Happy Thanksgiving 2019!

Wishing You A Happy Thanksgiving 2019

Happy Thanksgiving 2019

May your day be filled with joy, but even more importantly, gratitude for the One Who gave His own life so that you could have Eternal Life.

Gratitude = Praise

How would you describe gratitude?

Saying thanks

Appreciating all of God’s blessings

A thankful heart is one of the primary identifying characteristics of a believer. It stands in stark contrast to pride, selfishness, and worry. And it helps fortify the believer’s trust in the Lord and reliance of His provision, even in the toughest times. No matter how choppy the seas become, a believer’s heart is buoyed by constant praise and gratefulness to the Lord.1 – John MacArthur, Pastor and Bible Teacher, Grace To You.

Thank You Jesus

A.W Tozer offers another great description of gratitude here.

Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer, but richer for having made it.2A.W. Tozer, Christian theologian and author.

As we close out another year, I wanted to take this opportunity to say that I am deeply thankful to all of you who have visited my blog posts over the years. I have watched the number of visitors grow over time, more than I could have imagined.

All glory to God forever!

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1 John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of Crosswalk.com. 14 November, 2016. #12. Web. Accessed 12 November, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/inspiring-quotes/30-christian-quotes-about-thankfulness.html

2 A.W.Tozer (1897-1963) quotation, courtesy of Crosswalk.com. n.d. Web. Accessed 14 November, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/inspiring-quotes/30-christian-quotes-about-thankfulness.html

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Sometimes We Just Need To Laugh

Sometimes We Just Need To Laugh

This is in my heart today.

I’m getting ready to say something profound here.

As you know, the word “profound” means “deep.”

So here goes.

sometimes we just need to laugh

We can’t let the actions of some ruin our joy in the Lord and tamper with our Christian witness.

There are a lot of bad things going on in America, of course.

Additionally, there are still groups of people in this country who are trying to divide us and turn us all against each other.

I have to say that, and I’m also looking in the mirror at myself, we can’t let them steal our joy for any long length of time.

Where’s That Remote?

turn it off

There’s an adage that says: “Misery loves company.”

Sounds to me like a great reason to turn off the negative news when it gets to be too much.

In our fallen world, suffering, doubts, confusion, and the like are earthly certainties.

We can count on it.

Fortunately, these frustrations and times of sorrow are only temporary.

We can (thank the Lord) count on that.

Dear Christian, someday when we reach Heaven, our tears become a thing of the past.

And here’s an added blessing:

There’s no political infighting in Heaven.

I’m looking forward to that, aren’t you?

I love this take-away from John MacArthur:

God is not a cosmic killjoy. I know some people who believe He is.

They think God runs around saying, “There’s one having fun; get him!” They believe God wants to rain on everybody’s parade.

But that isn’t so.

God made you. He knows how you operate best. And He knows what makes you happy. The happiness He gives doesn’t stop when the party’s over. It lasts because it comes from deep within. – Pastor and teacher, John MacArthur, from Grace To You.

Meanwhile …

What can we do about all this Debby Downer “news” thrown at us every day?

Don’t lose our sense of humor!

We can remember with gratitude God’s gifts to us of joy and laughter.

Those gifts are still there, tucked in our brain closets somewhere underneath all the negative breaking news.

Joy and laughter can help us deal with this crazy world we’re living in right now.

Remember what makes you smile.

For me, it’s my silly dogs and husband. (Joanna Gaines and I have the “silly husband” thing in common.)

Also for me, it’s the close friends I have, who love to laugh just as much as I do.

Why do my embarrassing moments always happen in public?

What makes you laugh?

Perhaps an embarrassing moment?

C’mon, you know you have at least one.

You can tell me, no one else will know  😉

 

then sings my soul

Here’s one of mine from years ago.

One evening, our church was having its annual potluck dinner, complete with a Choir Special.

By “Choir Special,” I mean our choir sang about eleven rousing songs after the dinner portion of the evening.

It was a great night. We pigged out on delicious home-cooked food, cracked up at the tables, and then it was time for all of us who were choir members to get into place up front. We had five minutes to run and use the restroom.

You know how girls are. A bunch of us ran to the restrooms. 🙂

After that, we got into place up front in our designated spots.

As we all stood there facing the crowd about ready to begin, I suddenly felt self-conscious and subtly checked the zipper to my pants. They were zipped up, yes indeedy, but the zipper broke, and my pants began to flap open.

Two words.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Noooooooooooooooo!

It was too late; I couldn’t run or hide.

I crossed my arms over the broken zipper and held my pants up for eleven very long songs. Every other choir member was moving and swaying to the music, but I had to stand there motionless, or the crowd would have gotten more of a show than they bargained for!

That kind of thing seems to happen to me.

In public, in front of everyone.

Sometimes ya just gotta laugh.

God Created Joy And Laughter

I’m looking forward to “Eternal” joy and laughter.

How about you?

That will be a blessed day to come.

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*John MacArthur quotation, as quoted, from Christian quotes.info.

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Happy Easter 2017

Happy Easter 2017!

Are you ready for Easter?

We sure are!

Easter 2017

It’s such a beautiful and blessed time of year.

We are celebrating life at our house, in more ways than one.

Spring flowers are blooming in our garden.

Easter 2017

The weather is getting much better, and hopefully, no more hail stones for awhile. Our flowers took a pounding from the recent storm, but they’re coming back, more beautiful than ever.

Life in all its beauty, given to us by God alone.

An Easter Surprise

*NG just sent us her latest coloring project.

Isn’t she talented?

We love this little Easter blessing from one of our sponsor children.

Easter is here

He is Risen indeed!

Christ alone is our hope, and through Him, we can have salvation and eternal life. Praise the Lord!

Victory, Not Failure

The Cross was not a failure.

Please don’t let anyone steal your joy saying something heretical like that.

As Christians, we know by our faith that we have victory through the Cross, not defeat.

Did Christ rise from the dead?

Jesus told his disciples it would happen. See Matthew 20:18-19. Not believing these very words of our Savior is a marker that a person’s faith is on shaky ground.

The Key To Life Everlasting

We deserve nothing more than God’s wrath. Our penalty, rightfully, is death, but God loves us so much that He sent His Son to bear our punishment.

**Only God could know what it would take to make a sinner acceptable to Him so that that sinner could escape eternal hell and live in the very presence of God in His own house.

 

Only God could determine how the spiritual nature and the supreme authority and the unchangeable perfection of His law which is holy, just and good could be completely satisfied and the lawbreaker completely justified and rightly and purely forgiven and accepted, though fallen, guilty and depraved. – Pastor-teacher, John MacArthur, from Grace To You.

Forgiven And Accepted

Christ died for those He saves. As wretched sinners deserving only God’s punishment, we can fully embrace His love in our brokenness.

Happy Easter 2017

From our home to yours, wishing a joyous Easter to you and yours!

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*NG’s fullname withheld for privacy.
**John MacArthur quote is from a sermon originally appearing here at Grace to You

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