Spiritual Thoughts

  Friday Tale ~ Prison Th e late Dr. Jay Dishman, wrote about habits and the Alcatraz prison.           "Recently I visited Alcatraz prison. Once it housed the most hardened of criminals. Today it is open to tourists under the direction of the United States Parks Department. Many men have tried to escape Alcatraz, no one is known to have succeeded. As I listened to the tour guide explain the impossibility of escape, I thought of other prisons equally confining but where the doors are never locked, no guards walk the halls, and escape is encouraged and possible. That prison is habit."           Our habit of thinking about ourselves and our environment as a jail or a paradise. We need but to look around us to see people who are rich emotionally and materially because they think and feel rich. We also see people who are laden with emotional and material debt because they think lack.   Some ...

I n the midst of movent and chaos, keep stillness inside of you. ~ Deepak Chopra B e still before the LORD, wait patiently for Him and entrust yoursel fto Him; Do not fret [whine, agonize] because of him who proserps in his way, or because of the man who carries out wicked shemes. ~ Psalm 37:7 (Ampified)

 In prayerful silence you must look into your own heart.  No one can tell you better than yourself what comes between you and God.  Ask yourself. Then listen! ~ Johnannes Tauler BUT the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth hush and be silent before Him. ~ Habakkuk 2:20

  D well in stillness Observe without reacting and without judging. ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn B e still and know {recognice, understand} that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth. ~ Psalm 46:10 (amplified)

   G od's voice is still and quiet, easily buried under an avalanche of clamor. ~ Charles Stanley BUT he who listens to me will live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil. ~ Proverbs 1:33 

  Friday Tale - Pumpkin Face A lady had recently been baptized. One of her co-workers asked her what it was like to be a follower of Christ. She was caught off guard and didn't know how to answer, but when she looked around she saw a jack-o'-lantern on the desk and answered: "It's like being a pumpkin."   The worker asked her to explain that one.   "Well, God picks you from the patch and brings you in and washes off all the dirt on the outside that you got from being around all the other pumpkins.   Then He cuts off the top and takes all the yucky stuff out from inside. He removes all those seeds of doubt, hate, greed, pride, etc.   Then He carves on you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all to see." I'll never look at a pumpkin the same way again! ~ Unknown T herefore if any one be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are new. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

  A dvice from a pumpkin: Be well rounded Get plenty of sunshine. Give thanks for God's bounty. Have a thick skin. Keep growing. Be outstanding in your field. Think Big! ~ Ilan Samir I know the best we can do is to always enjoy life, because God's gift to us is the happiness get from our food and drink, and from the work we do. ~ Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 (CEV)

  W hen I say "Good Morning," I mean: G od O ffers us His O ustanding D evotion to M ake us O bedient and R eady for a N ew day with Him so I nspire others, please, and N ever forget G od loves you! ~ Maritta Terrell H e who overcomes, and he who keeps my deeds until the end, I will give him the morning star . ~ Revelation 2:26, 28 (NASB)

Hard work keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit. ~ Helena Rubinstein Continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort - for the sake of his good pleasure - is God. ~ Philippians 2:12-13 (NET

  I t is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves. ~ Edmund Hillary B e strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ~ Ephesians 6:10 

Thought for the Day 10/23/2026 Friday Tale ~ Shaped Like ? A man won a prize at the county fair for a full-grown pumpkin shaped like a small jar. How did he accomplish this? When the pumpkin stated to bloom he simply put the bloom into the glass jar and the pumpkin as it grew, filled up the jar. He then broke the jar, and the pumpkin had duplicated the size and shape of the jar. Many times we do the same to ourselves. We place ourselves in containers that limit our growth. The container will be just as large or small as we believe it to be. It is a matter of choice.  We can choose to continue to grow or we can choose to become ripe and rot. Many times the achievement of our potential is just a matter of a very slight edge, but we don’t realize it. For example, in baseball a player who has a 350 average earns at least 3-5 million dollars a year. But a 250 hitter may only earn $750,000 a year. Yet the difference is only one hit every 10 times at bat - a very slight edge. How many Sup...

  T he people who make a difference are not the ones with the credentials, BUT the ones with the concern. ~ Max Lucado T he righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor, the wicked does not understand such concern. ~ Proverbs 29:7

  M ake no judgments where you have no compassion. ~ Anne McCaffrey T hus says the LORD of hosts: "Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart." ~ Zechariah 7:9-10 (ESV)

  I f you woke up breathing, congratulations ! You have another opportunity. ~ Unknown S atisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. ~ Psalm 90:14 (ESV)

  G od does not have to put His name on the corner of every meadow,  because nobody else makes meadows. ~ Cecil Laird P raise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His steadfast love endures forever! Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD or declare all His praise? ~ Psalm 106:1-2 (ESV)