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Posted on 01/02/2023 6:16:23 PM PST by JustAmy
Edited on 01/02/2023 7:28:26 PM PST by Jim Robinson. [history]
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Happy Caturday !
Sunny and warmer today, 37, will melt some ice. Several warm days ahead. The mail carrier didn’t venture down our icy driveway yesterday, to deliver a package too large for the mailbox. So I drove to town to get it in the afternoon. I wanted to prevent a slip-and-fall accident this morning if she tried again.
The sleet we got has a layer of ice on it. Last night we got an inch of fluffy snow. Pretty treacherous out there since Thursday afternoon.
Improving right now, as the sun and warmer air starts to melt it.
🥶❄️
Bible in a Year:
Day after day, . . . [the apostles] never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
In an interview, a musician who’s a believer in Christ recalls a time he was urged to “stop talking about Jesus” so much. Why? It was suggested that his band could be more famous and raise more money to feed the poor if he stopped saying his work was all about Jesus. After thinking it through, he decided, “The entire point of my music is to share my faith in Christ. . . . No way [am I] going to be silent.” He said his “burning calling [is] to share the message of Jesus.”
Under much more threatening circumstances, the apostles received a similar message. They’d been jailed and miraculously delivered by an angel, who told them to continue telling others about their new life in Christ (Acts 5:19–20). When the religious leaders learned of the apostles’ escape and that they were still proclaiming the gospel, they reprimanded them: “We gave you strict orders not to teach in [Jesus’] name” (v. 28).
Their reply: “We must obey God rather than human beings!” (v. 29). As a result, the leaders flogged the apostles and “ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus” (v. 40). The apostles rejoiced that they were worthy of suffering for Jesus’ name, and “day after day . . . never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news” (v. 42). May God help us to keep following their example!
Reflect & Pray
If you’ve ever been told to stop talking about Jesus, what was your response? What are some ways you can tell others about Him?
Dear God, thank You for the example of the apostles and others who were bold witnesses for You. Please give me courage to follow their lead.
For further study, read Gospel Conversations.
I hope it continues to warm up for you so things aren’t so dangerous around there!
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I would love to go for a walk. Just tried and after about 10 steps, turned around back into the garage. Maybe tomorrow. 😅 Not breaking bones or getting a concussion is more inportant. Housework can be good excercise, I will have to try it! Ha Ha!
I guess you could run in place. I did that a lot...to get my heart rate up...till my stupid knee started buckling on me.
Good night Kitty
🌙💫⭐️🌟😴
Bible in a Year:
I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.
The offer looked good, and was exactly what Peter needed. After being laid off, this sole breadwinner of a young family had prayed desperately for a job. “Surely this is God’s answer to your prayers,” his friends suggested.
Reading about the prospective employer, however, Peter felt uneasy. The company invested in suspicious businesses and had been flagged for corruption. In the end, Peter rejected the offer, though it was painful to do so. “I believe God wants me to do the right thing,” he shared with me. “I just have to trust He will provide for me.”
Peter was reminded of the account of David meeting Saul in a cave. It seemed like he was being given the perfect opportunity to kill the man hunting him down, but David resisted. “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing . . . for he is the anointed of the Lord,” he reasoned (1 Samuel 24:6). David was careful to distinguish between his own interpretation of events and God’s command to obey His instruction and do the right thing.
Instead of always trying to look for “signs” in certain situations, let’s look to God and His truth for wisdom and guidance to discern what lies before us. He will help us do what’s right in His eyes.
Reflect & Pray
What could help you discern between a personal interpretation of events and what God would want you to do? Whom can you turn to for godly advice?
God, our Provider, grant me the wisdom to discern opportunities before me and the faith to follow Your way, that I might always do what pleases You.
For further study, read Making Decisions God’s Way.
Bible in a Year:
All the widows stood around [Peter], crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made.
In the last few days of my dad’s life, one of the nurses dropped by his room and asked me if she could give him a shave. As Rachel gently pulled the razor across his face, she explained, “Older men of his generation like to have a neat shave every day.” Rachel had seen a need and acted on her instinct to show kindness, dignity, and respect to someone. The tender care she provided reminded me of my friend Julie who still paints her elderly mother’s nails because it’s important to her mom that she “look pretty.”
Acts 9 tells us about a disciple named Dorcas (also known as Tabitha) who showed kindness by providing handmade clothing for the poor (vv. 36, 39). When she died, her room was filled with friends who tearfully mourned this kind woman who loved helping others.
But Dorcas’ story didn’t end there. When Peter was brought to where her body lay, he knelt and prayed. In God’s power, he called her by name, saying, “Tabitha, get up” (v. 40). Amazingly, Dorcas opened her eyes and rose to her feet. When her friends realized she was alive, word spread quickly through the town and “many people believed in the Lord” (v. 42).
And how did Dorcas spend the next day of her life? Probably exactly as she had before—seeing the needs of people and filling them.
Reflect & Pray
Whom do you know that always seems to find ways to help others? What can you do to become more aware of others’ needs?
Father, open my eyes each day to see the hurting and needy people around me. Open my heart to do what I can to show them what God’s love looks like.
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Thank you.
Happy Monday Madness!
Rainy all day here. Better weather for Tuesday.
🌷🌷🌷
About those opposable thumbs….
If Tippy had opposable thumbs, she would be very dangerous.
That is soooo true!
Bible in a Year:
Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth.
Jack knew how to put trains on the right track. In nine years of work, he never missed a track switch as locomotives drew near the Uitenhage, South Africa, station, indicating by their whistles the direction they were to go.
Jack was also a chacma baboon. He was cared for by railway signalman James Wide, and Jack in turn took care of James. Wide had lost both his legs in a fall between moving rail cars. He trained Jack to help him with tasks around the house and soon Jack assisted him at work also, learning how to respond to the incoming trains’ signals by pulling corresponding levers for their tracks.
The Bible tells of another animal that helped someone in a surprising way—Balaam’s donkey. Balaam was a pagan prophet serving a king who intended to harm Israel. As the prophet was riding his donkey en route to assist the king, “the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth” and it spoke to Balaam (Numbers 22:28). The donkey’s speech was part of the way God opened “Balaam’s eyes” (v. 31), warned him of imminent danger, and kept him from harming His people.
A railway baboon? A talking donkey? Why not? If God can use these amazing animals for good purposes, it’s not at all far-fetched to believe He can use you and me as well. Looking to Him and seeking His strength, we can accomplish more than we ever thought possible.
Reflect & Pray
Whom have you seen God use unexpectedly? What will you do to make yourself available to Him today?
I want to serve You, God! Use my hands, my feet, my mouth, whatever You like! Help me to live for You today.
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