Are you 2nd?

People spend a large part of their time seeking money and possessions, but God wants us to have a different priority.

¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ~ Matthew 6:19-20
**The treasures of this world are fleeting, but the treasures of the next world are eternal. We will have to spend some time on the treasures of this world in order to provide for our family and our needs, but Christ’s message is that our real treasure is in heaven. Let us not spend so much time in earthly pursuits that we neglect the spiritual treasure that God offers us.**

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." ~ Matthew 6:24

**The Greek word used here for mammon means worldly riches. There are two masters struggling for control of our time and our commitment -- God and worldly riches. Whom do you serve? Is God more important to you than the wealth and the possessions this world has to offer? The treasures of heaven far exceed anything we can conceive or imagine. Let us not be torn between two masters. Let us be willing to serve God and put him first.
Have you ever observed that those who walk the tightrope at the circus always look straight ahead while on the rope? They never look down at the rope or the crowd. They know that if they were to do that, they would lose concentration and be in danger of falling. So it is in our Christian walk. We must keep our eyes focused on God and spiritual matters. When we look down at the treasures or pleasures of the world, we will surely fall.**

³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." ~ Matthew 6:33
**Here is what we must do -- seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness. If we do that, the other things will take care of themselves. It is all a matter of perspective. When we are at work, is our focus on buying a new fishing boat, or is our focus on being a blessing to others? Is our focus on pushing others aside so that we can get the promotion, or is it on ministering and serving others? The one thing that I have learned is that Christians who live their lives by godly principles find that they are the ones who get the promotion or who are blessed with a raise anyway. So why should we make worldly pursuit our focus? Make God your focus, and you will find that he will abundantly bless you and meet your every need. It all begins when we learn to put God first.**

Thursday September 29, 2011

Life is a Garden....
Dig It!

Remember every flower started from a seed that grew up through alot of dirt!
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
2 Corinthians 9:6

Don't Quit

Don’t Quit
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile,but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit…
By all means pray, and don’t you quit.

Success is failure turned inside out,
God’s hidden gift in the clouds of doubt.

You never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far.

So trust in the Lord when you’re hardest hit…
It’s when things go wrong, that you must not quit!

By Author Unknown

Tuesday September 27, 2011

I do not ask to walk smooth paths,
Nor bear an easy load
I pray for strength and fortitude
To climb the rock strewn road.

Give me such courage that i can scale
the hardest peaks alone.
And transform every stumbling block
Into a stepping stone.
Ricky Ritter

"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6

Monday, September 26, 2011

ATTITUDES ARE CONTAGIOUS...

IS YOURS WORTH CATHCHING?

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Matthew 7: 19-20

I Have Been Set Free

As the first official day of fall is here we begin to think of the beuatiful days ahead. We will finally be "set free" from the scortching heat and the trees will begin to change. The orange, brown, and yellow leafs will be "set free" from their waivering branches where they will cascade in the gentle breeze floating through the air until finally reaching a place where it can rest on solid ground. Our lives are alot like these autumn leafs. We sometimes spend months stuck on something that takes ahold of us and does not let us go. Sometimes its grief over the loss of a loved one, maybe its making ends meet when there is too much month left at the end of the money, maybe its alcohol, drugs, or maybe it is just that we have lost our way in our relationship with God. Today is as good a day as any to release yourself and ask God to "set you free" from all darkness in your life and let you have that soft landing on solid ground.

SEVEN DAYS WITHOUT PRAYER MAKES ONE WEAK

Luke 11:9-10
9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Laughter...It does the body good!

Last night while attending a school function i was reminded just how much laughter really does do the body good. Kinda like milk! Here we were, about a hundred or so i would guess, when the cutest little girl began to get tickled. It was not just a chuckle, it was one of those belly laughs. As she laughed, a few of us began to chuckle as her dad was trying to settle her down a bit. Our chuckling did not ahelp her to settle down as she began to laugh a little harder. By this time the laughter began to spread and pretty soon the whole place erupted into laughter. For just a minute everything was right with the world and everyone in there had a smile on there face. All it took was one little girl having a cheerful heart to give us all a moment of happiness!

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter." ~e.e. cummings

Make a Difference

                                "God has not called us to see through 
                each other, but to see each other through"

                                                                             

Pick up the phone and call a friend who may just need to hear a kind voice. Give a family member a hug that has had a bad day. Say a prayer for somebody you know that is struggling to make it in life. We may not be able to change the world, but we might just be able to make a difference in someone elses life by doing the little things.

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; 

be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

1 Peter 3:8

Move Me

Seems as though difficult times are hitting everyone.  Whether it be thru financial troubles, spouse problems, kids at school bullying you or your children at school, family members falling away from the right path, or the loss of a loved one.  The list is endless...Its all around. 
But we can have an advantage, we have God on our side and He promises to never leave nor forsake us.  He will be with us in the midst of it all!  In the highs and the lows.  What do you have to do?  Just trust in Him.

Below is a song that has helped me in may difficult times.  Whenever the waters start to get rough I listen to this song, it reminds me that He is there and He will get me through no matter what.  I know He'll do one of two things, He'll move the mountain or He'll move me.

"And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest on me."  ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV

Thursday, September 15, 2011

STRENGTH AND COURAGE
It takes strength to fit in.It takes courage to stand out.
It takes strength to feel a friend's pain.It takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to hide your own pains.It takes courage to show them.
It takes strength to endure abuse.It takes courage to stop it.
It takes strength to stand alone.It takes courage to lean on another.
It takes strength to love.It takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive.It takes courage to live.
~~ Author Unknown ~~

Be on your guard; stand firm in faith; be men of courage; be strong 1 Corinthians 66:13

I had the opprotunity to listen to a guy by the name of John Starnes speak at cowboy church this past weekend. John was a bullrider who followed the circuit and did fairly well for a "big fellow" as he put it. John struggled along the way and had a buddy whom he thought was "the bomb". This dude had it all. The girls, the perfect bull ride, the perfect life. He spent years being envious of this guy and wishing he could be just like him. One day at a rodeo he crossed paths with this friend coming out of a port a potty. What he saw that day was the beginning of a path of destruction. This friend had a white powdery substance on his nose and face. John wanting to have the "perfect life" thought that doing drugs must be the key to having it all so he joined this friend in doing drugs. He continued on this path for several years until one day he decided he just could not do it anymore and found himself out in the middle of the pasture on bended knee asking God to forgive him and to help him straighten out his life. God answered his prayer that day and has lead him into ministry called pistols and prayer which he does with his wife and four kids.

John's story was just another example of how easy it is to think that we do not have the perfect life just because our wish list has not been fulfilled. It is my prayer that we can look beyond our wish list and see that what truly matters is if God's wish list for us has been fulfilled.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
1 John 2:15-17

Let Your Light Shine

"Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine." Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am under vows to you, O God; I will present my thank offerings to you. For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. Psalm 56: 12-13

Remembering 9-11

As we reflect on the 10th Anniversary of 9-11

MAY WE NEVER FORGET

They can take our lives but they can never take our freedom! Braveheart

God Bless the Fallen Victims
God Bless the Rescue Workers
God Bless Their Family
GOD BLESS AMERICA!

How many times have you gotten really upset and angry at someone for "doing you wrong"? Happens more times than we care to say, right? We walk around so mad at each other thinking how can i get even with them. That is human nature. However the bible says in Matthew 6:14 "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will aslo forgive you."

Forgiveness is something that we really have to work at to accomplish. But the rewards of being able to let go of that anger and forgive those that wronged us is so liberating. Free yourself of carrying that burden and you will have a much lighter load.

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you" Lewis B Smedes

The Pathway

A Journey down lifes pathway
can lead you far from home
Searching for the answers
not knowing that we roam

Then one day you look around
and see that you are lost
Finding out what needs to be done
and seeing what it cost

God says that he is with us
and fear not for i am there
It's with our friends and family
this message should we share

He is the way, the truth and the life
so let go of that anger and all of that strife
Choose to be happy and laugh with a friend
for we never know whats around that bend!

By: Tracy Wilson

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

To be happy, do not add to your possessions, but subtract from your desires

"Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled"

At the end of the day when you think back on everything that went on in your life....what is it that you think about? Is it all the good things? Or is it that one bad thing? Sadly we often dwell on the bad things that happen and let the negative consume us.

The Bible says in John 14:1 "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me." It also says in Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

So tonight, when you sit down and think about your day, let your thoughts be consumed with all the blessings you were given and turn the rest over to God in prayer!

"WHEN LIFE SERVES YOU LEMONS, MAKE LEMONADE"

Forgiveness

Forgiveness.  We can learn a lot from David.

There are several important words in Psalm 51. Three of them are words that we also find in Psalm 32: *disobedience (or disobey), *sin, and doing bad things. They are what we do. Then there is what God does. He washes us, he cleans us, he forgets what we have done and he hides his face from our *sins. The other two important words in the psalm are spirit and *sacrifice. Both of them mean two things.

"spirit" means:

   ·   either a name for God, as in verses 10-12

   ·   or a name for the part of us that lives when our body dies as in verse 17.

"sacrifice" means:

   ·   either an animal that they burnt and ate part of

   ·   or an animal that they burnt completely.

David pleads for forgiveness after he went in to Bathsheba—He pleads, Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me.

"1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. 14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar." Psalms 51

Happy Labor Day!

Did you know that the words "work" and "toil" are mentioned over 480 times in the bible? That alone indicates that God considers our work to be a very important aspect of our lives. Many scriptures are found throughout the bible that support the importance of our work to God. Each contain God's wisdom and views about our work, the importance of our work, or how we should conduct ourselves while performing our work.

Here are just a few of them:

Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.Colossians 3:23 (see Colossians 3:22- 4:1)

Work hard, but not just to please your masters when they are watching. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

Ephesians 6:6

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Resourse Used: http://workmatters.org/resources/workmatters_tools/workplace_scripture/

In His Footsteps

When someone does a kindness

it always seems to me

That's the way God up in heaven

Would like us all to be.......

For when we bring some pleasure

To another human heart.

We have followed in His footsteps

And we've had a little part

In serving Him who loves us

For I am very sure it's true

That in serving those around us

We serve and please Him, too

Helen Steiner Rice

Give Us This Day

The sun has lulled the stars to sleep;
another day's begun
The sky reflects His majesty
Beyond the morning sun

Give us this day, dear Lord
down righteous paths today,
And shine through us They holy light
like moonlight on the bay.

Show us, too, a better way
to serve as you would do...
Give us this day, dear Lord,
to live and work for You.

By: Clay Harrison

"The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where the stand in times of challenge and controversy." Martin Luther King, Jr

But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded." 2 Chronicles 15:7