Spreading love, joy, peace, faith & unity

Posts tagged ‘religion’

Family Christmas

We are very blessed
To be with family today
A Merry Christmas

Four generations
With fourteen of us in all
God bless our family

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Generation One
With sweet Generation Four
Thank God for babies

Children grow so fast
Remain babies a short time
Enjoy while you can

As a babe Christ came
Helpless and vulnerable
To live as we live

Mary and Joseph
Provided a loving home
Knowing He’s Special

Peace- John 14:27

So when did they know
The Truth of His intentions
Did God prepare them?

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I can’t imagine
Raising a loving child
For Him to die young

Some friends are hurting
On this day after Christmas
They lost a child, too

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Maybe their lost one
Is a sweet four-legged friend
That breaks your heart, too

On this Christmas night,
let’s reflect with my loved one from Zimbabwe
on Christmas Meaning:
God’s Plan by Taking the Human Form
– Birth of Jesus –

John 3
16 : For God loved the world so much
that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
may not die but have eternal life.

17 :
For God did not send his Son
into the world to be its judge,
but to be its savior.

11 :
“I am the good shepherd,
who is willing to die for the sheep.

It’s not about the day
as no one knows for certain when Jesus Christ was born.
It is a celebration of why He was born.

Here’s to our Salvation celebration
through the birth of Baby Jesus.
Let us make room for Him in our hearts 💕

Blessed Christmas beloved ones of God.
Shalom 🙏🏽❤️

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God Bless You, dear friends.
I pray you had a wonderful, family-filled Merry Christmas!

Love,
JanBeek

Love, Joy & Peace

Do you ever doubt your niche?
Yesterday I posted excerpts from
Gottfried’s Banter, a blog whose niche
is humor. No, I wasn’t suggesting
that my blog should try to fit that niche.
Humor like Gottfried’s doesn’t come
naturally to me like it does to him.

Gottfried has an oversized funny bone!

No, it’s not numbers,
It’s my purpose that dictates
My niche and my style.

It’s my gifts that spell
The reason for my blogging.
How about your niche?

My niche is “Inspiration.”

What’s your intention?
Do you need one hundred one
Questions to find out?

The Art of Blogging,
Cristian Mihai, has questions
Yes, one hundred one!

Check it out
(if you doubt your intentions!!)

Cristian Mihai

Cristian Mihai, The Art of Blogging

marketingBlogblogging

My purpose focuses on positivity.

My by-line tells you
What my purposes here are:
Love, Joy, Peace and Faith

Add Unity, too
I aim to help us just love
Keep God’s love centered

I aim to inspire
Often I use poetry
As chosen genre

My mind seems to think
In this lovely Haiku form
Yes, five-seven-five

I love to share others’ poetry here, too.

Often my pictures
Feature our diversity:
Yesterday’s children

Not a melting pot
But a colorful salad
Each adds its color

Each adds the beauty
We’d miss if we’re all the same
Call it gratitude

In that attitude
Of gratitude I can find
The peace God gives us

It is peacefulness
That defies understanding
I pass it to you

My purpose is peace
My goal is spreading the joy
And love from Jesus

Some say religion
Is the main focus I have
But it’s more than that

Love, joy, peace, and faith
Are the stepping stones I climb
To find unity

Sometimes religion
Gets in the way of all that
Sometimes it divides

I’ve heard the saying,
“Sunday mornings are the most
Divided of times.”

Some use religion
To ensure their salvation
But Christ is much more

He is more than church
More than denominations
He’s universal

Luke 2:10
And the angel said to them,
“Fear not, for behold,
I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.”

My blog’s main purpose
Is to unite everyone
In a common love

I blog of respect
Blog of the Source of my joy
Blog to inspire you

Blog to encourage
Live in constant hope
Believing in God

There is just one God
You may see Him differently
But we all see Him

We know He’s in us
We know He created us
We see His great works

We know a Big Bang
Didn’t make a butterfly
Nor create the world

So, I aim to lift
All our eyes to see the Lord
As a part of God

Just as I see you
A child of the Creator
We’re born to inspire

That’s my sole purpose
That’s why I am blogging here
Why are you here, Friend?

You are given a purpose.
Can you define it?

Have a blessed day.
Stay warm! It’s 2 degrees, snowy and blowy here!
See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Thanks for visiting JanBeek today.

Bye for now!
Don’t forget to comment below…
Tell me, how do you define your purpose here?

Embrace Baby Jesus

jesus christ figurine
Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Pexels.com

 

If you look for Me at Christmas

You won’t need a special star-

I’m no longer just in Bethlehem,

I’m right there where you are.

You may not be aware of Me

Amid the celebrations-

You’ll have to look beyond the stores

And all the decorations.

But if you take a moment

From your list of things to do

And listen to your heart, you’ll find

I’m waiting there for you.

You’re the one I want to be with,

You’re the reason that I came,

And you’ll find Me in the stillness

As I’m whispering your name.

Love, Jesus

 

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Photo by Artem Bali on Pexels.com

Merry Christmas, dear Blogging Friends.
May your day be filled with
love, hugs, and opportunities
to reflect on the real Reason for the Season.

I first posted this poem in 2018.
I decided it was worth posting again this year
because many of you are new followers,
and some of you who saw it three years ago
may have forgotten it … I did!

Photo by Bich Tran on Pexels.com

Merry Christmas to you!

Celebrate that precious baby today.
Put Jesus in your heart to stay-
Carry Him with you in a blessed 2022…
We’re counting on it to be better each day!

What are your post-Christmas plans?
We’re getting ready to celebrate
my girlfriend, Sue’s birthday the 28th
and Bob 83rd b’day – the 29th the date.

See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Love,
JanBeek

Embrace Patience

An Elfchen is an Elevensie …
A poetic form that has 11 words,
1+2+3+4+1 = 11

It’s fun. Try it!

Open
Your petals
To fully bloom
Takes time; Embrace patience
Love

We all have it

Love
Flows out
And creates beauty
From what was dormant
Shine!

Photo by Ekaterina Bolovtsova on Pexels.com

Slow
And steady
Wins the race
Take each step faithfully
Patience

I love you!

Disagreements
Become larger
When they smoulder
Bring them to light
Patiently

Hostility
Becomes Hatred
When we’re misunderstood
Explore ideas with respect
Honor

Exercise compassion with
love
consideration
and
respect

Embrace Patience

Let’s just love one another, okay?
See ya tomorrow.
Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
Bee well!!

Repurpose Your Life

Photo by Tim Samuel on Pexels.com

Mark Collins‘ prayer in Daily Guideposts today spoke to me.
He wrote:

“Lord, let me repurpose my own life
toward Your will
and not mine.”

What is your life’s purpose?

What have you determined to be your life’s purpose? Has it always been so?

Seems to me this pandemic has given us time to pause and reconsider what our life’s purpose is! This virus has been like a stop light – a red signal – “Wait here!”

As I paused and considered my life’s purpose this morning, I decided my purpose has shifted with each quarter century of my life. Have you considered how age, the passing of time, and the changing of circumstances have impacted your life’s purpose?

Maybe my purpose SHOULD always have been “to glorify God” – but did I know that? Did I live according to that calling? No!

Life seemed so simple as a child!

First Quarter

In that first quarter of my life, the innocence of childhood helped me see others with a purity of heart, but most of my purpose was pretty self-centered.

To be honest with myself and you, most of age 0 to 25 was devoted to serving self.

Second Quarter

Then in the second quarter, my life’s purpose shifted from self to family. With marriage and children, it was important to turn the focus from myself to my husband and our children.

These were the years when my career flourished and I spent a lot of time devoted to my job. But even as I did so, it all came back to bringing in the resources to provide a better life and more opportunities for us and our children.

Age 25 to 50 my life’s purpose was mostly devoted to serving family.

Photo by Arthur Krijgsman on Pexels.com

Third Quarter

In the third quarter of my life, I moved from being a mom with kids at home, and being a teacher in the classroom working with children, to being a cheerleader for my young adult children and a leader for teachers.

Even after I retired, my role as a cheerleader for my children and grandchildren and as a leader in various organizations where I volunteered was focused on how I could reach out to help.

My purpose in life from age 50 to 75 seemed to be to serve others.

Fourth Quarter

And then came this fourth quarter of my life. The period from 75 to 100 is when I have come face to face with the purpose God intended for me all along: to glorify Him.

Everything I do these days is intended to fulfill the purpose the Lord intended for me: to serve God.

I look for ways to BEE what He made me to BEE… to use the talents He gave me … and to use them for HIS PURPOSES.

I look for ways to DO what God needs me to DO to BEE His hands and feet on earth.

I find places where the love, joy and peace that are mine are lacking… and I try to spread those Fruits of the Spirit wherever I go.

What Really Matters

How much more meaningful
my life would have been
if I had spoken this prayer
by Mark Collins years ago:

“Lord, let me repurpose my own life
toward Your will
and not mine.”

Photo by Paulo Mu00e1rcio Dos Santos on Pexels.com

Don’t wait until the fourth quarter of your life to repurpose!
Ask God today to help you discern what He has in mind for you.
You can serve family and others more effectively if you:

1) Pray for God’s guidance
2) Listen for the Holy Spirit to guide you, and
3) Use your gifts, talents and time to serve God first.

In so doing, God will bless you in ways you can hardly imagine!

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

By using your time,
gifts and talents
for the glory of your Creator,
you will find true joy,
a true sense of fulfillment,
and an REAL answer to:
What is my life’s purpose?

Score what really matters NOW.
Don’t wait until the fourth quarter!!

See ya tomorrow!

Thanks for visiting JanBeek.

A comment below
telling me what you have defined
as your life’s purpose
would be so interesting to me.
Do consider commenting!

Who is Great, Generous & Giving?

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Psalm 121

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Know that the Lord is with you. He watches over you day and night. Take comfort in His promises.

I hope you are able to access this gorgeous YouTube.be video and harp music.

Increased LOVE, like FAITH, takes EFFORT

Loving Takes Effort

I wrote this post back in February of 2012 as a new blogger. I decided today would be a good day to revive and update it, because it is as pertinent today (maybe even more pertinent) as it was eight years ago!

monk in front of children near brown concrete building
Photo by Suraphat Nuea-on on Pexels.com

Work at Loving!

Like you, I want to be more kind, more loving, more at peace. In giving, we receive. Kindness is reciprocal. Peace of mind is a gift to those who live in the fullness of LOVE. But, in a world full of hate and devisiveness, illnesses like depression and the current Corona Virus, we have to work at loving and finding peace!

Photo by Marius Venter on Pexels.com

Very few of us have the privilege of finding a spot like this one where we can sit quietly at the top of a peaceful place and just breathe the clear air slowly.

Where can we find peace in the midst of our bustling real world?

Work to Find Time to Know Him

I schedule TIME each morning to be with the Holy Spirit. In my quiet meditation time that morning back in 2012, I stumbled upon 2Peter 1:2-7. The question that starts that scripture caught my heart. “Do you want more and more of God’s kindness and peace?”

I was reading the Living Bible, paraphrased – a large print copy that used to belong to my father-in-law. Gratefully, I inherited it when he passed on to his eternal home. This passage was underlined. Grandpa Beekman had double-underlined the next sentence, “Then learn to know Him better and better.”

Meditation and Study Time

My sanctuary time each morning is all aboutgetting to know Him better, and listening for His still small voice. As I study God’s Word, and get to know Him better, there are many benefits. The rest of this passage spells them out – and I easily connected the idea of “increased faith” with the reality of “increased love.” But there is a long pathway that leads to increased love (which equates to more of God’s kindness and peace). It takes plain old good, hard work!

2Peter 1:3
“For as you know Him better,
He will give you, through His great power,
everything you need for living a truly good life:
He even shares His own glory
and His own goodness with us!”

Photo by Wendy van Zyl on Pexels.com

Study to Know His Goodness and His Promises

I have added the capitals to “His.” The Bible doesn’t capitalize it. For me, the word requires a capital case letter when the him/his is not just any old him or his, but the One HIM, our Lord and Savior, God. So, when I share in His glory and goodness, it is special indeed! The scripture doesn’t stop there, though.

2Peter 1, Verse 4-
“And by that same mighty power,
He has given us all the other
rich and wonderful blessings He promised;
for instance, the promise to save us
from the lust and rottenness all around us,
and to give us His own character.”


Wow! What a promise!! How can I attain such blessings? Some would say it is totally by His grace. I don’t have to DO anything. Just because I BELIEVE I am His “chosen,” I will receive all these blessings. Well, not according to 2Peter 1: 5-7. Read on!

Work at Increased Faith

“BUT, to obtain these gifts, you need more than faith; you must also work hard to be good, and even that is not enough. For then you must learn to know God better and discover what He wants you to do.”

(That’s always a trick to discern what He wants me to do!)

Photo by Engin Akyurt on Pexels.com

With Patience, Put Aside Your Own Desires

“Next, learn to put aside your own desires
so that you will become patient and godly,
gladly letting God have His way with you.”

I am reminded of my oldest grandson, Mikey.
He’s now 28, but when he was barely able
to pull himself up by his mother’s apron strings
and stand knee-high next to her,
he would tug on that apron
as she warmed his bottle in hot water on the stove.
Sure he was starving to death,
he would cry,
“Paaaay-shuns! Paaaay-shuns!”

(Ah yes, we long for paaay-shuns
even as we are barely able to verbalize a sentence!)

“Are you ready to go out and play in the snow with me?” Xander asked.

Walk the Path to Grow in the Capacity to Love

“This will make possible the next step,
which is for you to enjoy other people
and to like them,
and finally you will grow
to love them deeply.”

Grow to love.
Grow in faith.
Work at it.

Take the path that has “exercise stops” along the way.

  • Exercise your goodness first – the goodness Christ has given you.
  • Then stop to exercise wisdom – the knowledge we gain as we study God’s Word and practice being more and more like Christ.
  • Next, exercise selflessness and self-control, the fruits that the Holy Spirit has planted in you.
  • Practice patience and gentleness.
  • Your next stop on the exercise trail is labeled “Gratitude.” It is there that you learn to be grateful for the gifts you have been given while you focus on the gifts in others.

Put On Your Jesus Glasses

When you put on your Jesus glasses, you see the goodness, compassion, and faithfulness of others as God sees them. When you put on your Jesus glasses and appreciate all that is unique and wonderful about others, you see them as God’s creations. You have exercised enough now to love them.

Photo by Gratisography on Pexels.com

Love Takes Effort!

Love is a gift worth working for. Thank God, He has freely loved us long before we knew how to love Him back. But now we do! We are getting to know God better and better. Praise the Lord!

The Bottom Line

Yes, the bottom line is the key:

Love One Another.

red love balloon
Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

What will you do today to demonstrate your love for others?
Tell me about it!

Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
Do tell me about your loving plans.
See ya tomorrow.

Stop Worrying

From soblesseddaily.com

God is saying to you today:

My child, you are worrying too much. remember who I am there is nothing too hard for me. You may not see it, but I have everything planned out for you.

Verse of the Day:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
-Proverbs 3:5-6

Each morning I begin my day sitting in this old rocking chair that Bob’s great-grandpa built. It’s up in the corner of my favorite room in the house – my sanctuary.

Sometimes I call it my “Angel Room.”

You can see Mornings with Jesus, my #1 devotional, on the chair in front of my “All Things Grow with Love” pillow. The picture above the photo of room is today’s page. My bookmark reminds me daily of my 2020 resolution: “Walk the Talk.”

Prov. 3:5-6 is the verse on that card. It’s one of my favorite scriptures. With it tucked firmly under my belt and in my heart each morning, I read the daily devo and write in large, fat letters the 2 to 6 words that are my “take away” for the day. You can see “SIMPLY TRUST HIM” is today’s message.

Daily Plan

At the top of my devo page I write my plan for the day … the part of it that God directs to my angelic perch from His heavenly Holy Spirit’s leading. It helps me to “Walk the Talk” when I put my trust in what He has “up His sleeve.”

What are your plans for this beautiful Sunday? I hope you take time to pray. The Faith Step that’s partly covered by my bookmark in the devo picture says, “Recall the times when Jesus answered your prayers in ways you didn’t expect. If you’re praying for something right now, don’t keep Him in a box. Expect Him to answer beyond your expectations.”

Step Out

Go ahead. Listen for His leading. Step out confidently today with plans God sets before you.

John 11:40

Jesus responded, “ Didn’t I tell you that you would seeGod’s glory if you believe?”

My view from my rocking chair

Our Prayer

Pray with me, “Thank You, Jesus, for praying with us and for us. Thank You for Your presence in our lives. Now, as we walk the talk, guide our feet where You want us to go today. Help us meet who You want us to meet. Whisper what You want us to say. Help us be who we were made to be. Show us what You want us to do as we walk in Your will. Amen”

Have a Super Sunday!
See ya later.
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Merry CHRISTmas!

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