What have I done today?

As I type this my recovering-from-sickness-daughters are coming to me with their dolls, begging me to play a game with them, help them change the dolls clothes, etc. and although I have "better" things to do, I will leave those things for later and play with them.

"Come on mummy, come and plllaaaaay with us!"

We shall do so much in the years to come,
But what have we done today?
We shall give our gold in a princely sum,
But what did we give today?
We shall lift the heart and shall dry the tear,
We shall plant a hope in the place of fear,
We shall speak the words of love and cheer;
But what did we speak today?

We shall be so kind in the afterwhile,
But what have we done today?
We shall bring to each lonely life a smile,
But what have we brought today?
We shall give the truth a far grander birth,
And to steadfast faith a much deeper worth,
We shall feed the hung’ring souls of earth;
But whom have we fed today?

We shall reap such joys in the by and by,
But what have we sown today?
We shall build us mansions up in the sky,
But what have we built today?
Oh, how sweet it is in fond dreams to bask,
But right here and now we must do our task,
Yes, this is the thing our souls must ask,
“Just what have we done today?”

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One liners to get you thinking

The largest room in the world is the room for improvement.

It's what you do when you have nothing to do that reveals what you are.

Where reason cannot wade, there faith may swim.

You can help someone change by asking Me how I see them, and then treating them that way. My love works miracles! -Jesus

Can you overthrow your thoughts?

I live with someone who is as ornery as can be. There are days when I try to avoid being in the same room, to avoid their sharp tongue.

This is a good reminder for me to "Think on these things"

Thoughts
Virginia Brandt Berg
"I just cannot overcome my bad thoughts," a woman wrote me, asking for advice. "As you may remember, I wrote you before about someone near to me who is very spiteful and says such unkind things, and I told you that I had overcome my urge to say anything back. I have been able to control my tongue, but I haven't changed my thinking any. I may have self-control outwardly, but I'm seething on the inside."

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Getting Out of the Hole

A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule braying and, after carefully assessing the situation, sympathized with the mule. He decided, however, that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together, told them what had happened, and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.
Initially, the old mule was hysterical. But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, he should shake it off and step up! This he did, blow after blow.
“Shake it off and step up. Shake it off and step up. Shake it off and step up!” No matter how painful the blows, or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought against panic and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up. It wasn’t long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly out of the well.
-Author unknown

* * *
Do you sometimes feel that you are in a deep hole? And what’s more, do you feel that somebody just keeps throwing dirt on you? You can turn the bad to good by looking up and seeing that the Lord is there through it all. Take His hand. Ask Him to pull you up and to help you see His purpose in it all. He can help you see the events around you from His perspective. He can give you His calm and stop the panic. And then He can help you find solutions that will enable you to step triumphantly out of that deep well and onto the path of a brighter tomorrow.
-Chloe West

* * *
Answers from God

For all the negative things we say to ourselves, God has given us His positive responses in the Bible.

You say, “It’s impossible.”
God says, “All things are possible with Me” (Luke 18:27).

You say, “I’m too tired.”
God says, “I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-20).

You say, “Nobody really loves me.”
God says, “I love you” (John 3:16 and John 13:34).

You say, “I can’t go on.”
God says, “My grace is sufficient and I will always be there to help you” (2 Corinthians 12:9 and Psalm 91:15).

You say, “I can’t figure things out.”
God says, “I will direct your steps” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

You say, “I can’t do it.”
God says, “You can do all things through My strength” (Philippians 4:13).

You say, “I’m not able.”
God says, “I am able” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

You say, “It’s not worth it.”
God says, “It will be worth it” (Romans 8:28).

You say, “I can’t forgive myself.”
God says, “I forgive you” (1 John 1:9 and Romans 8:1).

You say, “I can’t manage.”
God says, “I will supply all your needs” (Philippians 4:19).

You say, “I’m afraid.”
God says, “I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

You say, “I’m always worried and frustrated.”
God says, “Cast all your cares on Me” (1 Peter 5:7).

You say, “I don’t have enough faith.”
God says, “I’ve given everyone a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3b).

You say, “I’m not smart enough.”
God says, “I give you wisdom” (James 1:5 and “1 Corinthians 1:30).

You say, “I feel all alone.”
God says, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

Topics: Perseverance and fight, positiveness, God’s help, His love.

(Getting Out of the Hole)

On reading

Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love to read.
Mum taught me to read from an early age & from 2 years old I was reading the King James Version of the Bible. At age 11 I was reading the daily paper & anything else I could get my hands on. My friends began hiding books when I was due for a visit as I would spend all my time reading instead of interacting with them. At age 12 I read the unabridged version of "Les Miserables" in several hours.

I have learnt to control my passion for reading yet every day I make time to read Christian writings and the news. Today I listened to some of the wittings of Virginia Brandt which were written in the 1900's, but could have been written today as there is more information available than ever before, I was convicted.

Usually I mean to just read the news headlines, but one story leads to another and so often I end up spending way too long reading trivial articles that mean little in the overall scheme of life. This is a good reminder that as a disciple of Jesus, this world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through.

Meditation Moments 61: "HEAVENLY CITIZENSHIP"

Some time ago I found myself one night paying a real price and sacrifice to sit up and hear through a late program. It was regarding one of our national crises, I think at that time it was in Africa.

I wanted to be well-informed, and more and more I found myself trying to keep up with as many phases of that situation in Africa, not realizing until this particular night that it was telling on me spiritually!

I was getting so entangled with the affairs of this world that it was taking the keen edge off my spiritual life! Though I wasn't doing anything worldly, except just trying to keep up with the news, to be well-informed so I could converse intelligently with other people.

But I found myself trying to keep up with so many phases of the mess this old world is in, and I couldn't do it without worrying and feeling almost in bitterness sometimes, and in some frustration because of the world condition! So it was on this particular night, of this late program, I just had it out with my soul.

I'm not saying anything against being well-informed! But with information that is needful and can be used for God's Glory, that's different! I want to be a good citizen and do all I can to help my country, but first of all, let's remember this passage, that our citizenship is in Heaven!

As the song says, "we're here on business for the King," and our real citizenship isn't here! You cannot be true to that Heavenly Citizenship and have so much time absorbed with the affairs of this world, even with the present world crises!

If we really believe our citizenship is in Heaven we'll not become so attached to this world, nor absorbed in every little news about each tragic condition! Because its fears drive us to tension, its troubles cause us loss of time and sleep, and time that we could spend in prayer.

...

Men are not facing up to eternal facts with moral issue like they did, they have no sense of values, their comparisons of values are forgotten today! I don't know just how to express it the way I long to, but eternal things call so earnestly today because the Lord is needing every soldier, and that soldier cannot entangle himself in the things of this world.