Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (4/14/2016)...

Art Linkletter saw a small boy drawing a picture. He inquired, "What are you drawing?" The small boy replied, "A picture of God."

Linkletter told the lad that no one knows what God looks like, to which the boy confidently responded, "They will when I get through."

- Unknown

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.

2 Corinthians 5:6-9 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (4/13/2016)...

Three men were walking on a wall,

Feeling, Faith and Fact,

When Feeling got an awful fall,

And Faith was taken back.

So close was Faith to Feeling,

He stumbled and fell too,

But Fact remained,

And pulled Faith back

And Faith brought feeling too.

~Author Unknown

2 Corinthians 5:6-9 (NIV) Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (MSG/paraphrase) That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming.

Matthew 6:31-34 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (4/11/2016)...

"Don't worry about the world ending today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." 

- Charles M. Schulz (American cartoonist)

Matthew 6:31-34 (NLT) So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

1 Corinthians 11:21-27 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (4/8/2016)...

"If you are going through hell, keep going."

- Winston Churchill

APOSTLE PAUL'S RESPONCE TO THOSE WHO WERE CRITICIZING HIM...

1 Corinthians 11:21-27 (NLT) "But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too. 

Are they Hebrews? So am I. 

Are they Israelites? So am I. 

Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 

Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! 

I have worked harder, 

been put in prison more often, 

been whipped times without number, 

and faced death again and again. 

Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 

Three times I was beaten with rods. 

Once I was stoned. 

Three times I was shipwrecked. 

Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 

I have traveled on many long journeys. 

I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. 

I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. 

I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. 

And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 

I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. 

I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. 

I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.”

   Philippians 3:12-14 (NLT) "I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

Proverbs 13:4 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (4/7/2016)...

Opportunity is missed by people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

- Thomas Alva Edison

Proverbs 13:4 (NLT) Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.

 Proverbs 14:23 (NLT) Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!

Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV) Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

1 Corinthians 13:3-7 (MSG)..,

FROM TODAY'S READING (4/6/2016)...

"Love doesn't have a price tag."

- Unknown 

1 Corinthians 13:3-7 (MSG The Message) If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. 

Love cares more for others than for self. 

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. 

Love doesn’t strut, 

Doesn’t have a swelled head, 

Doesn’t force itself on others, 

Isn’t always “me first,” 

Doesn’t fly off the handle, 

Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, 

Doesn’t revel when others grovel, 

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, 

Puts up with anything, 

Trusts God always, 

Always looks for the best, 

Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.

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

FROM TODAY'S READING (4/5/2016)...

God's plan has much more to do with who we are becoming as it does what we are accomplishing. We often want him to work through us; he wants to work in us.

Philippians 2:12-18 (NLT) Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. 

Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share