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Friday, January 28, 2011

Even At Our Worst, He's Still Gracious Towards Us

Happy Friday girlfriends!

I woke to the sound of our puppy getting sick this morning at 5:30 AM, what a great way to start the day :)

I guess I could look at the bright side, at least I wasn't the one getting sick!

So, I wanted to throw out a word of inspiration to ya today out of the Message Bible:

Luke 6:31-36
"Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what
you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them!

If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back?
Run-of-the-mill sinners do that.

If you only help those who help you, do
you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that.

If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that's charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.

"I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give
without expecting a return. You'll never—I promise—regret it.

Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

So many nuggets of wisdom here.
I especially love that:
even when we're at our worst...He still is gracious towards us.

I hope you have a great day and wonderful weekend!!
Sue

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

If You Thought Oprah Was Bad...

(If you wonder about that title, see my last post and the comments...)

Ok, I know this is a bit heavy...and long...but wow, I just had to talk about this. This is from Jesus and it is powerful!

I was searching the word "hopeless" in the Message Bible for a whole different reason, but ran across Matthew 23 and was really surprised how many times I found the word "hopeless" and the reason for it.

This is a word from Jesus for the Priests, Pastors, and religious leaders of that day, and our day also.

Though this is pretty rough, the very last verse brings us the hope we all need!

Matthew 23
Religious Fashion Shows
1-3 Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. "The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God's Law. You won't go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don't live it. They don't take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It's all spit-and-polish veneer.

4-7"Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called 'Doctor' and 'Reverend.'

8-10"Don't let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don't set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of 'Father'; you have only one Father, and he's in heaven. And don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ.

11-12"Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.

Frauds!
13"I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God's kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won't let anyone else in either.
15"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned.

16-22"You're hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, 'If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that's nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that's serious.' What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: 'If you shake hands on a promise, that's nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that's serious'? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless.

23-24"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God's Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that's wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?

25-26"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.

27-28"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You're like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it's all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin you're total frauds.

29-32"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You build granite tombs for your prophets and marble monuments for your saints. And you say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, no blood would have been on your hands. You protest too much! You're cut from the same cloth as those murderers, and daily add to the death count.

33-34"Snakes! Reptilian sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper? It's on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation—and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse.

35-36"You can't squirm out of this: Every drop of righteous blood ever spilled on this earth, beginning with the blood of that good man Abel right down to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah's son, whom you murdered at his prayers, is on your head. All this, I'm telling you, is coming down on you, on your generation.

37-39"Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Murderer of prophets! Killer of the ones who brought you God's news! How often I've ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn't let me. And now you're so desolate, nothing but a ghost town. What is there left to say? Only this: I'm out of here soon. The next time you see me you'll say, 'Oh, God has blessed him! He's come, bringing God's rule!'"

I hope this doesn't discourage you, but rather ENcourage you to find out the "God news" that Jesus came to bring...and let him embrace and love us the way He wants to.

Jesus is the truth. No other one or way. You want truth...you will find it in Him alone.

Monday, January 24, 2011

I Like What Oprah Said

Last night as I spilled into my bed at a ridiculously early hour, I channel surfed across Piers Morgan interviewing Oprah.

I was excited because I am fascinated by Oprah.
The woman has a gift.
She knows how to get people talking and then compell them to start DO-ing.

She uses her influence to help others and I believe...though I may not agree with her all of her "beliefs" (but I probably don't agree with all of ANYONE's beliefs)...that she wants to provoke positive change in this world.

How can we not respect that about her?



I was struck by something she said. Piers asked her what her 'brand' is and she responded, "love, my brand is love."

Right there is the key to her incredible success. She loves people.

Of course we know this is not original to her, we find it here first:

Matthew 22:37-40 (The Message Bible)
Jesus said, " 'Love the Lord your God
with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.'
This is the most important, the first on any list.
But there is a second to set alongside it:
'Love others as well as you love yourself.'
These two commands are pegs;
everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

Sure, we could all get hung up arguing about the dangers of Oprah's new age thinking, but I believe we can all agree that she's right on this one.

I like what she said, and I pray my brand would be love also. God's love.
Everything else hangs on that.



What say you?

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Winter 2011 Magazine is here!


It's here!
The latest edition of our online quarterly magazine!!

Click to read: Praise and Coffee Magazine
You can subscribe on the website (right below the magazine) to receive the updates in your email.

I am having a blast with this magazine, it's my most favoritest thing of all I do!!
I hope you enjoy and give me reason to keep putting them out.

Thanks to the great team of women who wrote for it, and especially my sidekick and coffee guzzling buddy Denise Dykstra.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Feeling Discouraged, Tempted to Isolate Yourself?

Feeling depressed, unmotivated? Struggling with discouragement and being tempted to shrink back and isolate yourself??

Check out my lastest article at the Internet Cafe'.
Don't Shrink Back Ladies!





Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Titus Tuesdays


My good friend Darlene is starting a new meme on Tuesdays, you must check it out!!!!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Made To Crave

Check out this awesome 3 minute video by Lysa TerKeurst, I plan to pick up this book this week!!
Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year, how about a giveaway?!

Photobucket

Hello and Happy New Year Girlfriends!!

I pray that 2011 is your best year ever. I hope you fill your life with the ones you love and live as one that is loved by the God who created you!!



I am busy working on the upcoming winter Praise and Coffee online magazine and so very excited about it and the opportunity to inspire and encourage you through this new venue!

It should be out the second week of January...watch for it!
Read our first issue here.
And if you would like to submit something, check out this link.


Once again we are starting the month and New Year with a giveaway!
Praise and Coffee for you, because we love you!

The winner will receive the WOW 2011 CD!



AND some delicious COFFEE from our friends at Barista de Casa!!!
Check out their fabulous coffee.





Follow them on Twitter: Barista de Casa



To enter the drawing, it's simple:
1. Leave a comment on THIS post. Drawing will be January 10th and the winner will be posted on THIS post then.

2. Make sure I have a way to contact you if you win.

3. If you have any of my blog buttons on your blog, let me know in your comment and you will be entered twice.
AND....check it out...we have some *NEW* buttons available now, update your sidebar!



4. Note: Past winners are eligible to enter again 1 year after they win.


Feel free to tell your friends on Facebook and Twitter about the giveaway and thank you if you do!!


Drawings will be on the 10th and I'll post the winner to this post.

EDITED to ADD:

My sweet online friend Dori won this month!!! Congrats girlfriend!

  ©Blog Design by Amy Bayliss.

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