Wear Your Helmet

My Brother in law sent this to us this morning and just had to share it here.  So many times I see so many “not wearing their helmets” in life!!

Wear Your Helmet

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ephesians 6:17

There are a lot of motorcyclists today who don’t like helmet laws.  I am among their ranks, I must say, because it is fun to get on a motorcycle and ride along with nothing on your head.

But quite honestly, if you are in an accident on your bike and you become airborne, a helmet suddenly sounds like a really good idea.  A helmet could literally keep you alive.

For the Roman soldier, the helmet was important because it obviously protected his head.  It was made of leather, shrouded in metal, and designed to withstand a crushing blow to the head.

As believers, we need to put on the helmet of salvation the apostle Paul speaks of, because our minds, thoughts, and imaginations must be protected.  It is here that most temptations start.

Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. . . .”  Satan recognizes the value of getting a foothold in the realm of the thoughts and imaginations, because this will prepare the way for that thought to translate into action.

As it has been said, “Sow a thought; reap an act.

Sow an act; reap a habit.

Sow a habit; reap a character.

Sow a character; reap a destiny.”

It starts with a thought.

While we cannot control all the things in this world that we are exposed to, we can control a few things.  We can control what we watch at home on television.  We can control what movies we decide to see.  We can control what we choose to read and what we listen to.

Be careful what you allow into your mind.  Put on the helmet of salvation.

Small Acts of Kindness..

**Shared with me via emai**

And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (I Corinthians 13:13  NRSV Bible)

Someone once reminded me, “The average pencil is seven inches long, and the eraser is only a quarter of an inch long - just in case you thought optimism was dead.”

When we look at the troubles of our world and society, it may dampen our optimism, but today there is a great need for all of us to listen and follow God’s call of love and peace.

Jesus certainly was sadden by the state of people’s hearts and the condition of people’s relationship with God. However, Jesus was clearly focused on God’s ultimate plan of unconditional love. What greater hope and optimism can we have than when we focus on Christ, as the risen savior, given in love!

Lord Jesus, help me to show your love each day by doing small acts of kindness. Amen.

©Ron Newhouse

The Landmine of Compromise

This evening I want to share a link to an Early Light Devotional, The Landmine of Compromise.   I love how they word that little “nudge or feeling” that is inside us that is like having a guilt feeling that you should or shouldn’t do something as a GPS.. God’s Positioning System.  You see in each and every one of us, we are made with a built in “alarm” system.  It is a choice of whether or not we choose to “arm or disarm” it!!

In Loving Memory

This evening, after my dad got home, I learned that my cousin, Timothy Gamrat, passed away on October 17, 2008.  He was only 44 years old.  He had a lot of health issues, and at one point in his life had a kidney replaced.  He lived with my Aunt Helen all his life and my heart just aches for her this evening as she still is the very early stages of mourning.  She had him cremated and is going to take him back to Pennsylvania in two weeks for services and then to bury him.

Timothy F. Gamrat

March 11, 1964-October 17, 2008

LORD, Make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow your love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness; light; where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand, to be loved, as to love, for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying, that we are born to eternal life.

My heart and prayers are with my Aunt and family

Without Condition

This was sent to me via an email so I am posting to share with my readers:

Without Condition

Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.  (Ephesians 1:5–6)

There are a lot of people who think they should keep the Ten Commandments because they are under the impression that God will punish them if they don’t.  But the fact is that God loves us, and we should keep His commandments because we are aware of this.

We need to know that God accepts us as we are.  We don’t have to do anything to earn His approval.  We don’t have to do anything to merit His love.  In spite of our shortcomings and in spite of our sins, God loves us.

Some people come from homes in which their fathers never expressed love or showed any affection toward them.  Therefore, they take that image of their earthly fathers and place it on their Heavenly Father.  They spend the rest of their lives trying to earn the approval of God, who already has given His approval to them.

He loves us just as we are.  Of course, He doesn’t want to leave us that way.  He wants to change us so that we become more like Christ.  Even then, God loves us when we do well, and He loves us when we fail.

Realizing this should cause us to want to love Him.  As 1 John 4:19 says, “We love Him because He first loved us.”  So instead of wanting to keep God’s commandments to earn His love, we should want to keep them because of His love for us.  We should want to keep His commandments because we know they are right.  It all comes down to our motives.

Winds of Hope

I wanted to share this devotion link with you Winds of Hope.   In light of the weather and hurricanes and so many having to travel to get away from danger, to those who are going through such trouble times right now I wanted to share this link.   It really is amazing how the media really plays such a huge roll in our lives isn’t it, sort of like out of sight, out of mind.

I need a friend

Somehow I Missed part one of this devotion I am sharing the link with you today called I need a friend, part 2.

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.  Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”  When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.  Ruth 1:16-18

Wow I must tell you that I wish that I had Ruth as my friend today.  I have to be honest and tell you I so need a friend.  I honestly do not have any friends here that I meet up with and go out even just for a chat, or to pray with one another.  I am thankful each and every day for the online friends that I have and there is not a day that goes by I don’t wish I lived closer to them. If I had it my way, I pack up and move and then move all my friends closer so that we may all be near each other!

Friends are a gift from God! They are treasured and valued for me, more than any material item.  After moving to this area over ten years ago, I so miss my church family and friends back home.  I even dream about them.

Do you need a friend?

Why The Trials?

Today’s devotion link I am sharing is to Worth Devotions called Why The Trials?   Each one of us has gone through or may be dealing with something in their lives right now  have said “I can’t take much more”.  I personally have learned to try and NOT say this.  Each of us goes through things in our lives, and although at the moment doesn’t seem like it, it is to make us stronger and more dependent on God.   We may not understand at the moment, but after the fact when we stop and reflect, we can understand why and be able to encourage and support others when they have that moment in their lives too.

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