This should not be a secret but it seems to be a real hidden item in the Christian's life and was in mine too. So let's remember if we want real happiness let God fill you with His fullness and receive these three gifts, forgiveness, repentance and love.
There is another secret that I am going to share with you tomorrow that shouldn't be a secret but as I said I haven't heard much about it if anything at all. So until tomorrow, keep seeking to be filled and you will be, I know, if He can do it for me, He can do it for anyone.
Remember the text Ephesians 3:19 "To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." O, to be filled with His fullness, I am looking forward to more of His fullness each day and please don't forget to ask, we must ask if we want to receive.
Grandma Joan
I touched on it the other morning but yesterday as I was thinking about what God had done for me I was overwhelmed with thanksgiving and wonderment and love for Him. I am nothing special and when I asked to be filled with the fullness of God, I didn't think about the results of that request.
Several times now, not just once but several times I have been aware that He has taken something away that was offensive to Him and I didn't know it until it revealed itself in my daily life. For example:
Someone offended me in a very offensive way some time back and it not only did me in, it did my children in that observed it. I was hoping that I would never be confronted with the person again. BUT, I was, very recently and you know what? I was so surprised by my reaction that I haven't gotten over it yet. I greeted them with happiness and was actually glad to see them. It surprised me so much that I just have to share what being filled with the Spirit means. My feelings of horror were gone and I was able to be Christlike. It never occurred to me what being filled with God's Spirit would do in my life. I didn't do anything to deserve this except ask for God's infilling, so I know from experience that we do not earn these gifts that God wants to pour out in our lives. They are gifts. That happened to be the gift of forgiveness, and it's a wonderful gift of the Spirit.
There is another gift of the Spirit that is powerful:
I was the one that offended someone and I noticed a few days later that the peace in my heart vanished and I was overwhelmed with uneasiness and could not figure out why and so I asked God to help me and show me why my peace had vanished. Then I remembered what I had said and I had to pray for help in making it right and when I finally did, my peace returned. I was overcome with sorrow that I had hurt someone unintentionally but had really hurt someone. That is called the gift of repentance, and that is a wonderful gift also. I didn't ask for these gifts, I asked to be filled with the fullness of God and that is what I received as an answer to my prayer. Wonderful gifts of the Spirit.
Another gift of the Spirit I discovered was when I pray for the conversion of a friend or family member I thought I had to do something to straighten them out. Wrong idea. I guess I always thought it was my duty to inform them of their sins and they would respond. I guess they did respond by ignoring me and I can't say as I blame them, now that God has revealed the real way to win souls, I see how wrong I was and not only wrong but it was offensive to them. I have been impressed that love is the only way God works in our lives and in the lives of others, anything else fails and fails miserably. So I have decided to pray for them and let God do the work on their hearts and can you believe it, it really works. Being patient and letting God do His work is another gift of the Spirit. It is not our job to convict or convert, it is God's and He does His work well. The secret here is to stay out of His way by trying to do His work and let Him have full sway in their lives and in our lives.
This should not be a secret but it seems to be a real hidden item in the Christian's life and was in mine too. So let's remember if we want real happiness let God fill you with His fullness and receive these three gifts, forgiveness, repentance and love.
There is another secret that I am going to share with you tomorrow that shouldn't be a secret but as I said I haven't heard much about it if anything at all. So until tomorrow, keep seeking to be filled and you will be, I know, if He can do it for me, He can do it for anyone.
Remember the text Ephesians 3:19 "To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." O, to be filled with His fullness, I am looking forward to more of His fullness each day and please don't forget to ask, we must ask if we want to receive.
Grandma Joan
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Disappointments
I know for a fact that I am not the only one who has been disappointed by something in life's struggles.
I remember making plans to run a lifestyle center, long before Weimar entered the scene, I kept dreaming of how I would do it and not sure where but eventually I had the where too and all of a sudden, I really don't remember the real reason but it all fell through. I have been greatly disappointed that I couldn't do that, my heart has always since I was young been set on helping people get well and stay well.
Wouldn't you say that that was a great disappointment? Yes, it was and sort of, still is. I assume that I am not the only one who has had a great disappointment in their life. Some have been disappointed in friends or a special friend, I have had that experience too. A great friend that I thought we would be friends for life, all of a sudden turned cold on me and I could not figure out why. I was so broken up by it I turned to the Lord for the reason why and He reminded me of an incident where I had been guilty of making a new friend in my life and who by the way is still my friend and who reads my blogs. My other friend that turned cool, was of a very jealous nature unbeknowns to me and didn't want me to have other friends. That was a disappointment to me. She passed away not long after that and I felt so bad about it, it took me quite a while to get over that disappointment.
Some have a disappointed relationship with a spouse they have chosen for life. I cannot relate to that as well as others might, we were married 63 years and yes, there were some disappointments along the way but nothing major that caused a separation or hatred like some people have. My heart goes out to those kind of disappointments because to start with they are to be a life long relationship and didn't end up that way. I know it is heart breaking and I understand and have seen the pain that it has caused.
Others have been disappointed over how their occupation that they have chosen has turned out. I can't quite relate to that because the things that I did as occupations were just sort of handed to me and I am happy with the way they turned out, some were harder than others but all in all, not a disappointment to me at all.
People in Bible times suffered great disappointments, the disciples when Jesus was put to death on the cross, thought that was the end of their relationship with Jesus. But three days later He was with them again. Their disappointment was rewarded with a life time of service for their master.
Joseph was greatly disappointed when he was sold as a slave but decided in his heart he would serve the Lord regardless of what happened, he was accused of trying to go to bed with his bosses wife and was put in jail for three years but he was such a good prisoner that he was put in charge of the prisoners. He was released to interpret a dream for the Pharaoh and that led to being the highest office in the kingdom next to Pharaoh. That was his reward after his great disappointment.
Abraham was disappointed when he didn't have any children and God had promised him a son and he was one hundred years old when the promised was fulfilled. I am sure the intervening years of waiting were a great disappointment. God kept his promise that his seed would be as the sand of the sea and that was his reward.
Moses was disappointed when he sinned that one time and was forbidden to enter the land of Canaan with the Israelites and had to lay down his life because of his sin. I am sure that he was greatly disappointed after forty years of wandering in the wilderness and then not being able to enjoy the journey into Canaan. His reward was that God came down and took him from the grave to heaven with him. What wonderful rewards these men of God received after such great disappointments.
God has a reward for us to after our disappointments, eternal life with Him forever and ever if we are faithful to him as these men were. Oh, I know we slip up and fail Him so did all of these Bible characters that I just mentioned, they were a disappointment to Jesus at times in their life, but they still trusted Him and had faith in their reward.
We can do the same, repent when we fail Him and when we are disappointed in the happenings of our life we can still go on and with His help have a better life and life eternal when He comes again in the clouds of heaven. That is the greatest reward of all and there will be no disappointments in heaven or on the new earth, none at all, no tears, no sorrow, no pain and NO disappointments. Grandma Joan
I remember making plans to run a lifestyle center, long before Weimar entered the scene, I kept dreaming of how I would do it and not sure where but eventually I had the where too and all of a sudden, I really don't remember the real reason but it all fell through. I have been greatly disappointed that I couldn't do that, my heart has always since I was young been set on helping people get well and stay well.
Wouldn't you say that that was a great disappointment? Yes, it was and sort of, still is. I assume that I am not the only one who has had a great disappointment in their life. Some have been disappointed in friends or a special friend, I have had that experience too. A great friend that I thought we would be friends for life, all of a sudden turned cold on me and I could not figure out why. I was so broken up by it I turned to the Lord for the reason why and He reminded me of an incident where I had been guilty of making a new friend in my life and who by the way is still my friend and who reads my blogs. My other friend that turned cool, was of a very jealous nature unbeknowns to me and didn't want me to have other friends. That was a disappointment to me. She passed away not long after that and I felt so bad about it, it took me quite a while to get over that disappointment.
Some have a disappointed relationship with a spouse they have chosen for life. I cannot relate to that as well as others might, we were married 63 years and yes, there were some disappointments along the way but nothing major that caused a separation or hatred like some people have. My heart goes out to those kind of disappointments because to start with they are to be a life long relationship and didn't end up that way. I know it is heart breaking and I understand and have seen the pain that it has caused.
Others have been disappointed over how their occupation that they have chosen has turned out. I can't quite relate to that because the things that I did as occupations were just sort of handed to me and I am happy with the way they turned out, some were harder than others but all in all, not a disappointment to me at all.
People in Bible times suffered great disappointments, the disciples when Jesus was put to death on the cross, thought that was the end of their relationship with Jesus. But three days later He was with them again. Their disappointment was rewarded with a life time of service for their master.
Joseph was greatly disappointed when he was sold as a slave but decided in his heart he would serve the Lord regardless of what happened, he was accused of trying to go to bed with his bosses wife and was put in jail for three years but he was such a good prisoner that he was put in charge of the prisoners. He was released to interpret a dream for the Pharaoh and that led to being the highest office in the kingdom next to Pharaoh. That was his reward after his great disappointment.
Abraham was disappointed when he didn't have any children and God had promised him a son and he was one hundred years old when the promised was fulfilled. I am sure the intervening years of waiting were a great disappointment. God kept his promise that his seed would be as the sand of the sea and that was his reward.
Moses was disappointed when he sinned that one time and was forbidden to enter the land of Canaan with the Israelites and had to lay down his life because of his sin. I am sure that he was greatly disappointed after forty years of wandering in the wilderness and then not being able to enjoy the journey into Canaan. His reward was that God came down and took him from the grave to heaven with him. What wonderful rewards these men of God received after such great disappointments.
God has a reward for us to after our disappointments, eternal life with Him forever and ever if we are faithful to him as these men were. Oh, I know we slip up and fail Him so did all of these Bible characters that I just mentioned, they were a disappointment to Jesus at times in their life, but they still trusted Him and had faith in their reward.
We can do the same, repent when we fail Him and when we are disappointed in the happenings of our life we can still go on and with His help have a better life and life eternal when He comes again in the clouds of heaven. That is the greatest reward of all and there will be no disappointments in heaven or on the new earth, none at all, no tears, no sorrow, no pain and NO disappointments. Grandma Joan
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Promises for our Children who are not in a Saving relationship with Jesus
I'm sure that we all have children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren who are out in the world and not in a saving relationship with Jesus. It is the heartache of about every parent or grandparent. We love our children and grandchildren and want them to be with us in heaven, that is my desire and I am sure that most of you have the same desires.
Well, God has given us some very special promises for us to trust in and I want to share them with you this morning.
Isaiah 49:25 "But thus says the Lord: Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible be delivered; For I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children." I believe He is speaking of Satan trying to steal our children away and He promises that He will contend with him and save our children. A wonderful promise. Pray in faith for your children.
Isaiah 54:13 "All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children." All my children and their children need peace, and I am sure in this day and age, most of us and our children could use a lot of peace in our hearts and God promises great peace to our children.
Jeremiah 31:16,17 "Thus says the Lord: Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the Lord, that your children shall come back to their own border."
God says there is hope in our future that our children shall come back to their own border. I believe that and I know from my own experience that God does answer our prayers regarding our children and grandchildren, so keep praying for them and keep trusting in His promises.
In 2 Peter 1:4 it says that we "have been given exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
Do you want too be a partaker of His divine nature? That is why we have been given these special promises so we have His sure word to lean on in times of distress and anxiety. I know most of us are anxious over some family member and so trust in His promises for our families and He will save them because He has promised. Put these promises on cards and memorize them. They are specially written for us and He wants us to partake of His divine nature and escape the corruption in the world.
We need to pray that our children will escape the corruption that is in the world too. Please trust in His power to save. Grandma Joan
Well, God has given us some very special promises for us to trust in and I want to share them with you this morning.
Isaiah 49:25 "But thus says the Lord: Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible be delivered; For I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children." I believe He is speaking of Satan trying to steal our children away and He promises that He will contend with him and save our children. A wonderful promise. Pray in faith for your children.
Isaiah 54:13 "All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children." All my children and their children need peace, and I am sure in this day and age, most of us and our children could use a lot of peace in our hearts and God promises great peace to our children.
Jeremiah 31:16,17 "Thus says the Lord: Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the Lord, that your children shall come back to their own border."
God says there is hope in our future that our children shall come back to their own border. I believe that and I know from my own experience that God does answer our prayers regarding our children and grandchildren, so keep praying for them and keep trusting in His promises.
In 2 Peter 1:4 it says that we "have been given exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
Do you want too be a partaker of His divine nature? That is why we have been given these special promises so we have His sure word to lean on in times of distress and anxiety. I know most of us are anxious over some family member and so trust in His promises for our families and He will save them because He has promised. Put these promises on cards and memorize them. They are specially written for us and He wants us to partake of His divine nature and escape the corruption in the world.
We need to pray that our children will escape the corruption that is in the world too. Please trust in His power to save. Grandma Joan
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Promises for the Elderly
There is a common saying that says something like this: 'Old age is not for sissies.' I guess to some extent they, whoever 'they' are, are right, it is hard to grow old and feeble too. I have always been a workaholic and still am in my mind but to do everything my mind tells me needs done is not possible any more. I do try but it can get discouraging at times when this body just won't cooperate with my will to do.
I must admit that I need encouragement to continue on in this life because of my physical condition. So this morning I have looked up some texts that really have been encouraging. God doesn't want us to be discouraged just because we are climbing up there in years, He wants us to have joy and happiness in serving Him no matter how old we are. So let's check out some texts and promises that are just for us.
David is pleading with God in Psalm 71:9 "Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails." Also in Psalm 71:18 "Now also when I am old and grey headed, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation. Your power to everyone who is to come." According to this, maybe God has some work for me yet. I pray that He does.
Psalm 92:14 "They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." Now that is what I call encouraging!!
Proverbs 16:31 "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness." O, may I be found in the way of righteousness, so that I may be a crown of glory to my Lord and Savior.
This is the Ultimate promise to me: Isaiah 46:4 "Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you." Can you think of a better promise than that?
I am so encouraged this morning from reading these promises and instructions for me, I hope that it has been an encouragement to you if you are elderly or maybe you know someone that could use this encouragement. Please bless others with this hope too. Grandma Joan
I must admit that I need encouragement to continue on in this life because of my physical condition. So this morning I have looked up some texts that really have been encouraging. God doesn't want us to be discouraged just because we are climbing up there in years, He wants us to have joy and happiness in serving Him no matter how old we are. So let's check out some texts and promises that are just for us.
David is pleading with God in Psalm 71:9 "Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails." Also in Psalm 71:18 "Now also when I am old and grey headed, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation. Your power to everyone who is to come." According to this, maybe God has some work for me yet. I pray that He does.
Psalm 92:14 "They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." Now that is what I call encouraging!!
Proverbs 16:31 "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness." O, may I be found in the way of righteousness, so that I may be a crown of glory to my Lord and Savior.
This is the Ultimate promise to me: Isaiah 46:4 "Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you." Can you think of a better promise than that?
I am so encouraged this morning from reading these promises and instructions for me, I hope that it has been an encouragement to you if you are elderly or maybe you know someone that could use this encouragement. Please bless others with this hope too. Grandma Joan
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Comments Anyone? Be Complete in Him.
I surely don't want to leave any subject fuzzy in anyone's mind, so if you agree with my blog, let me know and if you don't let me know so I can clarify myself with the Bible so any fuzziness can be cleared up.
I received a comment the other day that encouraged me greatly, I was thinking about giving up my blog again but if only one person benefits from it, it is worth it. Of course I am always benefited by studying a subject and blogging but it is always encouraging to hear from my bloggers also.
I was thinking lest I should leave a shadow of a doubt on your mind about our worthlessness or our worthiness to add a thought or two to it. We are not worthless to Jesus, He is our creator and redeemer and the price He paid for our redemption shows the value of a soul. So to Him we are worth it all. We may feel worthless when we are living outside His grace but every sinner no matter how deep we have sunk in sin is worth the price of His life on the cross.
Unworthy? Yes, there is no way we can earn salvation, we must humble ourselves as the Centurion did and realize that Jesus is the worthy One and it is His worthiness that saves us. Is that a little bit more clear? I sure don't want to leave anyone with the idea that we are not worth anything, because according to the price of our redemption, we are worth a whole lot more than some of us realize. That should make us want to give our lives to Jesus and live for Him and surrender and humble ourselves before Him so He can transform our lives into the kind of person He wants us to be.
If you are being blessed by my worship thoughts, please let me know and if things are unclear, please let me know that too. I sure don't want to leave anyone with a foggy mind on anything that I say.
When we give our hearts to Jesus, in willing surrender and humility, it is He that transforms our lives. Our job is to surrender and believe that He will do what He has promised.
Philippians 1:6 "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." Is that clear enough? If not, here is another great promise.
1 Thessalonians 5:23,24. "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."
Paul says in Philippians that He will complete the work that He has started in us and in 1 Thessalonians he says that He will sanctify us completely and that He is faithful to do it. So what are we waiting for? Or maybe I should ask what He is waiting for? He is waiting for our complete surrender.
Philippians 1:9-11 "And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."
Jesus wants to fill us with the fruits of His righteousness, isn't that a great thought, much higher than we can even imagine for ourselves. Be blessed today with Paul's words of promise in Philippians and 1 Thessalonians. Many people and I mean many including myself, have thought that I had to work to earn my salvation when all the time Jesus is waiting for us to give our hearts to Him to complete the work in us that He has started. We must plead for the infilling of His Spirit and show that we really want it and He will fill us and complete our characters into His likeness. Grandma Joan
I received a comment the other day that encouraged me greatly, I was thinking about giving up my blog again but if only one person benefits from it, it is worth it. Of course I am always benefited by studying a subject and blogging but it is always encouraging to hear from my bloggers also.
I was thinking lest I should leave a shadow of a doubt on your mind about our worthlessness or our worthiness to add a thought or two to it. We are not worthless to Jesus, He is our creator and redeemer and the price He paid for our redemption shows the value of a soul. So to Him we are worth it all. We may feel worthless when we are living outside His grace but every sinner no matter how deep we have sunk in sin is worth the price of His life on the cross.
Unworthy? Yes, there is no way we can earn salvation, we must humble ourselves as the Centurion did and realize that Jesus is the worthy One and it is His worthiness that saves us. Is that a little bit more clear? I sure don't want to leave anyone with the idea that we are not worth anything, because according to the price of our redemption, we are worth a whole lot more than some of us realize. That should make us want to give our lives to Jesus and live for Him and surrender and humble ourselves before Him so He can transform our lives into the kind of person He wants us to be.
If you are being blessed by my worship thoughts, please let me know and if things are unclear, please let me know that too. I sure don't want to leave anyone with a foggy mind on anything that I say.
When we give our hearts to Jesus, in willing surrender and humility, it is He that transforms our lives. Our job is to surrender and believe that He will do what He has promised.
Philippians 1:6 "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." Is that clear enough? If not, here is another great promise.
1 Thessalonians 5:23,24. "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it."
Paul says in Philippians that He will complete the work that He has started in us and in 1 Thessalonians he says that He will sanctify us completely and that He is faithful to do it. So what are we waiting for? Or maybe I should ask what He is waiting for? He is waiting for our complete surrender.
Philippians 1:9-11 "And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."
Jesus wants to fill us with the fruits of His righteousness, isn't that a great thought, much higher than we can even imagine for ourselves. Be blessed today with Paul's words of promise in Philippians and 1 Thessalonians. Many people and I mean many including myself, have thought that I had to work to earn my salvation when all the time Jesus is waiting for us to give our hearts to Him to complete the work in us that He has started. We must plead for the infilling of His Spirit and show that we really want it and He will fill us and complete our characters into His likeness. Grandma Joan
Friday, January 23, 2015
Unworthy?
Some folks do not like the idea that they are not worthy. I have thought about that a lot for years and I find it very difficult after years of pondering the subject to believe that I am worthy of anything. What have I done to be worthy of eternal life? what have I done to deserve the love of God and His mercy? I can't think of a thing that I have done to be deserving of any good thing at all. I've tried to think about it and there just isn't anything to make me deserving of the least of His favors.
I would like to quote a story from the Bible that you are probably familiar with but maybe you haven't seen it in this manner.
Matthew 8:5-11 "Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, 'Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.' And Jesus said to him , 'I will come and heal him.' The centurion answered and said, 'Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 'For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go', and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it.' When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"
What was it that showed Jesus of his great faith? He said that he was not worthy for Jesus to come to his home, but to just speak the word and his servant would be healed. Even though he was a man of authority, he still was humbled before Jesus. He did not feel worthy for Jesus to step foot in his home. Just speak the word and the servant would be healed.
How many of us when we ask a favor of Jesus are humbled by being in His presence and feel our unworthiness. It is when we feel our great need and are humbled by His presence in our life that we have the answers to our prayers.
Micah 6:8 "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"
How are we to walk? Humbly with our God. Are you willing to humble yourself and admit your unworthiness to Jesus so He can answer your prayers. This is great faith, Jesus said, great faith.
Do you have great faith? I want this kind of faith and I truly with all my heart want to walk humbly with my God. How about you? Grandma Joan
I would like to quote a story from the Bible that you are probably familiar with but maybe you haven't seen it in this manner.
Matthew 8:5-11 "Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, 'Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.' And Jesus said to him , 'I will come and heal him.' The centurion answered and said, 'Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 'For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go', and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it.' When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"
What was it that showed Jesus of his great faith? He said that he was not worthy for Jesus to come to his home, but to just speak the word and his servant would be healed. Even though he was a man of authority, he still was humbled before Jesus. He did not feel worthy for Jesus to step foot in his home. Just speak the word and the servant would be healed.
How many of us when we ask a favor of Jesus are humbled by being in His presence and feel our unworthiness. It is when we feel our great need and are humbled by His presence in our life that we have the answers to our prayers.
Micah 6:8 "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"
How are we to walk? Humbly with our God. Are you willing to humble yourself and admit your unworthiness to Jesus so He can answer your prayers. This is great faith, Jesus said, great faith.
Do you have great faith? I want this kind of faith and I truly with all my heart want to walk humbly with my God. How about you? Grandma Joan
Thursday, January 22, 2015
More Blessings From Being Filled With His Spirit.
I have notice recently as I have been asking for His Spirit to fill me, that there are things that have disappeared from my life without me being aware of it. Then all of a sudden some time has passed and I realized that He has taken things away from my heart and mind that I have battled with on my own, which is a mistake to begin with. We cannot overcome in our own power, it is an impossibility! Oh, we think we are strong and have lots of will power and there is no doubt that some folks are strong and have lots of will power, but Who gives us the strength and the will to do the tasks that seem impossible? Of course, it is God.
We all sin and come short of the glory of God. Jesus is our perfect example, the only perfect One to live on this earth. But He came here to show us how to live and overcame where we need to overcome and then gave the ultimate gift of His life so that we might receive His gift of a life like His. That is why we need His free gift of the infilling of His Spirit every day, not a day should pass without pleading for His Holy Spirit to fill us.
Of course, Satan doesn't want us to be like Jesus, and he does trip us up, and we may often have to fall at the feet of Jesus in repentance, but He does not forsake us. He has a much deeper love than that, way deeper than we can even imagine. He overcame Satan in the Wilderness and He can overcome him for us too. We are helpless, but He is strong.
Philippians 4;13 says, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'. So where does our strength to overcome, come from? Christ, and in Romans 8:32 it says that 'He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?'
So see, He freely gives us overcoming power and freely fills us.
Philippians 4:19 says, 'My God shall supply ALL your NEED according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.' He supplies all our needs and His riches in glory are beyond our imagination aren't they. His riches are eternal and the life He wants us to have is eternal. So according to the Bible we can overcome in Christ's name, we can be filled with His fullness and live a life of peace and love in the Holy Spirit's power.
2 Corinthians 12:10 Paul says, 'Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ;s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.' We are weak, there is no doubt about it, but Christ is strong and remember He strengthens us, so it is OK to be weak, if we were strong on our own, we wouldn't need a Savior, but that is our greatest need and He supplies all our need. Please don't forget these verses, write them on cards and memorize them and fill your mind with His promises. Grandma Joan
We all sin and come short of the glory of God. Jesus is our perfect example, the only perfect One to live on this earth. But He came here to show us how to live and overcame where we need to overcome and then gave the ultimate gift of His life so that we might receive His gift of a life like His. That is why we need His free gift of the infilling of His Spirit every day, not a day should pass without pleading for His Holy Spirit to fill us.
Of course, Satan doesn't want us to be like Jesus, and he does trip us up, and we may often have to fall at the feet of Jesus in repentance, but He does not forsake us. He has a much deeper love than that, way deeper than we can even imagine. He overcame Satan in the Wilderness and He can overcome him for us too. We are helpless, but He is strong.
Philippians 4;13 says, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'. So where does our strength to overcome, come from? Christ, and in Romans 8:32 it says that 'He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?'
So see, He freely gives us overcoming power and freely fills us.
Philippians 4:19 says, 'My God shall supply ALL your NEED according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.' He supplies all our needs and His riches in glory are beyond our imagination aren't they. His riches are eternal and the life He wants us to have is eternal. So according to the Bible we can overcome in Christ's name, we can be filled with His fullness and live a life of peace and love in the Holy Spirit's power.
2 Corinthians 12:10 Paul says, 'Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ;s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.' We are weak, there is no doubt about it, but Christ is strong and remember He strengthens us, so it is OK to be weak, if we were strong on our own, we wouldn't need a Savior, but that is our greatest need and He supplies all our need. Please don't forget these verses, write them on cards and memorize them and fill your mind with His promises. Grandma Joan
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Is Your Cup Empty?
There is a song that my husband used to sing for special music at church when he was asked. The name of it is 'Fill My Cup Lord'. It goes something like this:
"Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up Lord, come and quench the thirsting of my soul....."yesterday we talked about being filled, today I would like to share some thoughts that I have learned on being filled with God's Spirit.
Most importantly, we must ask for a filling each and every day. It is a must if we want Him to lead us minute by minute and hour by hour as the day progresses. When we are filled with His Spirit, we can expect our thoughts to be in harmony with His thoughts and if our thoughts are in harmony with His thoughts, then we can be sure that when we have good thoughts about anything that we are doing, that we are in harmony with Him, right? That's what I have learned. If we have to make important decisions, He is there to help us do that.
He is there to bless our work, our thoughts, our speech, Life is just a much better way to live with Him than without Him. He also blesses our relationship with out spouse, our friends, neighbors and any contact that we have during the day. We are at peace with ourselves and with others. If we lose that peace, then we know that we have allowed the wall that He has put around us to be broken and please stop where you are and ask God to show you what caused you to lose that peace that He has given so abundantly when you asked to be filled with His Spirit. He will impress your heart and mind of what it was that caused the peace to vanish. If it was something you did or said to someone, you need to ask them to forgive you. Whatever causes our peace to vanish, has to be sin, otherwise if we have asked Him to fill us up with His Spirit, we have the peace that He gives as He fills us.
There is another song that I absolutely love and the title of it is, 'There Is A River'. It goes like this:
"There is a river that flows from deep within, There is a river that frees the soul from sin, Come to this river, there is a vast supply, There is a river, that never shall run dry."
This river is the river of God's love and mercy, and there is a vast supply, we can be filled with His fulness day by day as we journey through this life. Let's ask Him to fill our cup as we lift it up and to come and quench our thirsting soul. He always answers a prayer like this. How about it? Want to be filled each and every day? I do. Grandma Joan
"Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up Lord, come and quench the thirsting of my soul....."yesterday we talked about being filled, today I would like to share some thoughts that I have learned on being filled with God's Spirit.
Most importantly, we must ask for a filling each and every day. It is a must if we want Him to lead us minute by minute and hour by hour as the day progresses. When we are filled with His Spirit, we can expect our thoughts to be in harmony with His thoughts and if our thoughts are in harmony with His thoughts, then we can be sure that when we have good thoughts about anything that we are doing, that we are in harmony with Him, right? That's what I have learned. If we have to make important decisions, He is there to help us do that.
He is there to bless our work, our thoughts, our speech, Life is just a much better way to live with Him than without Him. He also blesses our relationship with out spouse, our friends, neighbors and any contact that we have during the day. We are at peace with ourselves and with others. If we lose that peace, then we know that we have allowed the wall that He has put around us to be broken and please stop where you are and ask God to show you what caused you to lose that peace that He has given so abundantly when you asked to be filled with His Spirit. He will impress your heart and mind of what it was that caused the peace to vanish. If it was something you did or said to someone, you need to ask them to forgive you. Whatever causes our peace to vanish, has to be sin, otherwise if we have asked Him to fill us up with His Spirit, we have the peace that He gives as He fills us.
There is another song that I absolutely love and the title of it is, 'There Is A River'. It goes like this:
"There is a river that flows from deep within, There is a river that frees the soul from sin, Come to this river, there is a vast supply, There is a river, that never shall run dry."
This river is the river of God's love and mercy, and there is a vast supply, we can be filled with His fulness day by day as we journey through this life. Let's ask Him to fill our cup as we lift it up and to come and quench our thirsting soul. He always answers a prayer like this. How about it? Want to be filled each and every day? I do. Grandma Joan
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Being Filled!
I would like to quote a Scripture to you this morning, that I have read over and over and over again and loved every word of it but not sure I understood every word of it until recently so I would like you to ponder it with me this morning. It's found in Ephesians 3. This is a prayer that Paul prayed and it seems to have an abundance of meaning that we need today. See if you agree.
Ephesians 3:14-21 "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family of heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith: that you being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him that is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think , according to the power that works in us. To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."
Now, I'm not saying that I understand it fully, so let's go over it together and see what he is truly saying. Paul was a giant in Christianity and I want to be a giant too. So let's see if we can grow into the likeness of Paul and then into the likeness of Christ through His prayer for us. Did you notice that His prayer is for us?
First he is praying to the our Father of whom we all have been named. What a privilege!! And he wants God to grant us according to God's riches in glory to be strengthened in our inner being. That Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. God's riches are never ending and all we have to do is believe that He will dwell in our hearts, so that we may experience the grand expansion of His love which passes our knowledge that we may be filled with God's fullness. Then it says that God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think but the condition is that it is according to the power that works in us.
What is that power that works in us? Let's see what the Bible says about that.
John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I go not away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart I will send Him to you."
Who is this Helper? Verse 13 tells us, "However when He the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth...." He will send His Holy Spirit to be in us and guide us into all truth. Can you imagine being filled with God's fullness which is His Holy Sprit and being guided day by day into all His truth?
Because of my age, I know that my time is short to be filled with His fullness, nevertheless I want to be filled with all that He will supply. How about you? You may be young or middle aged, and you may think you have all the time in the world to give your heart to Christ, but we never know for sure just how long we are going to live I have been blessed to live nearly 84 years but my hearts desire is to help others be blessed as I am being blessed, regardless of how long you might live. It may be just a short life or it may be a long life, but don't you want it to be a fulfilling life? Paul wants us to be filled with ALL the FULLNESS OF GOD. Would you like that experience? Please say yes to God. He has promised to fill you. Grandma Joan
Ephesians 3:14-21 "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family of heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith: that you being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him that is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think , according to the power that works in us. To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."
Now, I'm not saying that I understand it fully, so let's go over it together and see what he is truly saying. Paul was a giant in Christianity and I want to be a giant too. So let's see if we can grow into the likeness of Paul and then into the likeness of Christ through His prayer for us. Did you notice that His prayer is for us?
First he is praying to the our Father of whom we all have been named. What a privilege!! And he wants God to grant us according to God's riches in glory to be strengthened in our inner being. That Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. God's riches are never ending and all we have to do is believe that He will dwell in our hearts, so that we may experience the grand expansion of His love which passes our knowledge that we may be filled with God's fullness. Then it says that God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think but the condition is that it is according to the power that works in us.
What is that power that works in us? Let's see what the Bible says about that.
John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I go not away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart I will send Him to you."
Who is this Helper? Verse 13 tells us, "However when He the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth...." He will send His Holy Spirit to be in us and guide us into all truth. Can you imagine being filled with God's fullness which is His Holy Sprit and being guided day by day into all His truth?
Because of my age, I know that my time is short to be filled with His fullness, nevertheless I want to be filled with all that He will supply. How about you? You may be young or middle aged, and you may think you have all the time in the world to give your heart to Christ, but we never know for sure just how long we are going to live I have been blessed to live nearly 84 years but my hearts desire is to help others be blessed as I am being blessed, regardless of how long you might live. It may be just a short life or it may be a long life, but don't you want it to be a fulfilling life? Paul wants us to be filled with ALL the FULLNESS OF GOD. Would you like that experience? Please say yes to God. He has promised to fill you. Grandma Joan
Sunday, January 18, 2015
The Plague
Plague means disease according to the dictionary. Any disease could be considered a plague, according to that. But I was thinking not about physical disease. I read an article about Leprosy the other day and the Author stated from another Author that Leprosy is like a sin plague. Have you ever thought of sin in that way?
The thoughts that came to my mind as I have pondered the real Leprosy that people had and were put in colonies for, was a terrible disease that they were isolated from family and friends for life or until they were cured. It would affect their hands and feet, they would lose fingers and toes and sometimes a whole limb or maybe a nose or be blinded. It was awful!
Then I thought about sin, how it affects our lives, it destroys parts of us a little at a time until the whole body is consumed by it. Isn't that true, think about it! First it may be just a thought, then the thought if not controlled becomes an action and the action if not controlled can consume us in what ever manner the plague is.
For me it was appetite, it consumed me, all I wanted to do is make good things to eat so I could eat it and enjoy my sin to the fullest. Appetite is the hardest thing for a human being to control and it seems to me as the world is more engulfed in sin the harder it is to control. It will destroy us if it is something harmful that we are indulging in, also it causes us to be overweight, and then high blood pressure and then the heart can be affected and so on. It's a dreadful curse.
It doesn't necessarily have to be food, it can be drink too, the beverages that one can buy today to so call quench our thirst are loaded with sugar, chemicals and then there is the beer, wine and hard liquors. All these are destructive to our health and will eat away at our insides in some way or another. Wine destroys brain cells, and so does beer. Hard liquors destroy our reasoning while under the influence, we can get mean, hateful, over affectionate, which leads to other sins. All of a destructive nature. Then we become addicts, to some kinds of food, some kinds of drink and even some kinds of actions. I didn't mention caffeine which is addictive to and of an acid nature which can cause ulcers and so can the other drinks. Also, so can some foods. With me it was foods that caused heartburn and the heartburn began to eat at the lining of my esophagus until I had a bleeding ulcer, which is under control now but it can cause severe anemia from the loss of blood.
Do you have the leprosy of sin in your life, the best way to get over it is give it to Jesus and He will heal your leprosy just like He did the 'ten lepers' that came to him for healing the only problem was, only one came back to thank Him when he realized that he had been healed. Will we come and be healed of our sin spots, or will we just enjoy sin for a season and pay a terrible price here and for eternity? Let's come and be healed and not be like the nine lepers that forgot to say 'thank you'. Let's not forget to thank Him for His healing power in our lives. He wants us to be well and happy!
Grandma Joan, See you tomorrow.
The thoughts that came to my mind as I have pondered the real Leprosy that people had and were put in colonies for, was a terrible disease that they were isolated from family and friends for life or until they were cured. It would affect their hands and feet, they would lose fingers and toes and sometimes a whole limb or maybe a nose or be blinded. It was awful!
Then I thought about sin, how it affects our lives, it destroys parts of us a little at a time until the whole body is consumed by it. Isn't that true, think about it! First it may be just a thought, then the thought if not controlled becomes an action and the action if not controlled can consume us in what ever manner the plague is.
For me it was appetite, it consumed me, all I wanted to do is make good things to eat so I could eat it and enjoy my sin to the fullest. Appetite is the hardest thing for a human being to control and it seems to me as the world is more engulfed in sin the harder it is to control. It will destroy us if it is something harmful that we are indulging in, also it causes us to be overweight, and then high blood pressure and then the heart can be affected and so on. It's a dreadful curse.
It doesn't necessarily have to be food, it can be drink too, the beverages that one can buy today to so call quench our thirst are loaded with sugar, chemicals and then there is the beer, wine and hard liquors. All these are destructive to our health and will eat away at our insides in some way or another. Wine destroys brain cells, and so does beer. Hard liquors destroy our reasoning while under the influence, we can get mean, hateful, over affectionate, which leads to other sins. All of a destructive nature. Then we become addicts, to some kinds of food, some kinds of drink and even some kinds of actions. I didn't mention caffeine which is addictive to and of an acid nature which can cause ulcers and so can the other drinks. Also, so can some foods. With me it was foods that caused heartburn and the heartburn began to eat at the lining of my esophagus until I had a bleeding ulcer, which is under control now but it can cause severe anemia from the loss of blood.
Do you have the leprosy of sin in your life, the best way to get over it is give it to Jesus and He will heal your leprosy just like He did the 'ten lepers' that came to him for healing the only problem was, only one came back to thank Him when he realized that he had been healed. Will we come and be healed of our sin spots, or will we just enjoy sin for a season and pay a terrible price here and for eternity? Let's come and be healed and not be like the nine lepers that forgot to say 'thank you'. Let's not forget to thank Him for His healing power in our lives. He wants us to be well and happy!
Grandma Joan, See you tomorrow.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Stress Anyone? # 5 continued
We have discussed several ways to get rid of the unwanted stress in our lives like, rest, exercise, lots of sunshine, sharing with others and also giving of ourselves and our means if we have it. All of these have been such a great help to me and I am sure my daughter would say the same thing.
There is one important step in getting rid of stress that I have saved, so that I can leave this subject knowing I have done something helpful to all of you who are extremely stressed. We were extremely stressed and have made great strides in getting rid of it.
Sometimes when we are stressed out to the max it is hard to concentrate on anything that takes using our minds and thinking things out and sorting things out. That's the way it seemed to be with my daughter. She would get up in the morning and take her shower and get ready for the day and while she was doing that I would read my Bible and pray and ask God to be with us through the day. Then while I was taking my shower she would do the same, only maybe not as intense to start with because of her stress point being so high, but she was trying and that's what counts.
When we knew we were about to venture out on a mission we always asked God to bless us and be with us. I believe He went with us everywhere, we were so blessed to have His presence with us and it seemed that everything we did turned into a blessing of some sort. We were so blessed to be able to help people that were poorer than we were, and they were so grateful for the help. Just little things like a tip to the maid that cleaned our room every day, a tip now and then to the gardener, and little things that we thought they would like to eat as a snack. The waitress or waiter that waited on us when we were having lunch out we would tip, the boy that bagged our groceries didn't get a wage, they just received the tips people gave them and they were always grateful. One boy at the hotel really blessed us with his big smile and hearty laugh. He would try to help us speak spanish and we would try to help him speak English, and it was a fun time.
Some fun in life is also a healer, as long as it is clean fun and no one is getting hurt by it. We just really had a good time with everyone that we associated with. It was wonderful and all in all the Lord had our healing time all planned out and we thank Him for His healing of our emotions and spiritual needs too as well as other needs that we had.
I believe that most of the things that we learned about stress healing, can be done wherever you might be except for sunshine. Depending on where you live, sunshine might be a problem, but all the other things that helped us so much are available most anywhere. Just ask God to lead you and He will if you are sincere and your stress will fly away. I believe both of us have experienced some important healing that was really needed. I have always loved my daughter but I learned to love her even more as we fellowshipped together day after day, she became so precious to me, I still spend time with her.
She picked up a flu virus from the family when we got home and I have had the opportunity to help her and it in turn has helped me to stay busy, which is a real blessing to me. So don't forget the few lessons we learned about stress and try them out, you just might be blessed as we were. Grandma Joan
There is one important step in getting rid of stress that I have saved, so that I can leave this subject knowing I have done something helpful to all of you who are extremely stressed. We were extremely stressed and have made great strides in getting rid of it.
Sometimes when we are stressed out to the max it is hard to concentrate on anything that takes using our minds and thinking things out and sorting things out. That's the way it seemed to be with my daughter. She would get up in the morning and take her shower and get ready for the day and while she was doing that I would read my Bible and pray and ask God to be with us through the day. Then while I was taking my shower she would do the same, only maybe not as intense to start with because of her stress point being so high, but she was trying and that's what counts.
When we knew we were about to venture out on a mission we always asked God to bless us and be with us. I believe He went with us everywhere, we were so blessed to have His presence with us and it seemed that everything we did turned into a blessing of some sort. We were so blessed to be able to help people that were poorer than we were, and they were so grateful for the help. Just little things like a tip to the maid that cleaned our room every day, a tip now and then to the gardener, and little things that we thought they would like to eat as a snack. The waitress or waiter that waited on us when we were having lunch out we would tip, the boy that bagged our groceries didn't get a wage, they just received the tips people gave them and they were always grateful. One boy at the hotel really blessed us with his big smile and hearty laugh. He would try to help us speak spanish and we would try to help him speak English, and it was a fun time.
Some fun in life is also a healer, as long as it is clean fun and no one is getting hurt by it. We just really had a good time with everyone that we associated with. It was wonderful and all in all the Lord had our healing time all planned out and we thank Him for His healing of our emotions and spiritual needs too as well as other needs that we had.
I believe that most of the things that we learned about stress healing, can be done wherever you might be except for sunshine. Depending on where you live, sunshine might be a problem, but all the other things that helped us so much are available most anywhere. Just ask God to lead you and He will if you are sincere and your stress will fly away. I believe both of us have experienced some important healing that was really needed. I have always loved my daughter but I learned to love her even more as we fellowshipped together day after day, she became so precious to me, I still spend time with her.
She picked up a flu virus from the family when we got home and I have had the opportunity to help her and it in turn has helped me to stay busy, which is a real blessing to me. So don't forget the few lessons we learned about stress and try them out, you just might be blessed as we were. Grandma Joan
Friday, January 16, 2015
Stress Anyone? Continued Part 4
Well, here it is tomorrow and we took the ferry to Cancun and the pastor had promised to have a car for us to get around in and he wasn't there, so we sat outside and waited. He did have a cell phone that I am sure someone supplied him with. So my daughter called him and he said he would be there soon. We knew it was suppose to be a van that we were going in, so we saw a van pull up and pass us a little ways and we thought that might be him, and it was a dirty van and my daughter made the remark that she hoped the one we were going in would be a little better than that. Well, guess what? It was much worse, it was a big old yellow work van that he had borrowed. He didn't have a car. It smelled so bad when we got in that I thought I was going to lose my breakfast. The stench was terrible. We came to the conclusion that they don't bathe real often because of their living conditions.
He had his family with him, which we didn't expect, but it turned out it was a real blessing. His wife was dressed very poorly and the only one who was dressed nice was the youngest girl. The rest had great needs and the youngest probably did too. She just had on her very best.
We were suppose to go to a store in a mall that was cheaper for the Mexican people and that we did and it was so crowed with clothes hanging on racks, I couldn't get through very well with my wheel chair without pulling everything off the racks. So they took me out in the mall where I waited for them. Fun to watch people and the mall was a beautiful, huge mall, big as any I have ever seen here in the US. We ended up visiting two malls in Cancun, not that day but a previous day. My daughter has a very giving spirit and she was the one supplying the needs of these people and she ended up outfitting the wife with a couple of nice outfits, and Teacher Ben as we called him with new pants and shirt and the children with new clothes. Teacher Ben was so grateful that he had tears in his eyes of gratitude when she was outfitting his wife. Then we took them to eat at the mall where they have all the Subway, McDonalds and all those places and they each got what they wanted to eat and we enjoyed a nice meal with them. They ended up calling me the bag lady because I had all the shopping bags piled up on me, they weren't heavy just a lot of them. It was funny and fun.
By the way, the van got aired out a lot and was tolerable most of the day. It was a fun day and a happy day, but a very tiring day. Teacher Ben was going to go back to the island and work some more that evening. He lives in Cancun and travels back and forth on the ferry to work and home.
That evening he told us later that he sold two tours and was all elated over that, so it was a good thing he went back over to work. He was so happy with the new clothes he kept saying, 'thank you very much, thank you very much' over and over and the night before we left he came to our hotel to say goodbye and mostly all he said was, 'thank you very much, thank you very much.' Talk about being happy and stress free, helping others is one of the best stress relievers there is. So if you are weighted down with stress, get out and see what you can do for someone else, it is one of the best ways to let stress go. I will never forget his gratitude, it was overwhelming to me.
Well, there are still other things we did and one very important one that I want to share with you tomorrow. So hang in there, the best is yet to come. Get out and help someone less fortunate than yourself and see if it doesn't do wonders for you. I pray that you will be more than blessed with these ideas on relieving stress. They really work, and most of them you don't have to be in the Islands to do them them, you can do them right where you live. See you tomorrow, Grandma Joan
He had his family with him, which we didn't expect, but it turned out it was a real blessing. His wife was dressed very poorly and the only one who was dressed nice was the youngest girl. The rest had great needs and the youngest probably did too. She just had on her very best.
We were suppose to go to a store in a mall that was cheaper for the Mexican people and that we did and it was so crowed with clothes hanging on racks, I couldn't get through very well with my wheel chair without pulling everything off the racks. So they took me out in the mall where I waited for them. Fun to watch people and the mall was a beautiful, huge mall, big as any I have ever seen here in the US. We ended up visiting two malls in Cancun, not that day but a previous day. My daughter has a very giving spirit and she was the one supplying the needs of these people and she ended up outfitting the wife with a couple of nice outfits, and Teacher Ben as we called him with new pants and shirt and the children with new clothes. Teacher Ben was so grateful that he had tears in his eyes of gratitude when she was outfitting his wife. Then we took them to eat at the mall where they have all the Subway, McDonalds and all those places and they each got what they wanted to eat and we enjoyed a nice meal with them. They ended up calling me the bag lady because I had all the shopping bags piled up on me, they weren't heavy just a lot of them. It was funny and fun.
By the way, the van got aired out a lot and was tolerable most of the day. It was a fun day and a happy day, but a very tiring day. Teacher Ben was going to go back to the island and work some more that evening. He lives in Cancun and travels back and forth on the ferry to work and home.
That evening he told us later that he sold two tours and was all elated over that, so it was a good thing he went back over to work. He was so happy with the new clothes he kept saying, 'thank you very much, thank you very much' over and over and the night before we left he came to our hotel to say goodbye and mostly all he said was, 'thank you very much, thank you very much.' Talk about being happy and stress free, helping others is one of the best stress relievers there is. So if you are weighted down with stress, get out and see what you can do for someone else, it is one of the best ways to let stress go. I will never forget his gratitude, it was overwhelming to me.
Well, there are still other things we did and one very important one that I want to share with you tomorrow. So hang in there, the best is yet to come. Get out and help someone less fortunate than yourself and see if it doesn't do wonders for you. I pray that you will be more than blessed with these ideas on relieving stress. They really work, and most of them you don't have to be in the Islands to do them them, you can do them right where you live. See you tomorrow, Grandma Joan
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Stress Anyone? Continued Part 3
I hope you are enjoying our little journey in the Caribbean Islands. It was such a healing experience for both of us that we will never forget the experience and how much it has helped us. I am not one to go very far all at one time, usually if we have traveled, my husband and I always did it in an RV and our feet on the land, but this time it was an air journey and something very exciting to look forward to. Flying frightens me and I usually cry when the plane lifts off, it is a nervous reaction. Then when the plane touches down I am so happy, just the opposite feeling. I got over the crying feeling but always happy when we touched down.
The first time we rented a golf cart we toured the whole island except for a little arm that we went out on later. The island is only 5 miles long and half a mile wide, I think I mentioned that earlier, so it didn't take long to do the whole length. On the way down to the point at the other end, we stopped in the only town other than the one we were staying in. They are not big towns, not at all just a wide place in the road with lots of shops and dwellings. This place had a little park in it and there were ladies in the park with heaps of used clothes that they were selling. My daughter saw a couple of children on the sidewalk across the street from the park and so stopped to share some color books and crayons that she had brought with her purposely to share. When the ladies in the park saw what she was doing, they surrounded her, all wanting color books and crayons. She didn't bring near enough but it made a lot of little ones happy and mammas too. It was such a good experience that we took the ferry to Cancun and bought more crayons and books, for another trip down the island.
Well, this first trip we went clear to the end and as I was in the wheel chair, we got out and she took me to the very tip of the island and she left me up on the point as she went down a path by the water, the ocean wasn't beaches there, it was rocky and she enjoyed her little hike down there which was not my thing to do, I am terrified of high places. On our way back to the other end where we were staying, we noticed a little settlement of shacks, and I mean shacks. Made out of whatever they could find and probably some even had dirt floors. Well, we couldn't get that out of our minds, we decided we had to do something for these poor people.
We got acquainted with a man selling tours, snorkeling, scuba diving and the like and he was pastoring an Evangelical mission down the island a ways and we became good friends with him and decided to take him with us down to his mission. So we went through our suitcases and took out all the clothes we thought we could do without until we got home and took crayons and pictures to color and two bags of fruit juice candy and some book marks and guess where he took us, your right, down to the poor settlement. That's where his little mission was and we had so much fun, his sister helps with the mission and they were so glad to see us and so friendly. We gave away all the crayons and pictures to color and all the candy and his sister kept pointing at the bag of clothes and so we opened the bag and tried to give the clothes to those who wanted them, and then we gave her the bag to distribute at the mission. There were three rutty roads with dwellings on both sides, I couldn't tell you how many homes but very many. We also gave away some book marks but they were in English and I don't think many of them spoke English so we didn't give all our book marks away but we did give the pastor some to use at his mission.
I have to say that that trip was a very healing trip, just seeing the joy on the children's faces and on the mother's faces too and how happy we made them that day, was so healing to both of us. My daughter was so happy to help them that we decided to take the pastor to Cancun or meet him there and take him shopping. Well, I guess I should wait until tomorrow to tell you about that trip. It was worth it's weight in gold. We had to cross in a ferry to go to Cancun and it was an extremely enjoyable day that I will tell you about tomorrow. So, don't forget that another healing element in our lives is helping others, find something to do for others, if you can't give things away, you can give yourself away to the needs of others. May God help us to always put others first in our lives and our reward will be in heaven. We may never see results here but we may see lots of results there.
See you tomorrow. Grandma Joan
The first time we rented a golf cart we toured the whole island except for a little arm that we went out on later. The island is only 5 miles long and half a mile wide, I think I mentioned that earlier, so it didn't take long to do the whole length. On the way down to the point at the other end, we stopped in the only town other than the one we were staying in. They are not big towns, not at all just a wide place in the road with lots of shops and dwellings. This place had a little park in it and there were ladies in the park with heaps of used clothes that they were selling. My daughter saw a couple of children on the sidewalk across the street from the park and so stopped to share some color books and crayons that she had brought with her purposely to share. When the ladies in the park saw what she was doing, they surrounded her, all wanting color books and crayons. She didn't bring near enough but it made a lot of little ones happy and mammas too. It was such a good experience that we took the ferry to Cancun and bought more crayons and books, for another trip down the island.
Well, this first trip we went clear to the end and as I was in the wheel chair, we got out and she took me to the very tip of the island and she left me up on the point as she went down a path by the water, the ocean wasn't beaches there, it was rocky and she enjoyed her little hike down there which was not my thing to do, I am terrified of high places. On our way back to the other end where we were staying, we noticed a little settlement of shacks, and I mean shacks. Made out of whatever they could find and probably some even had dirt floors. Well, we couldn't get that out of our minds, we decided we had to do something for these poor people.
We got acquainted with a man selling tours, snorkeling, scuba diving and the like and he was pastoring an Evangelical mission down the island a ways and we became good friends with him and decided to take him with us down to his mission. So we went through our suitcases and took out all the clothes we thought we could do without until we got home and took crayons and pictures to color and two bags of fruit juice candy and some book marks and guess where he took us, your right, down to the poor settlement. That's where his little mission was and we had so much fun, his sister helps with the mission and they were so glad to see us and so friendly. We gave away all the crayons and pictures to color and all the candy and his sister kept pointing at the bag of clothes and so we opened the bag and tried to give the clothes to those who wanted them, and then we gave her the bag to distribute at the mission. There were three rutty roads with dwellings on both sides, I couldn't tell you how many homes but very many. We also gave away some book marks but they were in English and I don't think many of them spoke English so we didn't give all our book marks away but we did give the pastor some to use at his mission.
I have to say that that trip was a very healing trip, just seeing the joy on the children's faces and on the mother's faces too and how happy we made them that day, was so healing to both of us. My daughter was so happy to help them that we decided to take the pastor to Cancun or meet him there and take him shopping. Well, I guess I should wait until tomorrow to tell you about that trip. It was worth it's weight in gold. We had to cross in a ferry to go to Cancun and it was an extremely enjoyable day that I will tell you about tomorrow. So, don't forget that another healing element in our lives is helping others, find something to do for others, if you can't give things away, you can give yourself away to the needs of others. May God help us to always put others first in our lives and our reward will be in heaven. We may never see results here but we may see lots of results there.
See you tomorrow. Grandma Joan
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Stress Anyone? Continued Part 2
Yesterday we learned that lots of rest for extreme stress is important, not sleep, but rest. Of course sleep is important but we were forced to rest a lot more because there were not a lot of things to do in the evening and we were in a strange land and didn't know how safe it was to go out in the evenings.
I am not one to have a great fear of the dark and so one evening I suggested we go out instead of going to bed. So go out we did. Other people were out walking and the evening air was warm and so refreshing, we just really enjoyed our evening walks. There was usually a cool breeze along with it. So that ended our going to bed real early, we still got to bed around 8 or so, so we were still getting plenty of rest and still getting out among other people. There was no crime there so it was the perfect place to relax and enjoy the cool evenings.
On this Island, there were lots of outdoor shops and indoor ones too, and the shop owners or workers would hound us to buy. After about a week there they saw that when we did buy something it was something we were looking for and they got helpful in helping us find what we were looking for and they seem to understand that we weren't just frivolously buying and enjoyed talking to us as we went by, and sometimes we would stop and chat, my daughter loved to try to learn spanish so she could chat with them. We had taken a spanish course together years ago and I had learned that I could understand it better than speak it and she was learning to speak it so it worked out that sometimes when she didn't understand what they were saying, I did, but she could talk to them a little and I couldn't. So we learned that learning is a great way to relieve stress, try learning something new, like a hobby of some sort or another language that might come in handy where you live.
Another thing we did, was relax on the beach, sunbathing was a great way to relax and get lots of vitamin D. We came home pretty brown, but I have to say that the sun there was a lot more intense than I have ever felt before and I have been lots of places where they have very warm summers, but the intensity of the sun there felt like it was blistering me, I found out that she didn't feel that at all so guess it was just me because I never got burned and neither did she. But just relaxing in the sun was very healing. Sometimes we would just lay in the sun by the pool and relax but she enjoyed the beach more. The sand was hard for me to walk in but we made it most of the time together, once in a while she got brave and went for walks alone but only a couple of times. There was always no problems.
So exercise, learning something new and sunshine are great healers for stress. There are still some more very important things that we learned while there that I want to share with you but you will have to wait until tomorrow for a couple more real important ones. Until then, I'm so glad to be back and have time to visit with you each day and have the strength to do it. Grandma Joan
I am not one to have a great fear of the dark and so one evening I suggested we go out instead of going to bed. So go out we did. Other people were out walking and the evening air was warm and so refreshing, we just really enjoyed our evening walks. There was usually a cool breeze along with it. So that ended our going to bed real early, we still got to bed around 8 or so, so we were still getting plenty of rest and still getting out among other people. There was no crime there so it was the perfect place to relax and enjoy the cool evenings.
On this Island, there were lots of outdoor shops and indoor ones too, and the shop owners or workers would hound us to buy. After about a week there they saw that when we did buy something it was something we were looking for and they got helpful in helping us find what we were looking for and they seem to understand that we weren't just frivolously buying and enjoyed talking to us as we went by, and sometimes we would stop and chat, my daughter loved to try to learn spanish so she could chat with them. We had taken a spanish course together years ago and I had learned that I could understand it better than speak it and she was learning to speak it so it worked out that sometimes when she didn't understand what they were saying, I did, but she could talk to them a little and I couldn't. So we learned that learning is a great way to relieve stress, try learning something new, like a hobby of some sort or another language that might come in handy where you live.
Another thing we did, was relax on the beach, sunbathing was a great way to relax and get lots of vitamin D. We came home pretty brown, but I have to say that the sun there was a lot more intense than I have ever felt before and I have been lots of places where they have very warm summers, but the intensity of the sun there felt like it was blistering me, I found out that she didn't feel that at all so guess it was just me because I never got burned and neither did she. But just relaxing in the sun was very healing. Sometimes we would just lay in the sun by the pool and relax but she enjoyed the beach more. The sand was hard for me to walk in but we made it most of the time together, once in a while she got brave and went for walks alone but only a couple of times. There was always no problems.
So exercise, learning something new and sunshine are great healers for stress. There are still some more very important things that we learned while there that I want to share with you but you will have to wait until tomorrow for a couple more real important ones. Until then, I'm so glad to be back and have time to visit with you each day and have the strength to do it. Grandma Joan
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Stress Anyone? Part 1
Yes, I know that wasn't a very smart question but God helping me, I am going to try to help you get rid of the unwanted stress in your life. I believe we all have stress and a certain amount of stress, I am told is good for us. It keeps us on our toes and challenges us to have a goal and to work towards that goal.
However, there are stresses that we can do without and my daughter and I had both been under some stress that we could have done without. Both from different sources but both having the same effect.
Emotionally worn out, and on top of that my blood Hemoglobin went dangerously low and I couldn't function at all when it came to doing anything but sitting in a chair. For me that was the ultimate low. I have always been an ambitious person and yes I have had emotional upsets but the last one did a number on me that along with my low hemoglobin I was just sitting in my chair waiting to die. I really didn't want to do anything either.
On the other hand, my daughter was trying to run from hers and she was on the go continually, always going and I would watch her trying to get away from her stress and it would wear me out just watching her go, go, and go some more. Every day and all day. It was wearing her out.
Now I know that everyone cannot possibly go to the Caribbean Islands to get rid of the stress, but perhaps you can do the same thing at home that we did there. The first week or so that we were there we went to bed early, I mean early, like 5:30 in the evening, for a few nights we would just lay there and talk and listen to each other and that was very healing. Then we would watch the only English channel on TV and it was ER room experiences and that would keep our mind off our problems and see other peoples problems that were worse than ours. So getting to bed early was very healing, I think anyone who has undergone extreme stress should get plenty of rest and find someone that you can trust and talk it out.
During the day she wanted to go, but guess what the only way to go was to walk or rent a golf cart. Golf carts rented for $37.00 a day and so we couldn't do that more than two or three times so our alternative was to walk, and I couldn't walk very far maybe half a block and be winded and in a lot of back pain, so she was pushing me in my wheelchair most of the time. That was stressful for me because I thought it to be too much for her, but she was so sweet and I soon realized that she was doing it from a willing heart and I could relax and enjoy getting out and like I said she liked to go and so go we did. I was not use to it but it was good for me not to sit around waiting to die. I did learn to walk more, maybe three or more blocks at a time and that was really good for me. And she was walking all the time. So Exercise was another good thing that we were doing.
Well, sorry time as run out for today but tomorrow I will continue to give you some good pointers on dealing with stress that we learned. In today's stressful world we need all the help we can get and don't forget that God is our helper and for us He sent us on a long journey to get the help we needed. So I want to share with you what you can do to help with your stress. There are some good pointers coming that really topped it all off. See you tomorrow. Grandma Joan
However, there are stresses that we can do without and my daughter and I had both been under some stress that we could have done without. Both from different sources but both having the same effect.
Emotionally worn out, and on top of that my blood Hemoglobin went dangerously low and I couldn't function at all when it came to doing anything but sitting in a chair. For me that was the ultimate low. I have always been an ambitious person and yes I have had emotional upsets but the last one did a number on me that along with my low hemoglobin I was just sitting in my chair waiting to die. I really didn't want to do anything either.
On the other hand, my daughter was trying to run from hers and she was on the go continually, always going and I would watch her trying to get away from her stress and it would wear me out just watching her go, go, and go some more. Every day and all day. It was wearing her out.
Now I know that everyone cannot possibly go to the Caribbean Islands to get rid of the stress, but perhaps you can do the same thing at home that we did there. The first week or so that we were there we went to bed early, I mean early, like 5:30 in the evening, for a few nights we would just lay there and talk and listen to each other and that was very healing. Then we would watch the only English channel on TV and it was ER room experiences and that would keep our mind off our problems and see other peoples problems that were worse than ours. So getting to bed early was very healing, I think anyone who has undergone extreme stress should get plenty of rest and find someone that you can trust and talk it out.
During the day she wanted to go, but guess what the only way to go was to walk or rent a golf cart. Golf carts rented for $37.00 a day and so we couldn't do that more than two or three times so our alternative was to walk, and I couldn't walk very far maybe half a block and be winded and in a lot of back pain, so she was pushing me in my wheelchair most of the time. That was stressful for me because I thought it to be too much for her, but she was so sweet and I soon realized that she was doing it from a willing heart and I could relax and enjoy getting out and like I said she liked to go and so go we did. I was not use to it but it was good for me not to sit around waiting to die. I did learn to walk more, maybe three or more blocks at a time and that was really good for me. And she was walking all the time. So Exercise was another good thing that we were doing.
Well, sorry time as run out for today but tomorrow I will continue to give you some good pointers on dealing with stress that we learned. In today's stressful world we need all the help we can get and don't forget that God is our helper and for us He sent us on a long journey to get the help we needed. So I want to share with you what you can do to help with your stress. There are some good pointers coming that really topped it all off. See you tomorrow. Grandma Joan
Monday, January 12, 2015
The Story of the Ant,
Proverbs 6:6-8 "Go to the ant, you sluggard, Consider her ways and be wise, Which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest."
I have thought of this verse many times throughout my life time and always saw how busy the little ants were often carrying something twice their size and always so very busy.
While we were in the Caribbean Islands, I was lounging by the pool one day and a little ant crawled up on my lounge and without thinking I flicked him off into the pool. I looked down and he was struggling so hard not to drown, my heart went out to him and I reached down and saved him from drowning, he scampered off on his noble errand.
I have a different outlook on ants today. That little thing was so helpless there in that big swimming pool and he was doing his very best to stay afloat, his little legs were working so hard to keep alive.
Are we like the little ant, trying to stay spiritually afloat in this sinful world? God is waiting to reach down and save us, lift us out of our sins and plant our feet on solid ground. The Word of God is our solid ground and we need to spend time with Him each day in prayer and study of His Word.
We can be like the little ant and scurry away sharing what we have learned from our time with God each and every day. We can go about our work and talk to God as we are working and not just talking to Him but listen, He may just have something special to impress upon your mind as you contemplate on His love and care for you.
God speaks to us through His Word, and also when we are obedient to His Word, He can impress our hearts of things we need to do or what ever is on His mind for us at the moment.
God bless you as you walk with Him day by day and don't forget to be industrious like the little ant and Thank God for rescuing you from your sins and saving you. Grandma Joan
I have thought of this verse many times throughout my life time and always saw how busy the little ants were often carrying something twice their size and always so very busy.
While we were in the Caribbean Islands, I was lounging by the pool one day and a little ant crawled up on my lounge and without thinking I flicked him off into the pool. I looked down and he was struggling so hard not to drown, my heart went out to him and I reached down and saved him from drowning, he scampered off on his noble errand.
I have a different outlook on ants today. That little thing was so helpless there in that big swimming pool and he was doing his very best to stay afloat, his little legs were working so hard to keep alive.
Are we like the little ant, trying to stay spiritually afloat in this sinful world? God is waiting to reach down and save us, lift us out of our sins and plant our feet on solid ground. The Word of God is our solid ground and we need to spend time with Him each day in prayer and study of His Word.
We can be like the little ant and scurry away sharing what we have learned from our time with God each and every day. We can go about our work and talk to God as we are working and not just talking to Him but listen, He may just have something special to impress upon your mind as you contemplate on His love and care for you.
God speaks to us through His Word, and also when we are obedient to His Word, He can impress our hearts of things we need to do or what ever is on His mind for us at the moment.
God bless you as you walk with Him day by day and don't forget to be industrious like the little ant and Thank God for rescuing you from your sins and saving you. Grandma Joan
Sunday, January 11, 2015
I'm Back again, can't stay away from all my blogging friends
It's true, can't seem to let it go. So considering that God has something to do with it, I'm back again. My daughter took me on a wonderful vacation in the Caribbean Islands. It was the best vacation I have ever had and so healing to both of us. She was suffering from stress and so was I and it just did a lot for both of us.
The little island we were on was one half mile wide and five miles long and no crime, we could walk the streets in the cool of the evenings and were perfectly safe. We were there one month and the weather was in the eighties most of the time. Had to have a fan on at night to sleep good and and we made many friends, not by name but by sight. Most of the time I was in my wheel chair but I did try to walk as much as I could and the people came to recognize the wheel chair I'm sure as we only saw three or four the whole time we were there.
We sunbathed on the beautiful beach and the water was not cold but cool, and felt so good. We went out one day when the waves were a little bigger and one hit us so hard it broke one of my ribs but it's all well now. It was fun even when I got hurt. We had such a good time. The Caribbean ocean is one of the prettiest oceans I have ever seen, a beautiful turquoise.
The hotel we were in had a nice swimming pool and we sunbathed there too. The pool was just outside our hotel room. The gardens around the hotel and pool were kept up very nice and looked so lush and pretty. There were gecko's around and one Iguana.
The gardener was a little Mexican man, he wasn't young but very sweet and we gave him a tip now and then and some cookies and when we left we gave him a nice gift of peso's and he was so happy, he grabbed me and gave me a big hug. We always tipped our maid and the boys that helped us with our luggage, it doesn't take much to make them happy.
There are not a lot of cars on the island, most people get around on a moped or golf cart. You can rent either one and we rented a golf cart and toured the island and my daughter gave out color books and pictures to color and color crayons and we decided to give some of our clothes away and it was so much fun. I gave one lady a pair of my nearly new pajamas and when she got them she turned and ran home she was so happy. It was a very poor village and they were all so grateful.
I want to go back. But don't know if I ever will but the place and people will always be in my heart.
The only bad thing about the whole trip was the plane ride home. We had to go to Miami and we were in the air seven hours. That was a little tough but worth it all.
I hope you enjoyed the little trip to the Caribbean, I probably will mention it often as it will always be in my mind. I pray that all my bloggers will join with me again and we will study together and get ready to meet Jesus when he comes and then we won't be separated by all those many miles. We can be neighbors. See you tomorrow!! Grandma Joan
The little island we were on was one half mile wide and five miles long and no crime, we could walk the streets in the cool of the evenings and were perfectly safe. We were there one month and the weather was in the eighties most of the time. Had to have a fan on at night to sleep good and and we made many friends, not by name but by sight. Most of the time I was in my wheel chair but I did try to walk as much as I could and the people came to recognize the wheel chair I'm sure as we only saw three or four the whole time we were there.
We sunbathed on the beautiful beach and the water was not cold but cool, and felt so good. We went out one day when the waves were a little bigger and one hit us so hard it broke one of my ribs but it's all well now. It was fun even when I got hurt. We had such a good time. The Caribbean ocean is one of the prettiest oceans I have ever seen, a beautiful turquoise.
The hotel we were in had a nice swimming pool and we sunbathed there too. The pool was just outside our hotel room. The gardens around the hotel and pool were kept up very nice and looked so lush and pretty. There were gecko's around and one Iguana.
The gardener was a little Mexican man, he wasn't young but very sweet and we gave him a tip now and then and some cookies and when we left we gave him a nice gift of peso's and he was so happy, he grabbed me and gave me a big hug. We always tipped our maid and the boys that helped us with our luggage, it doesn't take much to make them happy.
There are not a lot of cars on the island, most people get around on a moped or golf cart. You can rent either one and we rented a golf cart and toured the island and my daughter gave out color books and pictures to color and color crayons and we decided to give some of our clothes away and it was so much fun. I gave one lady a pair of my nearly new pajamas and when she got them she turned and ran home she was so happy. It was a very poor village and they were all so grateful.
I want to go back. But don't know if I ever will but the place and people will always be in my heart.
The only bad thing about the whole trip was the plane ride home. We had to go to Miami and we were in the air seven hours. That was a little tough but worth it all.
I hope you enjoyed the little trip to the Caribbean, I probably will mention it often as it will always be in my mind. I pray that all my bloggers will join with me again and we will study together and get ready to meet Jesus when he comes and then we won't be separated by all those many miles. We can be neighbors. See you tomorrow!! Grandma Joan
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