Powered By Blogger

Friday, November 30, 2018

Ecclesiastes 19:10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (11/30/2018)...


“No steam or gas drives anything until it is confined. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.”

Harry Emerson Fosdick


Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NLT) Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.


Proverbs 6:9-11 (NLT) But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.



Image: Creative Commons (Wikimedia Commons)

Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (11/29/2018)...


“Our great object in time is not to waste our passions and gifts on the things external that we must leave behind, but that we cultivate within us all that we can carry into the eternal progress beyond.”

Bulwer


Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT) Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.



Image: Creative Commons (Wikimedia Commons)

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Colossians 3:23 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (11/27/2018)...


“Some of us have great runways already built for us. If you have one, take OFF! But if you don’t have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you.”

Amelia Earhart


Colossians 3:23 (NIV) Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters...



Image: Creative Commons (Public Domain)

Monday, November 26, 2018

Exodus 20:3-5 (NIV)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (11/26/2018)...


"An idol is anything you love more, fear more, value more or serve more than you do Almighty God. Fill in the blank."   __________________________

Adrian Rogers  


Exodus 20:3-5 (NIV) You shall have no other gods before me. 

You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God...



Image: Creative Commons (Wikimedia Commons) Attachment.png


Monday, November 19, 2018

Psalm 150:6 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (11/19/2018)...


“You take approximately 23,000 breaths every day, but when was the last time you thanked God for one of them? The process of inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide is a complicated respiratory task that requires physiological precision. We tend to thank God for the things that take our breath away. And that's fine. But maybe we should thank him for every other breath too!”

Mark Batterson, All In (Zondervan, 2013), page 119


Psalms 150:6 (NLT) Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!



Image: Creative Commons (Flickr.com/Ernst Vikne)

Friday, November 16, 2018

Proverbs 15:13 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (11/16/2018)...


“Smiling is infectious; you can catch it like the flu. Some smiled at me today, and I started smiling too.”

Anonymous


“If you smile at someone, they might smile back.”

Anonymous


“Start every day with a smile and get it over with.”

W.C.Fields


“It takes seventeen muscles to smile and forty-three to frown.”

Anonymous


Proverbs 15:13 (NLT) A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.


Proverbs 17:22 (NLT) A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.



Image: Creative Commons (Pinterest.com/Colleen Upton)

Acts 20:34-35 (NLTJ...

FROM TODAY'S READING (11/15/2018)...


“Take a look at those two open hands of yours. They are tools with which to serve, make friends, and reach out for the best in life. Open hands open the way to achievement. Put them to work today.”

Wilfred A. Patterson


Acts of the Apostles 20:34-35 (NLT) You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”



Image: Creative Commons (Google search)

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Joshua 1:9 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (11/14/2018)...


Fate handed the quitter a bump, and he dropped;

The road seemed too rough to go, so he stopped.

He thought of his hurt, and there came to his mind

The easier path he was leaving behind.

“Oh, it’s all much too hard,” said the quitter right then;

“I’ll stop where I am and not try it again.”


He sat by the road and he made up his tale

To tell when men asked why he happened to fail.

A thousand excuses flew up to his tongue,

And these on the thread of his story he strung,

But the truth of the matter he didn’t admit;

He never once said, “I was frightened and quit.”


Whenever the quitter sits down by the road

And drops from the struggle to lighten his load,

He can always recall to his own peace of mind

A string of excuses for falling behind;

But somehow or other he can’t think of one

Good reason for battling and going right on.


Oh, when the bump comes and fate hands you a jar,

Don’t baby yourself, boy, whoever you are;

Don’t pity yourself and talk over your woes;

Don’t think up excuses for dodging the blows.

But stick to the battle and see the thing through.

And don’t be a quitter, whatever you do.

- Edgar A. Guest


Joshua 1:9 (NLT) 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.



Image: Creative Commons (Wikimedia Commons

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Isaiah40:31 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (11/13/2018)...


When the “storms of life” gather darkly ahead,

I think of these wonderful words I once read

And I say to myself as “threatening clouds” hover

Don’t “fold up your wings” and “run for cover”


But like the eagle “spread wide your wings”

and “soar far above” the trouble life brings,

For the eagle knows that the higher he flies

The more tranquil and brighter become the skies…


And there is nothing in life God ever asks us to bear

That we can’t soar above “On the Wings of Prayer,”

And in looking back over the “storm you passed through”

You’ll find you gained strength and new courage, too,


For in facing “life’s storms” with an eagle’s wings

You can fly far above earth’s small, petty things.

by Helen Steiner Rice


Isaiah 40:31 (NLT) 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.



Image: Creative Commons (wallpaper.wiki)

Friday, November 9, 2018

Proverbs 4:25-27 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (11/9/2018)...


“What I focus on in life is what I get. And if I concentrate on how bad I am or how wrong I am or how inadequate I am, if I concentrate on what I can’t do and how there’s not enough time in which to do it, isn’t that what I get every time? And when I think about how powerful I am, and when I think about what I have left to contribute, and when I think about the difference I can make on this planet, then that’s what I get. You see, I recognize that it’s not what happens to you; it’s what you do about it.”

W. Mitchell


Proverbs 4:25-27 (NLT) Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.



Image: Creative Commons (Dimitris Kalogeropoylos’s Flickr photostream)

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Philippians 4:12-13 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (11/8/2018)...


“What I focus on in life is what I get. And if I concentrate on how bad I am or how wrong I am or how inadequate I am, if I concentrate on what I can’t do and how there’s not enough time in which to do it, isn’t that what I get every time? And when I think about how powerful I am, and when I think about what I have left to contribute, and when I think about the difference I can make on this planet, then that’s what I get. You see, I recognize that it’s not what happens to you; it’s what you do about it.”

W. Mitchell


Philippians 4:12-13 (NLT) I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.



Image: Creative Commons (Achieve by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images)




Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Psalm 46:10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (11/7/2018)...


“The silence between the notes makes the music. And lest we forget, the longer the silence, the more incredibly beautiful and powerful the music when it finally swells and the symphony goes on.”

Brianna Wiest


Psalms 46:10 (NLT) Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.


Psalms 62:5-8 (NLT) Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge. Interlude



Image: Creative Commons (Wikimedia Commons/File:MITO Orchestra Sinfonica RAI.jpg)


Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Proverbs 11:14 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (11/6/2018)...


“When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, “just men who will rule in the fear of God.” The preservation of government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty;  if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted;  laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes;  corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws;  the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.”

Noah Webster (1758-1843) Advisor to the Founding Fathers, statesman, educator, lexicographer and author of Webster’s Dictionary. History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1832), pp. 336-337, 349.


Proverbs 11:14 (NLT) Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers.


1 Peter 2:13-17 (NLT) For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. 

It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.



Image: Creative Commons (Flickr/Kelly Minars)

Monday, November 5, 2018

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (11/5/2018)...


“Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.”

Pericles


1 Timothy 2:1-4 NLT I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.



Image: Creative Commons (Wikimedia Commons)

Friday, November 2, 2018

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4-7 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (11/2/2018)...


“When you have got an elephant by the hind legs and he is trying to run away, it’s best to let him run.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)


Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4-7 (NLT) For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.

A time to cry and a time to laugh. 

A time to grieve and a time to dance. 

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. 

A time to embrace and a time to turn away. 

A time to search and a time to quit searching. 

A time to keep and a time to throw away. 

A time to tear and a time to mend. 

A time to be quiet and a time to speak.



Image: (Creativecommons.org/ Ross Huggett)

Thursday, November 1, 2018

James 2:14-17 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (11/1/2018)...


“It is good to dream, but it is better to dream and work. Faith is mighty, but action with faith is mightier. Desiring is helpful, but work and desire are invincible.”

Thomas Robert Gaines


James 2:14-17 (NLT) What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.



Image: Creative Commons (russiansilver photo)