Men Are Like Trees

We know that good men and women bare good fruit on their tree of life.  We also know that corrupt men and women bare bad fruit on their tree of life.  We can tell a lot about a person by looking at what fruit hangs on their tree.   Some are able to put on a good face but deep inside they are a different kind of tree.  Be wary of that.  Jesus said;”For every tree is known for his own fruit.  For of thorns, men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.  A good man out of the good treasure of his or her heart bringeth forth that which is good.  An evil man out of the evil treasures of his or her heart brings forth that which is evil; for out of the abundance of his heart his mouth speaketh.”  I say we should be fruit inspectors when choosing friends.   When you put bad fruit into a bowl of good fruit it will ruin the good fruit pretty quickly.  This is especially true for our youth today.  They need to have a good root system in the tree they are becoming, and learn to check out the fruit of the person they associate with, so their fruit always stays good.

Listen For The Praises

I was walking in the garden yesterday, and my attention was drawn to some little yellow finches in my tree.  There was the chatting sound, and there was a lovely song as well.  I listened and thought about the scripture that says;”Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” Think about that, the things we can hear if we listen.  Is that cricket in the grass praising the Lord?  Is the rooster praising the Lord when he crows in the morning.  Is my praise being heard often enough?.  Sing unto the Lord with your voice.  He loves to hear our new songs.  Sing from your heart of how much you love Him..Sing a love song to Him.  I did and I know He heard it. I think he smiled!

Heavens Gift

Our son Chris took this photo in Wyoming on a January afternoon.  His focus was on the sun on the snow.  He later put it on his computer desktop as a wallpaper and was asked by his sister “who took the picture of the angel”?  At that moment it became chrystal clear to him.  Up until then he had not seen the angel.  I hope you can see the angel as well and enjoy the beauty of the heavens as we have.  We have all been touched by this.

Walk Uprightly

Oh  yes the Lord our God is a sun to give us the things that we need to sustain life.He is also a shield to protect us from things that would destroy our life.  He gives us grace and even at times gives us glory.  I love the fact that no good thing will He withhold from those of us who walk uprightly.  Stop and think about all the good things the Lord has given you.  It’s important to keep these things in mind, and be thankful always for the good things in our life.  He knows what is good for us and protects us from the bad.  Of course we still have that free will that would allow temptation to come in.  Therefore walking uprightly is the key to it all.  Have an upright day today. 

The Door

I am so glad that I heard His voice and heard the knock.  How different life would be if I had not opened the door.  He does come in and is at every meal.  He is in the car on every trip.  I often talk to Him as I drive.  He never leaves us or forsakes us.  He is a faithful friend.  He is a husband to the widow, and father to the orphan.  He is our healer, our Great Physician.  He is a comforter to the grieving and companion to the lonely.  He is the creator, and oh how I love His creation.  Thank you Lord that you knocked on the door of my heart.

As The Deer

David the Psalmists’ heart was so after the Lord that he likened it to being like a deer, thirsty for water.  Deer have two basic needs, water an foliage.  I once had the  opportunity to observe deer and their drinking habits.  My husband and I were at an R.V. park that was near a river.  One of the workers there told me that if I went and sat on a bench that was at the rivers edge, I would be able to see the deer as they come to drink at sundown.  She also told me they come early in the morning.  So I went to the bench and waited as the sun was going down.  One by one they appeared from the tree’s and bushes.  Just like clockwork they came.  I wanted a photo of a deer at the water and this was my chance.  As I watched I thought of Davids’ heart thirsting like a deer after his Lord.  The deer drink in the evening, and they come in the morning also for a drink.  My heart thirsts for more of the Lord, and like a deer I should seek Him in the quiet of the evening and the calm of morning.  No distractions and the beauty of the setting, and the rising sun.  There is so much for us to learn and feel from nature itself.  God gave us a wonderful backdrop in which to  praise Him and commune with Him.  Thirst like a deer for  more of the  Lord.

Finisher Of Our Faith

Jesus is the author of our  faith.

The Holy Spirit leads us to the Lord.  Our faith starts with a simple prayer of repentance, and giving our lives to the Lord.  It is so simple that many people miss it.  There is a progression of  faith as we live the Christian life.  We grow in faith and the Lord is able to use us. We become His hands extended, and His eyes to see the needs around us.  We go from being babes in Christ to being His servants.  What an honor it is to serve Him.  There are times of discouragement yes, because we live in this world where discouraging things happen.  We are not in Heaven yet.  In those discouraging times is when we remember that He is the finisher of our faith.  He will take us to the end here on earth, and then straight to Heaven.  How wonderful it is to know that the Lord is with us from the beginning to forever. 

A Prescription For Peace

In the world we live in , there are so many trials for our   minds. All you have to do is watch the commercials on T.V. and you are aware of the condition of mankind.  They have a pill for this and a pill for that.  Enough pill to give you anxiety and make your head spin.  The most prominent condition is stress, depression, and anxiety.  People are cracking right and left, and unable to deal with the pressures of the day we live in.  So they march right to the doctor and get a prescription for their problems.  Doctors are wonderful and medicine is amazing, but our Lord is the Great Physician.  He is so able to patch us up when we are broken.  He has even written a perscription in Philippians for us.  If we follow that order from the Great Physician, we will have a stress, depression, and anxiety free life.  He loves us so much, and knows what we need, and what is vital to having peace of mind.  Keep this perscription in the forefront of your eyes and try to think on these things.  You will feel the peace of God take over.  True things, honest things, just things, pure things and lovely things.  Things that are of a good report.  Virtue and praise, all of these things are key to our peace of mind and happiness.  Think on these things.

Look Good, Feel Better

This week I had a wonderful experience with our youngest daughter Grace.  Right now I am bursting with pride and joy for the woman that she has become.  As many of you know that have followed my blog, I have been fighting stage 4 advanced cancer for a 17 months now.   It was a very hard thing for my children, I have five.  All of them have stood behind me through this time.  Grace is a hair stylist now, having a very successful career.  Had a client one day and was telling her about her Mom and the cancer battle.  The lady told Grace that she was involved in an organization called “LOOK GOOD, FEEL BETTER” Beauty, Courage, Confidence.  It is a program to help women who are dealing with cancer and the treatments involved with fighting cancer.   Going through this changes women in many ways one being how we look.  Grace listened to this woman and felt called to become a part of helping these women.  She took classes and with her abilities with hair makeup and even head wraps and wig care she felt she could do it.  She is a perfect fit and has a personality that will make the women smile, laugh and walk away encouraged. She decided to do something because of what her mom was going thru.  In some way, do something to help women like me.  This week she had a meeting at the Cancer center I go to every two weeks for my Chemo infusions. I got to be one of the women that she encouraged and taught how to wear their makeup to cover things that chemo can do to our skin.  She did a wonderful job.  I enjoyed it so much and it was great being in a room with other women who are experiencing the same struggles that I am.  She had us go around the room and tell what kind of cancer we have and where we are in treatment.  Everyone was different.  A thirty-eight year old beautiful woman with 4 kids and breast cancer.  A 50-year-old with two different kinds of cancer , another with lymphoma.  But we all laughed and smiled as we followed Grace, watching her as she made up one of the gals.  We did it right along with her.  We were given a makeup bag with everything we needed to leave that place with a new lift in our step. Every one looked so beautiful! Grace also showed us many ways to wrap our heads. One of the ladies that Grace wrapped said she felt like royalty as Grace wrapped her pretty bald head.   We also learned how to dress with the changes our body might go through.  To share this time with my daughter Grace was something I will always treasure.  If you know any woman with cancer you might tell her about Look Good Feel Better. It is a part of the American Cancer Society.  This is a volunteer program serving more than 50,000 women each year who have cancer.

Forever And Ever

Forever and ever, that is an eternity and we will praise Him non-stop.  There is so much to praise Him for, he has created such a beautiful place for us to dwell.  He created us, and provided all of our needs.  We are wonderfully made.  Each one of us is a miracle.  Yesterday, I looked up at the sky, and saw beautiful cloud formations In the vibrant blue sky.  I said to the Lord, “that is so beautiful, it looks like heaven up there,” and the thought crossed my mind, that I can’t even imagine the beauty we will see when we get to heaven.  This is just a sampling of what the Lord has for us when we get to our new home.  We will fall on our faces with adoration for the Lord and the heaven He created for us.  I see everything as a picture and as I tried to visualize heaven, I thought, I would love to have a camera in heaven.  But then it occurred to me that we won’t need a camera, because heaven will be captured for us Forever and Ever.