As a reminder, and as an encouragement word someone once wrote:
God, doesn’t love you because you’re important! However, YOU are important, because GOD, LOVES YOU!
Just let that sink in.
From: 
To:
Yes, it may seem hard to believe. However if you follow based on our own calendar we see this horrible picture play out.
On Palm Sunday, we welcome Him into our gates. By Friday we are calling for His crucifixion.
Let’s STOP and look at our lives today. Do you forsake Him during the week, and bury His existence in your lives as Friday, and Saturday approach. Then try to come back on Sunday when you see the greatness of His power.
Palm Sunday, is followed by Resurrection Sunday! A Sunday of glorious victory. It is that victorious mode that God invites YOU, to come too. Not a place of pain, but one of joy.
So here’s your chance to give those “four days” a different look, feel, and status.
Because HE lives, we can!
I recently came across the following article and wondered about the question. Why have we stopped following the ONLY being known too man that is truly GOOD. A name unlike any other, which embodies only sound peaceful true love qualities in a person. And yet for some reason it has become omitted from a phrase which demands us to come clean, and be TRUTHFUL!
You decide…
This is by a daughter of a murdered couple in Raytown, MO, who had a Bible and Bookstore on 63rd street.
She says: “When I had to testify at the murder trial of my parents a week ago, I was asked to raise my right hand. The bailiff started out, “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”
I stood there and waited but she said nothing. She said “Do you?”
I was so stunned I blurted out “What happened to ‘so help me God?’ “
She came back with “Do you?”
I replied yes, but I was perplexed.
Then the judge said. “You can say that if you want to.”
I stopped, raised my right hand and finished with: “So help me God!”
I told my son and daughter that when it came time for them to testify, they should do the same.
I don’t know what can be done about it but it’s time for us to step up and DO something.
NBC this morning had a poll on this question. They had the highest number of responses that they have ever had for one of their polls and the percentage was the same as this:
86% to keep the words, 14% against…
That is a pretty ‘commanding’ public response. I was asked to send this on if I agreed …. or delete if I didn’t.
Now it is your turn. It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God.
Therefore, I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a mess about having ‘In God We Trust’ on our money and having God in The Pledge of Allegiance. Why is America– our nation — catering to this 14%? YES, WHY??
As I set out this morning to hunt. I see the power, and beauty which God has provided for us to share. With the fog a little dense, yet you can see the trees and grass.
You see the rolling hills, which seem to sing as the winds glide across. The perfect setting for a great start.
The parking lot is empty as I drive in at 6:00am and I sit here and finish a cup of coffee. I plan, I set up, and I pray. Pray that God not provides, but that we may all be safe as we hunt. For food, for trophy, which ever. May this day be good.
Ever sit somewhere so peaceful, so quiet that you can actually hear a leaf fall and hit the ground
So recently someone made me aware of this devise. It seemed like an interesting item if nothing else.
Simpple concept to eating healthy. we all know that our meats need to be cooked to the correct temperature in order for it to be actually good for you. It makes no sense to cook something that is good and healthy for you, and cook it wrong and get sick.
So this was my first attempt at using this. I may have skipped some steps, and didn’t take pics or video along the way. But I was going for results.
The concept is that you cook your meat inside of an air tight bag, under water at the correct temperture. Then you take it out and sear it in order to give it some color or texture.
In reality it will cook the meat to temp, however searing it aloso gives it more heat.
This would be a great device for hunters who process their own food as well. If during the butchering stage one seasons the meat into individual portions. Then when one is ready you then thaw and drop in the water. It means an extra step while processing but simpler when it’s time to cook.
I actually eat the first piece without searing, and it was fantastic. The steak was cooked completely all the way. It was just not as hot as I might have liked it.
Nahum 2:3
The shield of his mighty men is made red,
the valiant men are in scarlet:
the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation,
and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
When blood lows red and we think the pain is at it’s worst. It is then that we can look to God the most.
Some time ago, I met a man. He was a simple man, but very wise.By some strange situation I ended up sitting next to him in Church. And as I sat there he said to me, “since you are sitting in my seat, you must sing as I do”. I was young, and really didn’t sing, and let alone during the congregational singing. (that was for the adults)
Well i watched him as the songs were sung that night. And at one point I was amazed. His face lit up, his eyes seem to shine. There was a smile, and joy like I never really knew. That inspiration has stayed with me my entire life. When I sing in Church some say, I sing so loud, yet I don’t feel I sing loud enough to match the passion with which he sung that night.
Brother Luis Montalvo showed me that our Love for God is expressed from our hearts through the little things we share. So it’s hard sometimes to not want to sing like I’m screaming from the top of a mountain, when this song is sung.
He gave this song new meaning, at least in my life. May it’s words bring you some joy today as you read them.
O what a wonderful, wonderful day – day I will never forget;
After I’d wandered in darkness away, Jesus my Saviour I met.
O what a tender, compassionate friend – He met the need of my heart;
Shadows dispelling, With joy I am telling, He made all the darkness depart.
Chorus:
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,
When at the cross the Saviour made me whole;
My sins were washed away –
And my night was turned to day –
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!
Born of the Spirit with life from above into God’s fam’ly divine,
Justified fully thru Calvary’s love, O what a standing is mine!
And the transaction so quickly was made when as a sinner I came,
Took of the offer of grace He did proffer – He saved me, O praise His dear name!
Chorus:
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,
When at the cross the Saviour made me whole;
My sins were washed away –
And my night was turned to day –
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!
Now I’ve a hope that will surely endure after the passing of time;
I have a future in heaven for sure, there in those mansions sublime.
And it’s because of that wonderful day when at the cross I believed;
Riches eternal and blessings supernal from His precious hand I received.
Chorus:
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,
When at the cross the Saviour made me whole;
My sins were washed away –
And my night was turned to day –
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!
Some folks in life always believe that there has too be a reason for someone else feeling bad. Someone feeling down, discouraged, or simply just not happy. We can wonder is it one thing buried so deep inside, that they themselves can’t find it. Is it the presence of someone, or for that matter the absence of someone.
I recently found myself is such a position. No one could really help me find the road out of that grove. The feeling of overwhelming sadness, impending doom. Lack of desire to even lift me head. They are just feelings that clouded my head, and heart that day. And sadly on some other days as well.
Having been raised a Christian I find myself asking that old realizable question like a child. WHY?
Sometime we must remember that our lives are a road to travel. And sometimes we come across things to make us stringers as the road takes turns. There is a road out west with a sign that reads clearly and in really big letters: LAST GAS FOR 100 MILES. Funny we have the warning, and almost without fail someone will be found out of gas somewhere in the middle.
Since just about 90% of all inspirational quotes come from the Bible. I looked hard to find a passage that might help me during this time. So here it is for you. No further explanation of its content. Just the words contained in the passage.
May you find whatever it may be that in your heart you may be searching for today.
Joshua 1:6-9
Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
As the end of this year comes nearer, we all will stop and think about the past year. We will reflect on the ups, study the downs. We will plan to make things different in the coming year. Make the changes, big and small to help improve our positions in life in love, in business.
But as we get to this point I am reminded of the story that Matthew recounts in the following chapter. As it serves us all to look upon this and plan from here.
Matthew 14:28-31
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
Peter, planned to go out on the water.
With all his faith in the Lord God. But half way through it his focus changed. He could no longer see the prize, at the finish line. He left us a clear guideline for making resolutions. It’s actually quite simple.
If you want it to succeed, make sure God is the first part of your new journey. If God is with you there is nothing, or no one that can stand against you. You don’t have to believe me. Look for yourself at the world. So many want you to give up on God. So that way you can only truly blame yourself.
So as you start this new year. Give God a chance. Start your year with God front and center. That is one resolution that will make it, and you will make the finish line.
In this day, as we look at elections in the USA and problems all around the world. Sometimes we have to wonder if young men and women still can grow in faith, and Christian living.
I seem to find that it is ironically the thing that so many don’t want to do, which holds the key. We simply need to look back at the words that made others great.
As I strive to keep my own Christian life strong I was drawn to this section of this wonderful passage written by David, so many years ago. The question asked f a young man, tasked with the difficulty of not losing, and taking care of so many sheep. We only really need to care for one life, our own. So give this a re-look, cause might have read this long ago as well.
Maybe it brings you some comfort, or even helps you get back on the right track for your life!
Psalms 119:9-16
How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
Praise be to you, Lord;
teach me your decrees.
With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
This is the flag that gets stepped on, and burned today. Yet it has so much life, so much meaning.
On this celebration of 240 years, give a look and a salute. It’s all the years of freedom that we share
Poem CategoriesContributor: SMSgt. Don S. Miller, USAF (Ret.)
My Name Is Old Glory country as flag
I am the flag of the United States of America
My name is Old Glory.
I fly atop the world’s tallest buildings.
I stand watch in America’s halls of justice.
I fly majestically over great institutes of learning.
I stand guard with the greatest military power in the world.
Look up! And see me!
I stand for peace, honor, truth, and justice.
I stand for freedom.
I am confident . . . I am arrogant.
I am proud.
When I am flown with my fellow banners,
my head is a little higher,
my colors a little truer.
I bow to no one.
I am recognized all over the world.
I am worshipped.
I am saluted.
I am respected.
I am revered. I am loved.
And I am feared.
I have fought every battle of every war for more than 200 years…
Gettysburg, Shilo, Appomatox, San Juan Hill, the trenches of France,
the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome, the beaches of Normandy,
the deserts of Africa, the cane fields of the Philippines,
the rice paddies and jungles of Guam, Okinawa, Japan, Korea, Vietnam,
and a score of places long forgotten by all but those who were with me.
I was there!
I led my soldiers.
I followed them.
I watched over them…
They loved me.
I was on a small hill in Iwo Jima.
I was dirty, battle-worn and tired,
but my soldiers cheered me,
and I was proud.
I have been soiled, burned, torn and trampled on the streets of countries
I have helped set free.
It does not hurt . . . for I am invincible.
I have been soiled, burned, torn and trampled on the streets of my country,
and when it is by those with whom I have served in battle . . . it hurts.
But I shall overcome . . . for I am strong.
I have slipped the bonds of Earth
and stand watch over the uncharted new frontiers of space
from my vantage point on the moon.
I have been a silent witness to all of America’s finest hours.
But my finest hour comes
when I am torn into strips to be used for bandages
for my wounded comrades on the field of battle.
when I fly at half mast to honor my soldiers…
and when I lie in the trembling arms
of a grieving mother at the graveside of her fallen son.
I am proud.
My name is Old Glory
Dear God . . . Long may I wave!
In 1989 singer MC Hammer released a song titled, Pray. Whose words clearly called for us to pray, to life our voices up to God. Well over the past few years, at least here in the US, our government has tried to push us away from our prayer lives. Telling us that we are not a Christian country. Yet on a daily basis I read post on most social media sites where someone says, “can you pray for”.
Recently a friend of mine was in the hospital, and it just didn’t look real good. After about a week of people of different faiths, and different areas came together to pray. He made a turn for the better. He left the hospital alive.
GOD answers prayer!!
So here is my proposal. If you believe in prayer, or you want some to pray for you, or anyone else.
Let’s start a internet prayer circle.
Simply place the name of the person in the comments section and let’s all pray one for the other.
For years I have read this poem, and always wonder of the words that read. “it was then that I carried you”
Always have wondered if I would ever really feel that carrying in my life, and realize it.
Well, today became one of those days when everything that you could think about was going bad.
My day started with a call about a friend, that is younger than me, who had a massive stroke and on life support. No
one could get any information, all we could do was pray.
I knew that I would have to do everything possible to find him, and find out more. But the barricades would be up
and working against me.
But with that in my mind and heart I head off too work. As I looked at the work load for the day, all I could think of
was just how horribly terrible this day was about to be. Too many things too go wrong.
And as you could expect, the other shoe dropped. Another phone call, this time another friend, mentor, Sunday
school teacher, father figure, and just happy person. Had gone home to be with the Lord.
My heart felt like if it had stopped cold. It couldn’t have been a year, that standing in the exact spot, I
got the notification that his wife had past. And yet now I had to call other family and other friends and break
this news to them.
And some how finish my days work load.
Well it wasn’t till the time I made the last phone call, the last notification, that I realized. I did not have a single hangup,
at work. Everything went as planned, with no curve balls, no headaches.
I realized that God had taken total control!
WOW, I was carried during the time that I needed it most.
Standing besides greatness
Once you have worn a military uniform in this Country, there are certain things that just don’t seem the same as they do to lots of other people.
Take memorial day for instance. This morning the radio reminded everyone that this is official start of summer. Yea, that’s cool. But that was not the purpose of setting this day aside.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone really cares about men and women who dare to raise their right hand, and take an oath to protect this country. Or the men and women who hold the offices that control the flow of our military.
In this world where some many young people are taking fro granted the freedoms that they enjoy with each passing moment of each day. The ability to walk down the street safely.
Over the past few years our country has been under a siege of sorts. Not form an enemy from without, but one from within. The structure of our country is being attacked, and dismantled piece by piece. Our country was founded on the principles of the King James Bible. So well is it part of who we are that the US Marines still guide their lives by it. Second the the Marine Corp manual. Yet so many want to do away with the idea of a God that loves us, and still cares for us.
Today as I attended the memorial celebrations at Camp Nelson Cemetery, in Nicholasville, KY. I noticed something really interesting.
As you know no matter what people always stand for the Star Spangled Banner. No one ever really needs to say “let us stand”. By the time the music plays everyone stands up. Well today a singer was called up to sing “God Bless America” and what a job she did.
But in keeping in complete character the actor playing president Lincoln Stood up alone during the first two lines of that song. As folks sitting across from him noticed his posture. Everyone stood.
That is what a president is suppose to do, suppose to be like, and most of all live it. Presidents like Abe Lincoln valued their beliefs in this country and the things that made us strong, and who we are. Our roots are stained with blood shed to protect the right the Say thank you to God, and receive his blessings over this land, we call home. So Mr. Jim Sayre, Who played Lincoln today. I salute you. For reviving the spirit of a President that valued his troops, his people, his country, flag. And a God that has kept us blessed!
So I pray that as we stop to truly remember those who have served, fought, and died for the freedom we have, let’s Thank God for the blessing we still receive from him.
I read a story of a young boy, whose parents have actually taught him very well about what it cost. And what he did to pay honor to those that had fallen, brought me to tears. He stood for them that could no longer stand. Go ahead click on that link, and watch how when God protects, things happen. Standing for them!
Sacrifice of those
is Meaningless for the rest of our lives
Without Remembrance!!
May 24, 2015
Watching two elephants’ reactions to “Bach Concerto” will absolutely fill your heart with joy
Wonderful to see that music can move not just people. But in the right ways animals as well. What can music do for you
Acts 5:42
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
Just a question, to ponder. Have you stopped proclaiming his name?
Since so many of us know that He is Alive And working, lets proclaim his name and make this sign so true!
April 2015 , will be a month that a lot of folks will hold in their memories for some time. Things just didn’t add up for a lot of folks desires.
I read a post on Facebook from a friend that read: “What month are we on?? Feels like a Feb morning….” Yea those things make you stop and wonder why or how we have one day at 70 degrees, and then Snow back on the ground two days later. Yet as I read the responses to that post I laughed for a bit then wanted to stop and cry. One answer read: “Mother Nature needs to check the calender“. This one made me cry a bit and start thinking about the topic on here.
As I put the idea together in my head yet another friend sent me a message about a Bible passage that pointed to this same idea. I sort of knew I had to write this one, while the ideas were still fresh in my head.
Well I have to go back to the Old Testament of the Bible to start this. You see God sends us messages in the smallest things around us. AS we look around us, we see folks adopting ideas that don’t coincide with the what the Bible teaches. But so many have simply stop reading what the word says, and go by accepting what one person has to offer. And more os than most God is standing there waiting to answer or help.
Back in the Old Testament when the people Israel were in the desert and they started to turn on him, they were sent venemous snakes to bite them and destroy the evil within. And God said to put up a serpent on a pole, and by simply looking at it, they would be saved.
So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. Num 21:9
God gave his people a choice at life, they simply had to choose to live and accept him. Today with everything going on God is looking for ways to call his people, and all of humanity back to look at his love and saving power. And everyday he reaches out and yet so many look at all other things except his voice, and his love.
As I sat in Church this Sunday morning I got a message from another friend that read,
“I opened my bible to read it and this came up. Isaiah 66 I really didn’t understand this please help me“
Here is what it says:
1. This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
Where will my resting place be?
2. Has not my hand made all these things,
and so they came into being?”
declares the Lord.
“These are the ones I look on with favor:
those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
and who tremble at my word. Isa. 66:1-2
When one hasn’t read the Bible in a while, and you simply open his word and this comes right out at you. Your heart should stop, make you think. Then you read on, you pray and listen.
Where is the house you will build for me? This is the question here that is important. Have we stopped building the home for our Lord within our hearts? Have we stopped listening to softness of his loving voice, in the echos of the wind. And have we lost the feel of his warm embrace in the midst of the seasons?
And yet he still cries like from the cross, here I am “LOOK AT ME”
Prayer. Seems to have become a matter of controversy here in the USA. For decades people have prayed to God, or someone they believed to be a god that could answer or supply them with something. But longer in history of this earth people have been seeking to ask the God for the help they seek.
First lets realize that prayer is a line of communication, with God. A conversation where we tell him what we are seeking and then he answers. Best part of it is that one isn’t even required to claim to follow him, to pray. He listens to everyone’s prayer the same.
If we go back and look at the life of Moses, for a second we will notice that he prayed for the freedom of his people. Yet God’s answer for Moses was far from what he wanted to hear. He got an answer, however until he decided to hear, and accept the words, he didn’t get an answer.
Sometimes, God has different, much better answers than what we have in mind. Yea it seems that God has sort of a sense of humor in how he gets things to happen. But one thing is for sure he does work in really strange and mysterious ways, to make the greatest things to happen.
Now we must take this into account. When God answers a prayer his way. We need to rely on his judgement and his timing on things. This gives him the Glory of fulfilling the goal, and yet gives us the most glorious rewards. We will feel like super humanly powerful creatures, because we truly did it, “GOD’S WAY”
Then we will no longer have, ” answered prayers” So go ahead have that conversation, let him know what you think, or want. Then listen to his words, and follow them, I promise you it is so worth it!
Pray!
Well as we start this day, I can only wonder about how many folks have negative ideas of what may come this day. It is a time like this that reminds me of the promises that I find in the Bible about things just like this day.
In the book of John in the New Testament is reads as follows:
But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you. John 14:26
So even as far back as the Old Testament the Bible showed us that confidence in Him will get us through just about anything. It was the Jeremiah who exclaimed it the best as he said in this book as he addressed God the father:
You who are my Comforter in sorrow,my heart is faint within me. Jeremiah 8:18
So go out and face this day as we know who we are. Children of a living, Loving God who protects us from any evil, and guides our paths in righteousness.
MedicSmurf 