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Posted on 01/01/2024 3:15:48 PM PST by luvie
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Happy WFW! It was warmer but not warm today, about 10 degrees. Actually felt pretty good. All the way to 14 tomorrow. Woo hoo!
I think it was about 20 today, but my car was totally encased in ice. I had to cancel 3 lessons because I couldn’t even get the car open much less started up.
Grrrrr
Ice is no fun. We have been using our garage door to let Moose outside. The other doors were not opening well due to subzero temps, frost on the door seals.
Finally this afternoon I tried a door and it was a lot better. I didn’t want to rip door seals. In a few days it will be over 30 degrees. Yay!
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Bible in a Year :
I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
On Charley and Jan’s fiftieth wedding anniversary, they shared breakfast at a café with their son Jon. That day, the restaurant was understaffed with just a manager, cook, and one teenage girl who was working as hostess, waitress, and busser. As they finished their breakfast, Charley turned to his wife and son and said, “Do you have anything important going on in the next few hours?” They didn’t.
So, with permission from the manager, Charley and Jan began washing dishes in the back of the restaurant while Jon started clearing the cluttered tables. According to Jon, what happened that day wasn’t really that unusual. His parents had always set an example of Jesus who “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45).
In John 13, we read about the last meal Christ shared with His disciples. That night, the Teacher taught them the principle of humble service by washing their dirty feet (vv. 14–15). If He was willing to do the lowly job of washing a dozen men’s feet, they too should joyfully serve others.
Every avenue of service we encounter may look different, but one thing’s the same: there’s great joy in serving. The purpose behind acts of service isn’t to bring praise to the ones performing them, but to lovingly serve others while directing all praise to our humble, self-sacrificing God. .
Reflect & Pray
When has someone unexpectedly offered to help you with a difficult task? Why is humility such an important aspect of serving others?
Loving Savior, thank You for showing me how to be a servant.
Good morning! Those two look like they’re peeking to see what 2024 might have up its sleeve. 😅
Bible in a Year :
Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
One summer night, the birds near our home suddenly erupted into chaotic cawing. The squawking intensified as the songbirds sent piercing calls from the trees. We finally realized why. As the sun set, a large hawk swooped from a treetop, sending the birds scattering in a screeching frenzy, sounding the alarm as they flew from danger.
In our lives, spiritual warnings can be heard throughout Scripture—cautions against false teachings, for example. We may doubt that’s what we’re hearing. Because of His love for us, however, our heavenly Father provides the clarity of Scripture to make such spiritual dangers plain to us.
Jesus taught, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15). He continued, “By their fruit you will recognize them. . . . Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” Then He warned us, “By their fruit you will recognize them” (vv. 16–17, 20).
“The prudent see danger and take refuge,” Proverbs 22:3 reminds us, “but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.” Embedded in such warnings is God’s protective love, revealed in His words to us.
As the birds warned each other of physical danger, may we heed the Bible’s warnings to fly from spiritual danger and into God’s arms of refuge. .
Reflect & Pray
What spiritual warning has been speaking to your heart? How has Scripture confirmed a warning to you?
The Scriptures warn with love, dear God, and we thank You. May we heed those words today.
They do, and if they look up where you are, they’re going to have to dress more warmly. LOL!
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Awwwww....Christmas jammies are the BEST! Sweet dreams!
Bible in a Year :
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
My heart ached as I read those words. I remember countless nights when our children were small. My wife and I would be sound asleep only to be startled awake by their cries: “Daddy, I’m sick!” or “Mommy, I’m scared!” One of us would spring into action and make our way to their bedroom to do our best to comfort and care for them. Our love for our children gave them reason to call for our help.
An overwhelming number of the psalms are cries, or laments, to God. Israel brought their laments to Him on the basis of His personal relationship with them. These were a people God had called His “firstborn” (Exodus 4:22) and they were asking their Father to act accordingly. Such honest trust is seen in Psalm 25: “Turn to me and be gracious to me, . . . free me from my anguish” (vv. 16–17). Children who are confident of the love of a caregiver do cry. As believers in Jesus—children of God—He’s given us reason to call on Him. He hears and cares because of His great love. .
Reflect & Pray
How comfortable are you taking your cries to God? Why? How might you offer up a lament to Him today?
Heavenly Father, thank You so much for Your faithfulness to hear my cry and to act.
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WEARING RED ON FRIDAY
