Posted: under "A Scripture A Day Keeps The Devil Away", "When You're Down to Nothing God's UP to Something".
Tags: advice, aid, assistance, assurance, belief, Bible, bishop, blessings, blood, burden, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Christians, comfort, Comforter, country, courage, cross, cure, day, depression, devil, earth, encouragement, English, experience, faith, force, forgiveness, global, globe, God, healing, holiness, hymn, inspiration, Jesus, land, language, life, lifestyle, lifetime, load, Lord, love, lovingkindness, man, might, minister, movement, others, pain, pastor, pencil, play, pope, power, prayer, preacher, priest, promise, protection, psalm, Redeemer, refuge, reverend, rivers, safety, salvation, satan, Savior, scripture, security, shape, shapes, shepherd, sin, sins, size, source, storm, stream, strength, stress, struggles, thought, tips, trust, truth, universe, voice, water, weight, woman, words, world, worries, worry
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The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
my God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
my buckler, and the horn of my salvation,
and my high tower.
– (Psalm 18:2)
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The story is told of a young preacher named Augustus Toplady who was taking a walk through the English countryside when a sudden storm swept across the landscape. Toplady spotted a wide rock formation with an opening; a cleft where he sought shelter until the storm passed. As he sat out the deluge, he contemplated the connection between his shelter and God’s help in life’s storms.
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He had no paper to write on but found a playing card on the floor of the cave-like structure and began to write the words of the hymn “Rock of Ages”. Written on that stormy day in 1775, this hymn has been a source of strength for Christians ever since.
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Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.
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Think of your struggles.
Do you need a place to hide?
Do you need Someone to shelter you from life’s assaults?
Do you need the assurance that you’ve been forgiven?
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As Toplady experienced, we can find shelter and assurance in God.
Don’t stand out in life’s storms alone.
Read More
Apr 26 2012
Posted: under "A Slice Of Life", "When You're Down to Nothing God's UP to Something", Inspirationals.
Tags: accident, advice, age, aim, air, anger, babies, baby, beacon, beauty, belief, bell, bells, Bible, blessings, bliss, bouquet, breath, bridge, brilliance, burden, cancer, candle, candles, care, cemetery, challenge, check, Christ, clerk, cloud, clouds, cold, color, colors, comfort, Comforter, companion, concentration, couple, courage, creek, cross, cure, dad, depression, destination, divorce, doctor, drugs, encouragement, era, exam, experience, eyes, faith, family, father, feeling, feelings, fire, flame, florist, flowers, focus, force, friends, friendship, funds, gas, gem, gems, genuine, ghost, glory, goal, God, goodness, grace, gratitude, guidance, gynecologist, hair, hairstyle, happiness, healing, health, heart, highway, history, holiday, holidays, home, House, husband, ice, inspiration, Jesus, journey, joy, King, language, laughter, learning, lesson, letter, life, lifestyle, lifetime, light, load, Lord, love, mail, man, marriage, Mathematics, might, mind, moment, money, mountain, noise, obituary, ocean, others, pain, partner, path, perfection, period, phone, physician, power, prayer, promise, quiz, rain, rainbow, reading, Redeemer, rivers, rose, roses, Savior, sea, shape, shapes, sheep, shepherd, size, smiles, son, sound, source, specialist, spouse, spring, stream, strength, stress, struggles, sunshine, surgeon, surprise, teaching, test, thankfulness, Thanksgiving, thorn, thorns, thought, time, tips, torch, touch, travel, treasure, trials, tribulation, trip, triumph, triumphs, truck, trust, truth, vacation, value, vehicle, victory, voice, water, weight, wife, wind, woman, wonder, words, worries, worry
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The Blessing Of Thorns
=======================
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Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed
against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had
been easy, like a spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of
her second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole her
ease.
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During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son.
She grieved over her loss. As if that weren’t enough, her
husband’s company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose
annual holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not
come.
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What’s worse, Sandra’s friend infuriated her by suggesting her
grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to
empathize with others who suffer. “She has no idea what I’m
feeling,” thought Sandra with a shudder.
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“Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?” she wondered aloud. For a
careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-
ended her? For an airbag that saved her life but took that of
her child?
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“Good afternoon, can I help you?”
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The shop clerk’s approach startled her.
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“I….I need an arrangement, “stammered Sandra. “For
Thanksgiving?
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Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to
challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the
Thanksgiving Special?” asked the shop clerk.
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“I’m convinced that flowers tell stories,” she continued.
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“Are you looking for something that conveys ‘gratitude’ this
Thanksgiving?
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“Not exactly!” Sandra blurted out. “In the last five months,
everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. ” Sandra
regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk
said, “I have the perfect arrangement for you.”
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Then the door’s small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, “Hi
Barbara…let me get your order.” She politely excused herself
and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared,
Read More
Apr 06 2010
Posted: under "DID YOU KNOW", Advice & Tips.
Tags: anxiety, body, depression, diet, effect, experience, fiber, fish, food, fruits, health, heart, milk, seeds, source, stress, vegetables
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Chow down on eats that tame hunger and reduce anxiety
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Eat It to Beat It
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We all know that tension can wreak havoc on our eating patterns. But the right (healthy!) foods can often help tame mindless munching and cravings and, better yet, actually lower overall anxiety and its symptoms. Eight of our favorites:
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Dark Chocolate
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High in flavonoids, which are lauded for their relaxing properties (chamomile tea is another great source), chocolate also contains phenethylamine, a chemical that enhances your mood. The darker the chocolate, the more healthy substances you’re getting in your diet, so look for bars that are 70 percent cacao or higher.
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Skim Milk
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Turns out that a glass of warm milk really is calming. One study found that women who drank four or more servings of lowfat or skim milk every day were about half as likely to experience stress-related PMS symptoms than those who drank less than one serving a week.
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Oatmeal
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Carbs help you produce serotonin, a calming hormone that helps fight anxiety’s negative effects-which is probably why many of us crave them when we’re stressed. Go with the craving and choose healthy sources. Oatmeal is high in fiber, which means that your body will absorb it slowly. In one fell swoop, you’ll prolong the serotonin boost, keeping yourself feeling full for longer (and on less) and making sure your blood sugar’s in check.
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Salmon
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Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids-abundant in fish like
.
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Posted: under "A Slice Of Life", "YUMMY FOOD FOR THOUGHT", Inspirationals.
Tags: accident, belief, blessings, boss, computer, decision, duty, employee, employer, faith, family, friends, honor, inspiration, internet, Jesus, job, life, Lord, love, man, manager, need, needs, neighbor, online, others, peace, power, prayer, psalm, smiles, source, supervisor, task, television, woman, work
The Lord is my real Boss, and I shall not want.
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He gives me peace, when chaos is all around me.
He gently reminds me to pray and do all things without murmuring and complaining.
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He reminds me that He is my Source and not my employer.
He restores my sanity everyday and guides my decisions that I might honor Him in all that I do.
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Even though I face absurd amounts of e-mails, system crashes, unrealistic deadlines, budget cutbacks, gossiping co-workers, discriminating
Posted: under "A Slice Of Life", Inspirationals.
Tags: actor, actress, age, art, artist, awe, beauty, bird, celebrity, chicken, child, cloud, clouds, color, colors, direction, emotion, era, eyes, girl, granny, growth, heart, history, home, horse, House, inspiration, journey, language, life, lifestyle, man, map, memories, memory, moment, morning, mother, mother-in-law, mountain, others, parrot, perception, period, Peru, pigeon, quotes, road, science, source, success, taste, ticket, time, today, tour, tourist, train, travel, trip, turkey, Venice, vision, woman, wonders, words, youth
Albert Einstein said that wonder is the source of all true art and all
science. “He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer
pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes
are closed.”I remember standing in rapt awe when I gazed upon the wonders of the
ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu in Peru. That amazing city was
built above the clouds, and it was more than the high altitude that
took my breath away. Can you say, “Awe”? I’m reminded of the little girl who rode a train with her mother. Read More
Jun 27 2009
Posted: under "DID YOU KNOW".
Tags: ambassadors, America, applause, Bolivia, Caribbean, Cuba, economy, El Salvador, election, encouragement, energy, friends, goal, government, handshake, intelligence, laughter, leaders, link, listening, luncheon, meeting, moment, nation, neighbor, Nicaragua, officials, pledge, politics, power, president, respect, security, smiles, source, spirit, summit, Trinidad, Venezuela, voters, White House, world
President Barack Obama, left, talks to Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez,right, as El Salvador’s President …
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By Mark S. Smith, Associated Press Writer – 38 mins ago
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PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – President Barack Obama offered a spirit of cooperation to America’s hemispheric neighbors at a summit Saturday, listening to complaints about past U.S. meddling and even reaching out to Venezuela’s leftist leader.
While he worked to ease friction between the U.S. and their countries, Obama cautioned leaders at the Summit of the Americas to resist a temptation to blame all their problems on their behemoth neighbor to the north.
“I have a lot to learn and I very much look forward to listening and figuring out how we can work together more effectively,” Obama said.
Obama said he was ready to accept Cuban President Raul Castro’s proposal of talks on issues once off-limits for Cuba, including political prisoners held by the communist government.
While praising America’s initial effort to thaw relations with Havana, the leaders pushed the U.S. to go further and lift the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.
To Latin American nations reeling from a sudden plunge in exports, Obama promised a new hemispheric growth fund, an initiative to increase Caribbean security and a partnership to develop alternative energy sources and fight global warming.
As the first full day of meetings began on the two-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago Saturday, Obama exchanged handshakes and pats on the back with Venezuela’s Hugo
Read More
Apr 18 2009