Thursday Thankfulness & Friday Foto Friends

Here it is Thursday evening, and it seems like it's been a long time since I wrote anything, even though it really was only this past Tuesday...You know the old saying, "Time flies when you're having fun!"

Well, I really can't say that I've been having all that much fun. Mainly just trying to keep busy and out of trouble. LOL.  We've tried to take walks each evening, but tonight it is 88 degrees at 6:49 p.m., and to me that's just too hot to go walking.  So I will share with you the most exciting photos I've taken the past couple of days...The beautiful yellow flower above is a cactus "rose". It's always a wonder to me that cactus plants have such beautiful flowers!  But you'd better be careful trying to pick one for a bouquet!  You just might get pricked by a thorn!

2 Timothy 3:3-5

3 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

As we were walking down the road I noticed something shining in the sunlight over  under the trees, and upon closer inspection it turned out to be a broken green beer bottle...but isn't it pretty?

The emerald green glass just shimmered in the sunlight. The photo doesn't really do it justice!

But if you look closer, you will see a jagged edge and sharp point sticking up. Again...something to be very cautious about trying to pick up or you might get cut! (I didn't touch it).

Colossians 2:8

8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

The last interesting photo was something that also caught my attention out of the corner of my eye as I walked by...a green bunny! Well, maybe not a real bunny, but a cactus bunny! Again, not a cuddly bunny that you'd want to try and pick up and snuggle with!

In each case, an undiscerning person could have mistaken the beautiful item and tried to pick it up, only to be pricked or possibly badly cut.  It just goes to show that not everything that is pleasing to the eye is good for us. Sometimes that is a difficult lesson to learn in life.  We can easily be fooled by things or even people who look good on the outside, but when you get too close you can be hurt. 

 1 John 4:1

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

There's a lot of "false prophets", people following the "traditions of men" rather than of God,  and those who are totally self-centered, lovers of themselves rather than lovers of that which is good and holy.   God's Word tells us to turn away from such people.  Be careful, lest we also get caught  up in their false teaching and web of lies.  

I am thankful to God for the good teachers/preachers/and friends who are in our lives, helping to point us to the truth and warning us of danger ahead.  

Our Pastor does a wonderful job of preaching /teaching God's Word each Sunday. 

This past week his message came from John 15, "Abiding in the Vine".

If you start at the beginning you will hear/see our choir singing the old hymn

"I Know Whom I have Believed".  I was surprised when we ended up singing that song this past Sunday, because I had just shared it with you (from the internet) in a recent post HERE. But that was another group singing it, and here on this video our little choir is singing it from our hearts. Maybe you'd like to sing along with us (again!)

"I know not why God’s wondrous grace

To me He hath made known,

Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love

Redeemed me for His own.

Refrain:

But “I know Whom I have believed,

And am persuaded that He is able

To keep that which I’ve committed

Unto Him against that day.”

I know not how this saving faith

To me He did impart,

Nor how believing in His Word

Wrought peace within my heart.

Refrain

I know not how the Spirit moves,

Convincing men of sin,

Revealing Jesus through the Word,

Creating faith in Him.

Refrain

I know not when my Lord may come,

At night or noonday fair,

Nor if I walk the vale with Him,

Or meet Him in the air.

Refrain:

But “I know Whom I have believed,

And am persuaded that He is able

To keep that which I’ve committed

Unto Him against that day.”

I am so thankful that our church still loves to sing the old hymns. They are so rich and filled with good doctrine and theology.  We also sing some beloved choruses and praise songs, but they are interspersed between the hymns, making a very precious time of worship. I look forward to this time of worship and praise each week. It is a wonderful way to end the old week and begin the new.  

Oh, as I mentioned in my last post that our son and sweet DIL were going to Minnesota for a few weeks, I wanted to share something with you that was a surprise. They called us this evening to check in with us, which we greatly appreciate as we really miss them being close by!  They had some interesting news...today they went to a Walmart to do some shopping, and a woman came up to my DIL out of the blue and asked her if her name was "Rose". She said yes, and the woman, who seemed very pleasant, introduced herself as "Doreen" (I think that's what she said), and she said that she recognized her from reading my blog!!! She said that she doesn't make comments on my blog, but she often reads it, and she recognized Rose from pictures I've shared here!  Well, you can imagine Rose was a bit surprised, and so was I when she told me about it. Amazing, that someone "just happened" to recognize her in a crowd of people in a Walmart over a 1000 miles away from home!  It certainly is a small world! So, Doreen, if you are reading this, please send me a message or comment and introduce yourself to me as I would love to meet you also and get acquainted with you! It also goes to show us that we may have a bigger audience than we realize and therefore we should always remember to be kind and speak with love and truth...as we never know who may be reading...or who may need a word of hope or encouragement.  For all we know, we could be the lifeline they are needing just at that moment. What we do here matters!!!

John 15: 5, 11

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

Amen! 

Have a blessed weekend!!

Never Fear - UPDATED 2-6-18

2-6-18  UPDATE TO THIS STORY:  Thank you all for your words of kindness regarding the break-in at my MIL's house last night. Thankfully it appears that the robbers did not get anything from inside the house, even though they had broken down the door to the laundry room and left their crowbar inside. They did steal some items that were in the carport. It appears that they may have been scared off before they could take anything else. Praise God! And it also appears that they did not do any other damage inside the house.  My husband and I both said it is as though an angel may have guarded the interior of the home and kept them from moving forward.  We give thanks to the Lord for His protection over her home.  


I've been sitting here reading my blogging friends' various posts from today and over the weekend, and I'm thinking that I should be writing something, but it seems as though I can't get my brain in gear to say anything.  Stayed up last night and watched the Super Bowl, which is unusual for me, but hubby would have had to watch it alone if I didn't, and that didn't seem like much fun for him. Normally, or at least in times past, there would have been at least one or two of our sons here to watch with him.  But since one got married this past fall and the other works evenings on the weekend they aren't around so much to watch the games with him.  So, I actually got into it and enjoyed the game. I wasn't rooting for either team in particular, but was glad to see the Eagles win. They truly played the better game, and in my opinion, they deserved to win!

So that being said, as I was sitting here typing this, my brother in law called to tell us that he had just had a phone call that my mother-in-law's house has been broken into.  He was on his way to check it out and see what kind of damage has been done. Sadly, her house has been sitting there empty for sometime since she has been in the nursing home.  Due to circumstances beyond our control, we aren't able to sell her house yet, so this has been a major concern that vandals would discover it. We had removed most of the more valuable items from the house, but there was still quite a bit of furniture and appliances inside.  This is not good news.

Yesterday's sermon verses seem to fit here:

John 10:10

"The thief does not come except to steal, 

and to kill, and to destroy.

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

II Timothy 1:7

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

I John 4:1, 4

1.  "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets 

have gone out into the world."

4.  "You are of God, little children, 

and have overcome them, because

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."

(Pictures from the beautiful camellia bushes that are blooming at the church)

When fears and disappointments come our way, we have a tendency to run and hide and throw up our hands in fear and surrender to the enemy. 

(For a little comic relief, I just had to throw this picture in, which is at a three way intersection on our way to the town where the church is that we attend.  It is someone's way of getting our attention so that we don't drive straight into the woods! )

But God has come to give us a spirit of "power, and love and a sound mind."  We need to remember that our God is able to deliver us from the hands of the evil one...

We need not fear what man may do to us, for we belong to Jesus...and "Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world."  

It is sad when things that are of value to us are stolen or damaged or lost...but they are just that...things. In the grand scheme of life, those things are not what is really important.

What is truly important is our soul, mind and spirit...and when we belong to Jesus,

no man can take us away from Him.

John 10:28-29

"And I (Jesus) give them eternal life,

and they shall never perish; 

neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

My Father, who has given them to Me, 

is greater than all; 

and no one is able to snatch them out of 

My Father's hand."

You Belong to Jesus? Never Fear!

Praise God!!