Be strong and courageous!

This is my command:
Be strong and courageous!
Do not be afraid or discouraged.
For the LORD your God is with you
Wherever you go!
Joshua 1:9

We are simple characters in God´s story
He is the main character.
God does not need perfect characters.
He needs real people with human hearts,
Broken ones, wounded, hoping, searching...
Let Him use you to tell his story.

The Holy Spirit has given you everything you need.
Ask Him for boldness and strength to do whatever
He wants for you to do!
Live transparent lives!
Laying self aside.
Courage is not the absence of fear but the knowledge
That there is something greater.

God is Love.
And He has poured this love into our hearts.
We are to be His witnesses,
Telling people about Him everywhere,
Till the end of the world.
May love be our greatest aim!

On wings like eagles!

But those who trust in the LORD
Will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31

Even to your old age...

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He,
I am He who sustains you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
Isaiah 46:4

My friend Doña María is 93 years old.
I see her every Thursday when she comes to tea!
She cannot come on her own,
 we must take care she will not fall
So arm in arm we go!

Her voice is shaky
and her eyes are watery
but her beautiful heart shines
illuminating us all
as she prays and smiles!

I missed her today,
 she was not feeling well
and had to keep to her bed.
Please pray for her
and for her husband who loves her so!

For sixty long years they have been married
Just looking at them makes me cry
 They are so tender and beloved
so sweet to each other
so full of God's love!

Giving Thanks!

My dad would always tell us that life is like a glass half full of water but also half empty of it. Depending on our out-look, we will choose to see one or the other.

To give thanks in all circumstances is highly recommended.
It will be our attitude that will make the difference.
We cannot change some circumstances.
We cannot change people around us but we are certainly in charge of our attitude!

God is in control and He knows the way!
We must trust Him!
He might be preparing us for the future!
Training us!

It is the humble and the meek that will inherit the earth.
Here lies our true strength.
"Be still and know that I am God"...
"In quietness and in trust shall be your strength!"
It is in the difficult moments that we learn to depend on Him.
Coming face to face with our own limitations in so necessary!

Pray whatever the circumstances.
Pray no matter how hard the chances.
God promises to come through!
Pray...
And in everything give Thanks!
This is the will of God.
We can even thank Him for the half empty glass!!! :)

David wrote in Psalm 23:
Because the LORD is my Shepherd I have everything that I need.
In Him we are complete.
In Him we lack nothing.
In Him we move and live and have our being!

Without Him we can do nothing!
So let’s abide in Him!
I am willing to go through all the tests and trials once again just because it was then that I learnt to know Him more!
And because with each consolation I am able to comfort others with that same comfort!
I thank God for being able to share this with you, beloved reader!
I thank God for you and I pray right now that you may know the richness of his love, the joy of His company, the comfort of his words and the power of his mighty strength and hope!
God bless you!

A new sunrise!

The LORD brings healing
to all the brokenness inside;
Even our relationships
will find a new sunrise.
New memories can be built
for every dream that died.
Nothing is impossible for God.
He gives sight to the blind,
Purpose to the lost,
Cleansing from our sins
that we may share in his holiness
and walk by his side.
He has given us new lives.
Through the truth of his word
He will make us wise
as we listen to his instructions
and follow them
As a man who builds his house upon the rock
even in the fiercest storm
it will not collapse
for those who do the will of God
will live forever in his home.
Let’s lift up our praises
to him who sits on the throne,
to him who died and rose again
to take us with himself!

Look to the stars!

Two men looked through the same bars:
One sees mud, and one the stars.

The two men who looked through the same prison bars reacted in widely different fashions to the stress factors in their confinement: one was frustrated by the bars, whereas the other, subjected to the identical environment, was inspired by the stars.

All of us are subjected to many stress factors in our daily lives, but that does not mean we have to develop inner stress.

Try to diversify the stressful factors so as to avoid fatigue.

There are three angles of life:

Worship, Work and play!

Daily Bible reading, prayer and attendance to Church services are of great value.

Our attitude of mind is a most important factor in determining wether we shall suffer from exposure to life´s daily stress. Our tendency is to start blaming others around us instead of blaming our troubles on our faulty reactions to those people.
Chronic brooding over sorrows and insults indicates faulty adaptation.
The most common form of faulty reaction is self-pity.

Here is an important key to longer and happier living.
We hold the key and can decide wether stress is going to work for us or against us.
Our attitude decides wether stress makes us "better or bitter".

Avoid a long and continued exposure to severe stress agents, without resting.

"Come ye yourselves apart into a dessert place and rest awhile..." Jesus invited his disciples to rest.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength comes to perfection where there is weakness.So I am happy to take pride rather in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may abide in me. I delight therefore in weaknesses, in insults, in needy circumstances, in persecutions, in dire calamities, all on account of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong".

By Dr. S.I.McMillen, M.D.

Declaring His glory!

The heavens declare the glory of God,
The skies proclaim the work of His hands!
Psalm 19:1

The LORD is my light and my salvation
Whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life
Of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1

It was our grief He bore!

Tears came to Master's eyes.
Jn 11:35

A man of sorrows,
Acquainted with bitterest grief.
Is.53: 3,4

It was our grief He bore,
Our sorrows that weighed him down.
Heb. 12:6

When He punishes you,
It proves that He loves you.
When He whips you,
It proves you are really His child!

Being punished isn't enjoyable
While it is happening:
It hurts!!!

But afterwards we can see the result,
A quiet growth in grace and character.

So take a new grip with your tired hands,
Stand firm on your shaky legs
And make out a straight, smooth path for your feet.
Heb. 12: 11 to 13

Keep on keeping on!

Filled with his mighty,
Glorious strength
So that you can keep going
No matter what happens
Always full of the joy of the LORD!
Col. 1:11

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows;
But take courage, I have overcome the world!
Jn. 16:33

Abraham never doubted.
He believed God,
For his faith and trust grew stronger.
Rom. 4:20

Taste and see that the LORD is Good;
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Psalm 34:8

His arms enfold you!

A time to confess
everything to my Lord
A time to refresh
my tired, wounded soul
 My Gentle Shepherd,
 I come just like a lamb
to feel your arms enfold
and secure me for evermore!
You have made me glad
You have made me smile
Save me, I plead
from all that is inside
Take me to Heaven
forever by your side!

Eager searching of wisdom...

A day of quietness
in eager searching of Wisdom
A day of rest
in the assurance of his Word.

His Truth is a balm
to the brokennes inside
He restores my heart
and heals my every sore!

In His arms of LOVE
total solace, I finally find
a sense of belonging
of being truly ONE!

Worship his Majesty!

O LORD,
Our LORD,
How majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8:9

Be patient!

Be patient in trouble.
Rom 12:12

It is the LORD'S will.
Let him do what He thinks best.
1st Samuel 3:18

The LORD gave me everything I had,
And they were His to take away.
Job 1:21

Even if I were sinless
I wouldn't say a word.
I would only plead for mercy.
Job 9:15

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
And your lips with shouts of joy!
Job 8:21

He watches over you!

He will not let your foot slip
He who watches over you will not slumber;
Indeed, He who watches over Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep!

Psalm 121: 3, 4.

Looking up!

Above all kingdoms,
above all rulers,
above all created beings
you stand, my LORD and KING!
Above all else you ARE and have always BEEN!
And just to think
that I belong to You,
completely and irrevocably Yours!
I love you with all my mind, soul and strength.
I present myself before you and no one else,
here in the solitude of your awesome presence,
in the bright quietness of confesion,
in the soft breeze of the fresh morning
I come to You,
I will always come to You!
I breathe because of You!
I love you with all that I am!
I come, I wait,
speak, my LORD,
my Life!
Amen.

He will tenderly comfort you!

Dear Friends,

Don´t be bewildered or surprised
when you go through the fiery trials ahead,
for this is no strange, unusual thing. Instead,

be really glad-
because these trials will make you part
with Christ in His suffering,
and afterwards
you will have the wonderful joy
of sharing his glory
in that coming day when it will be displayed!

1st Peter 4: 12,13

God will tenderly confort you
when you undergo these same sufferings.
He will give you the strength to endure!

2nd Corinthians 1:7

Unfailing sympathy!

God has not promised
skies always blue,
flower-strewn pathways
all our lives through.
God has not promised
sun without rain,
joy without sorrow,
peace without pain.

But God has promised
strength for the day,
rest for the laborer,
light on the way,
grace for the trial,
help from above,
unfailing sympathy,
undying love.

Annie Johnson Flint