Narayanan Krishnan, a hero in India.

Narayanan Krishnan, a hero in India

“When you put on a luncheon or a dinner,” [Jesus] said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors…. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.” Luke 14:12-13 NLT

click to learn more about Narayanan Krishnan, 1 of 10 CNN Heroes

This post is a Wordless Wednesday post.  Check out the Running Garlic blog for other Wordless Wednesday posts.  BUT please leave a comment below before you go.  I’ll feel lonely if you don’t 😦

True Grit

True Grit

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I saw the movie, “True Grit”, the other day.  No comment.

Like my daddy always said, “If you can’t say somethin’ nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.” Oh, wait, that was Thumper’s dad…

Anywho,  I Youtubed scenes of the old John Wayne version  to compare and came across this colorful old cowboy, instead (see below).

The video’s about 3 minutes long, but if that’s too long for you,  click on the “Youtube button” at the bottom of the video, and skip ahead to 2:19.  That’s the main part.

Outside my window

A new day I see

And only I can determine

what kind of day it will be

It can be busy, sunny, laughing, or gay,

Or boring,

cold,

unhappy

and gray.

My own state of mind is the determining key.

For I am the only person

I make myself be.

 

I can be patient with those that may not understand

Or belittle ‘em,

hurt ‘em

as much as I can.

I can enjoy what I do

And make it seem fun,

Or gripe

And complain

And try to hurt someone.

But I have faith in myself

And believe what I say.

And I personally intend

To make the very best

Of each day.

Stop! Drop! and Pray! **

Let’s pray:

Oh, Father, your Word says, “gray hair is the crown of the aged”, (Proverbs 16:31)  Thank you for this gray haired gentleman, and his poem’s reminder that “my own state of mind is the determining key, for I am the only person I make myself be.”

Your Word says, “As He thinks within himself, so he is.” (Proverbs 23:7)

I want to ” Fix [my] thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable…excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8)

And I want to fix my eyes on You.”  In Jesus’ name, Amen

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” ~~ Hebrews 12:2

**”Cowboys’ Prayer” picture found at TrekLens**

Feelin’ the love, baby?!

FEELIN’ THE LOVE, BABY?!

Are you feeling the love today? Are you givin’ it away?   Well, that’s what you’re here for, if you’re a Christian, and not just on Valentine’s Day. (Hey! That rhymes!)

We need each other, baby.  (Sorry, I’ve been listening to a lot of jazz today because of Esperanza Spalding’s epic Grammy win over Justin Bieber last night, and it’s showin’ up in my lingo.

Esperanza Spalding; click pic for source

I’ve been googling Spalding to see who in the world this big-haired bassist is!  But I digress…)

What I’m trying to say is,

WE NEED FELLOWSHIP.

It’s not just a word for small talk and cookies in the church basement.

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When a crisis hits, it can be a  matter of life and death.

Take the “peaceful and unsuspecting people” I just read about in the Bible today.

There they were, isolated, alone, living far away from their fellow Israelites.  So, when a bunch of warriors attacked them one day, there was no one to help….

“There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else.”  ~~ Judges 18:28

And we shouldn’t isolate ourselves, either,  because we too have an enemy hanging around, waiting to attack:

“Be self‑controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” ~~ 1 Peter 5:8

And he’s not waiting to give us kiss either!

click image for source

So, if your theme song is, “I am a rock!  I am an i-i-i-land.”  You’d better change it quick, because “woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9)

“Two [are] better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.  For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow… Ecclesiastes 4:9

Stop! Drop! and Pray!

Let’s pray: Father, thank you for loving me and thank you for your Word that is a “lamp unto my feet and a light  unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).

And thanks for the reminder from Your Word that I need fellowship.  I need people to love and to love me.

So, show me how I might be pushing people away — “Search me, Oh God, and know my heart.  Try me and know my anxious thoughts.  And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” (Psalm 139:23)

In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Do you know the Lord? He’d love for you to “Be His”.

Click below to watch a SHORT, cute reminder of how much He loves us.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Teeth Whitening

TEETH WHITENING

I read that thin-lipped  women everywhere are paying big bucks to have Angelina Jolie lips.

click pic for source

Hmmm..  Her lips aren’t bad, I admit, but, for the money, I’d want her gleamy white teeth.

click pic for source

See what I mean?  My teeth used to white, back in the day, but these days they’re competing with my hair to see who can become gray the fastest.  sigh…   Hello, Middle age.

So, yesterday, I was pretty happy to be leaving my dentist’s office with my arm snugly wrapped around a shiny box of 21 little strips of magic.  Hello, Teeth Whitening!

I tried it out this morning.   One strip across the top, one across the bottom.

Yayyy…….ay?????!!!!! Gooey, sticky stuff oozed out the sides and into my mouth — Am I thuppothed  tha  thwallow thith thtuff?  Grossth!

The box said to leave on the strips for 30 minutes.  Thirty minutes is a looooonnnnng time when you’re drooling like Angelina Jolie’s dog.  (if she has one, and assuming it has big  lips, too).

I couldn’t stand it, so, after 20 minutes, out they came!  White-schmite!

I looked in the mirror — Hey!  Hello, white teeth!

Well, less gray, anyway.  Nice! 🙂

Now, don’tcha wish there was a strip we could apply to our insides, too;  something to kinda bleach out all the muck and mire in our hearts,  and leave behind shiny white goodness?  Oh, wait, we have something for that —  Jesus!

“Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”  Isaiah 1:18

Reminds me of that church song, “What can wash away my sins?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus… Oh, precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow…”

Stop! Drop! and Pray!

Let’s Pray:

Oh, Father, thank you for loving me and saving me out of the muck and mire.  You  brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And You set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. (Psalm 40:2)

I still seem to be drawn back to that pit, Father.  Daily it calls my name, so thank you for 1John 1:9. [It says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

So take a minute or two, or however long it takes, to confess your sins to God.  You can think of it as soul-whitening 🙂 ]

Thank you for forgiving me, Father, In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Do you know the One who made the snow?  Well, he’d love to say “Hello” to you!  Click the pic below for a quick introduction:

“Heartland paralyzed by 2,000-mile wide storm system”

“Heartland paralyzed by 2,ooo-mile wide storm system.”

I can relate to that headline.  Not just because I survived the Blizzard of 2011, but because I’ve been there, done that, emotionally, as well.

Sometimes life blows in like a storm with a blizzard of hard knocks and painful circumstances, and I’m stopped in my tracks, paralyzed by fear and worry.   I can’t move forward, or backward.

At times like that, I just need to sit and wait for rescue, like these motorists on Lake Shore Drive during “Smowmaggedon!”

"Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings like eagles." Isaiah 40:31 (click pic for source)

Because, like another Blizzard headline read,it’s  “Time to Dig Deep”

"Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgements and unfathomable His ways." Romans 11:33 (Ron Johnson, photographer. Click pic for source)

That’s what Jesus did.

When things got tough (like when everyone wanted to healed all at once and crowds were following him everywhere, or when his cousin, John, was beheaded)

or when he knew things would be getting tough (like the night before the cross)

He’d go off by himself to pray.

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed..." Luke 5:16 (click pic for photo source)

“At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place…” Luke 4:42

“When Jesus heard what had happened [to John, the Baptist] he withdrew by boat to a solitary place…” Mark 14:13

If Jesus needed to draw near to His Father for strength, how much more so do I…and you.

Stop! Drop! and Pray!

Let’s pray: Oh, Father in heaven, you are in control, even of blizzards.  You have “entered the storehouses of the snow..and hail” as it says, poetically, in Job 38:22.

You are near the brokenhearted (Ps. 34:18) and you save those who are crushed in spirit.

“Come to me”, you say, “all ye who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon You and learn from me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 28-29)

I’m coming to You now.  Here’s my concerns:_____________(list them out, take your time.)

They’re too big for me to carry, so I give them to you.

Thank you for carrying me.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

“Cast your cares on Him, because He cares for You.”  1 Peter 5:7

Do most Christians Deserve a Golden Globe?

“You might regulate your outward habit to the last button of what you were expected to wear; you might conceal the tiny flaws and shuffle over the big improprieties in your home life, which were likely to damage your value in the eyes of your companions; you might, in brief, march in the strictest order along the narrow road laid down for you by these young lawgivers, keeping perfect step and time with them: yet of what use were all your pains, if you could not marshal your thoughts and feelings—the very realest part of you—in rank and file as well?…if these persisted in escaping control?” ~~ from The Getting of Wisdom, H.H. Richardson **

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I watched part of the Golden Globes the other night.  Glittering actors and actresses presented awards to their fellow actors and actresses in the glitter-filled theater.

Oftentimes, I deserve a Golden Globe.  My happy face,  kind voice, and patient demeanor are sometimes award-worthy performances.

Sigh.

And we know Jesus didn’t care much for acting.  Look what he said to best of the best in his day:

”Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.

In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”  ~~ Matthew 23:27-28

Nope, no Golden Globes handed out to them!

So, Father, I don’t want to be an actor.  I want the “very realest part of me” (from quote above) to BE loving, kind, and patient.  I want to be just like You, Jesus, ’cause You are love! (1 John 4:8)

Love is patient.  Love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrong…1 Corinthians 13

If it’s true that we become like the ones we hang with,

I want to hang with Jesus, so I can be more like Him, on the inside, where it counts.

**Quote above from this blog: Rough Draft