They discontinued my go-to lozenge.

thanks to Wizard of Id 

Volkswagon in a Snowglobe

 

Gratitude

 

God: The Gladness of My Joy

 

Psalm 42

"As the deer pants for the water brooks,
 

So my soul pants for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
 

When shall I come and appear before God?...

...The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
 

And His song will be with me in the night,
 

A prayer to the God of my life..."

Psalm 43

"...O send out Your light and Your truth, 

let them lead me;
 

Let them bring me to Your holy hill 

And to Your dwelling places.

Then I will go to the altar of God,
 

To God my exceeding joy;
 [the gladness of my joy!]

And upon the lyre I shall praise You, 

O God, my God..."

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Do something soothing for someone else.

 

 He was here in the beginning...

"...For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. 

Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you...."

2 Timothy 1:12-14

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I Know Whom I Have Believed

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.

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.

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 the Spirit moves,


Convincing men of sin,


Revealing Jesus through the Word,


Creating faith in Him.

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 what of good or ill


May be reserved for me,


Of weary ways or golden days,


Before His face I see.

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 when my Lord may come,


At night or noonday fair,


Nor if I walk the vale with Him,


Or meet Him in the air.

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."

-Whittle

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He made the Heavens and the Earth...

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The Whole World

 

God's Creation up close in our homes

 

Nothing can separate us from the Love of God

 

Romans 8

..."What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? 

Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Just as it is written,

“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

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The Healing Power of a Friendly Smile

 

Thank you to Historia Obscurum

"Perhaps the greatest heroes of the First World War (at least as far as this doughnut-loving vet is concerned) were the Salvation Army doughnut girls.

The brainchild of a young volunteer named Helen Purviance (top-left photo) from Huntington, Indiana, the Salvation Army began frying doughnuts for grateful U.S. troops in October of 1917. 

The doughnuts not only provided a taste of home, but they also replenished precious calories and fat for the exhausted soldiers.

The dangers the women faced at the front were very real, and they were issued helmets, gas masks, and .45 caliber revolvers for protection. They had to scrounge for ingredients and often had to roll the dough with expended artillery shells.

In other words, they volunteered to work their fingers to the bone in highly dangerous situations, living in uncomfortable conditions, to make sure the fighting men felt like somebody actually cared about them and their well being.

Purviance believed the doughnuts served a higher purpose, saying, "There was also a prayer in my heart that somehow this home touch would do more for those who ate the doughnuts than satisfy a physical hunger."

They sure did. Never underestimate the healing power of a friendly smile, a hot doughnut, and a taste of home in the midst of hell on earth.

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Thank you again, Historia Obscurum. I found this story so significant. It was terrible times, logistics, a person's desire to help, and the simplest things like donuts, and a friendly smile.

Kindness seems like a natural act, but in this world it is definitely not.

We can not change the world, but we can be kind to one another and smile. Try it.

*Never Underestimate the healing power of a friendly smile*

The WW1 Flying Ace/Veterans day

 

World War 1: The War to End All Wars did not end all wars - and we continue to have wars and wars and wars...

But there is a God, the God of the Bible who has a plan - a plan from the very beginning to end all wars, actually, to end all sinning.

It is a simple plan which comes with trusting Him. The Triune God  had a plan which included His Son to be the sacrifice for all sin, once and for all. Jesus chose to be the ultimate sacrifice as payment for all sins -past, present, and future.

First and Second

Jesus came the first time as our sacrifice ,as it was prophesied, and He will come a second time, as prophesied, as our conqueror..... 

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Thankful for all the United States Veterans who have served valiantly and righteously, overseas and here at home since the beginning of our nation. No matter how things are changing in this country you can be proud of your service to our nation to keep us safe and free. 

Our ultimate safety is trusting in Jesus as our Savior!

Patriotism alongside a Midwest Highway

 

A Real Man in Society

"It is in the man of piety and inward principle that we may expect to find the uncorrupted patriot, the useful citizen, and the invincible soldier."

John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

All Men are elders in their own homes.

1 Peter 5

"Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 

You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you..."

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Reasons to stay home today are many...

 

...And yet the LORD desires us to be faithful!

Life is tough so do the best you can and get out there for Him.  

Your life lived gently and fully for Him will be seen and noticed even when you think otherwise. 

Glory to God!

2 Timothy 1

"...God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.

For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you..."

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Midwest Patriotism

 

Midwesterners can really think up some unique ways to express their patriotism.

Even so, the LORD God Almighty's designs and plans are perfectly, majestically magnificent! 

Romans 7 and 8

"...7:25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin"...

8:1 "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 

If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him...

...37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

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GLORY to GOD!

O Death, where is your sting?

Wonderful grace of Jesus,

greater than all my sin;

how shall my tongue describe it,

where shall its praise begin?

Taking away my burden,

setting my spirit free,

for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,

deeper than the mighty rolling sea, 

higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,

all sufficient grace for even me;

broader than the scope of my transgressions, sing it!

greater far than all my sin and shame.

O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise his name!

Wonderful grace of Jesus,

reaching to all the lost,

by it I have been pardoned,

saved to the uttermost.

Chains have been torn asunder,

giving me liberty,

for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,

deeper than the mighty rolling sea, 

higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,

all sufficient grace for even me;

broader than the scope of my transgressions, sing it!

greater far than all my sin and shame.

O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise his name!

Wonderful grace of Jesus,

reaching the most reviled,

by its transforming power

making me God’s dear child,

purchasing peace and heaven

for all eternity,

for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. 

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,

deeper than the mighty rolling sea, 

higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,

all sufficient grace for even me;

broader than the scope of my transgressions, sing it!

greater far than all my sin and shame.

O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise his name!

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1 Corinthians 15:50-58

"Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 

“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."

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