Mothers….

 Mothers…

Proverbs 31:25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;

    she can laugh at the days to come.

26 She speaks with wisdom,

    and faithful instruction is on her tongue…

28 Her children arise and call her blessed…

John 16: . 21 A woman, when she is in labor, has pain because her time [to give birth] has come; but when she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of her joy that a child has come into the world…

Thank YOU….

Mamas…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ8uJ16P9Cs

Words…

 Words…

5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.Colossians 4:5-6

5 Conduct yourself with wisdom in your interactions with outsiders (non-believers), make the most of each opportunity [treating it as something precious]. 6 Let your speech at all times be gracious and pleasant, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to answer each one [who questions you].

 

Sow and sow…

 

Sow and sow….

I know many people who put their heart and soul into their ministries…whether to adults, children, teens…

They sow and sow , sometimes reaping abundantly, while other times , those faith-building  times, the crop maybe sparse for whatever reason…

I thought of them as I looked at my fruit trees this week..

They bloomed early this year, consequently the frost took most of the crop…usually every year I throw buckets away of the pruned  out fruit…there has always been too much…this year I may have a dozen peaches or nectarines…a few pears and apples…I tended them the same as before, but God gave the amount…He is in charge even of the amount of fruit on my trees…just as He is in charge of the harvest of people…we do what we are supposed to do, but He is the Controller…

Another one of my trees , the persimmon, leaves out with tender shoots and then blooms later…this year, it was leafing out and the frost hit it as well…froze whole branches of tender shoots…now I see, under those tiny brown frozen leaves, new green  growth is peeking out on some….belated growth after a season of hidden growing…we see that in ministry as well…the life is there, but hidden from view due many reasons…hurt, sorrow, tiredness, the claims of the world, etc…then it bursts forth in newness…

God’s lessons are all around us…

Thank YOU….

What we sow…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE_PNUNmw9c

Evangelism 101….

 Evangelism…101…

Evangelicalism taught and prayed for…we have a mighty teacher…

Thank YOU…

John 1: 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

John 4: 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

John 17: 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Matt.28: 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

People need the Lord…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uZcGaixMhg

Love is…

 

Love is…

For whatever reason I needed this this morning…maybe there are others…

1 Corinthians 13: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. 

2Peter 3: 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Romans 2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Psalm 86: 15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
    slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;

Psalm 103: 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

John 8: 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Numbers 23 : 19 God is not human, that he should lie,
    not a human being, that he should change his mind.

Thank YOU…

Love is patient…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuBwkEp_mEQ

Royalty…

 Royalty…

I “grew up” with King Charles of England. My daughters “grew up with his sons, William and Charles…royalty…

We never them, but we “knew them”…not that we followed them, but they happened to be in the news…so we just knew that they were in the worlds we grew up in….

This week it has been a break from the ordinary in that King Charles spoke to our Congress and at an important dinner in Washington DC…both of historical importance…with the 250 anniversary of the US this year…I enjoyed watching the pomp of the welcoming of the King and Queen, the reviewing the the troops, the music….it gave a chance to honor the troops and a break from war status….

I don’t need it everyday or often, but, to bring honor where honor is due is encouraging…

I don’t serve an earthly King…I serve an eternal and heavenly King ….Jesus…and the honor due him is beyond my comprehension…he is personal and is personally involved in all of our lives…

Thank YOU…

1Tim 6:14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

Rev 17:14 They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

Rev 19: 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

king of kings and lord of lords.

King of Kings…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of5IcFWiEpg

Comfort verses…

 Comfort verses…

Some comfort verses….

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV).

“My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word” (Psalm 119:148 NKJV).

“He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches’” (Matthew 13:31-32 NIV).

“However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV).

“We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26 NIV). 

Lamentation 3: 21 Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.

I comfort you…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2r4mwab5O8