Galatians 6:7-10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/31/2018)...

NEW YEAR THOT...

“Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter.”

New Tribes Mission

Galatians 6:7-10 (NLT) Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

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Philippians 4:8 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/28/2018)...

NEW YEAR THOT...

“Maybe this year…walk through the rooms of our lives not looking for flaws, but potential.”

Ellen Goodman

Philippians 4:8 hNLT) And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

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Ephesians 4:21-24 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/27/2018)...

NEW YEAR THOT...

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better [person].”

Benjamin Franklin

Ephesians 4:21-24 (NLT) Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

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James 4:14 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/26/2018)...

NEW YEAR THOT...

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”

Michael Altshuler

James 4:14 (NLT) How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.

Ephesians 5:15-17 (NLT) So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

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Luke 2:8-12 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/20/2018)...

CHRISTMAS THOT...

“Did you know the word 'joy' appears 8 times in the Christmas Story? And if we aren't careful, we will miss out on the joy that God promises us this Christmas.”

Rick Warren 

Luke 2:8-12 (NLT) That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

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Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/19/2018)...

CHRISTMAS THOT...

“Christmas can't be bought from a store . . . Maybe Christmas means a little bit more.”

Dr.Seuss 

Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV) For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

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Matthew 2:1-2 (NIV)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/18/2018)...

CHRISTMAS THOT...

“Three Wise WOMEN would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, bought practical gifts, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and there would be peace on earth!”

Anonymous

Matthew 2:1-2 (NIV) After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

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1 Timothy 4:4-5 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/17/2018)...

CHRISTMAS THOT...

“The worst gift is a fruitcake. There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other.”

Johnny Carson

1 Timothy 4:4-5 (NIV) For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

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Psalm 139:14 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/14/2018)...

“I’m not weird. I’m limited edition.”

unknown

Psalms 139:14 (NLT) Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

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1 Peter 2:11-12 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/13/2018)...

“You can’t act like a skunk without someone getting wind of it.”

Lorene Workman.

1 Peter 2:11-12 (NLT) Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

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Proverbs 3:13-18 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/12/2018)...

“I’m stronger because I had to be, I’m smarter because of my mistakes, happier because of the sadness I’ve known, and now wiser because I’ve learned.”

unknown

Proverbs 3:13-18 (NLT) Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold. Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. She offers you long life in her right hand, and riches and honor in her left. She will guide you down delightful paths; all her ways are satisfying. Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.

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Titus 2:12-14 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/11/2018)...

“I am learning to love the sound of my feet walking away from the things not meant for me.”

unknown

Titus 2:12-14 (NLT) And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

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Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/10/2018)...

“One never finds life worth living. One always has to make it worth living.”

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.

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2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/6/2018)...

“Resolved, to live with all my might while I do live.

Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.

Resolved, never to do anything which I should despise or think meanly of in another.

Resolved, never to do anything out of revenge.

Resolved, never to do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.”

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT) For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

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Deuteronomy 31m6 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/5/2018)..

“It takes courage to live–courage and strength and hope and humor. And courage and strength and hope and humor have to be bought and paid for with pain and work and prayers and tears.”

Jerome P. Fleisham

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT) So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/4/2018)..

Promise Yourself –

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

Christian D. Larson (1912)

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NLT) So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

Ephesians 4:29 (NLT) Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

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Psalm 71:18 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (12/3/2018)..

“They said I was too old when I tried to get a job. Why, I’ve done more since I was ‘too old’ than most young women.”

Grandma Gatewood (“Grandma Gatewood’s Walk” The inspiring story of the woman who saved the Appalachian Trail by  Ben Montgomery)

Psalms 71:18 (NLT) Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.

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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.

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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.

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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...

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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...

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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!

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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