POETRY: Wonderful Words

Wonderful Words

 

I study your Word.

It's lovely to me,

Though sharp, and cutting, and true.

 

It brightens my path,

And straightens it too.

It turns my gray skies to blue. 

 

~ SJHolland ~

Let Us Say Grace For This Meal

Dear Lord:

We thank you for this food, and all of the blessings that you have given us.

Protect our systems from any hurt, harm or damage,

through any poisons, toxins or impurities

that may be present in this food.

 

 

We thank you for all of the things that you are doing for us,

and the ways that you have helped us when we were unaware.

 

Help us to have better diets,

and teach us the things that we need to do to be healthy. 

 

 In Jesus' name.

Amen.

 

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Images: Pixabay.com Free Images

How Can I Control My Anger?

When you feel anger coming on, pray, 

"God, right now, I need your peace. Please soothe my mind. I feel you replacing my anger with patience. I thank you for this gift of quiet.

Let your restraining, healing hand be upon me today, Lord. Help me to meet every situation calmly and with control."

 

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Philippians 4:6 (KJV)

Don't worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart.

Philippians 4:6 (GNT) 

Do not be over-anxious about anything, but by prayer and earnest pleading, together with thanksgiving, let your request be unreservedly made known in the presence of God. 

Philippians 4:6 (WNT) 

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Philippians 4:6 (NLT) 

Don't worry about anything. Instead, tell God about everything. Ask and pray. Give thanks to him. 

Philippians 4:6 (NIRV) 

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. 

Philippians 4:6 (MSG)

How many times has God told us, in His Word, not to worry, but to turn worrying thoughts into prayer? Stop what you are thinking and doing right now, or at any time of worry, and tell it all, tell the truth, just as you were thinking it, to God.

It takes a lot of effort and practice to defeat useless, persistent and harmful anger. Whether it has a valid reason or not, most of the time it can't help us, or anyone else. It can easily destroy, rather than build up. Most of the time, it is bad for our emotional well-being, bad for our physical health, and bad for our spiritual growth. So, you've got to defeat it, with God's help, if you sincerely want to be healed, and be a help to others. You can do it, with God's help.

Scriptures: BibleStudyTools.comBibleStudyTools.com
Images: Pixabay.com Free Images
Anger Prayer: Triumph Over Life's Toughest Problems, Norman Vincent Peale, A Guideposts Outreach Publication, GuidepostsFoundation.org

 

James McDonald On What Is Prayer

James McDonald Said:

Prayer is the process of getting spiritually ready to receive what God already wants to do.

Something to think about, huh? If you want to learn more about praying effectively and what it means to obtain what you want and need through God, listen to his message.

Some ministries of James McDonald:

Watch "Why Don't We Pray?" TV broadcast 

Walk In The Word With James McDonald website 

Harvest Bible Chapel 

Act Like Men Conference 

Harvest Christian Academy

Image: Pixabay.com Free Images

Just How Large Is The Sea Of Galilee Anyway?

Was reading about Jesus' 5th sign, walking on the waves on the Sea of Galilee, John 6:15-21. When the sea is mentioned in the Bible, I often forget that most of the time it is referring to a massive lake, rather than a body of water like the Pacific or Atlantic ocean, or the Mediterranean Sea. In verse 16, it says that "And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea" (KJV).

I remembered that this is referring to a relatively small land-locked body of water. I wondered, Just how large is the Sea of Galilee anyway? I realized that because they knew very little, if anything, about the topography of the Earth, this massive water feature would naturally be a sea to them. So what is the area and some interesting facts about this water area with the 3 names?

I thought that there were only 3 names that it is known by:

• Sea of Galilee
• Sea of Tiberius
• Sea of Gennesaret

According to BiblePlaces.com, it is also known as:

• Sea of Chinnereth
• Ginnosar
• Bahr Tubariya.

This site states that this sea is "more properly designated a lake," and that it is "13 miles long and 7 miles wide." I am not good at judging distance, but that doesn't sound very large to me. I think Lake Gennesaret is smaller than I thought.

Wikipedia, my fav place to do research (though it is not academically accepted), states that Lake Chinnereth "is approximately:

• 53 km (33 mi) in circumference,
• about 21 km (13 mi) long,
• and 13 km (8.1 mi) wide
• area is 166.7 km2 (64.4 sq mi) at its fullest,
• and its maximum depth is approximately 43 m (141 feet)."

It doesn't seem very deep either. I wonder how there could have been waves so scary, on a body of water this size, so as to terrify the disciples, some of who were experienced fishermen? Do you think Jesus whipped up those waves to build their faith? At one point on shore at least, the opposite shore can be seen, showing how small the lake is. And when they got into the boat, they traveled from Tiberius to Capernaum, which would be north, along the coast. I don't know how far out they had to go to reach a navigable depth before they turned north, but it seems that they could not have ever been out of sight of land.

An interesting mystery! But, where Jesus is there are mysteries galore, and revelations, lol. Wikipedia states that The Sea of Galilee was also called the Sea of Minya.

Sources:
Wikipedia
BiblePlaces.com
King James Bible

Image: Wikipedia

How Do I Get Rid Of My Guilt Feelings?

Guilt is most definitely not from God.

Why would it be when Jesus Christ of Nazareth paid it all?

We either believe it, or we don't.

If we find that the truth behind that is not manifesting in our day-to-day thinking, then we'd better step up our daily Bible reading, and praying without ceasing.

God expects us to take responsibility for our actions, not only those that affect others, but our actions that adversely and negatively affect us, as well. Often in this earthly life, we even have to live with the consequences of our actions, for God does not always change the outcomes. He is, however, always there to help us to live through the results in the positive way that he would have us to. He can take bad results and cause them to eventually benefit us, if we will allow him to.

It is extremely difficult to see how God can and would do this for some situations in life. We point to evidence that we feel shows that we have never benefited from hurtful and distressing situations in our lives. Sometimes we have benefited, and don't realize it. Regarding other circumstances, God has not yet provided us with the benefits. Sometimes the benefits may not even come in this life, I believe. However and whenever we experience these benefits, God's word is true. He is not a man that he should lie. He keeps his promises, forever and forever. He always has, and he always will.

Responsibility is paramount, guilt is useless. God never punishes us for anything un-Godly and un-beneficial that we have caused, because Jesus took our punishment, past, present and future, once and for all.

If you would like to be sure that you are Saved, say this simple prayer:

Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God, and the only Savior. Come into my heart, and save me. I was born in sin and you died for me so that I can know God and not be blamed anymore. Thank you for my new life. Show me the way to turn away from bad things and help me to understand. I don't have to fear death anymore, and thank you for Eternal Life.  

 

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Draw Nigh To Hope