good morning from my neck of the woods. it's sunny and we're supposed to have some warming temps, yay!!!! but I think we're also in for some more rainy weather. I guess someone may need it, but there's still a lot of flooding in and around my area. we got out and got our walk in this morning and that was good. it always feels good to get that done. I hope I can get outside in a bit and get some of my plant starts set out for the sun and breeze on them. maybe in a few days I can start getting some of them planted in their forever homes and then get some seeds in some of containers too. we'll see. it all depends on the weather.
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This is something I wrote back in 2021. thought I would share it again.
This is Easter week and weekend. It is the weekend celebrated by Christ Followers as the weekend that we gained access to the Father thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. If we could go back and look at the scene, there is no doubt that we would shed many tears. To think that my Savior took all the punishment that I should have taken for my sins is more that I can hardly bare. The truth is, there is nothing that I can do about my sin without what took place on what we call Easter weekend. I would have been doomed to a devils hell with no hope for anything else. Jesus is my HOPE!!!! He is your hope also.
Without hope, life is not worth much. You can see hope as a tangible asset. Have you ever noticed it when people watching? Or when coming in contact with others? If not, I would make a suggestion to you to start watching. It has been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. I think that is a pretty accurate statement. If you see someone who has sparkles in their eyes, I believe they have hope abundance. If you see someone and looking at their eyes is like looking at a flat wall, they have no hope. If you have ever noticed it, just once, you'll never forget it.
Many years ago I worked with a beautiful young lady who was full of life and bubbly and so friendly. All of a sudden she was missing from work for a couple of weeks and when she came back to work, she was lifeless, dead inside, quiet, and wouldn't talk. Rumors started around about what had happened. I know the rumors was true, but I didn't partake in the rumormill. When the talk started, I left. I didn't want this sweet young lady to think I was talking about her. The talk and rumors kept on for months and someone asked me why I walked off when anyone started talking about her, suggesting I was too good to talk about her. I just told this person that while y'all talked about her, I prayed for her. When the rumor mill started about someone, I started praying for them. Gradually, this young lady started talking to me when I was around, she started smiling again and her eyes got bright and sparkly again. That is the HOPE that God gives us. Her life changed drastically, but God was with her and He kept her thru this difficult time. She also knew I was praying for her.
If God has put someone in your life that prays for you daily, you are blessed. If God has put you in someone's life to pray for them daily, you too, are so very blessed. To pray for and to be prayed for, are two of the sweetest and most awesome things we can ever do or have done for us. I am blessed to have some ladies in my life that I know, pray for me daily, and for that I am so thankful!!! I pray for them daily also, and am very blessed to be able to lift them in prayer. Sometimes, even on a good day, we can lose hope, or lose sight of hope. But when we know we have sisters in Christ who are lifting us up, regularly, God hears those prayers.
Our hope is in Christ, and Christ alone. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Our salvation is in Christ, and Christ alone. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.
All we have to do is receive the gift of salvation. Are you a good receiver? A lot of people are not. I used to be a bad receiver. Many years ago, at church, a lady wanted to bless me. I had done some embroidery work for her for a set price. I took it to her and she was extremely thrilled. She happily paid me for what I had done and I happily received my pay. On Sunday, at church, when we got seated, she turned around and handed me a greeting card. I opened the card and there was money, the same amount that she had already given me. I asked her what it was for. She said it was a blessing from her to me. I said, "oh, I can't take this!!" A lovely gentleman was setting behind me. He had no idea what this was all about. He leaned forward and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and he kindly and gently whispered to me and told me that she was following as the Lord had directed her and I needed to be a good receiver when someone wanted to bless me. If we are bad receivers, we can keep someone from receiving a blessing. It is awesome to be able to bless someone, but the receivers have to be good receivers. I received her blessing and have never forgotten the lesson that she and the gentleman behind me taught me that day. Be a good giver and a good receiver.
So, as I think about Easter weekend, knowing that Sunday is coming!!!, I want to be a good receiver of all the blessings that God, thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ, has in store for me. That is the ONLY part that you and I play in our salvation, believing, repenting and receiving. We don't work for it to earn it, it's a free gift, Being open vessels, ready to receive all that God has in store for us. Like empty buckets, ready for the blessings to rain down and fill us up. Once we get filled up, every little nook and cranny, filled with God's blessings, then the blessings start to overflow from us and spill out onto others around us. When that happens, we are then blessing others from our abundance. The phrase, "you can't give what you don't have", rings true in this circumstance. When we know Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, then our buckets are full to overflowing.
About this free gift, salvation, it is free to us. However, freedom isn't free. Any freedom comes with a high cost. The freedom that we have here in the Untied States, came at a high cost, going back before we were even what is called The United States of America. People has fought and died for our freedom. There is always death associated with freedom. In order for people to have freedom, one has to decide that it's worth putting their life on the line for. And lots have given all for us to have the freedom that we love and take for granted now. But for us, we can squander our freedom and lose sight of the value of freedom and let it slip right from our grasp, like it's actually happening today, even as I type. We are losing our freedom. It may even be too late to do anything about it. We'll have to see how it plays out.
One thing about the freedom in Christ that we have, this freedom will NEVER be taken from us!!!! I don't know about you, but that makes me want to shout from the roof tops that no matter what is taken from me, they can't take my freedom in Christ!!!! Why? The work of Christ was finished on the cross more than 2000 years ago. That sealed the best deal that you or I will have in this life time or 1000 more just like it. I am covered by the blood of Jesus and all God sees when He looks at me is His Son!!! My sins are covered. I'm sealed by the blood of the Lamb. I'm saved, eternally. All I done was receive it. My life was changed upon receiving is. The old is gone and the new remains. All because of Christ my Redeemer. I seen a t-shirt that says, "plot twist, HE LIVES!!" I love that so much!!!!!
Today is Tuesday, but Sunday's coming!!!!!! Today is one of the days that hope was lost, but with the "plot twist", WOW, Sunday is coming!!!!!! Are you ready?????
I hope and pray that as you go thru this day, you can see God very visible and active in your day. Just know that every step you take is ordered by Him. Yes, we have the free will to veer from the path He is laying out in front of us. But with the help of the Holy Ghost, we will stay on path and walk the ordered steps of our Father. I hope when you close your eyes in sweet rest tonight, that you will say before you drift off, "HE LIVES!!" He lives, that is our HOPE. That is what Resurrection Sunday is all about. "HE LIVES!!!!" No other sweeter words!!!!
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giggle for the day:
Q - What do you get when you cross a snail with a porcupine?
A - A slowpoke!
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
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picking up with Hosea Chapter 8, one thing that need to be said is that every book in the bible points directly to Jesus Christ and the need for salvation, restoration, mercy, grace, love, changed lives by walking away from the sin that was leading us straight to hell. God provided a way for us to be in right relationship with Him thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ. some believe it, some don't. it truly doesn't make any difference if people don't believe it, it's true and they will find out someday that every word of the bible is God's word and it's true. human wisdom leads to destruction and moral decay. if you don't believe it, just look around you, watch the news, see what's happening in your local government, see what's happening in state and federal government. lots of humans think they know better than God. some even think they are above God. human wisdom fails every time, but with all the evil wickedness, God still offers repentance and hope amidst the gloom. when you worship God, is it from the heart or is it just the common rituals of the day, found in our local churches? we need to focus on aligning ourselves with God's word and not human wisdom.
Chapter 9, continuing to hang out in sin will result in dire consequences. even in the midst of judgement, God offers the opportunity of repentance, transformation and renewal. we can see the results of unfaithfulness and that's a spiritual famine taking over Israel. it sounds all too familiar to the day we are living in. joy comes from the things God!!! if you think joy comes from worldly pleasures, you have been deceived. don't turn a deaf ear to the word of God as being outdated, it's very relevant to the day we are living in. pray for the ability to know that what you hear from spiritual leaders is from the word of God. read your bible and know what you're hearing is true or false. don't blindly trust a church leader to spoon feed you, if you do, you'll end up eating his words, and not God's. pray for the Holy Spirit to help you be attentive to what you hear and read and to know it's of God or it's not of God.
Chapter 10, unfaithfulness always has consequences, but God offers hope, justice, righteousness and mercy. have your material blessings led you away from God and do you have idolatry alters in your life that need to be torn down? some tough questions. don't trust your own conscience to be truthful to you, trust the word of God. our conscience can get seared by the evil and wickedness of this world and we won't recognize God in the midst of struggles. pray for the Holy Spirit to be an ever present figure in your daily life. this would be a good time to remind us to keep seeking after the heart of God, like David did. when we are seeking after the heart of God, we will find Him and we will grow in our walk with Him daily.
Chapter 11, no matter how much we rebel, God's compassion is read to cover us with His mercy, love and patience. God's love for us is so strong that He will let us walk away from Him, just like a loving parent. and He will be there to give full restoration when we come back to Him. there may be some discipline and judgement before we make the decision to come back to Him, but He will be there to welcome us back. think about how much God loves you!!!! think about all He has done for you. when I think about myself, I am overwhelmed by the grace, love, mercy, restoration and changed life that He alone is responsible for. I just went back to Him, He scooped my up, cleaned me up and has been taking care of me ever since. do I have bad days? absolutely, but I know He is with me. God's mercy is far greater than our failures!!!!! Praise Him!!!!!!!
Chapter 12, God's mercy and patience is enduring. He doesn't stop waiting for us. He's ready to forgive and restore. we just have to want Him. we have a responsibility to Him to stay faithful, act right and wait for His redemption. do you live a life of honesty and integrity? a couple of hard questions. integrity has been defined as doing the right even when no one is around to see what you do. we know that even if human eyes don't see us, God always sees us. we can always recall all of God's past faithfulness to know that He will be faithful in the future. we need to pray for God to us the courage to live lives filled with integrity in all circumstances. if we learn from the faithfulness of God in the past, we can trust Him in the uncertainty of the future.
next time we'll pick up with Chapter 13.
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well, I guess we'll call it a wrap today and see what we have on our agenda. I hope and pray that we all have a great day. let us remember to be seeking after the heart of God in all that we do. we can see this thru the bible up to this very day. I'm sure we'll continue to see it as we proceed with our study. blessings of God's mercy and patience be ours today.
hugs and love, patty
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