Thankful Thursday #10

Welcome to Thankful Thursday #10! If you'd like to join in, please copy the Thankful Thursday button into your post and then list 5 things that you are thankful for. Next, come back to link up below with Mr. Linky.

Here's my list of items I am thankful for this week:

1) I am thankful that I had the opportunity to go out of town with my husband for 3 days and 2 nights this week! What an amazing time I had just hanging out with my hubby.

2) I am thankful for the stars. Sometimes at night, I love to just gaze at the stars and then I am always in awe at the creator of that universe!

3) I love the snow. We had a very brief snow storm this week. I enjoyed just watching it and day-dreaming about playing in the snow with my kids. In the end it wasn't enough to play in so I'm thankful for the day-dream this time!

4) I am thankful for God's direction in my life. My hubby and I have had some difficult decisions to make lately, and I know that God will give us wisdom if we just ask.

5) I am thankful for communion. There is such power in the blood of the Lamb!

May you be blessed this upcoming weekend. Thank you for joining me in giving thanks to God, great things He has done!

Thankful Thursday #9

Welcome to Thankful Thursday!

If you would like to join in, just copy the T.T. button on my sidebar and paste it into your post. Next you list 5 things that you want to thank God for today. Finally, come back and link up with Mr. Linky below so that others can come and give thanks with you!

Here's my list for this week:

1) I am thankful for my husband's support in my writing life. He surprised me with my first published article in a gorgeous frame to put on display in my office! I was blown away at his thoughtfulness! I love you, Tim!!

2) I am thankful for sunsets. I have noticed some amazing sunsets lately. The colors are so brilliant and it is a feast for the eyes.

3) I am thankful for my friend Kelly. She has been such an encouragement to me lately. She's been especially gracious when I've sent her text messages asking for prayer as I walk through some life issues. Love you Kelly!

4) I am thankful for my friend, Denise. She has 5 children of her own and we've been swapping kids so that the other one gets a break. Her kids are the best and I love them like my own! Thanks for being a burden lifter, Denise!

5) I am thankful for the Word of God! Lately, when I read the Bible I find myself saying things like, "I've never seen that in there before!" because it has directly been speaking into my life. It truly is the LIVING Word of God! It is nourishment to my soul and I treasure its words.

Equally Yoked

1 Corinthians 6:14-18 says

"14Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." 17"Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing,and I will receive you."18"I will be a Father to you,and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

My husband and I were talking last night and he was telling me how powerful it is to have 2 oxen (or horses) yoked together. 1 horse can pull 16 tons, while 2 horses yoked together can pull 36 tons!! That's 6 times as much weight!

One definition of yoked is:

Connection between two things so they move together. (dictionary.com)

Now I am beginning to see why it was so important for us to understand that we need to be equally yoked with believers. God knew that if we can work together focusing on His kingdom we would make a huge difference in this world.

I pray that you have people in your life with whom you are equally yoked for the kingdom.

Meet Logan, The Sky Angel Cowboy - CBN.com

What an amazing testimony! This really touched me because it shows the depths of God's love for us!

It also shows that God can, and will use anyone who is willing!

Thankful Thursday #8

Good morning to my bloggie friends and family! It is time for Thankful Thursday. If you would like to participate, just copy the picture in my sidebar to your post where you will list 5 things that you want to thank God for today. Then come back and link up with Mr. Linky below so we can all be blessed and glorify God together.

Here is my list of things I'm thankful for this week.

1) I am thankful for laughter. We had a family gathering recently and we sat around talking about our most embarrassing moments! We laughed so hard some of us even cried! It is certainly medicine to the soul.

2) I am thankful for Galatians 6. It talks about bearing one another burdens and not growing weary in doing good. God knew we needed each other. He made us relational beings and I am so glad for my "people".

3) I am thankful for my daughter, Valerie. She is adopted from Russia and she noticed that I was having a difficult day so she made me a 2 page card. On the first page she said how thankful she was that I had adopted her, on the 2nd page she copied a beautiful scripture to life my spirits. God is good! I love you Val, and I thank God that I adopted you, too!!!

4) I am thankful for creation. I was awakened just 2 mornings ago to an extremely happy bird outside my window! I thought, "what is going on, birds don't usually sing like that in the winter time?" I believe God knew I just needed to feel the joy that the little bird had in its heart.

5) I am thankful for these Thankful Thursday posts. They help me to keep my life in perspective. They make sure that I am not focusing on all of the negative things around me. It's like stopping to smell the roses. I also enjoy visiting all of your TT posts, it always encourages me.

God bless each one of you!

Seeds Sown

Have you ever read the parable of the sower in Luke Chapter 8?

The Bible goes on to interpret the meaning of this parable. First it clearly states that the seeds are the Word of God. It says that the first seeds were sown on the roadside and the devil immediately casts doubts and takes them away so that the person never believes unto salvation.

This is the one I'm not sure I understand. Do you think that these could be people who we share the Word with and then they don't get involved in a church so that Satan can easily take it from them? I'm just trying to figure out what it means that it was beside the road.

Next the seeds are thrown onto the rocks. There is a thin layer of dirt so they actually sprout up and begin to grow... but they have no root so that when a time of temptation comes they wither and die.

I was reading in my morning devotional today by Matthew Henry and he surmised that this one represented a person who had a hardened heart. So that the seeds seemed exciting and they begin growing, but then the hardened heart prevents them from moving down into their souls.

The seeds thrown into the thorns represent the people who take more concern with riches and pleasures and cares of this life so that those things choke out the growth that began to take place.

This one is also interesting to consider. I believe that just like the rich man who had done everything to keep the law, Jesus told him (and us) that he had to give it all away and follow Jesus to be saved. This grieved the man and he left!! If He asked us to give it all away to follow Him could we, would we?

Finally the seeds sown onto the good soil, they have good hearts which allows them to keep the word and bring forth fruit with patience.

AHH The good soil! We would all like to believe that we have good cultivated soil. I threw that last word in there, cultivated. Here are some definitions as found on dictionary.com

Cultivated:
3. to promote or improve the growth of by labor and attention.
4. to develop or improve by education or training; train; refine.

If you've ever gardened you know that you have to add things into the soil and then till them into the soil. Some of the things added are manure, and compost. These things aren't pleasant to work with and they wouldn't be things we would ever eat! But they are necessary in order to have healthy plants that produce good fruits.

These are not pleasant sounding things to have happen in our hearts! Are we prepared to let the Lord cultivate our hearts so that seeds will grow in us? If you are going through difficult circumstances stop and ask the Lord if this is part of His cultivating work in your life.

Give You Glory!

This is an amazing song and it really describes how I feel about my LORD!

Thankful Thursday #7

I am so glad that it's time for Thankful Thursday again. I am ready to count my blessings. If you'd like to join in, just copy the Thankful Thursday button on my sidebar and write your T.T. post. Then, come back here to link up below so we can all give God the glory, great things He has done.

Here are my five things that I'm thankful for today:

1) I'm thankful for my husband. He has been such a Godly example over the years and his character is amazing. I love you!

2) I'm thankful that God never gives up on us. Sometimes I can be so hardheaded and I can be deceived, but God is always there to lovingly bring me back to the truth of His word.

3) I'm thankful that it's a new year, and with that comes new opportunities and challenges!

4) I'm thankful for technology. I'm planning for the spring semester and using a computer with a printer has made my life so much easier!

5) I'm thankful for written words. They carry so much power and inspiraton and I am glad I can read and enjoy them.

Dear God, today I lift up to you these five things that I am so grateful for. I love you dearly and I am glad to have this opportunity to count some of my blessings!

Monday's Mercies

How do you feel about Monday mornings? I know so many people who really despise them! I used to fall into that same category, until I changed my attitude.

Week after week, I would fall short and miss the mark with this or that. But then, each Monday morning began to represent a new week with a fresh start to get it right. I know that God's mercies are new every morning, and I am so grateful for that fresh mercy, but I need to give myself a break as well.

I can be very critical of myself and get downright depressed if I allow my mind to beat me up for all of my failures. That's why it has become a very important part of my life to celebrate Monday's as a fresh new week, and to glorify God for His mercies as I approach the new week with a renewed heart and spirit.

If you've been down on Monday's perhaps you should take a fresh new look at the opportunity to start each week anew with God.

Lamentations 3:22-23 "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Thankful Thursday's Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! I can hardly believe that it is 2009!!! What an exciting day this is.

It is really great how Thankful Thursday's have fallen on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and now New Years Day! God is good with His timing.

If you'd like to participate in this Thankful Thursday Meme, just copy the button on my sidebar to put into your post, then list 5 things that you are thankful for and be sure to come back here and link up below so that other's can come and rejoice with you.

Here's my list of 5 things that I'm thankful for for 2008:

1) I am thankful for my health and the health of my family! We had no bad diagnosis, or illnesses, or deaths this year!

2) I am thankful for my new church. We felt the need to start attending a local church and moved there in August. It seems like a good fit and we are enjoying being involved!

3) I am thankful that we live in a free country and can worship God anytime and anywhere. We are so blessed that way!!

4) I am thankful that God is not finished with me yet! I am a work in progress and I look forward to having Him mold me and make me what He wants me to be.

5) I am thankful for starting this blog. Meeting all of you has been such a blessing in my life! My faith has grown and my circle of friends has grown. God is so good!