Indispensable

>> Wednesday, January 16, 2019

new brace




"Just as the body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ... those parts of the body that seem to be weak are indispensable... now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is [an indispensable] part of it." (1 Corinthians 12:12,22, 27)


O happy day! I graduated from a full-arm cast to a below-the-elbow brace today. All my hopes of getting back to a more normal routine, however, fizzled because my left "opposable" thumb is now completely immobilized.

According to the National Science Teachers Association, our shortest, thickest digit on the human hand is called opposable because the thumb can be moved around to touch the other fingers, which gives people the ability to grasp [and hold and pull and zip and snap and type etc., etc., etc.] Even though I'm right-handed, I never realized how much I use and need my left thumb.

In his letter to the Corinthian, Paul compared believers, the body of Christ, to the human body - made of many, many parts and each part holding an indispensable roll.

Beloved, today may you understand how much you are used and needed in the body of Christ! You, my friend, are indispensable!

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Rejoice Today

>> Tuesday, January 15, 2019

our Stephen, grandboys, and Mr. Snow




"This is the day that the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)


Last week, even though our nine-year-old grandboy was a bit under the weather, when the weather dumped four inches of snow in their front yard, he ran outside and joined in on the family fun.

Beloved, even though life may dump deep problems on today, it's still a day the LORD has made. We may rejoice in the blessings and promises and hopes in Him. Don't miss out on today's joy.

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!"
(Habakkuk 3:17-18)

"... Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of
the LORD is your strength!"
(Nehemiah 8:10)

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He's Still Working On Me

>> Monday, January 14, 2019

my sweet superman




"...for it is God who is at work in us, both to will and work for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)



Because it's impossible to roll hair with a broken wing, my loving and patient superman works on this ol' gal every morning. And because I'm God's work in progress, like the children's song, every day, He's still working on me.

There really ought to be a sign upon my heart
Don't judge [her] yet, there's an unfinished part
But I'll be better, just according to His plan
Fashioned by the Master's loving hands

He's still working on me
To make me what I need to be
It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be
'Cause He's still working on me 1

Take heart, beloved. He's still working on to you, too.

"O LORD, You are our Father. We are the clay; You are the Potter. We are formed by Your hands." (Isaiah 64:8)


1 HE'S STILL WORKING ON ME, Joel Hemphill.



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My Lamp

>> Friday, January 11, 2019

Indiana sunrise




"Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path." (Psalm 119:105)



Pastor Layne Schranz, Day #6 of 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting: "The more we read His word, the more we hear His Voice."

"Open my eyes so that I may see wonderful things in Your law...

Your servant will think about Your statutes; Your decrees are my delight and my counselors...

How sweet Your word is to my taste - sweetie than honey to my mouth...

Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path...

LORD, please accept my willing offerings of praise, and teach me Your judgments...

Since I love Your commands more than gold, even the purest gold, I carefully follow all Your precepts and hate every false way...

My eyes pour out streams of tears because people do not follow Your instruction...

Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your instruction; nothing makes them stumble...

I long for your salvation, LORD, and Your instruction is my delight...

(Psalm 119)

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What HE Has Done

>> Thursday, January 10, 2019

Jesus, Phillip, and me
1977

"I will live to tell what the LORD has done." (Psalm 118:17)

Lord Jesus, in the beginning was the Word, and You are the Word. You spoke the heavens into existence and put the stars in the sky. You created the heavens and the earth. Every created thing is the work of Your hands, every creature land, sky, and sea.

You formed man in Your own image and gave him breath and life. From man, You fashioned woman, and together, they are like You.

You made fatherless Abraham the father of nations, and chose a people for Your own. You freed them from slavery in Egypt. You split the Red Sea, and they walked on dry land. You fed them in the desert and brought them into Your Promise Land.

After 400 years of silence, You humbled Yourself, emptied Yourself of Godhead, and came to earth as a babe and slave. On earth as a man, You lived a sinless life. You healed the sick, opened blind eyes, made the lame dance, and forgave sins. You unstopped deaf ears and fed a multitude with two small fish and five loaves. 

You willingly went to the cross in my place and took my punishment and the penalty for my sins. You lived, You died, and three days later, You arose! Alive again forever!

You appeared to over 500 people across forty days. You ascended into heaven, sat down at the right hand of power beside the Father. You sent Your Holy Spirit to indwell Your people and empower them to go and tell the Good News of salvation through faith in You! 

You formed me in my mother's womb and gave me breath and life. You chased after me with Your goodness and mercy. And in a movie theater when I was a fifth grader, You saved me. You gave me faith to believe. You convicted me of my sins and forgave me and cleansed me by Your shed blood.

You protected me and loved me as a rebellious, sinful teenager. You ordered my steps into the arms of Phillip Glassco. You blessed our marriage and gave us three beautiful children.

You stopped us in our tracks in Bogalusa, La and put us on Your chosen path back to Alabama and RMS. You restored lost fortunes. You protected and redeemed our rebellious teenagers - lifted them from the pit and set them on the Rock, Jesus Christ. You blessed them with Your chosen mates and seven beautiful children. 

You called me to teach Your Word and write Your stories. Every day You are with me. You empower me to do the work You set before me for Your glory. 

Lord Jesus, You have done so many more things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written. 

O come let us adore Thee, Jesus Christ our Lord!


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Right Side Up Again

>> Wednesday, January 9, 2019

grandgirl





"A period of seventy sets of years has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness..." (Daniel 9:24)


Beloved, be of good cheer. Great hope for this upside-down world lies in an almost twenty-five-hundred-year-old prophecy given to a kidnapped and enslaved man around 536 B.C. God promised Daniel that one day He will set all things right side up again, putting an end to sin and ushering in everlasting righteousness!


(Fun facts: Daniel was taken into captivity as a youth in Jerusalem and carted off to Babylon in 605 B.C. When Daniel was an old man, God, through the angel Gabriel, gave him the infamous seventy-sevens prophecy near the end of seventy years of exile. I guessed 69 years to come up with 536 B.C. This prophecy of "no sin and everlasting righteousness" is yet to be fulfilled, but one day - sooner than later - it will be done through Jesus!)

Makes me wanna shout! Praise Jesus! Worthy of all worship and praise!




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International Sign of Surrender

>> Tuesday, January 8, 2019

my church



"In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God..." (1 Timothy 2:8)



On this day #3 of 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, Pastor Chris taught that lifted hands are the international sign of surrender. In his first letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul instructed the young pastor to have God's people pray with holy hands lifted high - a sign of personal surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Are you surrendered to Jesus, beloved? Lift those holy hands high in prayer and praise!

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All About Jesus

>> Monday, January 7, 2019

grandboys 2017




"Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the LORD Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6)


Today is Day #2 of 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting for thousands and thousands of Christians around the world. Beloved, will you please join the chorus?

This year's theme comes from the Old Testament book of Zechariah chapter 4:

Then the angel who talked with me turned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. He asked me, "What do you see?"

I answered, "I see a solid gold lamp stand with a bowl at the top and 7 lamps on it, with 7 channels to the lamps. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left."

I asked the angel, "What are these, my lord?"

He answered, Do you not know what these are?"

"No, my lord," I replied.

So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty."

This week's focus: All About Jesus.

Daily prayer services available online at:





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A funny thing happened on my way to the basement

>> Friday, January 4, 2019

all 7 grands



"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (Romans 8:18)


While waiting for the last family members to arrive so we could open Christmas presents, I ran some boxes down to the basement. On the third step from the bottom....

Let me back up a bit.

So, Rebecca and I were in the kitchen smelling my new set of essential oils, and I said, "Wow, this is enough to give you a headache."

Back to the third basement step from the bottom... 

In my haste, I twisted my ankle and swan-dived onto the basement floor breaking my left arm. The 9-year-old grand witnessed the crash and ran for help. When Rebecca came upon the scene - me sprawled on the floor holding my wrist over my heart - she thought, oh no,  the essential oils gave Mama a heart attack! Which nearly gave her a heart attack. Ha!

Compared to a heart attack, a broken arm isn't so bad - even after yesterday's surgery to put the radius back together with a metal plate and screws.

Suffering, beloved? Be encouraged. Great days with Jesus are ahead.


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Who Am I

>> Friday, December 28, 2018

grandboy


A Riddle for the day:


"The Lord created me first of all, the first of His works, long ago.

I was made in the very beginning, at the first, before the world began.

I was born before the oceans, when there were no springs of water.

I was born before the mountains, before the hills were set in place, before God made the earth and its fields or even the first handful of soil.

I was there when He set the sky in place, when He stretched the horizon across the ocean, when He placed the clouds in the sky, when He opened the spring of the ocean and ordered the waters of the sea to rise no further than He said.

I was there when He laid the earth's foundations.

I was beside Him like an architect, I was His daily source of joy, always happy in His presence."

Who am I?

(Answer found in Proverbs 8:22-30)

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Sugar

>> Thursday, December 27, 2018

my favorite son-in-law, Stephen



"How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:103)


As a youngster, Daddy's pet name for me was "Sugar." One day I told him, "I'm gonna be a lawyer like you when I grow up and the name of our practice can be Watson, Watson, and Sugar."

And now that "Sugar" is a memaw, my worst enemy is... You guessed it! Sugar.

Want a better 2019, beloved? Consume less processed sugar and feed on the sweet Word of God. It's the healthy thing to do!



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In the Goal

>> Wednesday, December 26, 2018

grandboy



"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus!" (Philippians 3:14)


He shoots and ....


He's in the goal!

Our greatest goal for 2019 should be pressing on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Are you in the goal, beloved?

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Happy Birthday, Jesus!

>> Tuesday, December 25, 2018

grandboys



"Sing a new song to the LORD!
Sing to the LORD, all the world!
Sing to the LORD, and praise Him!
Proclaim every day the Good News
That [Jesus] has saved us.
Proclaim His glory to the nations,
His mighty deeds to all peoples.
The LORD is great and is to be highly praised!"
(Psalm 96:1-4)



Happy birthday, Jesus!
Merry Christmas, one and all!

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Christmas Eve Gift

>> Monday, December 24, 2018

Granddaddy, brother Mark, and me
Christmas 1958


"So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter." (2 Thessalonians 2:15)


My phone dinged at 5:30 this morning - a text from our youngest saying: "Christmas Eve Gift!"

I thought my granddaddy started the tradition, but actually the Christmas-Eve-Gift exclamation can be traced back to the 1800s in the southern United States. The person being told "Christmas Eve Gift!" is expected to give the person saying it a small gift - traditionally candy or nuts.

Whatever your traditions, beloved, may the Lord bless you and yours with a very merry Christmas. 

Christmas Eve Gift!!! J

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