Spiritual Thoughts

K ind hearts are the gardens, Kind thoughts are the roots, Kind words are the blossoms, Kind deeds are the fruits. ~ 19th Century Rhyme D o not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ~ Proverbs 3:3

W hat you plant now, you will harvest later. ~ Og Madino W hat is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches. ~ Luke 13:18-19

O nly God can turn a mess into a message, a test into a testimony, a trial into a triumph, and a victim into a victory. ~ Nishan Panwar F or whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. ~ 1 John 5:4

T he best way to get things done is to simply begin. ~ Anonymous T herefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the coming of Jesus Christ. ~ 1 Peter 1:13

Friday Tale - God ~ Our Redeemer God is a Redeemer; He gave us his beloved Son, He rescues and breaks the chains of bondage, He finds us and brings us to Him. God is a Restorer; He returns what was destroyed and replaces what was stolen. He removes the stain of sin, and brings beauty out of the ruins of our lives. God is a Renewer; He rekindles the flame which flickers in the heart grown cold. He takes away the old things and makes all things new. God is a Refresher; He sends the cooling wind on a summer's day, brings rivers to the desert place, and sends seasons of refreshing to the soul. ~ Roy Lessin Y our Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.  ~ Isaiah 54:5

F aith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark. ~ Rabindranath Tagore T he Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want... Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for You are with me.  ~ Psalm 23

T he vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart - this you will build your life by, and this you will become. ~ James Lane Allen W e have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worth of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.  ~ Colossians 1:9-10

L ove cures people - both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. ~ Karl A. Menninger L ove never fails.  ~ 1 Corinthians 13:8

A s a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey. ~ Thomas A. Edison T herefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.  ~ 1 Corinthians 15:58

Friday Tale ~ The Power of Goals C lear written goals have a wonderful effect on your thinking. They motivate you and galvanize you into action. They stimulate your creativity, release your energy, and help you to overcome procrastination as much as any other factor.     Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement. The bigger your goals and the clearer they are, the more excited you become about achieving them. The more you think about your goals, the greater becomes your inner drive and desire to accomplish them.     Think about your goals and review them daily. Every morning when you begin, take action on the most important task you can accomplish to achieve your most important goal at the moment. ~ Jim Gentil     Don't let yesterday take up too much of today. Push yourself, because no one else is going to do it for you. Your limitation—it's only your imagination. All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. ~ Walt Disney

T he more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. ~ Oprah Winfrey I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my life knows it very well.  ~ Psalm 139:14

T he miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see. ~ Robert Holden T herefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.  ~ Hebrews 12:28

I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, BUT through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. ~ Agatha Christie J esus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.  ~ John 11:25-26

HE is RISEN !   Because of the empty tomb, we have peace.  Because of His resurrection, we can have peace  during even the most troubling of times  because we know God and His son are in control of all that happens in the world.  ~ Paul Chappell Jesus said to her,  “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me will live,  even though they die; and whoever  lives by believing in me will never die.”  ~ John 11:25-26

Friday Tale - Think B efore you speak - T.H.I.N.K. T - Is it true? H - Is it helpful? I - Is it inspiring? N - Is it necessary? K - Is it kind? We all need to avoid expressing the first  thought that comes into our minds;  it is not always the best thought.  Think before you speak, and you  will be less likely to say something trite or offensive. ~ Jim Gentil D o not let unwholesome [worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, BUT only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion so that it will be a blessing to those who hear you when you speak.  ~ Ephesians 4:29 (Amplified)

B e nice to each other. You can make a whole day a different day for everybody. ~ Richard Dawson   B e kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.  ~ Ephesians 4:32

O ur background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, BUT we are responsible for who we become. ~ Barbara Geraci M ay the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you, so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.  ~ 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13

A n arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward.  So when life is dragging you back with difficulties,  it means that it's going to launch you into something great. ~ Author Unknown A nd he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak then am I strong.  ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

W herever you go, no matter what the weather,  always bring your own sunshine. ~ Anthony J. D'Angelo     BUT the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.  ~ Proverbs 4:18

Friday Tale - Perspective A flower is a weed seen through joyful eyes. the virtue of anyone or anything is solely in our perspective. See gold, and there is gold; see lead and there is lead. If you see this thistle as a thorny nuisance, then it is a weed. If you appreciate its bright pink bloom, then it is a flower. It becomes what you name it. The power is in your choice, your perspective, your speaking. ~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie I t was in faith that all these persons died. They did not receive the things God had promised, BUT from a long way off, they saw them, and welcomed them, and admitted openly that they were foreigners and refugees on earth. And all these, having gained approval through their faith , did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.  ~ Hebrews 11:13, 39, 40

T he cultivation of JOY, as with all forms of agriculture, starts with the planting of a single seed, and while the harvest may not be necessary for survival, it lies at the very heart of human happiness. ~ Unknown BUT let all who take refuge in You be glad, let them every sing for joy, and may You shelter them, that those who love Your name may exult in You. ~ Psalm 5:11

T he foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, BUT the wise grows it, now. ~ J. Robert Oppenheimer T herefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.  Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall ~ Matthew 7:24-27