Loving One Another

Posts tagged ‘Christianity’

Look Beyond!


Look Beyond!

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Here are my sermon notes from the message
delivered by Pastor Steve Hundley
today at our Madison Valley Presbyterian Church

He titled it “The Bible Says”
and he had lots of stories about
how people use Bible verses
to prove their varying/opposing opinions

 

Sometimes people of God
Seem bent to disagree;
They argue and they point fingers.
Seems rather strange to me.

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Infighting creates doubts.
Why does it have to be?
Why do we let issues divide us?
Why can’t love define you and me?

Why is there dissension
Among the people of Christ
Why can’t we pray and obey
And treat each other nice?

There always has been fighting
Because issues raise their head
And divisions seems to reign.
Why can’t we just love instead?

We often disagree with others
Because we’re really at odd (that’s poetic license)
With ourselves – our own beliefs.
Why can’t we focus on our constant God?

God’s spirit is poured out
On the hearts of ALL folks.
Why do we create divisions
And make fun of others with jokes?

Why refuse to make the round trip
From our mind to our heart?
Our heart knows the love of God.
When will our minds know? Let’s start!

Let’s celebrate diversity –
And stop trying to point blame.
Let’s look beyond our differences;
Let’s praise and worship in God’s name.

Amen?

 

Just Love One Another
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See ya tomorrow

Category:

Bible Lessons, God, life, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, peace, Poetry, respect

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Looking Back for Inspiration


Inspiration from
Daily June “Take-Aways”

Life's a Book

When daily I read
Daily Guideposts 2019, – A Spirit-Lifting Devotional –
I write 2 to 9 words on the page
to remember the message
that I want to “take-away” with me.

Here are the daily Take-Aways from June:

  1. Think creatively!
  2. Trust first; Faith follows.
  3. Work at Loving.
  4. See and feel God (at work in my life)
  5. Relax into what comes.
  6. Accept and Appreciate God’s Grace
  7. Some things are worse than death.
  8. Share Openly My Faith
  9. Find God is the Seeing, not the Being
  10. Create in Me a Legacy of Love
  11. Respond with Compassion
  12. Project Positivity to All!
  13. Let You Inner Self Sparkle!
  14. Let God Keep You Tuned
  15. Forgive as You’re Forgiven
  16. Pray Daily for Confidence in God’s Wisdom and Guidance
  17. Trust in God’s Hope
  18. Find and Follow God’s Paths
  19. Be a Reflection of Jesus’ Love
  20. Accept Barriers
  21. Be in the Moment
  22. See Beauty Everywhere
  23. Live in and Love the Trinity
  24. Praise Him – It Feels Good!!
  25. Speak Love; Exhibit Kindness
  26. Erase Past Regrets
  27. Bee Generous ;o)
  28. Go With the Flow
  29. Focus on Blessings
  30. Live with Purpose!

Which one speaks loudly to your heart
and gives you the inspiration to go out
and JUST DO IT?

Thanks for dropping by.
I’d love to see your choice below.

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See ya tomorrow

Category:

Bible Lessons, Living in Christ's Family, Love

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Taste the Source


Taste the Source

“Jesus is not our sauce,

He’s the source,”

Pastor TC Mooney reminds us.

I knew that, of course.

.

Mooney says we often push God

To the back of our fridge shelf.

We only take Him out to sprinkle

Some on our lives – to flavor ourself.

Sometimes we forget He’s there.

We leave Him in the back too long.

But, unlike sauce, the Source

Never expires; His flavor’s never gone.

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I can taste the love of Jesus

Without worrying about the date

He might get stale. He’s always fresh.

My reach is never too late.

 

Jesus is not my sauce.

He’s The Source.

I Drink from His

Everlasting Fountain of Love

Every Day!

Do you?

Thank God

Happy Father’s Day weekend.
You’re part of the Goodness.
You know that, right?
.

Spread the love!

heart of love

See ya tomorrow

Category:

blessings, Faith, God, Gratitude, Jesus, Love, Poetry

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Your Heart NEEDS This:


Your Heart NEEDS This:

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Hmmm…

What keeps your heart beating?

What makes it beat faster?

What calms it down?

What does your heart NEED?

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Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

Have you checked your pulse lately?

What’s it telling you?

At the root of my “heart need”
is the longing to be loved,
to be valued,
to be needed.

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Like my little grandson NEEDED a friend
to help him learn to get his new four-wheeler moving,
my heart needs to be needed.
Does yours?

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In today’s Guideposts devotional, the message said,
“Emotional needs can be every bit as acute as physical ones…
the Lord hardwired into human beings the desire for
love, acceptance, and a sense of safety.
These necessities are what cause us
to seek out friendships, marriage,
and , ultimately,
a relationship with God.”

What’s Your “Heart Need”?

Is it something that can be satisfied with the things of this world?
A friend, a spouse, a large bank account, a satisfying job?
Those “needs” are real… but they are not the “heart food that lasts.”

Heart Food That Lasts

Love and acceptance, a feeling of being valued, cannot last if it only comes from worldly things. A solid sense of self-worth is critical to heart health. We cannot fully receive love and acceptance without a sense of self-worth.

If you are uncertain about your own innate, precious value, you will project onto family and friends the “God-sized task” of proving you are valued. And, the problem with that (as stated clearly in the Guideposts devotional today) is, “No human being can be an inexhaustible emotional resource.”

Heart food that lasts comes from God’s unconditional love. So, accept it. Dine on it daily. Let it fill your plate – and satisfy your heart. Do not be anxious about anything!

Proverbs 12:25 says,
“An anxious heart weighs a man down,
but a kind word cheers him up.”

Have an Open Heart

God wants to be your unlimited source of sustainable heart food! Let your self-worth be based on His love in you. You are a Child of God, beloved, holy, worthy. Open wide the heart doors and let that knowledge seep into your soul.

What keeps your heart beating?

What makes it beat faster?

What calms it down?

What does your heart NEED?

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Dine at God’s Table of Love today.
YOUR HEART NEEDS LOVE!!

Have a Blessed day, my friends.

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SEE YA TOMORROW

 

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Love

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Under the Influence


Happy Pentecost Sunday!

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Photo by Adonyi Gábor on Pexels.com

This is Pentecost Sunday.
It is the day Christian churches around the world
celebrate the tongues of fire that landed on the heads
of the people gathered in the temple.
The tongues of fire represent the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit allowed the people from
about eight different language regions
to hear in their own native languages
the disciples’ message –
– the Word of God.

The story of the coming of the Holy Spirit
is told in Acts 2: 1-21.
I read that scripture passage aloud
in our church service this morning.

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Then Rev. Jean Johnson
of our Madison Valley Presbyterian Church
in Ennis, Montana
preached a sermon on that topic.
These are the poetic notes I took as I listened to her message:

“Under the Influence”

The disciples were filled
With New Wine – the Word –
It’s known as Pentecost Sunday.
People thought they were absurd.

Sometimes we, too, become
Intoxicated with New Wine –
Drunk on self-importance,
Inebriated on everything fine.

Possessions, new cars,
Perfectionism, being right;
Approval, needing it from others;
Knowledge, seen as being bright.

We’ve all been intoxicated
By hobbies – like fishing.
What are you drunk on?
For what are you wishing?

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

My drink of choice is
Writing and staying in touch.
But that liquid isn’t everlasting;
It doesn’t fill me up very much.

I know for certain I need
To be under the influence
Of those gifts from God that
Help me live in love and prudence.

I am asked to drink
A New Wine that fills
My heart with God’s grace.
The thought of it brings chills.

God’s Day of “Sober Drunkenness”
Is a day filled with paradox.
It’s a day to set aside
The drinks that wind our clocks!

It’s a day to open up
The bottle of forgiveness.
Drink deeply of God’s Power.
It is intoxicating Goodness.

Let His potion sweep you
Off your feet to see
Your Pentecostal Moment.
Feel the Spirit; drink with glee.

Under the influence
Of God’s transforming love,
Let His New Wine fill you
With His Holy Spirit from above.

Pentecost brings us sobriety and inebriation.
Where are your moments of “Sober Drunkenness”?

Do you feel the Holy Spirit’s presence in you?
Let the tongues of fire land on your head
and fill you with God’s Love!

Happy Day of Pentecost!

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Thanks for visiting JanBeek.

Do leave me a message telling me about your
“Drink of Choice” on this Pentecostal Sunday.
What fills YOUR cup?

See you tomorrow.

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Living in Christ's Family, Love, Poetry, writing

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I See God


I see God

In the morning sunrise

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

In the rainbow after rain

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In the blossoms of springtime

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In the smiles of children (and other friends, too, of course)

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In the gorgeous sunset here in Ennis, MT last night

Ah yes, I see God in the sunsets …

Sunset from Gerrons
In the water and in reflections,

And … at work in me and my loved ones

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Ernesto Cardenal, a Nicaraguan poet and priest wrote,
“Everything in nature has a trademark, God’s trademark:
the stripes on a shell
and the stripes on a zebra;
the grain of the wood
and the veins of the dry leaf;
the markings on the dragonfly’s wings
and the pattern of stars on a photographic plate;
the panther’s coat
and the epidermal cells of the lily petal;
the structure of atoms and galaxies.
All bear God’s fingerprints.”

Where do you see God’s fingerprints?
Where do you FEEL God?
.

 

I feel God

In the winds that blow

sky clouds wind windmill

Photo by Tookapic on Pexels.com

In a baby’s touch

grayscale photo of baby feet with father and mother hands in heart signs

Photo by Andreas Wohlfahrt on Pexels.com

In every genuine heart-felt hug

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Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Pexels.com

In the unconditional love of our four-legged furry friends

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I feel God in captured dreams

backlit blur close up dawn

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Practice seeing and feeling God.

The more you do,

The more you will.

Where do you see and feel God?

2 Corinthians 4:18
“We do not look at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are unseen.”

In reflecting on that scripture,
Erika Bentsen wrote in today’s Daily Guideposts,
“Dear Lord, please forgive us when we are tempted to doubt.
Just as leaves are stirred by unseen winds,
stir our hearts with the breath of Your real presence.”
Amen

God Bless You!

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See you tomorrow

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Love, Montana, nature, peace, prayer

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Love Uniqueness


Love Uniqueness

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Photo by Daniel Reche from Pexels


Sermon notes
from message based on
John 17:20-26
“That They May Be One.”


Jesus prayed for Oneness
For each divided sect.
As He is One with God,
He prayed we will show respect.

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The ways in which we
Polarize ourselves here
Is tiring. It saddens me.
It brings no one cheer.
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All people are more similar
Than different from each other.
We establish boundaries
To separate from our brothers.
.
We do it to prove that
We are right and we’re accepted.
We name others as losers
And place them outside  –  rejected.
.
Jesus prayed that we would just
Love One another – differences and all.
He prayed for our Oneness.
Honor uniqueness; stand tall!
.
Oneness is not about eliminating
The differences we see.
It’s about loving our uniqueness.
Love your neighbor, even your enemy!
.
It is about Oneness with God;
It’s a boundary-less love.
It’s only possible with help
From the Divine Source above.
.
If we call ourselves Christian,
We must stop bickering and be
The loving children our Creator intended.
Love differences;  love even me!

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Be one with all.
In Christ’s Love we Pray,
Amen.
.

JanBeek’s poetic notes
from a sermon
by Rev. Jean Johnson
at the Madison Valley Presbyterian Church
Ennis, Montana
June 2, 2019

What will you do today to demontrate your love for one another?
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See you tomorrow

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Jesus, Living in Harmony, Love, Poetry, prayer, respect

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