In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all flaming arrows of the evil one. Ephesians 6:13
Nearly 20 years ago, Twila Paris released the lovely song, How Beautiful. Whenever I hear the words, “How beautiful the feet that bring the sound of good news and the love of the King…†one person comes to mind, my grandmother, MemMem.
Before MemMem walked along the golden streets of Heaven, she walked with the light of Christ guiding her every step. She walked with love and she walked in faith. Standing four feet and ten inches tall, MemMem didn’t appear formidable.
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My Dad believes in keeping things beyond their ‘use by’ date if he feels they still have some use or effectiveness. When staying with him last week I was looking for some mentholated chest rub and grabbed a small jar from the bathroom cupboard. It was quickly returned however, when I read that the contents had reached their ‘use by’ date in 1996 – that’s 12 years ago! Even if the menthol still had some use, I am one to opt for a newer batch, and I’m hoping most of you will agree with me :).
Companies decide how long their product will be useful for and they set the expiry date accordingly.
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This week we had a baby bird running around our backyard. Somehow it had fallen out of its nest under the eave and was unable to get back to it.
When I first saw the bird, I was heartbroken. It was walking around the yard trying to fly, but could never get more than a foot or two off the ground. How was it going to survive? I worried.
I sprinkled bread crumbs around the yard hoping it would eat some, and I even tried to hand feed it. But it would only run away, scared.
Then the most amazing thing happened.
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“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.†Ephesians 6:14-15
A few weeks ago, as I was driving to the last MOPS meeting of the year, a simple rain shower evolved into a roaring thunderstorm. I am convinced that whoever coined the phrase “it’s raining buckets,†first uttered those words during a similar storm. It looked and felt as if someone was standing ten feet above me dumping ten gallon buckets of water on top of my mid-sized sedan.
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Psalm 25:4 Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths.
When I was growing up we didn’t have a whole lot of money. I knew that in order to attend college, I would need a scholarship. Consequently, the last semester of my senior year when everyone else was having fun and goofing off, I was studying. I managed to finish as Valedictorian – which earned me a full scholarship.
Because I knew I had to maintain my grade point average in order to keep my scholarship, I rarely skipped class. I figured out how much each class cost, so I knew how much money I was wasting if I did skip.
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Some of us may have a great relationship with our dad, and because of this, Father’s Day last week was probably a happy day. But some of us may not have this kind of relationship at all, and maybe Father’s Day was difficult.
Yet, no matter how you get along with your dad, you’ll always have a solid relationship with God.
And what kind of Father is He?…
He loves you.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Jeremiah 31:3
He wants the best for you.
“For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
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Today I went to check email as usual and found a very pleasant surprise waiting for me. An aquaintance had sent me a little note saying that she was thinking of and praying for me. Her email also contained the verses found in Colossians 1:9-12.
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
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Weighing 18 pounds and with legs measuring just shy of four inches, C, my sweet-natured Standard Dachshund, seldom worries those passing us as we trot throughout the neighborhood. She has however, frightened a slew of delivery personnel. I cannot say that I blame them. After all, X-ray vision goggles are not handed out with those snazzy brown uniforms so they cannot possibly know that the ferocious barking beast on the other side of the door would immediately roll on her back the moment they entered. Her only enemies being squirrels and cats, C is harmless to humans. She’s not to be feared.
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