THANKFUL THURSDAY...love, sweet love

In just a few short days, we will be celebrating the national day of LOVE.

VALENTINES DAY
What are you hoping to get on this special day?

boxed chocolate?
flowers?
a romantic dinner?

All of those things are nice, but what good are they without love wrapped around them?

Today, on THANKFUL THURSDAY, I am very thankful for the love that has so sweetly been wrapped around my heart.

The love of my devoted husband.
The love of my beautiful children.
The love of precious friends.
The love of a caring and giving church.
The love of my Heavenly Father.

LOVE...WE ARE ALL DRAWN TO IT.

Do you remember that old song, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love?" We are living in days where that rings so true. Our world needs love.

Our teens need love.
Our schools need love.
Our neighborhoods need love.
Our homeless need love.
Our prisons need love.
Our government leaders need love.
Our city needs love.
Our families need love.

Love, sweet love.
Jesus Christ is the ultimate valentine .... the perfect example of love.

It is no wonder people have been drawn to Christ in every generation ~for generations to generations, people have been looking for HIS kind of love.

MATTHEW 9:36 "When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

Jesus has shown us how to love, and now He desires for us to teach others. This will require something more than words. It will take some action, some action wrapped in love. The world needs some love.

May you spread alittle love

(God's love)

in your world today!

http://heartlight.org

Visit IRIS and all of her grateful friends over at THANKFUL THURSDAY, where giving thanks and praise is the word of the day! Click HERE to read more...

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD...strength in my weakness

DO WE TRY TO HIDE OUR

WEAKNESSES FROM OTHERS?

None of us like to admit we have weaknesses, but if the truth was told, all of us do. We all have things that cause us to be vulnerable.

~SUPERMAN ... kryptonite (or lack of) caused weakness
~SAMSON ... his hair (or length of it) caused weakness

We tend to only want people to see our strengths, and we hide our weaknesses from those around us. However, if we want people to see the power of God and the strength that comes thru our faith in Him, we must let people see our weaknesses.

• If we do not show the vulnerable side - how will others identify with us?
• How can the unbeliever give credit to God for what God has done in our lives if all they see is our strengths?

The Apostle Paul knew about the importance of showing his vulnerability, especially to his enemies. In this life, we all have enemies. Our natural response is to become defensive with our enemies and hide our weak areas so that our enemy cannot attack us. Paul had a different approach when it came to his enemies.

2 CORINTHIANS 6:11 "O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open."

Paul spoke frankly about his weaknesses.

2 CORINTHIANS 11:6 "Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things."

Paul admitted his weaknesses.

2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-9 "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. (8)Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. (9)And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."

Paul spoke openly about the "thorns in his flesh" that caused him great grief.

WHY DO YOU SUPPOSE PAUL SPOKE SO OPENLY ABOUT HIS WEAKNESSES?

Paul was not afraid to admit his weaknesses because he believed that God was using them to His glory. I love what Christ had to say in verse 9 of chapter 12 ..."My power is made perfect in weakness!" Paul's entire message to the Corinthians was for them to depend more on God's grace, His unmerited love and favor; and less on their own strength and moral ability.

In last week's YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the readers the following question, "Which attitude toward weakness prevailed in your home as a child". The top 3 responses were:

• 1. 35% of those voting said that they were taught that sharing your feelings showed weakness.
• 2. 21% voted and said that they were taught that "big boys / big girls" do not cry!
• 3. Another 21% polled, said that they were taught that admitting a weakness would give enemies a chance to exploit it.

Hiding or displacing our weaknesses may not always be the best answer. In fact -for today's Christian, it is alright to have weaknesses. Since we are relying upon God's strength, this just means that we are a work in progress and others can see the power of Christ thru us.

Never should we be pointing others to "follow us" but rather, "Follow Christ". Since there is no man perfect other than Jesus Christ Himself ... showing our weaknesses as well as our strengths can only lead others to Christ, where we ALL find our hope and our strength.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR WEAKNESSES? How has God used you in spite of these weaknesses?

"Dear God, thank you that even though I am weak, I can find strength in You. Use me in all that I have, my strengths and my weaknesses to point others to You. amen."

What am I doing to share a God legacy with others? For the next few weeks, on Wednesday Weekly Word, I will be sharing some thoughts on how we can touch others in a spiritual, meaningful way. It is my desire to leave a godly legacy behind. How about you?

YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL: Please take time to vote in this week's poll..."HOW DO YOU REACT WHEN YOU ARE CALLED ON THE CARPET FOR SOMETHING?" The poll is located on the side bar of this blog. YOUR OPINION REALLY DOES MATTER!!

A PIECE OF MY HEART..."thank you Mom for not smoking!"

Today, I wanted to share a piece of my heart with you. My daughter, who is 13, and oh so very bright and intuitive for her young age, said something to me the other day that has not left me.

We were driving home from school, which is my favorite part of the day because it is just her and me and the road and we get some uninterrupted talk time. As I was driving, just out of the blue, Anna said to me, "Thank you Mom for not smoking."

Now...I have been complimented for alot of things over time but honestly, I don't believe I have been complimented for not smoking before!

I asked my daughter why she said that ... and she said, "most of my friends have parents who smoke and even though my friends don't smoke -they smell awful. I want to just tell them to go take a bath!"

WOW.
It's true. What she had to say.

Have you ever walked into a room full of smoke? and not only does the room look hazy but there is an awful stench in the room?

Once tobacco gets in the air. It pollutes everything. It gets in your clothes, in your hair, your teeth and anything else that you touch.

Sin is much like this.

Once you fall to deception and weakness, the enemy will use the act of sin to pollute everything that you touch.

It stains your family.
It stains your reputation.
It stains your testimony.

and it leaves a stench that many times you are not aware of.

a stench of deception
a stench of selfishness
a stench of failure
a stench of lying
a stench of disobedience

"Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you." -Jeremiah 5:25

Sometimes we can hide from other people, the things that we do in private...

and then other times - truth can be found out by the stench we carry.

May we constantly be aware of the cleansing power of Jesus Christ. May we "bathe" in His presence daily and commit those things that we struggle with to Him. It is my prayer that what oozes from you is not a stench to His nostrils.

AND THAT IS A PIECE OF MY HEART TODAY;

AT THE WELL...are my motives pleasing to you, God?

TODAY, we are gathering over AT THE WELL...

I am the contributing writer for today's topic:

"ARE MY MOTIVES PLEASING TO YOU, GOD?"

"What is the real underlying motive for all the good stuff that you do? Sometimes there is a huge difference between our impure motives and the goodness of our actions....."

Please click HERE to read my entire post, and if you would like to contribute to this discussion on "Are my motives pleasing to you, God?" - feel free to write a post and link back up with us over at the AT THE WELL homepage!

As always, I welcome all of your comments and encouragement.

PRAYING POINTS..."does God do evil?"

"DOES GOD DO EVIL?"

This past week, the community that I live in,

was given a taste of the kind of world that we have become.

evil.
We live in an evil world.

We see evil all around us whenever we turn FOX news on.

murdering
stealing
bombing
devastation

From afar, it seems like the kind of evil that is reported is happening somewhere else. Some other town. Some other Country. What do we do when that kind of devastation happens in our city, in our state, in our Country?...."

To read the rest of "DOES GOD DO EVIL?"

and to pray for this weeks prayer needs...

please visit my PRAYER BLOG.

Click HERE to find the rest of the post of "Does God do evil?"

FRIDAY FUNNIES...valentine dream

A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when
the heart is sad, the spirit is broken." -Prov. 15:13

VALENTINES DAY IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER...

and every girl is dreaming of that special gift that

no doubt she will receive from her sweet honey.

Once I had a dream about my valentines gift ...

and after I woke up, I told my husband...

"I just dreamed that you gave me a pearl necklace for Valentine's day.

What do you think it means?"

and he said, "You will know tonight."

That evening, my sweet, adoring, thoughtful husband

came home with a small package and gave it to me.

Delighted,

I opened it to find a book entitled

"The Meaning of Dreams".

Not exactly what I had in mind!

KIM is hosting FRIDAY FUNNIES,

click HERE to find more laughter and fun!

THANKFUL THURSDAY...praise

"Good job!"

"Atta boy"

"Way to go!"

"Glad you are on the team!"




Receiving praise.
We all look for it from time to time.

from our boss.
from our spouse.
from our kids.
from our friends.

Recognition is something that we all crave.

HOW ABOUT RECOGNIZING GOD?
do we appropriately give Him the due honor and praise that He deserves?

We have so many opportunities throughout our day to give Him praise.

when we wake up in the early morning.
when we drive to work.
when we sit at our desk.
when we walk to the restaurant for lunch.
when we drive to the sitters to pick up the children.
when we cook dinner.
when we wash the dishes.
when we fold a load of laundry.
when we tuck the kids in bed for the night.
when we climb into bed and say goodnight.

Whenever God's blessings well up in your heart, stop right then and tell the Lord how grateful you are for all that He has blessed you with.

Its as easy as "I worship you Lord, for You are worthy to be praised. I need You, and I just want to tell you that I love You. Thank you, Father, for everything." Taking time out of your day, at that very moment, to give Him praise will alter your day. As you go on with the rest of your day, you will be amazed at how God's presence will fill you with gladness.

PSALM 100:4 "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!"

AREN'T YOU THANKFUL FOR HIS BLESSINGS?
go ahead and take time right now and thank Him and give Him praise!

IRIS is our host of THANKFUL THURSDAY, join her and others as we all offer up praise and thanks to Him today! Click HERE to find more grateful hearts.