Positive Thoughts for Hard Times

 

Thinking positively isn’t simply trying to fool yourself into believing good is coming instead of evil. Rather, it is a strategy for defeating Satan, who tries to get us to think the worst in every situation. He is the enemy of our souls – our minds, wills and emotions. The Bible tells us the devil comes only to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). Yet, so often we listen to his lies instead of believing the truth of God’s Word, which says our Father gives us good gifts (Matthew 7:11). James 1:17 even goes so far as to say that “every good and perfect gift” comes from Him. Continue reading →

Words Kill! Words Give Life!

Strange things can happen when we don’t even plan them or want them to happen. For instance, a few mornings ago my husband said something to me that was totally unnecessary and not horrible but definitely didn’t need to be said. Instead of being Christ-like and ignoring the statement, I responded in kind. Neither of us really wanted to fuss or meant to start an argument. Fortunately, we left it there and nothing more was said about either statement, both of which should never have been made. Continue reading →

Part 7: Philadelphia

Revelation 3:7-13: “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars — I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Continue reading →

Part 6: Sardis

 

Revelation 3:1-6: “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

      4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Continue reading →

Part 4: Pergamum

 

Revelation 2:12-17: “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live — where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city — where Satan lives.

          14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who ta”ught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15 Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

          17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. Continue reading →

Yellowstone Features

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Castle Geyser

Castle Geyser.

grand gyser

Grand Geyser; not very predictable but much taller than Old Faithful. It’s hard to imagine how much water it puts out.

Firehole River

Firehole River

Lower Falls

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River; from 1/2 mile away you can hear its roar.

Firehole Falls close up 2

Firehole Falls

 

bubbling hot spring

Bubbling Hot Spring

crazy creek 201

Crazy Creek

mt glacier

Mountains & Glaciers across Yellowstone Lake

steam vent

Steam Vent

Continue reading →

Get Rid of Those Chains!

Please see the poem “Unshackled Wings” which goes with this meditation.

Have you ever been in such a prison? Maybe you say, “of course not; I’ve never committed a crime that would put me in jail.” No, I never wound up in jail either, but in a prison nevertheless. For a very long time I didn’t recognize it because it had become such a part of me – insecurity, inferiority, trying to do things to prove my worth. Yes, I was a Christian and a “good girl” from my early childhood. But somehow over time, people said things that while wrong, I believed, and when I reached adulthood, I wasn’t very sure of myself.

Continue reading →

Happy Valentine’s Day

I hope each of you has a wonderful Valentine’s Day filled with love from family and friends. I especially pray that you will realize, as far as humans are capable, the love of God. A love so very rich and strong that He sent His only very beloved Son, who was with Him from before there was time, to earth to live a perfect life so He could become the perfect Sacrifice for your rebellion and mine against God. Then Jesus took all that horrible amount of sin upon Himself on the cross and died to pay the price to redeem you and me from hell, so that we might live eternally with Him and God the Father in heaven. Not only for our eventual life in heaven did He die and rise again, though, but also for the rest of our lives on earth.

Continue reading →

Today Is Special: I GET to Go to Church!

I woke up and thanked God that today was Sunday and I had the privilege of going to church to worship Him. Yes, it is a privilege when we live in a country where we can freely attend the church of our choice and worship how we please, but this isn’t an essay about freedom in our country. It’s about freedom in our spirit, where we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and give us that joy of worshipping our Lord.

Continue reading →

Making Something out of Nothing

Sound impossible? It is for us but not for God because Luke 1:37 tells us, “Nothing is impossible with God.” The context is important: An angel has just announced to Mary, a virgin, that she will have a son; furthermore, her older relative Elizabeth, who was considered barren, is in her sixth month of pregnancy. Then the angel pronounces Nothing is impossible with God.

Continue reading →

Cranes: Whoopers & Sandhills

Whooping Cranes

At Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in the winter a person normally sees a family of Whooping Cranes together, which would be parents and the immature crane, who is brownish. However these pictures were taken in 2011 when Texas suffered a severe drought. The Refuge had a controlled burn to help spring-time grass grow better, so the whoopers discovered food there instead of the small crabs they prefer. These giant birds are 52″ tall and have a wingspan of 87″.

Crane Family

Whooping Crane Family

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes winter along the Texas Coast and the pictures below were taken on West Galveston Island. Sandhills are smaller than whoopers, with Lesser Sandhills being 41″ with wingspans of 73″, while Greater Cranes are 46″ with a 77″ wingspan Continue reading →

Poems of Inspiration

Beautiful Full Moon

Beautiful Full Moon

Beginning back in the 1970’s I started writing poems and attended the Austin Poetry Society and a couple of my works were featured in their anthology. Some of those early ones I no longer have but later wrote others that became my favorites, and those I share on this site. While most of the early ones rhymed, later poems were mainly free verse. Rarely now do I write poetry, preferring instead prose.

Continue reading →

Meditations

Since the 1970’s I’ve been writing Christian poems and meditations and currently email them about weekly to almost 200 people. That’s partly why I decided to write a blog, so others can see them who don’t have my email address. I also usually post them on my Facebook page. I can’t explain how rewarding it is when someone writes me that what God has led me to write was exactly what they needed for the day they saw it. One person was even a few days late checking her email, but the message was there the very day she needed it. What a mighty God we have who knows our needs so specifically and meets them over the internet!

In this section you will find devotionals about many topics, as the Holy Spirit gives me ideas from the Bible but also from nature and different life experiences, some of which are very unexpected. My husband and I drove to the Texas City Dike and God used a tug boat and an oil tanker as inspiration. Who would think God would provide an essay on prayer by letting a dirt dauber come through a crack in our screen into our dinette?

Many meditations are simply in the miscellaneous category, but others fall cover different holidays. Letters to the seven churches in Revelation form another category and a set still to be added discuss all the different phrases in Psalm 23.

I pray you will scroll through the different series and find the ones that most encourage you.

Trusting God

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When life on earth
Comes to a close,
We reach our final destiny:
The road we’ve traveled
All our lives to find –
That eternal home.

We often don’t understand
God’s ways and means,
But He said they are
Much higher than ours.

We cry out in pain,
God, help me understand!”
But must know He has a reason;
Trusting Him –
Though we cannot see how –
To bring good
Out of all we call bad.

Cast all your cares upon Him,
For He cares for YOU!
(1 Peter 5:7)

Yellowstone Animals and Birds

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antelope on hike & bike trail

Antelope on Hike & Bike Trail

raven

Raven

Canadian Goose

Canadian Goose

bison calf 171

Bison Calf

crop mulie 145

Mule Deer behind Tree.

eagle m 55

Eagle on Nest.

bull elk 169

Bull Elk

good elk 90

Doe Elk

griz 112crop

Grizzly Bear

moose 04

Moose

ground squirrel

Ground Squirrel

bear cub better 785

Black Bear

Doe & Fawn

Mule Deer and Fawn

bison on road

Roads are easier walking for the Bison.

Bull Elk

Bull Elk, notice Doe in shadows

elk side 820

Doe Elk.

Chipmonk 2

Least Chipmonk sunning himself

 

Bison & Lupine

Bison & Lupine