This blog is designed to create community for believers and provide support for seekers. I encourage all readers to share their faith in an effort to lift and encourage one another.
Tuesday’s food for thought:
“When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions.”
Henri Nouwen
I don’t know about you, but I am a child of the King of kings, created in His image. Therefore, no matter what others might say, I have worth and am loved, no matter what circumstances I may be in.
If you are feeling discouraged or overwhelmed, here is a verse to lift your spirits.
Have a beautiful Friday, everyone!
Psalm 32: 5
“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’
And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
Lord, thank you for sending your son to earth to live among us. Thank you, Jesus, for being a willing sacrifice to cleanse us from our sins. Your grace is sufficient for me.
Good Thursday morning, y’all!
Isn’t it funny how one little verse can totally change your perspective?
Have a wonderful day glorifying God through all you do. Nothing is too mundane.
The stream meanders, making its way through fallen leaves, gray, broken branches, and rich, fertile earth. My feet crunch the dried leaves as I approach the stream. Bending and twisting, it flows around rocks and under the narrow walking bridge. Algae flourishes just beneath its green water.
I find a large, flat rock and sit to enjoy the stream’s beauty. From my vantage point, I can observe its meandering path. As it flows from one bend to another, the lazy waters move silently.
As I scan the length of the stream, I notice how the water changes when it hits an obstacle: a rock, a fallen tree limb, or a constricted pathway. The smooth flow changes. The water roils, bubbling up out of its bed, falling back again, foamy and white.
The stream flows quietly until it hits those obstacles. Then the stream finds its voice: a musical, joyful gurgling sound. Where the path is free and easy, the water flows silently. It’s only when obstacles lie in its path that the water sings.
How often I find myself complaining instead of singing when difficulties snag my way.
Lord, when the way proves tough, give me a song to sing.
Isaiah 49:13 “Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth, burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.”
Happy Tuesday! Your Tuesday food for thought is from Charles Spurgeon
Have a great day!
“It was the mighty power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in Him by which Jesus overcame the world–and that same quiet power, if it dwells in us, will make us win the same victory by faith.”
― Charles H. Spurgeon
Happy Monday! I hope this day finds you all well, and all is well with your soul.
Isn’t it wonderful to put our hope in God’s word? What have you read lately that inspires hope?
Happy Friday! It’s always good to end the week with the Psalms.
Psalm 31: 21-24
“Praise be to the Lord, for he showed me the wonders of his love when I was in a city under siege.
In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from your sight!” Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.
Love the Lord, all his faithful people! The Lord preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full.
Be strong and take heart, all of you who hope in the Lord.”
Have a blessed weekend.
Some food for thought for your Thursday.
There is someone that I love even though I don’t approve of what he does. There is someone I accept though some of his thoughts and actions revolt me. There is someone I forgive though he hurts the people I love the most. That person is……me.
C S Lewis
This certainly makes me think about all those other people who are like me and my attitudes toward them.
Have a beautiful, thought-filled day.
Rev. 1:16b “His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance”
The small lake shimmers smooth as glass, its dark greenish-brown surface reflecting the surrounding autumn world. Dark, straight tree trunks and branches protect the lake’s perimeter, the yellow, green, and orange leaves doubled in their reflected beauty. The contour of each billowy cloud clearly shows in the dark water. An occasional soft “pop” punctuates the stillness, and ever-widening ripples indicate life beneath this dark mirror. The clouds part, and the mid-afternoon sun shines brilliantly off the water; the sun is bright, even in its reflected glory. A breeze distorts my image—so is my earthly image of God distorted. I cannot imagine the Son’s brilliance. The cottonwood leaves rustle a greeting. They, too, speak of His glory.
Stretched out on a smooth wooden dock, I lie at the water’s edge. With eyes closed, I soak in the peace, the stillness, and the warmth of the sun. Even then, I see the sun’s brilliance, bright red through my closed eyelids.
So it is with God’s light. Just as our eyes cannot gaze into the sun’s brilliance, neither can we, in our imperfection, look steadfastly in His face. David, “a man after God’s own heart,” said, “he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth” (II Samuel 23:4).
As an imperfect, sinful human being, I cannot look directly at His glory. Even His reflected glory, just like the sun shining off the lake, is too brilliant to behold. Paul puts
it this way: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (I Cor. 13:12a). If we cannot look directly into His face, how do we behold His brilliance? God, who with His mere spoken word created light, allows His light to shinein us. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (II Cor. 4:6). Even though we are unable to see His glory with our eyes, Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection have given us the gift of the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God.” Our eyes cannot see His light, but Christ’s light within us helps us to understand His glory.
On a clear night, we see the soft glow of the moon. Its light is not as bright as the sun, yet we can see on a bright, moonlit night because the moon reflects the sun’s light. In the same way, we live for Christ so that our lives reflect the glory of our risen savior. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you” (Is. 60:1, 2). By reflecting God’s glory, we shine in the darkness, providing light in a dreary world. We provide God’s reflected light for others to see Jesus.
Lord, let me be like the moon and reflect the light of your Son. May Your light shine through me for all the world to see.
Growing Our Faith Together 