Quotation Saturday ~ Faith

Deut. 32:20 “And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.”

FAITH

“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.” 
~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars.” 
~ Elbert Hubbard

“Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.” 
~ Max Lucado, He Still Moves Stones

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” 
~ Søren Kierkegaard

“The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.” 
~ J.M. Barrie, The Little White Bird

GRATITUDE

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.” 
~ Seneca

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” 
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” 
~ Epicurus

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” 
~ Maya Angelou

THANKFULNESS

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” 
~ Holy Bible: King James Version

“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” 
~ Henry Ward Beecher

“The gift was not large as money goes, and my need was not great, but the spirit of the gift is beyond price and leaves me blessed and in debt.” 
~ Robert Fulghum

“I've started to look at life differently. When you're thanking God for every little you - every meal, every time you wake up, every time you take a sip of water - you can't help but be more thankful for life itself, for the unlikely and miraculous fact that you exist at all.” 
~ A.J. Jacobs

May every day you sit down together as a family be a day of thanksgiving. Don’t allow one day a year to define your THANKFULNESS. 
~ Joni Zipp


Beauty
I’m not made up in mechanical curls 
my hair is long and straight
I don’t wear heels that reach the sky
My shoes are flat as is my gait.

My pants don’t hug my every dimple
I respect my body enough
My temple I treat with utmost respect
I’m made with all the right stuff.
~joni

11-11-11 Thankfulness and Glory

John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said to them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
***

We’ve arrived at the last day of the week which is 11-11-11. A culmination of Help the Less Fortunate Week. All those ‘ones’ in the date, makes me think of the number one front and center force in my life and that is the Lord God. Throughout this week I’ve given you a window into the world in which you live and perhaps maybe sit in judgment of innocent human beings. Have you hung pretty curtains at the window, so the low-life outside doesn’t look so clear. Have you put up shades on your window so their tattered and torn smelly clothes can’t be seen or inhaled? Have you turned your nose up to the needy?

This is what you have done in the season of Thanksgiving? Shut yourself off from giving and absorbed yourself in YOU. “I have all my Christmas shopping done! Aren’t I great?” “I dropped a five dollar bill in the Salvation Army bucket, instead of my usual one dollar!” Wow, don’t you just feel so good about YOU? I have not written this week to guilt you into anything. If you can not act of your own fruition then acting at all will be futile.

I’ve helped you to open your heart and mind into the world of compassion so that maybe when you see a person in need, you won’t turn away from them, out of disgust, maybe you’ll humble your heart, and go to them and see what they need and how you can help. Maybe they just need a cup of coffee, not a whole order of food, maybe the car behind you in the Wendy’s drive-thru could use a spontaneous act of kindness, maybe an elderly person in your building, complex, neighborhood could use a visitor. Maybe someone in the hospital where you’re visiting a friend or loved one, never gets to see a friend or loved one, why not go in and say, Hello?

Instead of gossiping behind peoples back who are not as fortunate as you, why not reach out to them with an arm of compassion. Why not bend in a different direction this holiday season and better yet, why not do it year round? Why wait for the holiday to begin?

Heb 13: 1-3  Let brotherly love continue.
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

As we entertain ourselves in the company of like minded people, our hearts will overflow with the compassionate nature that Jesus had intended for us. When we surround ourselves in the body of lust, greed, perversion, we get lost in the mire and can never see clearly what God has intended for us on this Earth.
 
As I sit here in farm country, watching the harvesters reap what they sow, I look out into a nation who is being swallowed by earthquakes in divers places, fires, storms, unearthly behavior. Remember, we’ll be protected, because we as Christians will see the signs and wonders and won’t be caught unaware. We’ll have our arms wide open, and ears wide shut to all the naysayers who wish to drive us away from our innocent intent, and that is to help someone in need, without once asking for praise in return. Can you do that?
 
Why a person shuns people in need, is really beyond my comprehension. How can you neglect looking out the window and not SEE what is going on around you and how can you not care unless there is something in it for YOU? Have you ever just given, to give? Have you ever went above and beyond YOU, and thought of someone else, not for gain or recognition just for the sheer warmth that it left lingering in your spirit?
 
Feel that warmth of a giving heart. It is the rainbow of God lighting your soul. Don’t deny it when it happens to you, embrace it and do something because of it.
 

May the joy, peace and compassion envelop you this glorious season. Bring a miracle to life. All you have to do is...PRAY! Godspeed my friends...

“Remember this, what you do in secret, God sees it. What you think silently, God hears it. What you post publicly, would your mother be proud to call you hers? What you think is innocent, would your Father, think so too?” Joni Zipp

***

Before you act, listen.
Before you react, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.”
~ Ernest Hemingway

***

 

to all the veterans in

the world

I salute you.