SPRING !

This time of year really seems to get to me......
The older I get, the longer it seems winter gets!

I don't think I have ever been a fan of winter.
Oh, I like to see snow...It is a wonderful picture
of our clean life after applying Christ's blood to
our sin account....

But the cold that goes along with it all.....nope,
not a fan.....AT ALL!

And just when I think I can't take it any longer......

Thought For Thursday

 The measure of real character is what a person
 would do knowing he or she would never be
 found out....
 

The Place

 The devotional that I thought about the most this week is.....

 February 14~ The Pure Heart (Matt.5:1-12 & Psalm 24:1-4)
 The challenge was given to keep our hearts pure, unlike the
 Pharisees who seemed pure but it was all on the outside...
 We know from the text in Matthew that the pure in heart will
 see God. Shirley had a great quote in the book, "The outward
 actions reveal the inward heart".  There is so much truth to this
 statement..... I've also heard this "What is in the heart comes out
 through the mouth." We can look great on the outside, but does
 what comes out of our mouth glorify God? Does it make us
 like a Pharisee, all clean looking on the outside but full of dead
 man's bones inside? Maybe we need to ask like David did in
 Psalm 51...."Create in me a clean heart, O God...."

Thought For Thursday

 No one ever learned anything
  by talking......
                               

The Place

 WOW!  This was a good week in the devotional! May I suggest if
 you do not own this book, that you send for it and get a copy for
 your own personal time! You can find it here .

 I again had a hard time trying to decide which one impacted me the
 most.....

 I'm going to go with Feb. 6 ~ A Glad Heart (based on Psalm 4)

 I like how she (Shirley) pointed out that "David realized his gladness
 came from the Lord, a deep abiding joy that no one could take away."
 In the book she also give a quote by Spurgeon "Worldly joys do put
 gladness into the face, but the Spirit of God puts gladness into the
 heart; divine joys are heart joys."

 I think joy is something we all want. It's what we all seem to be
 seeking.....yet if we know the Lord as our Saviour, it is ALREADY
 in you! We should not be looking anywhere for joy but to the Lord.
 He told us in John 15:11 that we can have joy that remains & is full!
 I also like (and have been thinking about lately) I Peter 1:8.... "ye
 rejoice with JOY UNSPEAKABLE and full of glory."

 Don't look for your joy in things or even people...it's not there....you
 will be let down. Let Jesus be your joy! Meditate on Him and let His
 joy be full in your life!

 *If the above link does not work for you, please leave a comment and let me know.

Thought For Thursday

 Joy is not in what we own....
       it is in what we are. 

The Place

This month's study is Biblical Hearts. I think the day that meant the most
to me this week was February 4th - An Understanding Heart. I think the
reason I liked this one so much is because I like the story that goes along
with it....Solomon's request for an understanding heart. I often think about
this when I read this passage in I Kings 3....would I ask for that? Or would
I ask for wisdom, riches, power, you name it.....God said " Ask what I shall
give thee." No limitations, NOTHING was off limits.....Solomon had the
ability to have ANYTHING from God......


and he chose an understanding heart.


WOW! Solomon, the wisest man, chose an understanding heart. He knew
the importance of discerning right from wrong, good from bad. How much
more do we (I) need this! The good news is, we can have an understanding
heart too. All we need to do is ask.....James 4:2 says we have not, because
we ask not.....

So the next time you read the passage in I Kings 3 take time to think
about what your answer would be if God asked you that question. And
then maybe take time to ask for an understanding heart......

Thought for Thursday

 No small act of kindness is ever wasted.

Poem For The New Year

                           His Unfailing Presence
                                        Another year I enter
                                        Its history unknown;
                                        Oh, how my feet would tremble
                                        To tread its paths alone! 
                                        But I have heard a whisper,
                                        I know I shall be blest; 
                                        "My presence shall go with thee,
                                        And I will give thee rest."

                                       What will the new year bring me?
                                       I may not, must not know;
                                       Will it be love or rapture,
                                       Or loneliness and woe?
                                       Hush! Hush! I hear His whisper;
                                       I surely shall be blest;
                                       "My presence shall go with thee,
                                       And I will give thee rest."
                                                       ~ Author Unknown



                I meant to put this on last month, but it still applies now....
               We do not know what the year may hold, yet we know Who
               holds the future and because of that we can rest.