Spiritual Thoughts

Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breath more, talk less, say more, hate less, love more, and all good things will be yours. -- Swedish Proverb James 5:9-10 Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Charity begins at home, but shouldn't end there. -- Scottish Proverb A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog. -- Jack London 1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love [charity], I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. With blessings and thanks to the many who show love and charity every day!!

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. Author Unknown 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

God is the source of love; Christ is the proof of love; service is the expression of love; boldness is the outcome of love. Henrietta C. Mears 1 John 4:17-18 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

With every deed you are sowing a seed. Ella Wheeler Wilcox John 4:36-37 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true.

Status Quo Suzanne Zoglio, Ph.D. There is no status quo. We either expand and grow Or contract and wither on the vine. We forgive or hold onto the past; We explore the world or ignore it; We love and share or judge and withhold; We escape from life or participate. Growth or entropy? The choice is ours. John 15:4-5 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Look outward and be distressed, Look inward and be depressed, Look upward and be at rest. -Corrie Ten Boom Colossians 3:2-3 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Hand Prayers – you carry a prayer guide with you all the time. Just look at your hand and visualize your fingers and palm as being the beginning of ways to say “Thank you, God,” for all your blessings. Praise - Thumb - praise is glorifying God for who and what he is and for how this affects you. Thanksgiving - Index - thanksgiving is thanking God for what He has done and what He is going to do. Confession - Middle - confession is telling God about your sin, and asking for forgiveness through and by Jesus Christ His Son.. It is your response to His holiness. Intercession - Ring - intercession is praying for others. It is your response to God’s love for people, God’s love flowing through you. Petition - Little - petition is asking God for something for yourself to the honor and glory of God, according to His will and wisdom. Listening - Palm - listening is pausing and letting your heart be still. Listen to God’s Word in His Bible. 1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is ne...

Psalms 73:25-26 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. God promises to be our portion, the supplier of all of our needs. Though we may not wear the best of clothing, or eat the finest of foods, or live in the greatest of all neighborhoods, God supplies us with our needs. Our portion is what God has deemed best for us. The psalmist concedes that there is nothing upon this earth that can satisfy his desires more than the presence of God in his life. "There is nothing desirable save God; let us, then, desire only him. All other things must pass away; let our hearts abide in him, who alone abides for ever." - C.H. Spurgeon

He who has no fire in himself cannot warm others. Unknown Luke 8:16 "No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light."

Listen, or thy tongue will keep thee deaf. American Indian Proverb Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak, and slow to become angry. James 1:9 He who answers before listening - that is his folly and shame . Proverbs 18:14

To Be Great =========== Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. ~Martin Luther King Jr.~ Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over. Aesop (620-560 BC) Proverbs 10:25 When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever.

"A man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day, he can sleep at night and do it again the next day." - - Albert Schweitzer James 5:7-8 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

We plant seeds that will flower as results in our lives, so best to remove the weeds of anger, avarice, envy, and doubt, that peace and abundance may manifest for all. Dorothy Day Matthew 13:22-23 "Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

If thou art willing to suffer no adversity, how wilt thou be the friend of Christ? -Thomas à Kempis 1 Peter 2:20-21 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.

Good resolutions are a pleasant crop to sow. --Lucas Malet Luke 8:15 And as for that sown in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Faith is not only a commitment to the promises of Christ; faith is also a commitment to the demands of Christ. -William Barclay 1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. Eric Hoffer Psalms 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

HAPPINESS "Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity." -- Joseph Addison "Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere, whole-heartedly, one-directionally, without regret or reservation." -- William H. Sheldon Proverbs 15:13 A joyful heart makes a cheerful face.

I don't know what the future holds; but I do know who holds the future. -Unknown Hebrews 11:39-40 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.

A year from now you may wish you had started today. Karen Lamb Nehemiah 2:18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work. Nehemiah 6:15-16 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.