Fiery Ordeals, Rejoicing in Exaltations in Faithfulness

-Scotland FB 

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1Peter 4:12-13

..."Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation"...

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Waiting on God and abiding in His will is to know Him in "the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings" 

Philippians 3:10

..."that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death"...

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and "to be conformed to the likeness of his Son"

Romans 8:29

..."For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren"...

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Therefore if God's desire is to enlarge your capacity for spiritual understanding, do not be frightened by the greater realm of suffering that awaits you.

The Lord's capacity for sympathy is greater still, for the breath of the Holy Spirit into His new creation never makes a heart hard and insensitive, but affectionate, tender, and true."

1Timothy 1:12

 ..."I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service"...

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-3/19 Streams in the Desert

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Life Slips By...Run to the LORD...

-Kinsman

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Turn Around

Where are you going my little one? Little one

Where are you going, my baby, my own?

Turn around and you're two, 

turn around and you're four

Turn around and you're a young girl 

going out of the door

Turn around

Turn around

Turn around and you're a young girl

Goin' out of the door

Where are you going my little one? Little one

Little Dirndls and petticoats, 

where have you gone?

Turn around and you're tiny, 

turn around and you're grown

Turn around and you're a young wife 

with babes of your own

Turn around

Turn around

Turn around and you're a young wife 

with babes of your own

Where are you going my little one? Little one

Where are you going, my baby, my own?

-Songwriters: Alan Greene / Malvina Reynolds / Harry Belafonte

-Turn Around lyrics © Alan Greene Songs

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Psalm 90:12, 14, 16-17

"...So teach us to number our days,


That we may present to You a heart of wisdom...

...O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,


That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days...

 

...Let Your work appear to Your servants


And Your majesty to their children.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;


And confirm for us the work of our hands;


Yes, confirm the work of our hands."

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Planning for the Fourth of July in the Winter

-PLUGGERS 

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What a treasure this PLUGGERS was for us!

So many, many years ago with little ones at home we made big snowmen, but also towards the end of the winter we would make a small one: 3 snowball size. 

The children would watch as I would wrap the small snowman in aluminum foil. It was difficult for them to understand in February that in July we would bring our  Summer Snowman out and enjoy him as he melted.

A few years go by with it being July 4th and our now elementary school young ones at our second home with the excitement running high-- my son asked if he could throw the almost melted snowman pieces over the roof (a Cape Cod: higher roof line so he loved that challenge :o)

Of course, he could do this! And a new tradition begins! The small snowman pieces went up to the roof and did not last very long so I thought of ice cubes. Went inside bringing out a plastic bowl full of ice cubes.

The excitement filled their faces and the throwing of melting ice cubes over the house began with this extended tradition... continuing even to a new state, new home, and by that time, teenagers. 

Blessed!

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Calmness Among Chaos

-Isle of Skye, Scotland FB 

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Calmness. 

Where does calmness come when your world turns upside down?

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Come Away from 

Rush and Hurry

Come away from rush and hurry

To the stillness of God's peace

From our vain ambition's worry

Come to Christ to find release

Come away from noise and clamor

Life's demands and frenzied pace

Come to join the people gathered

Here to seek and find God's face.

In the pastures of God's goodness

We lie down to rest our soul.

From the waters of God's mercy

We drink deeply, are made whole.

At the table of God's presence

All the saints are richly fed.

With the oil of God's anointing

Into service we are led.

Come, then, children, with your burdens—

Life's confusions, fears and pain.

Leave them at the cross of Jesus;

Take instead his kingdom's reign.

Bring your thirsts, for he will quench them—

He alone will satisfy.

All our longings find attainment

When to self we gladly die.

Come away from rush and hurry

To the stillness of God's peace

From our vain ambition's worry

Come to Christ to find release

Come away from noise and clamor

Life's demands and frenzied pace

Come to join the people gathered

Here to seek and find God's face.

-Marva Dawn

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GLORIFY the LORD Even in Your Sorrows, Heartaches, and Pains!

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Honoring God/Honoring Your Father and Your Mother

-Meme

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In our greater area there is so much new building going on-- constantly.

Seems each week we see another lovely old homestead and all their beautiful trees and rolling land bulldozed into piles with the beautiful home in rubble.

Society is so bent on being in a hurry to destroy and remove the past only to build venues, warehouses, and ugly high-rise apartment living.

This generation, generally, doesn't seem to desire a home and land with trees and gardens, nor a spouse or children- only pets.

Seems that almost nothing is appreciated, treasured, or loved.

Even a righteous life well lived for the LORD is disrespected and destroyed by family members for their own selfish reasons.

Truth for Life     

Honoring Parents, Honoring God/Honor your father and your mother./Exodus 20:12

The fifth commandment is simultaneously a simple instruction and an indispensable element of the well-being of entire societies. When the Lord gives the command “Honor your father and mother,” He is laying down the blueprint for maintaining the stability of families, communities, and nations.

What does it mean to honor your parents? The word for “honor” carries the notion of weight and heaviness; children ought to feel the weight of respect for their parents. Parents are owed such regard because God has placed them in their roles, and the stewardship of such a role is worth its weight in honor. While children are in view here, the Bible also has much to say about parenting that honors God (see Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21).

How does a child display this honor? In several ways. For one, a child ought to show practical respect to his or her parents. This can be as simple as speaking well of our parents, showing them courtesy, looking them in the eye, and addressing them with a due sense of deference. 

Second, it involves genuine love; there should be heartfelt expressions of affection between parents and their children. 

Third, unless it would involve disobeying God, a child ought to obey what his or her mom and dad say. This expectation is found all over Proverbs: for example, “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching” (Proverbs 1:8). 

Fourth, a child should submit to their parents’ discipline. All good parents discipline their children (though it must not be done in anger nor vindictively or disproportionately), and children ought to trust that such discipline is for their good (Hebrews 12:5-11).

In ancient Israel, respect for parents was valued so highly that those who disregarded it flagrantly or persistently faced the death penalty (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). Why such a significant consequence? Because the home provides a vital training ground, the success of which affects how the child will relate to authorities of all kinds. 

We never outrun authority in our lives. There are political authorities we are called to obey (Romans 13:1-7), spiritual authorities we are to respect (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12), and those of advanced years we are commanded to honor (Leviticus 19:32). 

Most significantly, when children learn to honor their parents, even despite their parents’ many imperfections, they learn what it means to honor our perfect heavenly Father. Reverence for parents is an integral part of reverence for God. Because their authority is God-given, to honor them is to honor God Himself.

So if you are a parent with children at home, it is not loving (though it may be easier) to fail to insist that your children honor you. 

And if you are an adult with parents still living, it is a matter of obedience to God that you show them the honor they are due, not according to how well (or otherwise) you feel they raised you but according to the position the Lord gave them. As you honor them, you will be pleasing Him and showing those around you that God-given authority, when exercised in a godly way, is a blessing to all.

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"Blue Bold" is my "highlight, scripture italicized, with my own paragraph separations

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A gracious Thank You to Alistair Begg and his people.

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Be a Special Memory

-meme
 

A Real "Hissy Fit"

-Pickles

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A Fine Quote and Don't Forget it!

-Loch Katrine, Scotland FB

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"When people say, 

'I believe in Jesus', 

look them straight in the eye and ask,

 'Which one?' "

~ Walter Martin

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FIND BIBLICAL TRUTHS

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God's Awesome Creation up Close!

It's True

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often 

that this great nation was founded, 

not by religionists, 

but by Christians; 

not on religions, 

but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!"

Patrick Henry.

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Spring is on the run today!

-Kinsman

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Big Winds, 

Big Rains turning to 

Big Snows...

but most people are staying home--safe!

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If you belong to the LORD God Almighty, through Jesus who gave His life to save us from all our sins--you are safe in life and into your eventual death, safe in Jesus!

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Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High


Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.


I will say to the Lord, 

“My refuge and my fortress,


My God, in whom I trust!”


For it is He who delivers you 

from the snare of the trapper


And from the deadly pestilence.


He will cover you with His pinions,


And under His wings you may seek refuge;


His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

You will not be afraid of the terror by night,


Or of the arrow that flies by day;


Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,


Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.


A thousand may fall at your side


And ten thousand at your right hand,


But it shall not approach you.


You will only look on with your eyes


And see the recompense of the wicked.


For you have made the Lord, my refuge,


Even the Most High, your dwelling place.


For He will give His angels charge concerning you,


To guard you in all your ways.


They will bear you up in their hands,


That you do not strike your foot against a stone.


You will tread upon the lion and cobra,


The young lion and the serpent 

you will trample down.

“Because he has loved Me, 

therefore I will deliver him;


I will set him securely on high, 

because he has known My name.


“He will call upon Me, 

and I will answer him;


I will be with him in trouble;


I will rescue him and honor him.


“With a long life I will satisfy him


And let him see My salvation.”

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Winter Turns to Spring

-Chick-a-Dee: Stays all Winter

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Our COLD last week now turns into a new week something like Spring!

Too early for us!

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Matthew 6:26

..."Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?"...

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Always on the Look-out for a Perfect Stick :o)

-PLUGGERS

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A Great PLUGGERS!

My sticks are for indoor decoration, plant sticks in the garden, birdhouse sticks, bird feeder sticks, pot sticks, mobiles to hang... and walking sticks.

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