Good Things

Sunday, July 20, 2014

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD:

16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. - 2 Thessalonians 2: 16-17(New International Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD:

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever. - Isaiah 40:8(New International Version).

A QUOTE:

God built spiritual lessons into nature itself, and we can learn from creatures even as tiny as an ant. - Dennis Fisher -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER:

Confession to God ensures forgiveness. - From Our Daily Bread -

God's gifts are given to us on behalf of others. - From Reflecting God -

What you fall for is determined by what you stand for. - From Reminisce Magazine -

NOTES:

Today has been mostly sunny with a high temperature of 86 degrees. I attended Worship Services this morning. We had a wonderful service with the usual choruses, hymns, spiritual songs and some testimonies. I have misplaced my church bulletin from this morning (I will find it again later), but if I remember correctly, Pastor JT's sermon was on "(Re) Defining Normal." He can correct me if I am wrong and I will send a correction next time. I had lunch at home. I took a long nap this afternoon. Emmy, Smokey and Tony were with me part of the time. I really didn't intend to sleep as long as I did but I just didn't wake up. I never set an alarm any more even to get up in the morning. I put treats outside for the cats around 6:15 p.m. and sat with them for a few minutes. I put the garbage out on the street around 6:45 p.m. I have two of those large blue containers they use for the morning's pick up since I had my house deep cleaned yesterday and lots of "stuff" was thrown away. I appreciate each of you who read the Good Things from an old geezer like me. It is getting a little more difficult as time goes along but I am trying to hang in there a while longer. I appreciate your notes.

The cats are fine. Rascal is asleep on a desk near me. Lucy is asleep in the floor near my feet. The rest are elsewhere but they have all been seen this evening.

Have a nice Monday. Everett.

Good Things

Saturday, July 19, 2014

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD:

4 Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. 5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath. - Psalm 39:4-5(New International Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD:

(Jesus said) 32 "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. - John 12:32-33(New International Version).

A QUOTE:

Going to church on Sunday cannot substitute for maintaining justice on Monday. - Alvin S. Lawhead -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER:

Aim for the sky, even if you hit only the treetop. - From Reminisce Magazine -

Our words have the power to build up or tear down. - From Our Daily Bread -

What will matter in the end is not so much what you possess but what possesses you. - From Reflecting God -

NOTES:

I am running late tonight so I will just tell you that my cats and I are ok. I have seen all of them this evening. I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday. Everet

Empowerment of the Spirit Filled

From:"Journey into the Spirit Empowered Life" by Rev. Chris Vennetti, founder of Disciple Nations.

Too many of our families have suffered spiritual death due to a lack of love in the home. As we prepare our lives to be vessels of God's Spirit we can believe Him to fill us with is love and transform every aspect of our family.

Ask the Holy Spirit how He would have your marriage/family begin to go deeper in your unconditional love for one another. ...

In Taiwan, there was a man who claimed to be a Christian, but he was in the habit of beating his wife. As a result she had vowed that if this was Christianity, she wanted nothing to do with it. Their daughter became a Christian and heard about the teaching of establishing God's Kingdom in the family. She was instructed that even if one member of the family is born again, they can shift the spiritual atmosphere of the home.

As a result, she began to personally ask God's Spirit to establish His Kingdom in their family. She began to be a Spirit-Empowered vessel of His Life to those around her. As a result of this shift in her lifestyle and the spiritual fruit that was coming from her life, within a short period of time, God had so changed the heart of her mother that she began asking her daughter questions about Jesus. Soon after this , her mother gave her life to Jesus Christ. She then forgave her husband and began to love him unconditionally, in spite of his past sins against her.

The man was so touched by this undeserved love that he surrendered his life to Jesus Christ as well. The whole family then began seeking Jesus together! Praise God.

Good Things

Thursday, July 17, 2014

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD:

(Jesus said) 37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." - Luke 6:37-38(New International Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD:

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word. - Psalm 119:9(New International Version). A QUOTE:

The true way and the sure way to friendship is through humility - being open to each other, accepting each other just as we are, knowing each other. - Mother Teresa -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER:

Christian hospitality is an open heart and an open home. - From Our Daily Bread -

Commitment is made up of promises kept day by day. - From Reminisce Magazine -

Each single act of love bears the imprint of God. - From Thank You For Being a Friend -

NOTES:

Yesterday afternoon, last night and today we have had periods of rain. Most of the time it has been light rain but I have received over an inch of rain at my house. The high temperature today was 69 which broke the all time record for the coolest high temperature on this date. I had lunch with Charley and our nephew, Denton. I went to the post office. I took a nap this afternoon. Itty Bitty snuggled with me for a little while and then went to sleep some other place. At 6:00 p.m. I made a trip to Walmart for a couple of items and stopped by Wendy's and brought home a cheeseburger, fries and a lemonade drink for my evening meal. I missed the Good Things last night. My back was hurting a little and I just didn't feel up to doing them. Thanks for reading and thanks for writing. I thought you might like to hear some other person's notes on the Great Depression so I will include a paragraph from Geneva at the end of the Good Things. Geneva lives in a suburb of Chicago at the present time.

The cats are fine. None are with me at present but they have been coming and going most of the evening. We are still having a little light rain. I have seen all of the cats this evening, including Friendly who Michelle was asking about.

Have a nice Friday. Everett.

Here is Geneva's note:

Jul 16 at 7:29 AM

You'll probably get some other stories back after they've read that Depression story. I have one - I was born at the end of the Depression, but we still suffered from it at times. I remember that we didn't have enough meat to eat at times and Daddy would go out hunting squirrels in order to have some for breakfast. My Mother was a very good cook and had learned to, as the old saying goes, "put the big pot in the little one" so that we all had enough to eat. Many times, a chicken that wasn't laying eggs well enough would be the main thing for Sunday dinner. I also learned to love the milk that was churned and the butter skimmed from the top and the milk allowed to make buttermilk. I learned that a good after school snack was some buttermilk with cornbread crumbled in it. As a result of having well water, healthy food and my Mother teaching me, I never had even one cavity until I came to Chicago to work. I boarded with a family here and she was always making something sweet for dessert. I was not a big sweet eater, but I did begin to get cavities. Farm life was a lot of hard work with little pay, but I think we were healthier for the most part.

Good Things

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD:

30 I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; 31 thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. 32 I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest - 34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. - Proverbs 24:30-34(New International Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD:

2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. - 1 John 3:2(New International Version).

A QUOTE:

The Holy Spirit is a powerful Person in our lives - even though we can't see Him. - Bill Crowder -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER:

How much you know matters less than how much you care. - From Reminisce Magazine -

If a fish escapes, it was a big one. - From Reminisce Magazine -

To love God is to obey God. - From Our Daily Bread -

LOOKING BACK IN MY LIFE:

This time I will write about some wild animals that we encountered when I was a boy growing up on the farm in the Great Depression. The opossum was hunted in winter. The open season for hunting opossums was from December 1 to January 31. We would skin the opossum and cure and sell the fur for extra spending money. There was never much money during those days on the farm. I remember one summer I saw a mother opossum with several babies on her back attached to her tail. The cottontail rabbit was hunted in the winter for food. I remember running the rabbits into a hollow log and reaching my hand into the log to pull them out. (I was told that my father was bitten by a Copperhead Snake by reaching his hand into a hollow log. He cut little gashes in the teeth marks and sucked the blood and poison out and spit it out. Apparently he didn't suffer much from the bite.) The rabbits were not eaten in the summer. Perhaps because some of them had warts on them in the summer. The squirrel was also hunted for food in every season to the year. A squirrel would have to be shot with a gun because they would climb trees and had a terrible bite if handled. Many times the squirrel would escape into a hole in the tree. The skunk was also hunted for their furs. Our family never hunted skunks because of the odor that they emitted that was almost impossible to get out of clothing. We had to hunt and kill some animals during the Great Depression for food and additional income. I do not kill animals now although I do eat meat.

NOTES:

Today has been partly cloudy with a high temperature of 82 degrees. I had lunch with Charley. I went to the post office. From the post office I went to Walmart for my weekly supplies. I took a nap and when I awakened Rascal was on the bed with me. I thought that I would just lie there a little while and pet him but I went back to sleep and slept quite a bit longer. I put treats outside for the cats at around 6:15 p.m. and sat with them for a few minutes. I appreciate each one who reads the Good Things and sends an email.

The cats are fine. Lucy is in the floor near my feet. Rascal is on a desk near me and Smokey is on his tv tray. I have seen all of them this evening.

Have a nice Wednesday. Everett