Blessings Through The Lens

Sometimes life seems wrecked and out of place.

But light alwasy shines in dark places.

Even when it appears to be impossible

Sometimes blessings seem at a distance or  far away.

They are there the blessings.  Sometimes we just need to

slow down and be quiet in order to see them.

What I'm Currently Reading.

I have come across two really good books that I would like to mention.  One is called Depression A Stubborn Darnkness by  Edward T Welch.  If you suffer at all from any forms of depression read this book you will learn a lot and realize a lot. 
The other book is called How To Forgive Ourselves Totally by R.T Kendall.  Aslo a really good book.  Many of us find it hard to forgive others but often times it's even harder for us to forgive ourselves.  It could be past mistakes recent mistakes whatever the case may be if you fall in this catagory get the book.  If you decide to read these books you will realize it's time to let yourself off the hook.  God intends for us to be free.  Sometimes it's no always easy but he never said it would be.   God bless and happy reading.

Talking With God By Andrew Murray.

A very wonderful friend of mine sent me a book called 199 Treasures of Wisdom on Talking with God by Andrew Murray.  I would like to share some of the wisdom in this book with you.  I hope you are as blessed as I have been.  I will try to include more each week.

1.  I must take time to come into God's presence, to feel my weakness and my need, and to renew my fellowship with Him.

2.  Time alone with the Lord Jesus each day is the indispensable condition of growth and power

3.  Even as a father and his child enjoy being together, so I must have this intimate fellowship with God each day.

4.  Let this be my chief object in prayer, to realize the presence of my heavenly Father.  Let my goal be: "Alone with God."

5.  If I seek fellowship with the Father, I will find Him in His word.

6.  May every sight of those in need help urge me to cry to God who alone can help.

7.  My source of power in prayer is the Vine.  If I am the branches a biding in Christ, He will supply the power.

8.  Am I spending time in His presence?  everything depends on this.

9.  The greatest happiness of my life is that I am loved by the Lord Jesus and can fellowship with Him everyday.

     O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek You.  ( Psalm 63:1)

10.  O that I would take time daily in His presence to drink in His love.

11.   It is only when I am wholly surrenderred to the Spirit that I will be able to live according to God's will.

12.  Unless I am on my knees I cannot live in His love.

13.  A life of prayer will make a life of love to Christ, to other Christians, and to those without Christ.

14.  I must ask myself if my prayer is really in accordance with the will of God and the Word of God.

15.  My hidden prayer life is inseparably bound up with united prayer.

16.  Time I spend in prayer is an offering pleasing to God.

17.  The real practice of prayer is when I take hold of God and have communion and fellowship with Him.

18.  To experience real prayer I must sacrifice my selfish desires.

     "Lord teach us to pray"  ( Luke 11:1)

I Sit Beside the Fire and Think…

I Sit Beside the Fire and Think…

Much Needed Prayer And So Much To Be Thankful For!!

Every sence the earthquake hit in Haiti I have been thinking about all of those over there that need our prayers.  There are so many that  are lost and hurting.  Little babies and children are now without  parents.  Orphanges have been so damaged many of the children are now on the streets at the mercy of other's.  I saw today on CNN how they pulled a little three year old girl named Winnie out of debre of a building that had collasped.  She had been laying beside her dead parents for three days before someone heard her crying and they dug her out.  It's the faces of these precious children that breaks your heart.  They  said on CNN that  little Winnie was a miracle. 
 Our God is a miracle working God He continues to work miracles everyday in spite of what we hear on a daily basis.  Unless you are plugged into  a Spirit filled church you don't hear too much about what God is doing.  One thing about our Lord, no matter what catastrophe may hit and it does not matter where it may be in the world, our Lord knows and He is there willing and able to preform miracles.  One thing that we can be doing as children of God is pray for  more miracle's like Winnie's.  So many there do not know  Jesus Christ they believe in other God's.  The Lord wants us to reach out to help those in Haiti financially and also in prayer.  Prayer, prayed in faith moves the hand of God.  He expects us to be praying for those that are lost and for those that are in need.

There was a camp that was set up in one area for those that are homeless.  Woman were doing what they could to provide food for their babies.  Some were able to savage some things from their homes after the earthquake had hit.  Some of these woman  told one news reporter they were willing to walk three hours so that they could find water.  The other's  were sharing what they had.  CNN  showed one of the Military helicopters hovering over the camp that was full of tents, woman, children, men and families.  Hundreds were running towards this helicopter as it was dropping rasions from the air and bottles of stuff to drink.  As I watched this I thought how sad.  So many of us complain everyday about having to go  work, or  having to take care of children, or what our children are doing, or what they are not doing.  We complain about our husbands, our wives, our friends and family.  I hear many talking about this financial crisis that our country has been in for quit some time now.  So many have lost jobs, and money and investments.   We  all are very very blessed compaired to those in Haiti.  Some will say that the Haitician  people have brought this on themselves because of their beliefs and the things that they do.  I personally don't look at it that way. 

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:8-9)

So many people are donating millions of dollars and their time to help these people in need and through all of this Haiti is going to be changed because the Word of God

says that,  You intended  to harm me, but God intended  it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ( Genesis 50:20)

For years many of the Haitician  people have been lied to by the enemy but the Lord is going to turn all of this out in a different way than the enemy expects.  What the enemey met for harm,  the lies he has told these people, the confussion he has kept them in, and the poverty the he  has kept them in the Lord Almighty is going to turn it around,  God intended this for their good, praise God. 

I continue to remember Haiti  and all of those suffering in prayer daily.  I also continue to praise and thank my Lord for all that I have been given.  I praise him for how fortunate I am. I have my salvation,  I have food,  clean and running water,  a home, clothes, a  job, money,  and all that I need for my family and I to survive and it has all come from the hand of God.  We all have so much to be thankful for.  Every day we wake up and have breath it's a miracle from God.  Everyday we that we get to hug our children it's a miracle from God.  Everyday that we get to get up and go to work it's a miracle from God.   Everyday that we get to come home to a warm place, running water, and food it's a miracle from God  lets praise His holy name, and give Him  thanks for He is worthy.  Lets praise Him for the  miracle's  that He is performing in the thousands of lives in Haiti. 

Let everthing that hath breath Praise the Lord (Psalm 150:6)

As I was looking up Scripture I came across Matthew Henery's concise commentary  about this Scripture and I found it to be worth reading.

 Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 150:1-6 A psalm of praise. - We are here stirred up to praise God. Praise God for his sanctuary, and the privileges we enjoy by having it among us; praise him because of his power and glory in the firmament. Those who praise the Lord in heaven, behold displays of his power and glory which we cannot now conceive. But the greatest of all his mighty acts is known in his earthly sanctuary. The holiness and the love of our God are more displayed in man's redemption, than in all his other works. Let us praise our God and Saviour for it. We need not care to know what instruments of music are mentioned. Hereby is meant that in serving God we should spare no cost or pains. Praise God with strong faith; praise him with holy love and delight; praise him with entire confidence in Christ; praise him with believing triumph over the powers of darkness; praise him by universal respect to all his commands; praise him by cheerful submission to all his disposals; praise him by rejoicing in his love, and comforting ourselves in his goodness; praise him by promoting the interests of the kingdom of his grace; praise him by lively hope and expectation of the kingdom of his glory. Since we must shortly breathe our last, while we have breath let us praise the Lord; then we shall breathe our last with comfort. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Such is the very suitable end of a book inspired by the Spirit of God, written for the work of praise; a book which has supplied the songs of the church for more than three thousand years; a book which is quoted more frequently than any other by Christ and his apostles; a book which presents the loftiest ideas of God and his government, which is fitted to every state of human life, which sets forth every state of religious experience, and which bears simple and clear marks of its Divine origin.

Praise God today for all that you have. Praise Him and thank Him for what He is doing in Haiti and remember to keep the Haitician  people before Him for they are His children too and He loves them as much as He loves us even the ones that are lost.

Scriptures And Quotes

     When God thinks of His children, He only thinks in terms of what can be used  toward our good, toward His plan for us, and toward the future.

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.  ( 2 Corinthians 2:14)

God still has a vision for you.  No matter where you've been, God's full intent is for you to live effectively (John 15:8)  and abundantly (John 10:10)  He loves you dearly, and the fact that you've been foolish doesn't  diminish His love one single ounce.  Talk to God.  Echo the words of the Psalmist when he cried.

If I should say, "My foot has slipped," your loving  kindness, O Lord, will hold me up when my anxious thoughts multiply within me, your consolations delight my soul.  ( Psalm 94:18-19 nasb)

If you don't soak your brain in the truth that you are absolutely secure in the unchanging  love of God, you will never feel worthy of getting out of the mess your in.  Satan will keep your feet on slippery ground.  When you want out of your mess that you are in you've got a golden opportunity to see the grace of God as you've never encountered it.  Let God's loving kindness hold you up and ask Him to make His consolations your delight.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the furture nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  ( Romans 8:38-39)

Kids And The Funny Things They Say

http://wbenton.tripod.com/humor/Jokeindex379.html

Need a little lift today check out these cute sayings by kids.  It will sure put a smile on your face.

Childhood Memories And Children Today.

  I have so many wonderful memories of my childhood.  One of my fondest memories is the smell of freshly cut grass.  I can remember on the weekends and sometimes during the week  my Dad would break out the lawnmower and go to work.  I would be running through the yard bare foot and my heart would be so content and full of joy.  Mom would be sitting on the screened in porch laughing because I  kept getting  in Dads way.  He never minded he would just laugh it off and he seemed to enjoy seeing me having so much fun and enjoying myself.

  I notice these days when I'm out I don't see many kids out playing or Mom's and Dad's sitting on porches enjoying the day and being with their children.  What I see  is parents working long hours and kids being home by themselves  playing video games or talking on their cell phones.  Each day when I would arrive home from school my Mom was always home.  As I would be doing my home work she would be cooking our family dinner.  We would always sit down to eat together.  Grant you this was back in the 70's and times do change but family and how we spend our time should not.  Today parents are usually struggling to make ends meet and by the end of their work day they are ready to call it quits.  Stopping for fast food getting home to shower do some laundry  and head of to bed.  How is this affecting our children?  I think if you watch any news station it's plain to see.  A lot of parents today are so busy with work, paying bills, and keeping their families head above water.  Some parents  don't  know what is going on with their child in school. They are not up to date on grades, and homework, or teachers notes that may be sent home. 

 What happen to the days when children played outside and Mom and Dad were right beside them?  What happend to the days when family watched good wholesome family programs (if not on T.V  rented ones)?   What happend to the days when family sat down for dinner together to enjoy each other and to talk about their day?  I'm sure this  happens  in some homes but from what I'm hearing from other's it's a very select few.  Our days  clicks by and the days, the  weeks, and months, and years are over before we realize it and so do the ages of our children.  They grow up so fast.  I see so many parents nurturing and caring for their children when they are born and in their early years of life, but I also see as they grow older parents get buiser and buiser so that their children are alone more of the time than they are with their parents and family.

  My prayer is that we all will realize what is important.  Our jobs we have to have.  Many of us have to work and or need to work but work and  things that consume us as parents trying to raise our children should never take the place of family time and really being there for our kids.  We have them for only a very short time, and what they see at home and how they are treated at home will affect them all through their adult lives, and who will take the fault for that.

Children are an heritage from the Lord ( Psalm 127:3)

Children's children are the crown of old men and the glory of children are their fathers (Proverbs 17:6)

I have no greater joy than to know that my children are walking in truth (3rd John 4)

                                                                                
                                                                                                                     

So Many Are Sick, So Many Need Prayer And Comforting.

Thousands of children and young teens are being diagnosed everyday with Cancer.  These diagnoses do  not only affect the child it affects the parents the siblings and the whole family.  The suffering that these little ones and teens go through is indescribable.  I'm currently a prayer partner with http://www.colesfoundation.com/.  It's a community of people  that come together and pray for the sick. You can  have your sick loved one or friend placed at http://www.caringbridge.org/.  Here members of Coles Foundation will receive information about your child or sick loved one  daily as you post about their progress.  Your post will be emailed to the prayer partners and in return they will visit the site of your loved ones to leave prayers and encourging words for you and your family.  You can also share this free site of your loved one with family and friends close by or those that live away.   If you are intersted in having a sick loved one or friend  placed on the caring bridge site visit   http://www.colesfoundation.com/.

                                               This is the confidence that we have when approuching God; that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask we know that we have what we have asked of Him.  ( 1 John 5: 14-15) 
                                                                       

For Morgan, For Those That Are Hurting, For Those That Are Lost.

It's very sad when our children and young adutls are being abducted everyday.  It use to be our children could run and play and walk home from friends houses with no problems.  Today parents can't let their children out of their sight.  Even young adults are being abducted more and more everyday.  My thoughts on this......  People are hurting and desperate.  They are turning to everything imaginable to fill them up to make them happy to give them some sence of peace when all the while what they need is Jesus Christ.   We all were created for by Him and for Him and without Him there is no peace.  Without Him there is no life.  Without Christ you will wonder helplessly looking for the next thing coming to fill that void.  Some resort to drugs, drinking, stealing, sex, work, exercise and  the list could go on and on.   People that abduct people, are people that are hurting  and they are wanting to hurt other's.  If you are one of those people that are hurting,  feel lost and alone and that may be resorting to some of things that I have mentioned here I ask you to say this prayer right now where you are.  Father, in the name of Jesus I ask that you forgive me for all my sin's.  I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me.  I believe that  He bore all of my sin and sickness on the cross at Calvery and I am set free by the power of His blood.  I now except Jesus as my Lord and Savior knowing that my sin's are forgiven and that I now have a place in His Kingdom.  I pray this in Jesus name Amen.  If you have just prayed that prayer please let me know. Now each day  find time to spend  reading your Bible and pray as you read.  Ask for understanding and wisdom.  Ask as you read for the Lord to speak to your heart and He will.  God bless you in your new life with Christ.  Findmorgan.com