Words

When I was little my mom and dad use to tell us “if you can’t say something good about someone, don’t say nothing at all.” Our words are so important. They can really hurt someone, or they can really make someone’s day. God’s Word Says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O’LORD, my strength and my Redeemer” Psalm 19:14. Also, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you.”  Proverbs 4:23. We really need to think about what we say. It’s like a tube of toothpaste; once it comes out we can’t put it back. Always say what is true and right. Also most important, besides what we say is what we think. The Bible says  “Finally, breathen, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things. Philippians 4:8. Our battlefield is the mind. Satan works there a lot. He wants us to be in a state of confusion, and to think bad things about ourselves and others. “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy”.  James 3:17.  We have to fight this battle with the Word of God. It is our sword. “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” Ephesians 6:17.  We must resist the bad thoughts that he puts in our minds.  “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” 2 Corinthians 10:5. God’s Word is absolute truth. We are beautiful in His sight. May our insides (what we think about) and our outside (what we say, and how we treat people) be pleasing to God! Look for something good in each and every day and treat people the way you want to be treated. A smile, a compliment, and “ada boy” goes along way.

Today will Never come again. Be a friend, encourage someone. Take time to care. Let your words heal, and not wound.

Patience

When I was a little girl, back in 1970something I saw a children's musical
called Music Machine. It was all about the Fruits of the Spirit and to this day
I remember most of the songs.  My favorite song was one called "Patience" and
today I found it on Youtube.  It was fun listening to it again and even though
the tune is a bit dated, it's words are a cute reminder to be patient.

Verse 1:
There was a snail called Herbert who was so very slow
He caused a lot of traffic jams wherever he would go
The ants were always getting mad and the beetles, they would fume
But Herb would always poke along and sing this little tune
Chorus:
Have patience, have patience
Don't be in such a hurry
When you get impatient, you only start to worry
Remember, remember that God is patient, too
And think of all the times when others have to wait for you
Verse 2:
When Herbert was much younger, he often got in trouble
Forgetting that he was a snail, he did things on the double
He'd crash through every spider web and with crickets he'd collide
'Til one day Herbert's father took his speeding son aside
Chorus
Verse 3:
As you can well imagine, there's a moral to this tale
Some of you may find yourselves behind a creeping snail
So if you get impatient and you're easily disturbed
Think about this little song and take a tip from Herb
Chorus

No matter how young or old we are, at times, we all struggle with patience. 
When we become children of God we are given many gifts. Among those gifts are
the Fruits of the Spirit including patience. But in order for any of these
fruits to flourish in our lives we must practice them.

Impatience usually leads to chaos in our lives and in the lives of those around
us. We must remember that the gifts God gives to us are meant to be useful, they
are meant to be put into practice. So when we feel an impatient moment creeping
up on us, we can put in to practice our gift of patience.  The more we practice
patience, the better we get at it.  James 1:4 says, "But let patience have its
perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (NKJV)

God is good and He gives only good gifts to His children. I am so thankful for
the gift of patience he gave me. Even though I am a wife and mother, I still
learn something new about God every day.  God has been so loving and patient
with me all through my life.  I want to reflect Him by being patient with
others.

Look in your Child Training Bible to read other verses about patience.

Children Obey Your Parents

I think back to when I was a child and I remember trying very hard to obey and respect my parents.  It was great to have Christian parents who were trying every day to do what God would have them do as parents.

In Ephesians 6:1-3 the following advice is given to children. Children, “obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.”HONOR THY FATHER AND MOTHER; which is the first commandment with promise; THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH THEE, AND THOU MAYEST LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH. 

*It is your responsibility as a child to honor your parents.  You should show them love and respect both outwardly and inwardly.*  

 To  PARENTS: 

Ephesians 6:4.  And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath:  but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

*It is your responsibility as a parent along with God’s daily guidance to give your child a spiritual education, also giving them life instructions for responsibilities and duties.*

Merry Christmas

Matthew 1:18-25 NIV
"This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about : His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus."

Joseph's decision to obey the angel that day wasn't the easiest one. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Joseph's worries, pride, & insecurities were all put at ease by one name, "Immanuel". God is still with us today. He was born and lived a sinless life only to die a death meant for me and you. This is the reason we celebrate the amazing birth of Jesus. 

What's in a Name?

Get you some water, clear your throat... read fast and with confidence. Ready,
set, Go!! 

Matthew Chapter 1

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the
father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by
Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the
father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father
of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed
by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father
of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,
and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and
Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the
father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of
Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and
Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation
to Babylon.
And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,
and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and
Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father
of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and
Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the
father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom
Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and
from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the
deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

Did you make it through all those names??  I doubt that any of these names will
be on 2014’s most popular baby names…they probably haven’t made the list for a
few millenniums!  What does each name stand for? And why is this Matthew Chapter
1?  Well, each name represents a generation, a link in the chain.  Each link was
necessary to fulfill what was written in the Old Testament that Jesus, the
Savior, would come through the line of David.  Christmas is upon us and it is oh
so easy to get caught up in the conundrum of all the carols and lights, food and
gifts and skim over the details of our great God.  Take a moment and praise God
for some very specific things that He is doing in your family. How is God’s
favor upon you?  Well, the excitement is building, Jesus is coming…and I can’t
wait to see what happened next week in Chapter 2!! 

Be Blessed, Be Thankful.....Ps. 100

Hey Kids,

 

Did you know we are blessed?    That's right, blessed by God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, the Almighty one who knows each one of us and loves us with an everlasting love. 

 

Have you ever felt sad, frustrated maybe even angry?  Sometimes I look around at others and think ..."life isn't fair". You know what, that can be true.  We live in a world that seems to be filled with unloving, selfish people, who are only concerned about themselves and it truly appears that life isn't fair.

 

But, when we believe in Jesus and become a Child of God, we realize we can not put our trust in people or things.  People can disappoint us and things can simply disappear.  Our trust and confidence must be in our relationship with our Lord and Savior.  When we realize God is in control, that He never makes a mistake, and always wants His very best for us, our focus will change from looking at others, and off ourselves, to looking to God, His love and His plans for us.

 

As we refocus and surrender ourselves to Him, we are able to see His blessings.  We have been told to count our blessings and name them one by one.  How about You?  Can you do this? 

 

As you recognize and begin to list or talk about how God blesses you, there will be an over powering desire to be grateful and to share this with others.  Ask God to help you find a spirit of Thankfulness in your heart.  Go ahead and express your thankfulness and gratefulness to Him.

 

Be blessed my friend and remain faithful,

Mrs. Shirley

Who will you serve?

This Tuesday, the people of our country were given the chance to make some important decisions.  Adults were able to vote for people to hold important jobs like Mayor.  We also elected the people that we wanted to represent us jobs at the local and county levels. Those were very important decisions that we made because those who were elected will make decisions that will affect every area of our lives for many years to come.  We hope and pray that we have made wise choices.

As important as these decisions were, there is another decision that we must make each day that is even more important.  The Bible says, "Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  Every day we must make the choice as to whether we will serve the Lord, or whether we will serve someone or something else.  Perhaps we will have to choose whether to serve God, or to serve our own selfish desires.  Maybe we will have to choose between following God, or following our friends.  You boys and girls were too young to be able to vote in the election last Tuesday, but you are not too young to vote to serve the Lord.  I hope you will stand up and say, "As for me, I will serve the Lord!

Scripture:  Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve....But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24: 15