Thank you for your prayers, they not only were deeply appreciated, but the Lord heard them, and answered 20 fold.

When I went to my doctor, last week, I saw his lovely new PA. She was not familiar with my negative reactions to medications, although I have a lengthy list of problems with such. She prescribed what she felt would get me on my feet - instead, it sort of pulled the rug out from under them. She prescribed a steroid pack. The first day went ok, but from there on - down hill. At any age, a downhill slide, in your health, is not what you are looking for. When I woke up at 2:30 AM with chest pains, I figured 'this is not good.' off to the er. After an extensive set of tests, "Praise the Lord," He rules the day. The doctor told me, "My heart and arteries look the same as they did two years ago, everything looked good."

There is a song that combines this parable with that of the beatitudes. It is called "We are the light of the world" it goes like this:

Lyrics
1. Blessed are they who are poor in spirit,
Theirs is the kingdom of God.
Bless us, O Lord, make us poor in spirit;
Bless us, O Lord, our God.

Refrain
We are the light of the world,
may our light shine before all,
that they may see the good that we do,
and give glory to God.

2. Blessed are they who are meek and humble,
They will inherit the earth.
Bless us, O Lord, make us meek and humble;
Bless us, O Lord, our God.

3. Blessed are they who will mourn in sorrow,
They will be comforted.
Bless us, O Lord, when we share their sorrow;
Bless us, O Lord, our God.

4. Bless those who hunger and thirst for justice,
They will be satisfied.
Bless us, O Lord, hear our cry for justice;
Bless us, O Lord, our God.

5. Blessed are they who show others mercy,
They will know mercy too.
Bless us, O Lord, hear our cry for mercy;
Bless us, O Lord, our God.

6. Blessed are hearts that are clean and holy,
They will behold the Lord.
Bless us, O Lord, make us pure and holy;
Bless us, O Lord, our God.

7. Blessed are they who bring peace among us,
They are the children of God.
Bless us, O Lord, may your peace be with us;
Bless us, O Lord, our God.

8. Bless those who suffer from persecution,
Theirs is the kingdom of God.
Bless us, O Lord, when they persecute us;
Bless us, O Lord, our God.

Good to see you here once again Roxy

A parable of Jesus Christ. The Sixth Parable.
Brothers and sisters, join with me in Praying for America in this the fifth parable:


In the name of the Father,
And of the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit,
Amen

Father, in heaven.
We America, are praying for our country, our state, and our communities for Your blessing once again. Safeguard our nation, as we journey on a quest of parables. Let my fellow Americans take heed in today's reading.

Amen

Parable#6: "Lamp on a stand(2nd time)"

The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St. Mark:


Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
(Mark 4: 21-25)

A second Gospel of Our Lord, Jesus Christ:

“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”(Luke 8:16-18)

“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”(Luke 11:33-36)

The Gospel of Our Lord
Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ! King of Endless Glory!


In the Name of the Father,
And of the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit,
Amen!

Prayer for 2/23/16

When I walked out on the deck this morning, all the landscape was bathed in a misty, silvery light. Walking out, on the dew covered grass, I looked up at a full moon beaming down on me. High above the moon hung a lone star like a guard holding back a circle of clouds around this gleaming orb. The sky was quite cloudy, but here and there, an occasional star beamed through. What serenity, what beauty He places before our eyes. How often do we take the time to allow it to seep into our soul, and lift our spirits with the joy of His presence? Breathtaking tranquility fills our being. What a wonderful way to start the day.
I am always in awe of the words you write. I am not a writer but God gave me the gift of being a good listener and helping to lift spirits of those who are lost or feel hopeless. There is always hope when God is in your life. He has plan for us all. Amen
As I gazed around at this peaceful scene, I noticed the outline of the deciduous trees, their bare branches reaching up to the heavens. The branches make strange designs against the semi-light of this morning sky. Closer by, stood the feathery fir trees, like sentinels guarding my surrounding view. At this early hour, all is quiet and peaceful. It feels as though the earth is in harmony with its surroundings. Soon people will be stirring, readying themselves for a day of work, preparing themselves for the commotion and clamor of another day. Soon the golden light, of the morning sun, will break through in the eastern sky.

Praise the Lord, He has blessed us with the gift of another day. We thank You, Lord, that You have blessed us with the ability to appreciate this day. We thank You, Lord, for the generous love and mercy You have bestowed upon our nation. You continue to bless us even as evil prevaricators try to remove Your presence from our lives. There are more than 'ten righteous' who still bend their knee and bow their head to worship You, worship You and appreciate Your glory. Dear Lord, we ask that You take our hand and lead us this day. We thank You, Lord, and give You all praise, honor, and glory. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen

A parable of Jesus Christ. The Third Parable.

Brothers and sisters, join with me in Praying for America in this the third parable:


In the name of the Father,
And of the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit,
Amen

Father, in heaven.
We America, are praying for our country, our state, and our communities for Your blessing once again. Safeguard our nation, as we journey on a quest of parables. Let my fellow Americans take heed in today's reading.

Amen

Parable#4 "Wise and foolish builders"

The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St. Matthew:


“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Another Gospel of Jesus Christ, according to Luke:

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
(Luke 6:24-29)

The Gospel of Our Lord
Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ! King of Endless Glory!


In the Name of the Father,
And of the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit,
Amen!

We all have bad days one way or another. I know a family living from day to day trusting the Lord. Rather than look at your qualifications, and your accolades look for all the menial jobs you are capable of, and praise the Lord for each one. No doubt you have picked up abilities that touch on other trades, it is time to don your hat of many faceted abilities. Maybe the Lord is looking to lead you elsewhere, be open to all possibilities. My prayer is with you, Ranger, go out there ready to fight the horde if necessary, and you may be surprised by the ally you come across.

Prayer for June 8, 2015
New approaches

SWMBO and I went to a seminar this weekend on different approaches needed in healing therapy for children from same sex or t*********r households. It was emphasized that while children in these households are about 40% more likely to be molested, it is still no where the norm under those household situations. the discussions were primarily about the two most common problems. Since both parents are of the same biological sex, even if one has changed g*****ls and superficial features of one sex for g*****ls and superficial features of the other, the thought patterns and biological responses to children remain the same as they were before the s*x c****e. And of course if two men or two women are raising the children they are obviously not of the same sex. the speakers also stated that it is often the case that other people, particularly men are likely to be overnight guests and may be more inclined to molest the children. Again, the emphasis is not that all same sex partners even those who do not live there are likely to molest the children, just that is more common. therefore the approaches are different during therapy. the last several boys we have worked with had been removed from the "Parents care" but probably half of the kids anyone works with live with the safe parent or parents depending on whether the molester was a friend of the parents, a teacher, or minister or some other non related person. Each kind of situation requires different approaches. The fact that there are more same sex or t*********r parents now means more techniques must be used. It was a fascinating and scary subject to talk about. We noticed how carefully the speakers spoke about the differences in "lifestyles" Several later in private conversations said that they must be extremely careful of the do get activists picketing the seminars, with signs accusing those who help the kids of being h**eful homophobes. We saw none of that at this seminar but it was low key and only about 35 people were there, so maybe that was why it was so low keyed.

On the way home we discussed the different approaches we must use in talking about this subject and the approaches that work without anger. As Christians, we need to use that much care in everything we do, because there is so much animosity out there against believers in God and Christians in particular. Everything we do and say will be filtered through the minds of those who h**e us. the approaches through love that we generally use are apparently not enough. always everything we say is intentionally misconstrued by those who do not accept the word of God, but prefer the word of Satan, because his is the easier word to obey. God has great expectations on us, and His path can be hard to follow. We are easily misguided, often by trying to not sound h**eful when we tell others of God's word. Working with children who have been used and misused by those who claimed to love them, and were supposed to protect them from predators, presents extra problems because we must not tell the children not to love their parents, even if the parents allowed or invited harm to come to them. In our regular lives we all have similar situations which require new and very careful approaches as to how to extend God's love to all sinners, and welcome them into God's house while offering them God's unconditional love. God wants them to stop sinning, stop leading destructive and damaging lives, stop pretending that all things that they want to do are wonderful in God's eyes. When it comes to the children, the line is even finer. Frankly most of the time, I would like to take a baseball bat to parents who abuse or knowingly allow their children to be abused, but that does not
work. We all need to pray for these children, and all of the innocent ones caught up in the world of destruction often caused by their parents sins.

Oh Heavenly Father who is our creator and our life source, help us each day to act with true kindness toward other people. Teach us the appropriate approach that will work with each person we meet, so that they can understand Your word, and share in your forgiving love. Give strength to those who falter, those who live in an eternally dark place, so that they can lift up their heads and look into the light of God's glory., Feel their tears as they cry for Your help. Please Almighty God, reach out to them so that they can know Your loving hands on their shoulders, and understand that it You, oh God, who wipes away their tears. We are your servants, here to do your bidding, lead us to those who are needy, teach us the right approach to bring them into your fold. You are the shepherd whose guiding staff will keep us all safe during the hard times ahead. Be with us, o Lord all night and all day, by our sides as we walk through this troubled land. this we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our savior. AMEN AMEN AMEN