What a beautiful time for a Wedding..

full potential and pitfalls of pages in apple

April 15th…Learning new things :)  

You can click and drag for graphics on your computer! NOT they will not translate into post...ugh

but you can upload them but it is time consuming

 or add gifs from your phone

 You can add audio of your own voice or music...NOT

You can add video directly into the post

You can click and drag in an image and then insert a text box to add

Let the Journey Begin

It’s quiet. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.

In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now that I must make a choice.

Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose.

I choose love. No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I choose joy. I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical… the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I choose peace. I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I choose patience. I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite Him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I choose kindness. I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I choose goodness. I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I choose faithfulness. Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.

I choose gentleness. Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I choose self-control. I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithful-ness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

Excerpted from Let the Journey Begin by Max Lucado © Thomas Nelson.

How bold are your prayers?

I have a question for you on this National Day of Prayer! How bold are your prayers? As John Wesley crossed the Atlantic, he was reading in his cabin, and became aware of heavy winds knocking the ship off course. He responded in prayer and a colleague wrote it down:

“Almighty and everlasting God. . .Thou holdest the winds in thy fists and sittest upon the water floods. . .command those winds and these waves that they obey Thee. Take us speedily and safely to the haven whither we would go.”

On deck his colleague found calm winds and the ship on course. Wesley made no mention of the answered prayer. His friend wrote, “So fully did he expect to be heard that he took it for granted he was heard.”

How bold are your prayers?

From More to Your Story

Max Lucado

Amazing facts:

From the time the Prophet Micah verbalized God’s rebuke at the way the Jews were treating the poor until the time a poor carpenter and his fiancée arrived in Bethlehem, devout Jews knew that King David’s birthplace was where the Messiah would also be born.

Micah wrote the following about the town of Bethlehem seven hundred years before Jesus was born: “Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting”. And of that Ruler, he prophesied, “He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.… Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore”.

http://carlacrosby.blogspot.com/2016/04/micah-27.html

Place your trust in God alone!

Some of us have written our own Bible verse from Popular Opinion 1:1: “God helps those who help themselves.” We’ll fix ourselves, thank you. We’ll make up for our mistakes with contributions, our guilt with busyness. We’ll overcome our failures with hard work. We’ll find salvation the old-fashioned way…we’ll earn it!

Christ, in contrast, says to us; your role is to trust. Trust me to do what you can’t. By the way, you take similar steps of trust daily. You believe the chair will support you, so you set your weight on it. You trust the work of the light switch, so you flip it. You daily trust power you cannot see to do a work you cannot accomplish.

Jesus invites you to do the same with him. But just him. Not another leader. Not even yourself. Just Christ. Look to Jesus…and believe!

From 3:16

So very true!

Do a simple exercise with me. Measure your life against just these four standards from the Ten Commandments:

You must not steal. Have you ever stolen anything? A paper clip? A parking space? …you, thief.

You must not lie. Those who say they haven’t– just did.

You must not commit adultery. Jesus said, “If you look at a woman with lust, you’ve committed adultery in your heart” (Matthew 5:28).

You must not murder. Before you claim innocence, Jesus said “Anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder” (Matthew 5:22).

Jesus made his position clear: “Anyone whose life is not holy will never see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). So where does that leave us? It leaves us drawing hope from 1 Corinthians 15:3. Christ died for our sins—in place of—on behalf of! So, don’t measure yourself by keeping commandments. Measure yourself by the cross.

From: 3:16

Max Lucado