A Minute of Care

The Lord often shows His care for us through the care of Christian friends.  Today, a friend who already was running late, took a minute to ask, "How are you doing?"  God was loving me through my friend. 

Yet, there are times when we need a friend and the question is not asked or there is nobody who takes time for us.  Even so, come Lord Jesus.

TV~  (Today's Verse)
There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.  [Proverbs 18:24]

Coercion vs. Choice

Satan will use coercion to sway us.  Our own sinful desires will coerce us, namely  the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the boastful pride of life.


God is love.  He wants us to accept his offer of Love, but he will not coerce.  He gives us a choice and will lovingly draw us. 


TV~  (Today's Verse)
Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?  [Romans 2:4]

Ashes

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent in the Western Christian calendar.  It takes place 46 days before Easter.  Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert, where he endured tempation by Satan.   

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of this 40-day liturgical period of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  Of the 46 days until Easter, six are Sundays.  Sundays are not included in the fasting period and are instead "feast" days during Lent.

Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes (formally called The Imposition of Ashes) on the foreheads of adherents as a reminder of human mortality and as a sign of mourning and repentance to God.  The ashes used are typically gathered from the burning of the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday


Ash Wednesday is observed by many Christian denominations, including Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans, and Presbyterians, among many others.   (Adapted from Wikipedia)

TV~  (Today's Verse) 
 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.  [Daniel 9:3]

Aliens

Our faith in Christ makes us aliens.  This world is not our dream home; it is a temporary place on the way to the mansion awaiting us.  The mansion that won't need to be dusted or repaired.  An incorruptible inheritance in every way!

TV~  (Today's Verse)
By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;…[Hebrews 11:9]

Our First Concern

Our first goal in life is to press towards the kingdom of God.

"If worldly concerns are our first focus, we will eventually resent God." ~Rt. Rev. David L. Moyer

TV~  (Today's Verse)
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. [Matthew 6:33]

Praying for Our Children

Years back, I knew a single mother with five children.  Her children were making godly, wise choices as young adults.  Someone asked her what her secret was.  She said, "It is all prayer."


I encountered this same mother recently and reminded her of her tribute to the power of prayer.  She said, "When you think you've prayed enough, pray some more." 


To be alone with God in prayer cannot be overemphasized. (Streams in the Desert)


TV~  (Today's Verse)
Pray continually.  [I Thessalonians 5:17]

One Step Enough for Me

"God never shows me the big picture.  He only shows me the next step," my closest friend said twenty years ago.  As time has progressed, I have found this to be true.
 




This is echoed in the words penned by Blessed John Henry Newman:






"Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th'encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Dwd3hd-j4


TV~  (Today's Verse)
By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take. [Nehemiah 9:12]