Star-fish

1 Samuel 17:37 Moreover David said, "The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."      Author, Poh Fang Chia, writing for Our Daily Bread shared an inspiring selection for today, September 12, 2014. You can read it at www.odb.org about David and Goliath. We are a nation inspired by underdogs. Those people, teams, and even creatures that are struggling to overcome some "giant" stir our hearts. But often when the "giants" of constant fatigue, failing businesses, wayward children, and aging come knocking at our doors; we lose the battle by believing we are too small to fight.      The truth is we are too small for this world's struggles, but as Christians we serve a Mighty God. If David had believed what King Saul said about him, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth," ...

Proverbs 3:1  My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2  for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. 3  Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4  Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.      Peace and prosperity seem to be what most humans on this great earth are seeking in one form or another, yet many look to other people rather than to God to fulfill these desires. We seem to be driven as a society to be at peace with others even if it means forgoing our own beliefs and morals to do so. We strive to be "politically correct" at the cost of our own Christian understandings due to fear of losing face with others, being thought of as intolerant, being accused of being a "hater," or whatever other label that is okay to put on us as long as we have beliefs other than the worlds. ...

Psalm 140:12  I know that the  Lord  secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. 13  Surely the righteous will praise your name, and the upright will live in your presence.      The fact that I'm not poor and needy should give me reason to praise God, but my complaining (I'm ashamed to say) far outweighs my praising. My good health and loving husband should be reason enough to start each day with songs of thanksgiving, but alas that is not the case.      Lord forgive me for my habit of finding fault in all that surrounds me. Teach me to praise You always in all ways. Forgive for complaining and murmuring when you have provided for all of my needs and blessed me beyond measure. Thank you Lord for being patient with me, forgiving me, and loving me regardless of my sins. Amen.

1 Corinthians 13: 4  Love is patient, love is kind.       It's interesting to me how people toss around the term "love." But if they were to truly take to heart its meaning from 1 Corinthians 13, I'm not certain this is the term they really mean. They may like someone a lot, but are they patient and kind to the person or do they lose their patience with the other when they are not thankful or grateful in return for the "love" the giver has dealt out?       In today's Our Daily Bread by Randy Kilgore, he noted the story of the 10 lepers that Jesus healed and only one came back to thank Jesus for his healing. Kilgore wrote in response, "If the King of Kings can get only a 1 in 10 response of thanks, how can we expect more from others? Better to do our deeds to honor God and serve others than to do them to collect gratitude. May the grace of God be seen in us even when our kind acts go unappreciated."

Psalm 135:7  He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. We were traveling across the plains of Nebraska when dark clouds began to form across the sky. We had checked the weather report and it noted no thunderstorms until evening, so we thought we'd be safe to travel. After a stop for lunch, we headed back out on the highway and out of these ominous rain clouds came hurling ice balls of hail the size of  marbles. We searched the area for a place to take cover, but there was none. So we pulled off to the side of the road and waited as our truck took a beating.  Once the hail turned to rain we got back on the road. We stopped at a gas station to assess the damage. Our truck endured several dents where the hail hit hard and left its mark. My husband noted that we need not worry about the damage as we had several days left on our vacation and couldn't do any things about the dings in our veh...