Turn From Sin

Do you remember when you were a child playing in the dirt? You got your clothes and your body all smeared with dirt. Your Mom would take you in the house and give you a bath. This would make you feel so much better. And the clean clothes made you also look better. Nothing like facing the world with a clean body and clothes!

Well, sin is the same way. You are human and have a sin nature. The devil will have you sinning and you think all is well. But, somewhere inside that body of yours, you are constantly having the feeling that something isn’t right. Well, the devil has you believing that your sin is not sin, that it is okay.  But, until you realize that it is really is a sin, you will go right on making the same mistakes over and over. And you can just hear the devil laughing!  He’s saying I have this person right where I want him/her. He doesn’t make you feel bad, but your conscious does. So many people sin and trying to make themselves and others believe that what they are doing is okay. But, behind that hard exterior, they are usually suffering. But you won’t hear them admit it until God gets hold of them.

But there are also many who do not believe in God; they do things ‘their way’ and will refuse to listen to anything spiritual. If they only realized how wonderful life can be when they actually turn their lives over to the Lord and let him handle the mistakes they make. Sure, we aren’t perfect; nobody is but Jesus. But we can work towards being as perfect as we can be here on earth. AND, with His help, we can sin less and less. Christians do not habitually sin. If they do, they aren’t living for God. We make mistakes, but our conscious immediately calls us on it and we should repent and ask God for forgiveness.

We face many temptations from day to day. Without God, it is hard to pass up those temptations and you always have that little man sitting on your shoulder, telling you all is well. But, it’s not. Each temptation can draw you further and further into sin until your conscious is seared. You just think you are having a good time, when all the while, you are getting farther and farther away from what is truth. The Bible says if we are in Him (saved by grace through faith in Him) then we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free. John 8:32 KJV. 

Remember that God loves us no matter how bad we are. He will forgive us of anything, IF we ask of him. He’s a loving God and a forgiving God, but, if we don’t turn from sin and ask for forgiveness, then we are on the path to destruction and that leads to hell. There will always be eternity – but the question is: Where will you spend eternity? It will be one of two places – heaven or hell. It’s our choice to make. God gave us free reign over our lives after Adam and Eve sinned. He could have turned away from us, but he didn’t. So, if you are at the cross roads of decisions today, why not turn your life over to God and find out what He can do for you! He can give you peace that passeth all understanding! Phil 4:7 KJV

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Placing Hope In Tomorrow

Today we buried my husband’s nephew. He was only 52 years of age. And, we had no idea he was sick or that he would leave us so quickly. And I am sure he had no idea that he would not live longer than he did.

We are not promised tomorrow through God’s Word. Only God gives us hope.

Psalms 119:114, "Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word."

James 4:14, "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

Vapor in our language means ‘something insubstantial, worthless, or fleeting.’ Without God, there would be no life, no tomorrow. Instead of counting on tomorrow, let us put our hope in God alone. Then when things happen, we know we can call on Him and He will be there for us. Tomorrow may never come for some of us like it didn’t come for Dan, but with God there is always HOPE!

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Checking spacing in new format

I just found out tonight from a friend about the new format here at Blogspot.com. I never had a problem with the other, but apparently the owners thought they needed an upgrade.

I have no idea how this will turn out. Others are having problems with spacing. I am just typing as I usually do, to see how this comes out. My main objective is to have it appear nicely on my blog, not jumbled up.

I am going to insert a picture to see if I can do it correctly:

The picture is of a tame crab apple tree in our back yard. This picture was made about 2 years ago. It wasn't in good bloom this year. It usually is gorgeous at Easter time.

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Unwanted Thoughts When Trying To Sleep

When one is sitting around, the mind seems to wonder. Doesn’t matter that you are reading, watching television, or playing on the Internet. As they say, the mind has a mind of it’s own.

Have you ever been in bed and things come up in your mind that you did not want to dwell upon? How hard was it for you to focus on something more suitable to your taste at night? Seems those thoughts you didn’t want to dwell upon seem to keep coming up, even as far as ‘seeing them in the mind’s eye’. This has cost me lots of sleepless nights!

I have often wondered how one could control the mind to keep thoughts from showing up that one didn’t want to have there. I know it happens more when you are very tired and the mind plays tricks on you. It knows it’s hard for you to fight off these thoughts when you are too tired.

I believe, if we were to go to bed thinking on God’s Word, then this would be in the forefront of our minds. These unwanted thoughts would be crowded out with the scriptures, giving you a reprieve from the longing to sleep – sleep would come naturally. I know, when my sleep gets interfered with, it is hard to keep those thoughts away. Sometimes I do manage to get the Word on the brain and try and concentrate. But, then, it takes me longer to go to sleep. I pray one day that my mind will be in line with the Word, that those unwanted thoughts will no longer be in the recesses of my mind to bother me any longer!!

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We all suck, at times

None of us are perfect, by any means. I know there are those out there that think they have it all together, never make mistakes, miss appointments, or forget important dates. They just haven't caught up with the 'true me'.

I just finished reading a great article called 'Things that Happen Because I Suck' over at Prisca's Voice. Go read it; it will certainly make you think and perhaps align your life with hers. I know I read 'myself' in many of the things in which she thought she sucked.

I used to be a perfect housekeeper, moreso when my children were small. But, over the years, I have learned there is more to life than a perfectly clean house. I keep a fairly neat house, but by no means is it perfect.I make my bed when I want to, and that's not every day. Some of my closets are like hers, jammed to the max! We have taken time out to clean out our closets, given box after box away, and they seem to just keep getting trashed over and over. I'm guilty of keeping things that I think we will need: doesn't every one? Surely I'll 'be able to get in that suit one day again' - mentality of those unable to get rid of 'things'.

I'm guilty of procrastination big time! My motto should be 'don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today'. But that's too hard; I do what I feel like doing and leave the rest until tomorrow, whenever that comes. If everyone was honest, I am sure they would admit to sometimes procrastinating! Truth?

I cannot say you will find dust bunnies or anything else under my furniture. It's not because I run the vacuum cleaner all the time. But my husband does and he does it often. Now, if you run your finger across my furniture periodically, you may find dust. Gosh, dust seems to settle here all the time.

A week before Christmas, my husband and I took on the job of 'cleaning house'. Almost did us in, but we were determined to have a clean house for Christmas when everyone gathered here. And, on top of that, we knew my Mother would be coming here to recuperate from surgery for a broken hip. Didn't want to have to do much cleaning while she was here. It has really been a life saver for me. It has been so easy to keep a clean house.

But, guess what!! That Christmas tree that was coming down the day after Christmas - it is still up in my living room. The table that goes in front of my picture window is still sitting in my foyer. Well, nobody comes to my front door; if they did, they'd be strangers. So, until I have time (should be doing it now!) to get down all the boxes and get busy for hours, the tree will sit where it is for awhile.

Now, if all this makes me suck, sure I do. I just like to think we all have periods of being lazy. That doesn't make us bad, just humans. And human I am!! After all, Life is not a bowl of cherries. :)

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Innocence of the Young

I have a picture of my great granddaughter as my desktop on my laptop. She is so precious. She has things she doesn't like, and is adamant about it. If she doesn't want you to mess with her, you will certainly know it.

But, at her age, they are so innocent. They look to adults to keep them safe, to feed them, and help them with whatever needs they have. They learn from those who are older. We all set standards and rules for the young. If we show them in our own actions what is acceptable and what isn't, then they will more than likely pick up on those actions. Too may parents do things or say things in front of the young that isn't appropriate. Then, when they try to emulate those things, the child is punished. We need to be careful what we say and do in front of the young.

Teenagers are also very easily influenced by their peers. I believe we need to monitor our children's friends to make sure their actions are in line with how we are raising our children. When children spend lots of time with other children,they tend to pick up on things they do or say. And, if there are negative things in their actions, our children will most likely pick up those things. It's easier to keep our children safe and away from those who will tend to influence our children negatively than it is to try and undo what has been done.

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