Wednesday, April 17, 2024 - “Not Forgotten” from Upper Room
I am a bit worried about my memory. Yesterday I left my credit card at a store. Then I tried to replace an incorrectly
sized item that I had purchased a couple of days before, only to realize when I got home that I repurchased the exact
same thing. Then today, I left my cell phone in the lobby while picking up the mail. Thankfully someone returned it!
My forgetfulness reminds me how wonderful it is to know that God doesn’t forget us. God doesn’t misplace us or
leave us unattended. God knows exactly where we are and what we need.
God also tells us not to fear. Fear can be crippling, but we are reminded that if we have received the gift of salvation,
we are redeemed. God knows us and our circumstances, so we do not need to fear. We can have faith that God will
give us what we need. When we are focused on ourselves and our current situation, it’s easy to forget past blessings
and to fear the future. But God reminds us to keep our faith focused on the One who will never forget us.
Saturday, April 13, 2024 – “Beautiful Nature” by P. Williams
April showers bring May flowers
I for one can hardly believe it is April
The trees are almost in full leaf
And the grass is so green now
Birds are all busy building nests
And Spring storms have touched us all
Rain and wind… Washed away the yellow pollen
All of the ponds are full now
Jordan Lake is full and getting busy
Boats and families will come soon
God blesses us with so many surprises
Bulbs that pop up… daffodils and tulips
Skies that are the most beautiful blue
Fluffy clouds that drift across the sky
We see His blessings and feel His love everyday
The newness of Nature replacing dark winter.
Thank you God for all of Your Special gifts
For giving us Your love, joy, and Your Nature.
Wednesday, April 10, 2024 – Prayer by Joretta Klepfer
Rev. 3:20 – Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come
in and eat with him, and he with me.
Saturday, April 6, 2024 – "Your Nose" by P. Williams
Have you ever Really thought about your Nose?
It helps us through life in all Kinds of Ways.
Ever heard of someone having their “Nose to the Grindstone”?
Or…Having their “Nose Up in the Air”?
How about following Your Nose to the Kitchen
I can think of So many ways.
I walk at the mall and My Nose
Tells Me When I pass “Cinnabon.”
When I was Young and smart… I used
to make most of the bread We ate.
Loaves of bread baking fills the air with wonder.
Along with biscuits and hoecake Cornbread
Smell the Love!
Children love it when Mom makes cookies
Smell the Chocolate Chip or Molasses…
We can help!
Sometimes we cut them out and decorated them
Sugar cookie hearts with white icing and Candy hearts
Cookies shaped like Wreaths with green frosting
and multi-colored Sprinkles.
Other times my nose Smells something terrible
Or “I wonder what that is I smell?”
Have you thought that your Nose Keeps Your Glasses on
The pollen has wreaked havoc with my poor nose this year.
Sneezing, Running, and Stopping Up…
Bad cold? A box of tissues to the Rescue!
Everyday we use our nose
Thank God for giving us such a Wonderful Gift… as our Nose
God Bless you All!
Amen
Wednesday, April 3, 2024 – Found on FB
Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive.
Saturday, March 30, 2024 – “Kindness” by P. Williams
You will never regret when you
Choose Kindness
We are all faced with Many Kinds of decisions in life
Choose Kindness
We go to public places like grocery stores and restaurants
Choose Kindness
We come in contact with Neighbors, businesses, all types of people
Choose Kindness
Every day in So Many Ways we can
Choose Kindness
We show our love of each other and God if we
Choose Kindness
We meet strangers every day… everywhere We go
Choose Kindness
Because You Will Never Regret when you
Choose Kindness
God Bless You all… Amen
Wednesday, March 27, 2024 – Jesus Offers Hope -Asheritah Ciuciu
Luke 23:32-43
One of the most surprising conversions in the New Testament is that of the criminal hanging beside Jesus on the
cross.
To fulfill Old Testament prophecy, Jesus was hung between two criminals. These two men on Jesus’ right and left
were no tender folk. Scripture records that they were both heaping insults on Jesus, joining the crowds in charging
Him to get off the cross and save himself—perhaps them too.
But at some point, one of the criminals stops jeering and realizes that the man hanging next to him is, in fact, the
Son of God.
When did he recognize he was wrong in his mockery? And what emotions would have flooded his soul? Shame?
Humiliation? Grief? … Fear?
He turns to the other criminal and rebukes him. “Don’t you fear God?” he asks. “This man has done nothing wrong.”
And with the most simple prayer of faith ever spoken, he turns to Jesus and asks Him to remember him when Jesus
comes into His kingdom. How and when that would happen, he was unsure. But he realized who the victor was, and
he wanted to be on His side in the end.
Each breath would have been labored, as they pulled themselves up to fill their ragged lungs. We can imagine the
criminal waited to hear Jesus’ reply – each word deliberate – each breath piercing.
“Truly… I tell you…”
What? What is Jesus going to say?
“Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus accepted the criminal’s last-minute faith, showing that as long as you have breath, it’s never too late to
turn to Him. To Jesus, no one is beyond hope of salvation. And because of Jesus, we have hope to the very end
of our days.
Saturday, March 23, 2024 “Hard Week” by P. Williams
Jesus loves me… This I know
When the Lord calls up one of His flock
I know they ride on Angel Wings
They hear the Heavenly chorus and feel
Immeasurable Love straight from God.
He gives us pain and sorrow… But
Also is always here to help us heal
So Lean on Him
To continue on without our Loves ones is
Beyond belief right now
But Know he went right into arms filled
with love and Peace and Joy
Our hearts will get a tiny bit better each day
Depend on God’s everlasting love.
He sees our heart and Soul and is always,
Always there for us. Todd walks 100% healthy today.
Jesus loves us… this I know
God Bless each of you… Today & Forever More. Amen
Wednesday, March 20, 2024 – Jesus Believes All Things – Asheritah Ciuciu
Luke 19:1-10
Jesus was constantly challenging the Pharisees’ assumptions of right and wrong, clean and unclean, and those who
are “in” and those who are “out” of God’s kingdom. In their societal structure, tax collectors were at the very bottom.
In their view, tax collectors were no better than unclean Gentiles. But Jesus sees what is hidden from others’ view.
At the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus welcomed a tax collector, Matthew, to join Him as one of His disciples.
Now toward the end of His public ministry, Jesus again reaches out to a tax collector, this time the notorious Zac-
chaeus.
But Jesus does not write off Zacchaeus because of his occupation. Instead, He looks at his heart. This man longs
to see Jesus, risking additional ridicule by climbing into a tree to see Him over the crowds.
Zacchaeus’s response reveals the true nature of his heart: he gladly hosts Jesus and His disciples, he voluntarily
offers half of his possessions to the poor, and he fulfills the law by vowing to make restitution for any of his cheating.
All that, simply because Jesus invited Himself over to his house. Because in loving Zacchaeus, Jesus believes “in
the best outcome for the one who has done the wrong – that wrong will be confessed and forgiven and the loved
one restored to righteousness.” And Zacchaeus responded to Jesus’ love with flourishing repentance.
… Jesus recognized the truth of Zacchaeus’s heart, even when he himself failed to see it. His love watered those
seeds, and he couldn’t help but respond with an outpouring of love in action.
Saturday, March 16, 2024 – “Blessings” by P. Williams
The other day I saw the sun hiding behind A Cloud
The edges of the cloud turned silver
They sparkled around the edges and then… here pops Up the Sun.
A new day… a Gift from God
A special gift given to each of us.
He loves us and gives us beauty and strength
He leads us every day… through our prayers
He gives us direction through the bible
And joy with His Love and Devotion
He leads us toward Him
And loves us Always.
Forgives us All our Sins
Gave His Son… for Us… You and Me
God knows each of us… even the sparrow
He gives us more blessings than we can count.
More Love than we can Imagine
And He leads us… Cherishes us for our whole lives.
He gives us opportunity to give to others
To Share Him and our gift of Jesus Christ
More blessings… Joy
Amen…. Amen
God Bless You Every day
Wednesday, March 13, 2024 – “Let God In” – Upper Room Devotions
What are you giving up for Lent? I know I am supposed to give up something in order to reflect on Jesus’ 40 days in
the desert and to prepare for the commemoration of Jesus’ death and resurrection. My immediate answer for way
too many years has been “chocolate” and “playing pickleball.” But if I knew I was going to die in 40 days, giving up
food and fun would not make the list at all! So, what would I give up?
I’d give up wasting time. I would focus on all the people I haven’t seen or talked to enough and tell them how much
they mean to me.
I’d give up trying to tell my grandkids what to do! Instead, I would write down my life’s story — hopefully to leave
answers to questions they will surely have after I am gone.
I’d give up harbored anger, resentment, and frustration over my failures, the relationships that turned out badly,
and the opportunities I ignored.
I’d give it all up to let God in — not just for Lent or 40 days, but from this day forward. Let us renew our commitment
to follow Jesus’ example of obedience as we seek fullness of life in God.
Saturday, March 9, 2024 – Rain Rain Go Away by P. Williams
What is happening to our Weather?
Cold… Then Warm… Then Rain and More Rain
The Trees don’t Know when to leaf out
And the spring bulbs must hesitate to break ground.
But everything is Fine
There is a Spring season… full of pollen and sunshine
and Warmth from the Sun.
Tulips will bloom… along with
Lilacs and daffodils and Dogwoods and Yellow Bell
God will snap His fingers and
Spring will quit Dilly dallying and SPRUNG
I remember a silly poem my Mom used to say
Spring is Sprung
The Grass is Riz
Wonder Where that Birdy is?
Then she would laugh and laugh
We all miss our Moms.
The tree in front of my porch
Has Wrenn’s Re-Building a Nest in the
Rafters of the porch.
The 2 birds are flying back and forth from tree to Nest
Very busy… Soon there will be Eggs
Then Chicks… Then Feeding… Then they learn to FLY!
We are all blessed… God remembers
All of His beautiful gifts… especially
the ones we get each Spring.
Gifts every Year
Gifts every season
Gifts Every Day!
God blesses us every Season and every day.
Wednesday, March 6, 2024 – Jesus Seeks the Lost – Asheritah Ciuciu
John 9:1-34
Throughout the Gospels, we read of Jesus performing miraculous signs that testified to His identity as the One sent
from God to rescue His people.
We read in John 9 how Jesus healed a man who was blind since birth. This narrative is singular in that it’s the only
time Jesus heals a person who had been born blind, and this detail is critically important.
Other prophets and men of God had opened the eyes of the blind. But no one had ever given sight to someone born
blind, as the man himself testifies before the Jewish leaders. In fact, giving sight to those born blind was one of the
characteristics unique to the long-awaited Messiah. Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world right before performing this
miraculous healing clearly points to His ownership of the Messiah title, as the man who receives sight clearly under-
stands. But his courage to stand against the Jewish leaders and publicly proclaim Jesus as the Messiah earns him
expulsion from the community and banishment from the synagogue.
But Jesus, hearing that he had been thrown out, seeks him and finds him.
Jesus lives out the parable of the lost sheep, leaving the crowd behind to go after this man who must have felt lost and
alone in his newfound world.
Jesus, finding this man invites him to place his destiny into His care, and believing in Jesus, the man falls to His feet in
worship. He had been blind, and now he saw. He had been lost, and now he was found. He had been thrown out of his
community, but now he was finally brought home.
Saturday, March 2, 2024 - poem from P. Williams
Good Morning, God!
You are ushering in another day
Untouched and freshly new
So here I come to ask You, God
If You’ll renew me, too.
Forgive the many errors
That I made yesterday
And let me try again, Dear God
To Walk Closer in Thy Way -
But Father, I am well aware
I can’t make it on my own
So take my hand and hold it tight
For I can’t walk alone.
