LOVE

Valentine's Day is a few days away. I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my "Valentine". Some men are not romantic. Some men don't even think about getting their wife anything for Valentines's Day or any other special day. My hubby has always given me nice gifts, taken me to dinner and many times on a special "get away" on special days. We have had a lot of extra expenses lately (large ones). This morning we were discussing it and he said he hopes we don't have any more unexpected expenses any time soon. I told him we could forget about my Valentine present. He said "Oh, no", very forcefully. I know he is not about to do that. Am I blessed or what? Oh yeah. That's for sure. Thank you, God, for bringing us together all those many years ago.

DRIVE ― OR DRIVEN?

Have you set goals for the new year? I used to make New Years resolutions but quit doing that years ago. I think it is always good though to have goals in mind and to work toward them no matter what time of year it is. I have shared a number of Helen Steiner Rice's poems on my blogs. Guess what? Here's another one, but this one is kind of different from the others. It is called God, Give Us "Drive" but Keep Us From Being "Driven". I thought that was kind of a "tricky title" and I like it so here goes.

There's a difference between "drive' and driven"―
The one is selfish the other God-given―
For the "driven man" has but one goal,
Just worldly wealth and not "riches of soul,"
And daily he's spurred on to reach and attain
A higher position, more profit and gain,
Ambition and wealth become his great need
But most blessed are they who use their "drive"
To work with zeal so all men may survive,
For while they forfeit great personal gain
Their work and their zeal are never in vain . . .
For they contribute to the whole human race
And we cannot survive without growing in grace,
So help us, dear God, to choose between
The "driving force" that rules our routine
So we may make our purpose and goal
Not power and wealth but the growth of our soul . . .
And give us strength and drive and desire
To raise our standards and ethics higher
So all of Us and not just a few
May live on earth . . . as You want Us to.

                            -Helen Steiner Rice

It is unseasonably cold in our desert. One more night of freezing temps and then we'll be going back up to highs in the 70s. So many people are sick and I think the weather may be contributing to it. I've been fighting a cold or flu or something since about two weeks before Christmas. I've thought I was about well several times only to have it come back and knock me back down. I really should not complain though. This is the first time I've been sick in years. And I love this cold weather. But I will be ready for it to be just a little warmer. Thanks for stopping by and spending a little time with me today. I appreciate it.

Wishing, hoping and praying many blessings for all my blogging friends in the new year. Thank you for being a friend.

Prayers Can't Be Answered Unless They Are Prayed

I go again to one of the many little books of poetry by Helen Steiner Rice. This one was especially meaningful as I read it today so I'm sharing it with you. It's called Prayers Can't Be Answered Unless They Are Prayed. Of course God knows what we need and want before we ask him, but He wants us to ask. We know what our children need and want but many times we wait for them to ask. I guess maybe God looks at it the same way. Here's the poem:

Life without purpose is barren indeed―
There can't be a harvest unless you plant seed,
There can't be attainment unless there's a goal,
And man's but a robot unless there's a soul . . .
If we send no ships out, no ships will come in,
And unless there's a contest, nobody can win. . .
For games can't be won unless they are played,
And prayers can't be answered unless they are prayed . . .
So whatever is wrong with your life today,
You'll find a solution if you kneel down and pray
Not just for pleasure, enjoyment, and health,
Not just for honors and prestige and wealth . . .
But Pray for a Purpose to make life worth living.
And Pray for the Joy of unselfish giving,
For great is your gladness and Rich your Reward
When you make your Life's Purpose the choice of the Lord.

People are very busy this time of year. I hope you will take some time out of your busy schedule to visit Spiritual Sundays and visit some of the links there. You will be blessed.

MY ROCK AND COMFORTER

I opened the Kindle app on my iPad this morning. I had not looked at it in awhile. It opened to this:

DAY 7 - 40 DAYS WITH JESUS: CELEBRATING HIS PRESENCE.

WOW, this was just what I needed to read today. I wanted to share it with you.

DAY 7

I AM IMMANUEL―GOD WITH YOU―an ever-present Help in trouble. No matter what may happen, I am sufficient to provide whatever you need. Instead of imagining how you might respond to terrible things that could happen, draw your mind back to the present and take refuge in My Presence, I am much like a mother hen, eager to cover you with my protective pinions. As you snuggle under My wings, you will not only find refuge; you will also discover a growing ability to trust Me. It is in closeness to Me that you realize how trustworthy I am.

Remember that I am both your Rock and your Redeemer. Though I am impregnable in My vast strength, I became a vulnerable Man so I could redeem you from your sins. The more you take refuge in Me, the more aware you become of My overflowing Love. In Me you are utterly safe, for I am your Rock of everlasting Love!

FOR REFLECTION: PSALM 46:1-2;

MATTHEW 23:37 (NKJV0; PSALM 91:4 (AMP)

I have been lamenting the outcome of our election ever since Tuesday night. The above thoughts helped to cheer me up. I am still terribly worried about my country but I do take refuge in these words of Jesus. It is a good reminder that people will make mistakes, terrible mistakes, let you down, in general just make you miserable but God is ever faithful and I need to look even more than I have in the past to His promises that He will be with me no matter how bad things get ― and they will continue to get a while lot worse. What He has in store for those who love Him and trust Him will totally outweigh any problems we have now. I see so many of the prophecies of the Bible being fulfilled that I am really convinced that we are living in the last days. If you have been "bummed out" over the election as I have been perhaps these thoughts will uplift you as well. I hope so. So many of you have made encouraging comments to me on the latest Spiritual Sundays post. Thank you for that.

HELP FROM THE LORD

The following message was written by Lyndall Rothery and appeared in the Daily Devotionals for our 50th Year at Scottsdale Bible Church. 

I will lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord the maker of Heaven and earth. (Psalm 101:1-2)

A few years ago our HIV/AIDS medical team drove to an isolated village to visit some of the volunteers we had trained to work in the community. It was a muddy drive in the hills. I was driving our big Toyota SUV. I can drive but my mechanical skills are close to zero. We had a wonderful visit and one of our Tanzanian teams led two people to Christ that day. We came out to our car rejoicing. 

But the car would not start. I was the only driver and the person with the most knowledge of cars! I tried starting it several times with no response and we were in a village with no gas stations or mechanics. I said to the group, "Let's pray and ask God to help us."

As soon as we finished praying a man came up to us and asked if we needed any help. Apparently he was a driver of the same type of SUV as ours and was on leave in the village. He was easily able to fix the problem with our car. 

We drove back filled with thanksgiving to God who had sent us help when we called to Him.

- Lyndall Rothery

I don't know about you, but this kind of testimony serve to build my faith in the power of prayer. How many times do we try to fix our problems on our own and fail to ask God's help? I know I have done it way too many times. But I also know by experience, that God has helped whenever I have asked Him for it.


I hope you will visit the Spiritual Sundays blog for links to many inspirational posts. Just click HERE to go there.

So Many Reasons to Love the Lord

Helen Steiner Rice has so many great poems and I have so many books containing her poetry that very often I like to share one of them on my blog. This one really spoke to my heart today so it is the one I'm sharing. It's called "So Many Reasons to Love the Lord." I hope it speaks to your heart as it does to mine.

Thank You, God, for little things

that come unexpectedly

To brighten up a dreary day

that dawned so dismally―

Thank You, God, for sending

a happy thought my way

to blot out my depression

on a disappointing day―

Thank You, God, for brushing

the dark clouds from my mind

And leaving only sunshine

and joy of heart behind.

Oh, God, the list is endless

of things to thank You for

But I take them all for granted 

and unconsciously ignore

that everything I think or do,

each movement that I make,

each measured rhythmic heartbeat

each breath of life I take

Is something you have given me

for which there is no way

for me in all my smallness

to in any way repay.

           - Helen Steiner Rice

I'm sharing on Spiritual Sundays. I hope you will want to do that too.

Light of the World

Light of the world you stepped down into darkness 

Opened my eyes let me see 

Beauty that makes this heart adore You 

Hope of a life spent with You 

These are the opening lines of a song I always enjoy singing. Jesus said He was the light of the world. We are also to be lights in our dark world. How can we be lights in our dark world if our government or any government is determined to take God out of the world. Oh, they think it's OK to talk about God, but only in churches. Any mention of God might offend someone if it is uttered in our schools, or anywhere else except church. I just hate the way the left has changed the concept of freedom of religion to freedom from religion. The founding fathers intended for us to have freedom to practice our religion without government interference. 

I thought it was so sad when the Democratic National Convention left all mention of God out of their platform. This is the first year this has happened. There was such a backlash about this that they decided they had better put it back in along with the acknowledgement that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. So, they had a vote on it. The no's were as loud or louder than the yes's when they took the vote. So, the guy in charge says "Let's try this again." He tried it three times and evidently decided it wasn't going to change. The no's were still as loud or louder than the yes's so he declared it "passed" in spite of the opposition. It was supposed to be passed on a 2/3 majority vote which obviously was not the case. 

I have a hard time understanding why the left is so concerned about offending a few atheists but are willing to offend millions of Christians. We need to pray that this trend will be reversed and that once again God is welcome in our schools and everywhere else in society. Let's not try to keep Him locked up in our churches. Of course that is preposterous to think we can do that anyway. It would be funny if it weren't so sad. 

I hope we will all try to shine our light every day. Many are doing just that by sharing their faith and inspiration by linking to the Spiritual Sundays blog. I hope you go there and visit as many links as you can and you may also want to link a post on your blog, if you have a blog. Just click HERE to go there.

P.S. After I posted this, I realized that it is precisely because of the problems I stated above that we can be lights in this world. The darker it gets, the more light "shows up". Did you ever turn the lights on in your house in the daytime and hardly tell the difference, but if you turn them on at night, they shine brightly. As our world gets darker, let's let our lights shine more brightly.

Tanzania

This was shown at our church, Scottsdale Bible Church, last Sunday morning. So inspiring. I hope you will watch it.
For more information on this ministry click HERE.

Visit Spiritual Sundays for lots of links to inspiring posts. http://bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/

ANGELS UNAWARES

I don't know about you, but I have often pondered the above scripture and wondered exactly what it meant. I've heard explanations but I still don't really know. It is an intriguing thought though and so I decided to share a poem on the subject by Helen Steiner Rice. 

UNAWARE, WE PASS HIM BY

On life's busy thoroughfares
We meet with angels unawares―
But we are too busy to listen or hear,
Too busy to sense that God is near,
Too busy to stop and recognize
The grief that lies in another's eyes,
Too busy to help or share,
Too busy to sympathize or care
Too busy to do the good things we should,
Telling ourselves we would if we could.
But life is too swift and the pace is too great
And we dare not pause for we might be late
For our next appointment which means so much.
We are willing to brush off the Savior's touch.
And we tell ourselves there will come a day
We will have more time to pause on our way.
But before we know it "life's sun has set"
And we passed the Savior but never met.
For hurrying along life's thoroughfare
We passed Him by and remained unaware
That within the very sight of our eye, Unnoticed, the Son of God passed by.

                                              Helen Steiner Rice 

I was hungry - a Christian perspective
Jesus taught that when we do good deeds for the weak and downtrodden, it's as if we are helping Jesus himself. Here, he makes it clear that he values kindness done to stranger and to those who struggle to make ends meet.
http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025:35&version=NIV
"The Least of These" in the Bible: Matthew 25:35-41
One of Jesus' most interesting teachings is that our commitment to him can be measured by how we treat other people, especially people who have been rejected by society for one reason or another. If we say we love Jesus but can't be bothered to show love to those in need, how genuine can our love for Jesus really be?
http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.25.35-Matt.25.41&version=NIV

Click HERE to go to the Spiritual Sundays blog for links to many inspiring posts.

SUNSHINE OF JOY

I was wondering what I should post on my blog so I was looking at the books in our bookcase and one of them caught my eye. It was a little Helen Steiner Rice book called Sunshine of Joy. We have so much sunshine here where we live ― not only in the summer but year around. So I took the book down and opened it. I know I have seen this book before because we've had it for years, but we have so many books that I have not looked at it in a long time. It was almost as if I'd never seen it before. Could be my age I guess. I do forget a few things. LOL
Any way, back to the book. My goodness ― so many wonderful poems. The one I chose to share today is called Warm Our Hearts With Thy Love.

Warm Our Hearts With Thy Love

                    Oh God, who made the summer

                              and warmed the earth with beauty,

                    Warm our hearts with gratitude

                              and devotion to our duty.

                    For in this age of violence,

                              rebellion and defiance

                    We've forgotten the true meaning

                              of "dependable reliance."

                    We have lost our sense of duty

                              and our sense of values, too,

                    and what was once unsanctioned

                              no longer is taboo.

                    Our standards have been lowered

                              and we resist all discipline

                    And our vision has been narrowed

                              and blinded to all sin.

                    Oh, put the summer brightness

                              in our closed, unseeing eyes

                    So in the careworn faces

                              that we pass we'll recognize

                    The heartbreak and the loneliness,

                              the trouble and despair

                    That a word of understanding 

                              would make easier to bear.

                    Oh, God, look down on our cold hearts

                              and warm them with Your love,

                    And grant us Your forgiveness

                              which we're so unworthy of.

                                            -Helen Steiner Rice

It is my prayer that God will warm all our hearts with His love. For links to lots of inspirational posts, please click HERE to go to the Spiritual Sundays blog.