ACCEPTANCE IS KEY!

O Lord, there’s something magnificent about accepting things we cannot change—no giving up or giving in, but experiencing the deep peace in our brokenness!

Acceptance is key!

Lord, I know it won’t always hurt like this, but it does now.

Today I'm leaning once again toward choosing numbness over feeling. Feeling is too painful, Down right scary!

’God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up…” (1Pet. 5:5-6)

Let the ink of the gospel get into your bloodstream. (my prayer notes, without citation) Gospel wrapped friendship. Friendship on the same side of the struggle. Focus. Refocus. Share. Focus on His great faithfulness! 

The only great in my life is my need. How about yours? 

MERCY ME!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2021 IS HERE!

We made it! Thank you, Lord. Lots to ponder today as I nosh on my black-eyed peas and fresh turnip greens. (Hubby will only eat spinach, thus the can.)

Lord, You are still on the throne ......& your mercies are indeed new every morning! (Lamentations 3:22-23)

As Paul David Tripp, the author of NEW MORNING MERCIES, desires for his readers, "may people see the gospel as a window through which they are to look at everything in life. (Introduction)

Mercy Me! I  "see" that as a window of grace and mercy. 

SMALL THINGS & SMALL STEPS/ BIG IN GOD'S EYES

Small things can make a BIG difference. (Zechariah 4:8-10) God treasures the acts of mercy we make in His name rather than the ostentatious sacrifices and offerings just for the world to see. (Hosea 6:6)

During this season of giving, I want to honor Him. For me that requires.......

......silencing the  other noise in my life and allowing His leading during my "Advent" focused times.

It is good to give thanks to the LORD. And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning
         And Your faithfulness by night, (Psalm 92:1-2)

Refocus. Think of others first.  
It seems like a small thing but......as I seek to bless others God blesses me.

Signage

Signage communicates. Visual/graphic messaging.

Banners flap with messages all over Memphis. Selling cars. Heralding new art exhibits. Promoting festivals in the park.
Wine Tastings. Sunrise Yoga.  Twilight Tuesday Free Movies.
Text and graphics = more than visual redundancy. It triggers remembrance.

Celebrations of all kinds.

But..... 80 years of faithfulness. Now that sign speaks volumes.

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God  who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 

(Deuteronomy 7:9)

"Great is Thy faithfulness"...........for 80 years and beyond. An eternal celebration!

"Prosperi-TEA for Posteri-TEA"

So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. (Psalm 71:18, ESV)

Prosperity means many things. For most it indicates affluence based on a healthy bank statement. In both scripture and Winnie the Pooh, it can indicate "milk and honey." For the Christian, prosperity goes beyond one's calculated financial wealth. Prosperity for all Christians is made up of faithfulness to and trust in the Lord----regardless of their bank statement. Most of us know believers who have eked out , scratched by and suffered "lack" most of their lives, yet lived lives of utter fidelity to God. How prosperous are they!!

A "Prosperity Gospel" imagines the Lord as a "vending machine" God. This health and wealth gospel teaches that all one has to do is believe and receive, as they ask for God's blessings. The prosperity gospel is a half-truth, perhaps less.
Yes, God is good. God is faithful and God does bless His people, but God.....the one true God of the Bible is the God who will see us through regardless of the circumstances. Sometimes blessings are obvious and it is easy to thank Him. Other times when it seems times are so hard that one is not experiencing the blessing of God, one can still trust that God is there,  just waiting for us to turn to Him, and learn that in loving Him we have life's deepest blessing.

Posterity, on the other hand, indicates a future generation of people. People who need to know the truth of God's faithfulness. Who will tell them? Who will pass on the prosperity that accompanies a life of true faithfulness to the Lord?

As Crickett teaches," God is more interested in our character than our comfort." Our faithful character will be our legacy for posterity.

If one wants to pass on prosperity for posterity, he/she needs more than a T-shirt to tell of God's truth. The whole truth will be told by their life.

Serve a cuppa of true prosperi-TEA for the posteri-TEA of the next generation.

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING

11/15/13 Standing at foot of dear friend, Claudia's, bed last night and surrounded by her family, I heard her prayers of thanksgiving for her day. To an outside viewer such an observation would not have matched hers. But God ....continues to use Claudia to show His sufficiency to others, even in the midst of HARD circumstances.

When I arrived this morning, the doc had just left and her start to the day had not been exactly auspicious----BUT as I was kneeling down to untangle IV cords for a bathroom trek, she began....."Dotsy, since you're already kneeling let's start the day thanking God for this day before us----before we do anything. Let's focus on Him."

He is the God of the impossible---so I, too, thank Him for all that He will do this day----for without HIm, it could certainly loom as impossible. 

Taken at Vesta Home Show '13 which I had shown to CP last night

Beginning one's day and ending one's day with prayers of Thanksgiving......shows the faith of a believer in relationship with the One who is always faithful. What a testimony to behold.