Tag: Pray

Weekend Wisdom

Weekend Wisdom: Pray For One Another

Michele Kearns

For those of you new here, the subjects for “Weekend Wisdom” are from the chapters in Don McMinn’s book “Love one another, 20 practical lessons”, which our small group is studying. Each weekend you will find scripture and several quotes pertaining to the different “love one another’s” found in the Bible.

Today’s Bible verse is

Pray for each other

James 5:16

Quotes

Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying together. Never do they love one another so well as when they witness the outpouring of each other’s hearts in prayer.

Charles Finney

God shapes the world by prayer. The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil.

E. M. Bounds

It is possible to move men, through God, by prayer alone.

Hudson Taylor

 

To get nations back on their feet, we must first get down on our knees.

Billy Graham

I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.

Abraham Lincoln 

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1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Michele Kearns

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Mom at Denny’s Restaurant.  The food was delicious and the service by our waitress Reese was terrific.  We could not have made turkey, mashed potato’s, green beans, cranberry jelly, bread, stuffing, pumpkin pie, whipped cream, and nacho’s for what Mom paid.

Yes, that’s right – nacho’s.  They made the perfect appetizer.  The half portion we had was so big, I had it for dinner Friday night.

Mom and I had a joyous time.

While Thanksgiving  brought joy both this year and years past,  I find no joy in Abraham Lincoln’s words when he declared the holiday.  These words apply to us today more so than back in Lincoln’s time.

“We have forgotten God.

We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.”

Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation

May these words never apply to you.

Coming Tomorrow –  JoyReturns 2012 Christmas Look

40 Days of Joy

My 3 Words + 1

Michele Kearns

I read Chris Brogan’s blog and once he mentioned the 3 word challenge, I started thinking about my three words.  I could only think of one:

 Streamline

  •  Job Search – I already started on the streamlining the job search about 3 or 4 weeks ago.  My philosophy was a “leave no stone unturned” approach.  Heck, even the outplacement company I worked with had people getting quality jobs through newspaper ads.  While I came close to getting jobs with that approach, I have decided to abandon it.  So bye-bye:
    • Monster,
    • Careerbuilder,
    • Careerboard,
    • Simply Hired,
    • Indeed

I will stick with LinkedIn, LinkUp and Networking.

  • Email Streamlining – The email’s I receive from different sites has also been cleaned up. 
  • House Streamlining – Little by little this house is being streamlined.  It must be done as Joe was and I am a pack rat.
  • Spiritual Streamlining – Reading daily devotions, grief books, and leadership books.   
  • Physical Streamlining  – Exercising more and exploring different types of exercises.

That’s 2012 in one word.

Now for 2012 Chris Brogan Style (3 Words)

Joy. Pray. Give.

Joy

Be more joyful, smile more, do not let circumstances dictate my mood, and find more people, places, events and things enjoy.  Let my joy be evident when people see me, let joy show through this blog, let joy show in my new job. Use Black and Blue beads to help me see joy. 

Pray

Pray about everything and not just in the morning or at bedtime.  Send up prayers throughout the day, that means prayers of help and thanksgiving. Use a journal to keep track of my prayers. 

Give

Give of myself and finances. Now this does not mean I have an endless supply of money to dish out to people.  The finances are for regular tithing, even though I do not have a lot what I have to give is mighty and powerful.

My time refers to my volunteer work which also was streamlined year so the focus can be finding a job.

Not How But Where

How did I decide on these three words?  The question should be where did I find these 3 words?  The answer is:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Be, Pray, and Give require doing.  Doing these will help me live out the philosophy of this blog:

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 7:12 (NIV)

“…Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Matthew 23:39

Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as in fact you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV)

Quote:

“Joy is perfect acquiescence in God’s will because the soul delights in God Himself.”

H.W. Webb-Peploe

The End

This post marks the end of “40 Days of Joy” (which was extended one day because I ran the same video on 12/24 and 12/25).  Hopefully this series brought you some joy this past holiday season.  I know everyone’s circumstances are different but hopefully this series brought some joy to you. 

Thank you for following my blog and may you have a joy filled 2012.

(Not sure why there is a font issue again today.)