Prayers, Fun Stuff and Other Tidbits

saltwn · #1 (**permalink**) 06-18-2008, 03:40 PM

If you are having an exceptionally good day

-or an exceptionally rotten one

, you might want to post something you found that lifted your spirits or expresses how you feel.

Be as creative as you like.

saltwn · #2 (**permalink**) 06-18-2008, 03:45 PM

The Lord is faithful in all his words
and merciful in all his deeds.
The Lord upholds all those who fall;
he lifts up those who are bowed down.
The eyes of all wait upon you, O Lord,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open wide your hand
and satisfy the needs of every living creature.
—Psalm 145

from Prayer of Thanks and Gratitude
by Renée Miller

saltwn · #3 (**permalink**) 06-23-2008, 04:07 AM

Some of these are as old as I am! If you can't remember the words to a favorite older hymn, you might want to look here:
Heavenly Midis Songbook

You might have to use IE. The music to each song plays in the background. Kind of hokey, but helps you remember the tune as well as the words!

bossfan · #4 (**permalink**) 06-25-2008, 07:50 PM

If I Stand ~ Jars Of Clay

YouTube - Jars of Clay - If I Stand

saltwn · #5 (**permalink**) 07-06-2008, 12:32 AM

The theory of evolution of the Coca Cola can.

Billions of years ago, a big bang produced a large rock. As the rock cooled, sweet brown liquid formed on its surface. As time passed, aluminum formed itself into a can, a lid, and a tab. Millions of years later, red and white paint fell from the sky, and formed itself into the words "Coca Cola 12 fluid ounces."

Of course, my theory is an insult to your intellect, because you know that if the Coca Cola can is made, there must be a maker. If it is designed, there must be a designer. The alternative, that it happened by chance or accident, is to move into an intellectual free zone.

The banana-the atheist's nightmare.

Note that the banana:

1. Is shaped for human hand
2. Has non-slip surface
3. Has outward indicators of inward content:
Green-too early,
Yellow-just right,
Black-too late.
4. Has a tab for removal of wrapper
5. Is perforated on wrapper
6. Bio-degradable wrapper
7. Is shaped for human mouth
8. Has a point at top for ease of entry
9. Is pleasing to taste buds
10. Is curved towards the face to make eating process easy

To say that the banana happened by accident is even more unintelligent than to say that no one designed the Coca Cola can.

bossfan · #6 (**permalink**) 07-06-2008, 09:38 AM

Be encouraged, Christians, and be sure that we are doing our part.

"If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people,

and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
~ 2 Chronicles 7.13-14

"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,

for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."
~ 1 Timothy 2.1-2

bossfan · #7 (**permalink**) 07-06-2008, 04:42 PM

Here is an excerpt from a book by A.W. Tozer called "The Root Of The Righteous" that encourages me to be "rooted and built up in him" (Colossians 2.7):

Quote:

One marked difference between the faith of our fathers as conceived by the fathers and the same faith as understood and lived by their children is that the fathers were concerned with the root of the matter, while their present-day descendants seem concerned only with the fruit. ... ”The root of the righteous yieldeth fruit,” said the wise man in the Proverbs. ...

We demand the fruit immediately even though the root may be weak and knobby or missing altogether. Impatient Christians today explain away the simple beliefs of the saints of other days and smile off their serious-minded approach to God and sacred things. They were victims of their own limited religious outlook, but great and sturdy souls withal who managed to achieve a satisfying spiritual experience and do a lot of good in the world in spite of their handicaps. So we’ll imitate their fruit without accepting their theology or inconveniencing ourselves too greatly by adopting their all-or-nothing attitude toward religion.....

Preoccupation with appearances and a corresponding neglect of the out-of-sight root of the true spiritual life are prophetic signs which go unheeded.

Immediate “results” are all that matter, quick proofs of present success without a thought of next week or next year. Religious pragmatism is running wild among the orthodox. Truth is whatever works. If it gets results it is good. There is but one test for the religious leader: success. Everything is forgiven him except failure.

...the Apostle Paul ... urges his readers to be ”rooted and built up in him,” which envisages the Christian both as a tree to be well rooted and as a temple to rise on a solid foundation....

Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross, follow your Lord and pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. The masses are always wrong. In every generation the number of the righteous is small. Be sure you are among them.”

”A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.”

bossfan · #8 (**permalink**) 07-12-2008, 02:48 AM

"It is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can stand".

~ John Adams

saltwn · #9 (**permalink**) 08-30-2008, 01:02 PM

Here's a devotional I found helpful.

August 30

Joshua and Caleb Entering the Promised Land
Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb . . . and Joshua . . . for they have wholly followed the LORD. (Num_32:11-12)
Those who live by humble faith enter into the fullness of God's provisions of grace. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble . . . we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand" (Jam_4:6 and Rom_5:2). Joshua and Caleb illustrated this truth by entering the Promised Land.
As we have seen, God's great salvation is both "from" and "unto." "We have passed from death to life" (1Jo_3:14). Also, this life we have been given is to be experienced in abundance. "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (Joh_10:10). Israel's calling by the Lord from bondage in Egypt to fullness in the land pictures this truth. "So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exo_3:8).
Joshua and Caleb were the only adult Israelites in that first generation who went "into the fullness" of God's calling. They alone went into the land. "Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land . . . because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb . . . and Joshua." Joshua would not only enter the land, he would lead Israel into God's victory. "Then Moses called Joshua and said to him . . . you must go with this people to the land . . . and you shall cause them to inherit it" (Deu_31:7). Caleb would not only enter the land, he would still be strengthened by faith even in his old age. "Here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war" (Jos_14:11).
Unlike Joshua and Caleb, the other Israelites followed the Lord's calling out from Egypt, but they did not follow Him into the land. Many Christians repeat this same error today. They have followed the Lord as He led them out of the spiritual death of sin and guilt. They are "out of Egypt." They are forgiven of their sins. They have new life in Christ. However, they do not follow the Lord on "into the land." They do not follow by faith into abundance of life. They do not follow the Lord in humble dependence for transformation, for fruitfulness, for a life of spiritual victory.
Dear God of Israel, Thank You for bringing me out of the Egypt of my own spiritual bondage. Now, as Joshua and Caleb did, I long to follow You wholly into the fullness that you desire me to walk in, in Jesus name, Amen.

saltwn · #10 (**permalink**) 09-22-2008, 12:27 AM

I ran across this and thought I'd share. I never knew the story behind the story...

Quote:

Ashley Smith, 27, still remembers the day she received a copy of pastor Rick Warren's bestseller, The Purpose-Driven Life.

She'd walked in late to her aunt's church in Augusta, Georgia. A struggling widow, Christian, and drug addict, Ashley had released custody of her five-year-old daughter, Paige, to her aunt, Kim Rogers, and was there for a visit.

The church was distributing The Purpose-Driven Life, and people could take one even if they didn't have money, Ashley remembers. She looked in her wallet and found a dollar bill—the same dollar she'd used to roll and snort crystal methamphetamine, her latest drug of choice. Ashley placed the dollar bill in the offering plate. For years she'd wanted to come clean, so she picked up the book on her way out and started using it as a daily devotional in an attempt to get her life back on track.

A month later, Ashley made headlines around the world for using The Purpose-Driven Life to help calm Brian Nichols, the alleged Atlanta courthouse killer who murdered four people, including a judge. Nichols held Ashley hostage for seven hours before miraculously letting her go. Ashley was hailed a hero as television news cameras broadcasted Nichols being led away from her apartment in handcuffs.

What everyone didn't know at the time, however, was that Ashley felt like the last person in the world who should be so celebrated. In recent years, she'd been arrested for shoplifting and driving under the influence, witnessed the brutal murder of her husband, lost custody of her daughter, and still struggled with a serious drug addiction that started in high school.

Yet somehow, as Ashley discovered that night, God still was willing to use her for good. And in the process, Ashley found her life would never be the same.

Quote:

On March 11, 2004, Brian Nichols, a prisoner on trial for rape, killed four people at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, then escaped and randomly made his way to Ashley's apartment complex in nearby Duluth, looking for a place to hide. Ashley had been up late unpacking boxes in her new apartment and...The Gift of a Second Chance | Today's Christian Woman | Your Life. Your Faith. Your World.

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