Morning Thoughts

Good Thursday morning to you. Are you ready for the day? Before you do anything else, take a minute and pray for Texas. "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16b Are you happy today? Did you get up feeling good? Then sing songs of praise. It's time to just offer worship and praise to the King of Kings.   Yesterday, We stopped at Pops in Anadarko, OK. Pops is a gas station/ restaurant that specializes in bottled pop. They have every kind you can imagine and then some. When I saw all those bottles and all those colors I thought "How much to these people love their soda pop?" There were T-shirts of all colors and designs for Pops. Mugs, hats, keychains, you name it to celebrate this fun gas station. It was really amazing.  How do we celebrate our Savior? “The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving." Psalms‬ ‭28:7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “Giv...

It's Tuesday and this is the day God has intentionally made for you and for me to serve Him.  Yesterday, I had an insurance adjuster come to my house since last spring's storms left my roof with hail damage and destroyed my dock ramp. He agreed with me on my roof, but on my dock, we had a difference of opinion. I explained that the heavy winds had blown heavy trees into it and pounded it. He said that the trees were only there because of the flood and they don't cover flood damage on docks. It seemed to be that we saw the same damage, but looked at it from opposite sides.  Do you ever wonder if God thinks the same thing about us? We may be seeing the same situation, but we see it from different side and have totally different opinions. (And yet His is the only one that matters). He not only has the big picture view, but He's looking at it through pure and holy eyes.  “Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-f...

Happy Monday. I hope your weekend was rewarding. Mine was great, spending time with special friends who are more like family. It was joyous. but even if it had been awful, isn't it great to know that no matter what our circumstances, we can find joy in the presence of the Lord? If we are having a good day, we can just kick back and let the delight of it all wash over us. Those days are easy. But some days things are not as good as we had hoped or things are just plain bad, and we have to remind ourselves that our joy is in Him and His presence--not in our circumstances. Those days, when it's dark and gloomy, if we continue to communicate with the Father, His joy will begin to become a part of us.  We can start by simply remembering this day was created by the Lord. It was not a random-chance kind-of-thing but it was a deliberate plan of the Father. And never forget that God is with us, regardless if we "feel" that presence or not, He is here. Then, just start talking ...

It's Sunday-the day we set aside for Sabbath and the corporate worship of our Savior. I trust you are headed to join with a group of believers this morning to give all glory and honor to the one true God who commands the angel armies. Yesterday, I certainly had sufficient reason to praise Him and thank Him for sending His angels my way.  This morning, we are at Sunnylane Church with Bro. Frank, but on our way to Oklahoma City, we neglected to check the gas gauge. Lost in our own thoughts, the gas just slipped both of our minds. When we had just passed the Big Cabin exit, a panicked voice said "The gas! We are out of gas!" I pushed the "range" button and it said "6 miles" --the next gas station was more than 30 miles. On the turnpike, we had no way to turn around or to exit so, I just began to pray and I kept praying and...what alternative was there?And wouldn't you know, that car made it all the way to the Quik Trip at Claremore. (I may have done a...

It's Saturday and I hope you had a good week and have a great weekend ahead of you. I had a good week, but yesterday I couldn't find a particular t-shirt. Don't you hate to lose stuff? It makes me a little nutty--even if it's not that important, I just can't stand to not know where something is and I will tear the house apart trying to find what I'm looking for.  Do you remember when people would say they were going off to "look for themselves?" Now, I think they say they are trying to find themselves. I don't understood either of those--I just want to say "Aren't you just right there with yourself?" What I do know is those folks rarely find anything. When people are so concerned and wrapped up in themselves, they are the most unhappy and confused of all people.  ““If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you ...

Happy Friday! Another week in the books...grandma said they would go faster when I got older. I hope yours has been good. Yesterday I spent a good part of the morning going through papers and filling out forms and so in the afternoon, I needed to do something physical. I decided I could just mow the yard. I read all the instructions on the mower and it started easy enough. But...my yard has more of an incline that I thought it did and that mower is heavy! Then, I stumbled and got a stick in my leg so blood was running into my shoe (what a mess). And I had no idea how to empty the bag so when it was full, i was done. It wasn't my most successful attempt at a job. I left it and came back in the house and started cleaning windows. I learned that mowing isn't simple nor is it a job for wimps (like me).  I did learn to appreciate a hard task and even though I didn't do a good job, learning to run the mower and pushing it around did make me feel like I'd done something--I h...

Happy Thursday. I hope things are going well for you. The other day, i talked with a friend who has some serious health issues. In fact, I have a few friends who are facing serious challenges just now. Our health can change our lives; it changes our plans and the way we approach the future. All during His earthly ministry, Jesus had great compassion on the sick and healed many of them. Giving instructions to His disciples He says “Heal the sick, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’” Luke 10:9 NLT He cared for people but His major concern was not the physical illness, but the state of their souls. The Kingdom of God was the message and the healing was a dramatic sign to ensure that the real message was heard. Never in scripture are we as Children of the Most High promised an easy road to walk. We are told that burdens are lighter and we will have a mediator and a comforter, but never an easy-breezy time. During the Exodus, God led the Children of Israel  on ...