Help Us, God

Help us, God,to breath Your air,to know whensomeone's there,to care, O God,to shareYour giftslike You were there,to lifta chinto see Your sun,Your Son to seeand watch withprayer,to rest,to waitwith silencewith You theretil every thingappears in seasonclear and fairand we are with Youthere,teach us to pray,our Father dearWho art in heav'n...hereand there.Amen
Copyright (c) 11.19.09 - Linda L. Brown

Visit the BIBLE VERSE of the Day; In Touch Daily by Charles Stanley;Today's Reading in My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers

A Farmer's Influence On Davy Crockett

Have you every read this? I just found an amazing true story because of Sam's ad on eBay for a Davy Crockett "Defending The Alamo" calendar. When the calendar received a second bid, I wanted to see what Davy Crockett really looked like. Searching the internet for a picture came up with this article...CLICK

When I told Sam about the article, he said that it had gone around some 20 years ago under the title Sockdologer (or Sockdolager), which is a slang term for a conclusive blow or remark, something outstanding.

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Contentment

Perhaps it's a rack

for your hat at day's end,

a small plot of land

or stream with a bend,

a smile, a hand,

hot stew with your friends.

For me, it's to stand

—a bird on my fence,

the sun on my back,

green grass for a scent,

no thought of a lack—

and I am content.

Copyright (c) 07.15.09 - Linda L. Brown

But godliness actually is a means of great gain

when accompanied by contentment.

1 Timothy 6:6 NASB

It was for freedom that Christ set us free;

therefore keep standing firm

and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Galations 5:1 NASB

Therefore, take up the full armor of God,

so that you will be able to resist in the evil day,

and having done everything, to stand firm.

Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth,

and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

and having shod your feet with the preparation

of the gospel of peace;

in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith

with which you will be able to extinguish

all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

And take the helmet of salvation,

and the sword of the Spirit,

which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:13-17 NASB

If we have food and covering,

with these we shall be content.

1 Timothy 6:8

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money,

being content with what you have; for He Himself has said,

"I will never desert you

nor will I ever forsake you,"

Hebrews 13:5 NASB

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4th of July Relived...

Wild Rose

If the Son shall set you free,

you shall be...

God's creation would be

beautiful beyond measure,

if He Himself was not.

He is, therefore, we worship Him

and admire the splendor

of His imagination spoken.

What good is there to keep

darkness at the heart's center,

hard where He is not.

Like buds in the morning, sunlit,

to Him may we answer,

may we unfold and deeply open...

...free indeed.

Copyright (c) 07.04.09 - Linda L. Brown
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On Quiet Time

(click link to read the verse - Ezek. 1:25)

   What is the letting down of the wings? People so often say, “How do you get the voice of the Lord?” Here is the secret. They heard the voice when they stood and let down their wings.

   We have seen a bird with fluttering wings; though standing still, its wings are fluttering. But here we are told they heard the voice when they stood and had let down their wings.

   Do we not sometimes kneel or sit before the Lord and yet feel conscious of a fluttering of our spirits? Not a real stillness in His presence.

   A dear one told me ... of a certain thing she prayed about, “But,” said she, 

“I did not wait until the answer came.”

   She did not get still enough to hear Him speak, but went away and followed her own thought in the matter. And the result proved disastrous and she had to retrace her steps.

   Oh, how much energy is wasted! How much time is lost by not letting down the wings of our spirit and getting very quiet before Him! Oh, the calm, the rest, the peace which come as we wait in His presence until we hear from Him!

- Unknown Author

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Eye Light

What the world has drained into the mind

through exposure

does not all disappear in an instant

when Christ is recognized Savior.

But the Word of God is strong and powerful—

Consistently looked into intently,

and received in practice as The Authority,

it will delete the images of former influences

bit by bit.

Vision fragmented by multiple world views

will become clear and direct.

Then again He laid His hands on his eyes;

and he looked intently and was restored,

and began to see everything clearly.

Mark 8:25 NASB

But one who looks intently at the perfect law,

the law of liberty, and abides by it,

not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer,

this man will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:25 NASB

Pure and undefiled religion

in the sight of our God and Father is this:

to visit orphans and widows in their distress,

and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 1:27 NASB

And do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

so that you may prove what the will of God is,

that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 NASB

Your eye is the lamp of your body.

When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light.

But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness.

Luke 11:34

Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.

Ecclesiastes 11:7

The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

Psalm 19:8

(click the link below for words of hymn)

Take my life and let it be

consecrated, Lord, to Thee

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A Natural Prayer

Copyright (c) 2008-09 - Linda L. Brown

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Sweet Fragrant Aroma

But thanks be to God,

who always leads us in His triumph in Christ,

and manifests through us the 

sweet aroma

of the knowledge of Him in every place.

For we are a fragrance of Christ to God

among those who are being saved

and among those who are perishing;

2 Corinthians 2:14,15 NASB

The love of God is expressedon the merits of His own nature,by what He has done;apart from our vain efforts to impressor to earn His favor.
Be thankful in His lovefreely given.Be led in His triumphby obedience.
...a fragrance of Christ to God!
This way His love is recognized
through you by others in distress,who will receive Him as you did,drawn by knowledge wafting highand low, where Jesus went.
The breath of rest by grace to savorwonder knows as peace and truth—In every place, the Savior's scent!Forgive, as you were.Give, as you were given to.
poem: Copyright (c) 05.31.09 - Linda L. Brown



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Are Two Loaves Acceptable?

He fed five thousand with five loaves

and two fish. Can He use these two loaves of bread?

No fish. Yet, these were made with love,

and earthly things—Ah, so are hungry men.

Click - 2 Corinthians 8:12 NIV

poem: Copyright (c) 05.19.09 - Linda L. Brown


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Happy Flox

What do you think?

If any man has a hundred sheep,

and one of them has gone astray,

does he not leave the ninety-nine

on the mountains and go and search

for the one that is straying?

Jesus via Matthew 8:12 NASB

The sheep of the Good Shepherd

are gathered together in

happy flox...

In His pasture they are safe,

but if they wander from Him...

they are not.

  -

...and the sheep hear His voice,and He calls His own sheep by nameand leads them out.John 10:3 (last part)
For He is our God;and we are the people of His pasture,and the sheep of His hand.Today if ye will hear His voice,harden not your heart, ...Psalm 95:7-8a
poem snippet: Copyright (c) 05.18.09 - Linda L. Brown


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Finish The Course

Like an old painted fender

rusting in the obscure woods

we may lay crumpled with none

in the end who knows how we stood.

Time passes...

Then one who is younger finds,

and peers at the cracked lines, tender

toward the paint's sunned color,

sensing purpose and treasure there.

Copyright (c) 05.12.09 - Linda L. Brown

A life of Obedience is life well-lived.

- Whom to Obey -

...if anyone is God-fearing and does His will,

He hears him. -John 9:31b NASB

If anyone is willing to do His will,

he will know... -John 7:17a NASB

He answered, "The man who is called Jesus

made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me,

'Go to Siloam and wash';

so I went away and washed, and I received sight."

-John 9:11 NASB

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A Hen Named Patience

-1-

For a while, our bears must wait ...

until Patience delivers what is hoped for.

And then, before they move back into their Den,

they must wait some more;

For the children of Patience must have their time

of growing and careful learning

within the warm security of their Mother's down,

before they may scratch in the yard of yearnings.

-2-To paraphrase a bit of wisdom,we are well-advisedto pray with fervortil that for which we ask has been received,
or we possess with patient vision—without compromiseand not a murmur—the sureness that it will be as believed 
 ... in all due time.
Copyright (c) 05.08.09 - Linda L. Brown
"The thing I ask when God doth bid me pray,Begins in that same act to come my way."Unknown Author
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,the evidence of things not seen.Hebrews 11:1 KJV
But if we hope for that we see not,then do we with patience wait for it.Romans 8:25
But let patience have her perfect work,that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,that giveth to all men liberally,and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering,For he that wavereth is like a wave of the seadriven with the wind and tossed.James 1:4-6
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,and cometh down from the Father of lights,with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.James 1:17 KJV
Trust in the LORD, and do good;so shalt thou dwell in the land,and verily thou shalt be fed.Delight thyself also in the LORD:and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him;and he shall bring it to pass.And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light,and thy judgment as the noonday.Psalm 37:3-6 KJV
And he spake a parable unto them to this end,that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;Luke 18:1 KJV
But they that wait upon the LORDshall renew their strength;they shall mount up with wings as eagles;they shall run, and not be weary;and they shall walk, and not faint.Isaiah 40:31 KJV
The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him;and he will shew them his covenant.Psalm 25:14 KJV
Confess your faults one to another,and pray for one another,that ye may be healed.The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous manavaileth much.James 5:16 KJV
Click on BibleGateway.com to see other translations of above verses.

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Cathedral Spires

Na ka whakahoki ia, ka mea, Ko taku kupu tenei ki a koutou,me i noho puku enei, kua karanga ake nga kamaka.
Maori Bible - Luke 19:40


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Fruit of the Spirit

I heard it was all the fashion,
so I had my nose pierced. ...

... I could braid my long wavy bangsfor the barn dance and wear my coat tiered.
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment,such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.Instead, it should be that of your inner self,the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,which is of great worth in God's sight.1 Peter 3:4 NIV
But the fruit of the Spirit islove, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.Galatians 5:22,23 NASB
poem snippet: Copyright (c) 04.27.09 - Linda L. Brown



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Sermon Notes 04.26.09 Cornerstone

Sermon notes (Sunday, April 26, 2009) include a story of a very young boy who was told there were certain things that he could do to help take care of his new baby sibling. After the boy heard the list, he placed his hands on his hips and with as much indignation as a tot can muster, asked, And just what will you be doing while I do all the work?

Do not have an overarching view of your own importance.

He owns our lives, designed our vessels

to fill them with talent, experience, skills;

The price of love He paid on the Cross

that we might not suffer loss by our wills.

poem: Copyright (c) 04.26.09 - Linda L. Brown

Matthew 21:35-40 is the story of a group of Pharisees taking what belonged to God and using it for their own interests and purposes. It is the story of the vineyard of God being usurped by those God put in charge of His vineyard. And when God sent prophets to cry out against Israel and its leaders for their disobedience to God, the prophets were taken and stoned and killed in order for the Pharisees to maintain control of the vineyard (God's people) for monetary and social power. And when the heir of the vineyard came, Jesus, He was taken out and killed. The result of this disobedience was that in 70 A.D., as prophesied, Jerusalem was utterly destroyed and all Israel was scattered throughout the known world. 

"Therefore I (Jesus) tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit." - Matthew 21:43 NIV

And now salvation and redemption have been offered to the whole world through the sacrifice of God's son, Jesus, for our sins, on the Cross.

Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, 'The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone; this came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?" - Matthew 21:42 NASB

 
CORNERSTONE SONG

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Lift Your Eyes, Let the Son Shine . . .

-1-

Lift up your eyes . . .

look to the heavens:

Who created all these?

Each star in the sky,

awesome, God-given,

points to the greater, He.

He is the greater,

Creator of all,

yet doubt we His loving.

Jesus, prayer's answer,

moves near us, and calls,

Let light . . . out of nothing.

-2-

Today I let the Son shine in . . .

Take care of me, I said.

He said, Your very hairs I count!

Take care today, My friend,

to let the Son shine out.

Copyright (c) 04.25.09 - Linda L. Brown

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Matthew 10:30 NIV

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Morning Dove

Might I hear a bird in the morning,listening for a bird.Might I rest another hour longer,pressed in upon his Word.
Copyright (c) 2008 - Linda L. Brown
. . . Jesus Himself would often slip awayto the wilderness and pray.Luke 5:16 NASB


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Today's Reading in My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers