Week Ending Friday, April 15, 2022
{quotes}
The way to be truly happy is to be truly human, and the way to be truly human is to be truly godly.
J.I. Packer
Hope is more than the sunny view that everything will turn out all right; it is believing you have the will and the way to accomplish your goals.
Daniel Goleman
I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how a man could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.
Abraham Lincoln
Satan trembles, when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.
William Cowper
The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
Dolly Parton
{blessings}
Never Hurt
May God bless you with a heart that never hates, a smile that never fades, and a touch that never hurts.
Thoughtful Speech
Spend your money on things that money can buy. Spend your words on things money can’t buy. May God bless you with the gift of thoughtful speech.
Good Character
True joy is a by-product, not a goal. The building and re-building of your good character is the goal worth striving for. God will bless you abundantly for your efforts.
In a Hurry
You are so busy, busy, busy, preparing for life, while life slips casually by. May God bless you with release from unnecessary preparation. Plan for tomorrow, but don’t miss out on today.
Plan & Purpose
God has a plan, and you have a purpose. May you be blessed to know and live the reason you are here.
{prayers}
Good Outcome
Dear Child, Something good is about to happen to you this week. Pray, give praise, trust in me, and wait for the outcome. Love, God
Surround Me
Dear God, Surround me with good influences and the ability to make right decisions. Give me vision to see beyond the surface and hearing that senses lies. Protect me from those with a hidden agenda. Help me know a true heart. I pray to do what’s pure and holy and just. Amen
Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardships as the pathway to peace, taking this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that You will make all things right when I surrender to Your will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with You God, in the great beyond.
Reinhold Niebuhr (adapted)
To Holiness
Dear God. Move me from instinct to inspiration, haughtiness to holiness, selfishness to service. Walk with me down the path of spiritual development.
Praying
It doesn’t have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones; just pay attention, then patch a few words together and don’t try to make them elaborate, this isn’t a contest but the doorway into thanks, and a silence in which another voice may speak.
Mary Oliver
{bible affirmations}
Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Psalms 103:1-5
Let all that I am praise the Lord! I praise God’s holy name with all my heart. I will never forget the good things God does for me; forgiving my sins, healing me when I am unwell, redemption, love, and tender mercies. God fills my life with good, and I am renewed.
Exodus 34:6
Gracious God, slow to anger abounding in love and faithfulness.
Matthew 13:32
Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.
Romans 13:5-6
Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.
{stories, videos, features}
Story: Shake it Off
Video: Gratitude Story – New Vocabulary of Love
Moshe Scheiner
Feature: Miracle Migration of Starlings
Video: Kindness is Contagious
Feature: Reflection on Spiritual Values
Feature: Passing Over