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Posted on 01/01/2024 3:15:48 PM PST by luvie
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This Tuesday feels like a Monday.
😅
All’s well at the northern front
Bible in a Year :
May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.
Oceanographer Sylvia Earle has seen the deterioration of coral reefs firsthand. She founded Mission Blue, an organization devoted to the development of global “hope spots.” These special places around the world are “critical to the health of the ocean,” which impacts our lives on earth. Through the intentional care for these areas, scientists have seen the relationships of underwater communities restored and lives of endangered species preserved.
In Psalm 33, the psalmist acknowledges that God spoke everything into existence and ensured that all He made would stand firm (vv. 6–9). As God reigns over generations and nations (vv. 11–19), He alone restores relationships, saves lives, and revitalizes hope. However, God invites us to join Him in caring for the world and the people He created.
Each time we praise God for the whisper of a rainbow splashed across a clouded, gray sky or the glistening waves of the ocean crashing against a rocky shore, we can proclaim His “unfailing love” and presence as we “put our hope” in Him (v. 22).
When we’re tempted toward discouragement or fear as we consider the current state of the world, we may begin to believe we can’t make a difference. When we do our part as members of God’s care team, however, we can honor Him as the Creator and help others spot hope as they place their trust in Jesus. .
Reflect & Pray
How has God used nature to affirm your hope in Him? How can you serve as part of His care team?
Loving Creator and Sustainer, help me be a hope-spotter who faithfully serves on Your care team.
Good to hear! Stay well. When do you head south?
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I’ll bet she doesn’t even FEEL the cold! LOL!
I’m certain of it.
Her coat is amazingly thick and dense.
Don’t know now.... There’s so much going on here.
Damn doctors appointments now. Plus business I didn’t want
anymore is busy. I’m irritated about it
Dadgum...seems like the world is conspiring against you getting warm! I hope the doctor appointments are just routine ones. Don’t want you seriously ill again!
LOL!
Was that hangin’ from his whisker?
What?
No, I no see your birdie!
I’z innocent!
routine and tests
It WAS hanging from a whisker. LOL! He had it there for quite a while before it finally fell off. I couldn’t resist taking the picture of the evidence. :D
That’s good. Hope they all show good results.
Bible in a Year :
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands.
I didn’t notice him at first.
I’d come down for breakfast at my hotel. Everything in the dining room was clean. The buffet table was filled. The refrigerator was stocked, the utensil container packed tight. Everything was perfect.
Then I saw him. An unassuming man refilled this, wiped that. He didn’t draw attention to himself. But the longer I sat, the more I was amazed. The man was working very fast, noticing everything, and refilling everything before anyone might need something. As a food service veteran, I noticed his constant attention to detail. Everything was perfect because this man was working faithfully—even if few noticed.
Watching this man work so meticulously, I recalled Paul’s words to the Thessalonians: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands . . . so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders” (1 Thessalonians 4:11–12). Paul understood how a faithful worker might win others’ respect—offering a quiet testimony to how the gospel can infuse even seemingly small acts of service for others with dignity and purpose.
I don’t know if the man I saw that day was a believer in Jesus. But I’m grateful his quiet diligence reminded me to rely on God to live out a quiet faithfulness that reflects His faithful ways. .
Reflect & Pray
How should your faith affect the way you work? In what ways is being a faithful worker a powerful testimony?
Father, please help me to remember that there are no small jobs in Your kingdom and to faithfully serve You each day.
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Lovely doves, they like to eat the seed dropped from my feeders.
Been seeing a female Northern Flicker at the suet feeders, very pretty markings on it.
Bible in a Year :
Stand at the crossroads and look; . . . ask where the good way is, and walk in it.
After days of illness and then spiking a high temperature, it was clear my husband needed emergency care. The hospital admitted him immediately. One day folded into the next. He improved, but not enough to be released. I faced the difficult choice to stay with my husband or fulfill an important work trip where many people and projects were involved. My husband assured me he’d be fine. But my heart was torn between him and my work.
God’s people needed His help at the crossroads of life’s decisions. Far too often, they hadn’t adhered to His revealed instructions. So Moses implored the people to “choose life” by following His commands (Deuteronomy 30:19). Later, the prophet Jeremiah offered words of direction to God’s wayward people, wooing them to follow His ways: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it” (Jeremiah 6:16). The ancient paths of Scripture and God’s past provision can direct us.
I imagined myself at a physical crossroads and applied Jeremiah’s template of wisdom. My husband needed me. So did my work. Just then, my supervisor called and encouraged me to remain home. I drew a breath and thanked God for His provision at the crossroads. God’s direction doesn’t always come so clearly, but it does come. When we stand at the crossroads, let’s make sure to look for Him. .
Reflect & Pray
Where do you need direction today? How might God be revealing Himself to you?
Dear God, when I’m uncertain, help me to stand at the crossroads and look for Your provision.
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