Oft times in our busy lives we need to be reminded of things we may have forgotten. This page is dedicated to doing just that. Read! Think! & Ponder! These are articles that we store here for your enjoyment and reading also to download as a text copy to read at your convenience.

Words To Live By

1.) Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death

2.) Don’t be afraid of pressure. Remember that pressure is what turns a lump of coal into a diamond.
3.) We make a living by what we earn. We make a life by what we give.
4.) Whoever gossips to you, will be a gossip of you.

Explanation Of GOD

By an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista , CA . Third grade homework assignment, "One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers." "God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off."
"God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have."
"Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista . At least there aren't any who come to our church."
"Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K."
"His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God.
"You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time."
"You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God! Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway." "If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids."
"But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases. And...that's why I believe in God."

Who Is this Jesus?

In chemistry, He turned water to wine. In biology, He was born without the normal conception; In physics, He disapproved the law of gravity when He ascended into heaven; In economics, He disapproved the law of diminishing return by feeding 5,000 men with two fishes & 5 loaves of bread; In medicine, He cured the sick and the blind without administering a single dose of drugs; In history, He is the beginning and the end; In government, He said that he shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace; In religion, He said no one comes to the Father except through him; So? Who is He? He is Jesus! The Greatest Man in History Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master. Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher. Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer. He had no army, yet kings feared Him. He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world. He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him. He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

Holding Life with an Open Hand

Place a small rock in the open palm of your hand. Now clench your fist around that rock, holding it tightly, keeping your muscles rigid and tense. How long can you hold this position comfortable? Notice how quickly your hand tires. Now open your hand again, allowing the rock to lie comfortably in the center of your open palm. Do you think you could hold the rock more comfortably for a longer period of time in this open position?
Our bodies illustrate spiritual lessons. How often have you clutched your life in a clenched fist, fighting the natural forces, trying to control and confine life within the small boundaries of your fears and expectations? It is as uncomfortable for the human heart to be clenched and closed as it is for the human hand. We were meant for openness, movement, and freedom.
The apostle Paul had to learn a new way of relating to life after he encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. He spent fourteen years in obscurity learning the lessons that would free him to fulfill his highest calling. He had to overcome a negative law-oriented religion to discover that freedom in Christ is the goal of the law he had been taught. He had to let go of the legalism of his upbringing, and argument, replacing them with the fruit of the Spirit-gentleness, patience, love. He learned to allow God to lead him down roads he had never dreamed of taking, discovering the freedom of grace in the process.
Grace is a gift that God gives to an open hand. If your hand is closed, you have no room to receive the surprise packages of life and love that God offers. Unclench your fist. Instead of trying to second-guess, judge, and control life, allow God to surprise you with new insight and unexpected gifts. Let go of rigid opinions and limited expectations. Open your heart and hand to receive God’s gifts of grace and freedom and delight Psalm 62:5 “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.”

GET CENTERED

Are you in the center of God's word? The very center of the Bible reminds us to trust in God over trusting in ourselves or other people.

Psalm 118:8 “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”
* The middle chapter of the Bible is Psalm 118.
* The longest Chapter of the Bible is Psalm 119.
* The shortest chapter of the Bible is Psalm 117.

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.

A New Song

Psalm 100:2 “Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.” 

God loves to hear His people sing. He created us to sing and when we sing His praises we connect heaven and earth with a song. Music can be a wonderful expression of our faith and trust in the Lord.

There is great power in the hymns and chorus sung in a Church service. To stand in the congregation, joining your voice with others, offers praise to God that also speaks to your spirit. When you are alone, there is great sweetness in singing a little song to God. Do not worry whether you are off key or what your voice sounds like. Give the gift of your small song to God, and He will be well pleased. God loves to hear the song of the crow as well as the nightingale. If you are shy about making music, read aloud a psalm of praise. Let your voice express your joy.

You don’t have to be a singer or musician to make melody in your heart to the Lord. God is also serenading you. Hear the birds sing outside your window in the morning. Take time to listen to your favorite music. Enjoy the music of nature, from a babbling brook to the wind in the trees.

Music is also one of the ways God can heal, reaching past intellectual objections and speaking straight to the heart. God conducts the symphony of your life. You can sing a new song to the Lord with your voice. You can hear a new song in the sounds of your day. And you can feel a new song of gratitude grow in your heart.

Nothing on earth is so well suited to make the sad merry, the merry sad, to give courage to the despairing, to make the proud humble, to lessen envy, and hate, as music. —Martin Luther As blended voices fill the air, The soul could soar to worlds more fair, Escape from prison bonds. — Margaret Dryburgh
 

What To Know

There are so many things we are taught to know in school. Some of them are useful in life and others maybe not so much. Sometimes things we never think we'll need do come to the surface and we're glad we grasped the concept way back when. There are different things worth "knowing" and here are a few of them found in the Bible.

PRAYER IS TO THE SOUL, AS FOOD IS TO THE BODY

Prayer is like exercise, you need to commit to it, and plan to do it. Just like in any exercise program, you may not see the results right away. You get the best results from regular training versus the weekend warrior approach to exercise. The same is true of prayer. Once someone has established a pattern of exercise and has experienced the benefits, it is easier to look forward to the time of exertion. This is also true of prayer practices. In orcer to see results, make a prayer list, and then journal His answers. It will amaze you what God does. Nothing is impossible with God!

DON'T LIMIT YOUR THINKING - LOOK UP!

THE BUZZARD: If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6' x
8' and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner.

The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10-12'.
Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

THE BAT:
The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkably nimble creature in
the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat
ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and painfully until it
reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.


THE BUMBLEBEE: A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler,
will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the
means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through
the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

PEOPLE: In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat and the bumblebee.

We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up. God has all the answers! Look to Jesus Christ and Live!!!

WANT TO BE A PUMPKIN?

A woman was asked by a coworker, "What is it like to be a Christian?"

The coworker replied, "It is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from
the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then he
cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the
seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc., and then He carves you a new smiling
face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."


PUMPKINS & JESUS

P is for the People that Jesus came to save
U is for the Unconditional love to each one He gave
M is for the Message that we should all be sharing
P is for the Priceless gift God above showed he is caring
K is for the King of Kings
I is for the Insight He brings
N is for the Nails in His hands
S is for our Savior who gave His life so that we could stand.

So when you see a pumpkin don't think about some guy named Jack.
Instead remember Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords, who is one day coming back.

-- Author Unknown 

The Lord's Baseball Team

Bob was caught up in the spirit where he and the Lord stood by to observe a baseball game. The Lord's team was playing Satan's team. The Lord's team was at bat, the score was tied zero to zero, and it was the bottom of the 9th inning with 2 outs. They continued to watch as a big, burly batter, Love, stepped up to the plate. Love swung at the first pitch and hit a single. That was great Bob said. "Yes" answered the Lord, " Love never fails." The next batter, a strong lad called Faith, got up to bat and slapped a single into right field. "Wonderful" Bob said. "Yes" answered the Lord, "Faith and Love work together well." The next batter up was Godly Wisdom. Satan wound up and threw the fist pitch. Godly Wisdom looked it over and let it pass. "Looked good to me," said Bob, a little confused. The Lord shook his head. "It wasn't", and Godly Wisdom is never fooled by Satan's pitches." Ball one. Three more pitches and Godly Wisdom walked. The bases were loaded. The Lord then turned to Bob and told him He was going to bring in His star player. Up to the plate stepped Grace, a scrawny, gentle-looking player. "He doesn't look like much" Bob said. Satan's whole team relaxed  when they saw Grace. Cat-calls and jeering hoots filled the air. Thinking he had won the game, Satan wound up and fired his first pitch. To Bob's amazement, Grace hit the ball high into the stars. But Satan was not worried; his center fielder, the Prince of the Power of the Air, let very few get by. He shot up for the ball, bit it went right through his glove, spun him around, and sent him crashing to the ground. The ball continued flying through space, giving the Lord's team a winning home run! Bob gave the Lord a puzzled look. "Why couldn't Love, Faith, Godly Wisdom hit a homer like that?" The Lord replied, "Love, Faith, and Godly Wisdom are great players, but only Grace can get you home."

Trust & Commit Ourselves To Him

Jesus didn't always answer the Whys. There were times when Jesus explained mysteries and answered questions for the disciples, but there were other times when He gave no explanation. We could cite question after question that comes to our minds. We all have times when we are overwhelmed with what seems to us a mystery of God's providence. God may be trusting you with the unexplained. The important thing is to receive the person or circumstance with that heart of response, "Yes, Lord, Your are the Blessed Controller. I may not be able to understand why this has happened, but I can trust Your heart of love." No God didn't promise an explanation for every trial. He gives us something better: The assurance that HE will be with us and bring us through the trials as we trust Him and commit ourselves to HIM.

The Gift - author unknown

  The other day, a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I was taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction, he was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question, and I would ponder it, and let him know. Growing older, I decided, is a gift. I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body... the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the cellulite. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror, bit I don't agonize over those things for long. I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need on my patio.
   Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when a beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong. So, to answer your question, I like being older. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day...(if I want).

Today, I wish you a day of ordinary miracles. Love simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

LIVE WELL - LAUGH OFTEN - LOVE MUCH

The Actions of God in our lives

Take a piece of wax, a morsel of meat, a pinch  of clay, and some wood shavings, and put them on a fire. The wax melts; the clay hardens; and the wood shavings blaze. Although they are subjected to the same fire, each of the objects react in a different way. This is a drastic reminder of how individuals also react differently to the same circumstances. Subjected to hardship and despair, one person grows stronger, while others weaken or wither away. The same sun that melts the snow, hardens the clay. One person hears the Word of God and is better. Others hear the same message and grow angry and rebellious. Let us take heed how we respond to the actions of God in our lives. Malachi 3:3 "And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

ABC'S of Encouragement

Although things are not perfect; Because of trials or pain; Continue in thanksgiving; Do not begin to blame; Even when the times are hard; Fierce winds are bound to blow; God is forever able; Hold on to what you know; Imagine life without His love; Joy would cease to be; Keep thanking Him for all the things; Love imparts to thee; Move out of "Camp Complaining"; No weapon that is known; On earth can yield the power; Praise can do alone; Quit looking at the future; Redeem the time at hand; Start every day with worship; To "thank" is a command; Until we see Him coming; Victorious in the sky; We'll run the race with gratitude; eXalting God most high;

Yes, there'll be good times & yes some will be bad,
but...Zion waits in glory...where no one is ever sad

  "We are Too blessed to be stressed" The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.