Spiritual Thoughts

  B e a pineapple. Stand tall, wear a crown, and be sweet on the inside. ~ Unknown  P leasant words are a honeycomb: sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. ~ Proverbs 16:24

  T he tenets of Tuesday talks tell that troubling tongue treatment not to be tolerated. ~ Inga von Gadenstedt  T ruthful lips will be established forever, BUT a lying tongue is only for a moment. ~ Proverbs 12:19

  I t is not our circumstances that create our discontent or discontent.            It is us. ~ Vivian Greene  BUT godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we can not take anything out either. ~ 1 Timothy 6:6-7

  Friday Tale - Prayer from the Heart J ohn Bunyan said, "In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” A story told by a 19th-century Jewish rabbi shares the same idea: A disheveled old man entered a synagogue for the first time. Not realizing he was holding the prayer book upside down, he tried to follow the congregation’s singing, but his words were incorrect. Finally, he simply looked toward heaven, repeating one Hebrew word over and over.       After worship, some people complained to the rabbi, “Why didn’t you ask him to leave?”       He replied, “That man said more to God with his one word than some of us will ever say in our whole lives. God hears the words of the heart." ~ Jim Gentil  W hatever prayer is made by any man.... each knowing the affliction of his own heart , and spreading his hands towards this house, then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive a...

  Y ou have to change your life if you're not happy and wake up that things are not going right. ~ Keanu Reeves  BUT speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, Christ. ~ Ephesians 4:15

  W hen someone walks away from you, it's not the end of your story. It's the end of their character's role in your story. ~ Unknown  M ake every effort to come to me soon; Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. ~ 2 Timothy 4:9-10

  G reatness comes from fear. Fear can either shut us down and we go home, OR we fight through the fear. ~ Lionel Richie  W ork out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you; both to will and to work for His good pleasure. ~ Philippians 2:12-13

  D on't let life discourage you; everyone who got where it is, had to begin where he was. ~ Richard L. Evans  BUT when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. ~ Luke 21:28

  Friday Tale - Caring to Stay Positive   A business man was walking to work downtown in a big city and decided to stop off at his regular newspaper stand to buy a paper. He greeted the newsman very courteously, but in return he received abrupt and discourteous service. The newsman had a very sour disposition.     Accepting the newspaper, which was rudely shoved in his face, the business- man politely smiled and wished the newsman a nice weekend.     As he walked away, a bystander who had observed all of this walked up to the business- man and asked, “Does he always treat you so rudely?”    “Yes, unfortunately he does,” answered the business-man.     “And are you always so polite and friendly to him?” asked the bystander.     “Yes, I am,” said the business-man.     “Why are so nice to him when he is so rude to you?” the bystander question...

  E ven the smallest act of caring for another person is like a drop of water - it will make ripples throughout the entire pond. ~ Jessy and Bryan Matteo  I n speech, conduct, love , faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. ~ 1 Timothy 4:12

  R emember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get. ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.  S o husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself, BUT nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church. ~ Ephesians 5:29-30

  P eople don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. ~ Mary Angelou  I f I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, BUT do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:1

  T oo often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. ~ Leo Buscaglia   B ut a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed ,   came where he was:  and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ~ Luke 10:33-34

  Friday Tale - Cherokee Tradition   D o you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian Youth’s Rite of Passage?     His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him there all alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shines on his face. He cannot cry out for help to anyone.     Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.     The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of strange noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might stumble upon him and do him some harm. The wind blew the grass and the earth shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing his blindfold once. He knew it was the only way for him to become a man.     Finally, ...

  T he outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to reflect their inner beliefs. ~ James Lane Allen  F or we walk by faith, not by sight. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:7

T he happiest people do not have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything. ~ Anonymous I nstruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, BUT on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. ~ 1 Timothy 6:17

P eace begins with a smile. ~ Anonymous   P eace I leave with you; my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. ~ John 14:27

  I t is those who have a deep and real inner life who are best able to deal with the irritating details of outer life. ~ Evelyn Underhill   A nd the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. ~ Isaiah 32:17

  Friday Tale - Dependence H ave you ever flown in a passenger jet 35,000 feet above the ground? It's a totally different perspective on the world. We are so small. We all scramble around like ants from day to day in our own seemingly "big" world yet we are still so small when compared to the big picture of God's universe. God has formed things in such a precise way that we are totally dependent upon him. Do you realize that if the Earth was much closer to the sun we couldn't survive the heat? If we were much further away, we couldn't survive the cold. If the earth's rate of rotation on its axis changed then our entire existence would be in jeopardy because the laws of gravity and physics would change. Although some refuse to believe it, we are all dependent upon God and his mercies. Psalm 104: Verse 27 - 30 shows us how dependent we are upon God for our survival. He has provided the food that we eat. If He hides his face from us we are troubled. If ...

  R eal change, enduring change, happens one step at a time. ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg   B e renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. ~ Ephesians 4:23-24

  T ime stays still long enough for anyone who will use it. ~ Leonardo da Vinci   S ow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes to rain righteousness on you. ~ Hosea 10:12

  P ause to smell the roses,  to breathe, to take a quiet moment for yourself.  Let today be a day to remember that you get to choose how you spend your time. ~ Ralph Marston P ause a moment, and listen; consider the wonderful things God does. ~ Job 37:14