...

Friday, February 14, 2014

Paint Party Friday: Be Opened!

This is the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7:24-30, 
who pleaded with Jesus
 to free her daughter from a demonic spirit. 
She had such an interesting exchange with Jesus 
which shows to me that 
we should never give up talking to God. 

"For saying this....the demon has gone out of your daughter." 
Is there something you are asking God to do? 
Never give up. 
I am praying for the best for my mother! 
I know He will give His very best Gift to my mother!

After the story of the Syrophoenician woman,
there is the story of the deaf man
who had a speech impediment.
This man had not heard of Jesus
because he could not hear.
But concerned people brought the man to Jesus.

 Jesus brought the man with him,
away from the crowds who always managed to find him.
Jesus put his finger into the man's ear and
touched his tongue. 
"Ephphatha! Be opened!"
I was thinking when I read this
how important it is for us to go away with Jesus!
So that he can open our eyes, ears,
and our tongue!
This man had a speech impediment,
but after Jesus touched his tongue,
he could speak plainly.
If we go away with Jesus,
he can open our eyes to see the truth,
our ears to hear rightly
and our tongue to speak life giving words
to others!



Linking with

Sometimes I put on my best pajamas and
join these wonderful blog parties!!!
So many WONDERFUL blogfriends to discover!



Thank you for dropping by!

You are appreciated!

Patsy




Posted by at 15 comments:

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

WOYWW: Made for Heaven

 
  What's on My WorkDesk Wednesday?
Today this is how my desk looks like
after I did my painting.
I completely forgot to take a before photo.
Anyway you can see my fan
(it is so hot here in the Philippines that 
I like having the wind blow directly on me!),
a jar of gel medium, not so dirty water
(it was sooo disgusting I just had to clean it up!),
my mini blue garbage can with a box
of tissue paper inside
(to clean up my brushes).

 
And here are postcards I sent off by mail
yesterday.

 I read from Mark 7:20-23 that
"what comes out of a man,
that is what defiles him.
From within the man, from his heart,
come evil thoughts, unchastity,
theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice,
deceit, licentiousness, envy,
blasphemy, arrogance, folly.

All these evils come from within
and they defile."

 "Search me O God and know my heart,
Try me and know my thoughts."
This is David's prayer in Psalm 139.
David really desired that God would show him
if there was any wickedness in him.
And there was!!!!
There is evil and sin in saints
and any one of us.
But are we willing to let God in and
for Him to transform our hearts?
Are we willing to let God change us
so we can become the best we can be?

 
"My soul yearns and pines for the courts of The Lord." 
Psalm 84:3 
"You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, 
because you have made us for yourself, 
and our heart is restless until it rests in you." 
St. Augustine. 

Why do we fear death? 
Should not we yearn to be united 
to the One who loves us best?


Maybe one reason is 
we know that our hearts don't belong in heaven?
Because there is so much there that needs
overhauling!
But one thing we should remember is
we were MADE FOR HEAVEN
And God will do everything
to bring us home!





Blessings!
Patsy

Posted by at 12 comments:

Monday, February 10, 2014

Be the Salt!!!

Last Friday I was in the hospital
early in the morning
to watch over my mom
and I started painting
on a chair and on my lap.
 Here is a picture of my
workspace changed in the Waterlogue app,
which I now use to document
ordinary moments in my day.

 
This morning I read from Psalm 132:
"Let us enter into His dwelling..."
 When we enter into God's home,
what do we do?
When we are faced with His love,
His majesty, His goodness?

We praise Him!
We worship Him!
We fall on our knees!
It is so amazing that God loves us so much,
that He allows us access into His home,
into His very heart!!!

 "Within my heart I treasure your promise..." 
Psalm 119:11 
When I was pregnant with Josh, 
I was anxious. 
Maybe because I was 38 years old, 
and my first time, and reading too much
about what can go wrong. 
But I distinctly felt God reassure me and say, 
"When you hold your baby in your arms, 
you will know how much I love you." 

 I kept that promise in my heart and claimed it. 
And sure enough, when I 
finally held Josh in my arms, 
I was flooded with gratefulness 
and my heart welled up in praise. 
There are so many promises 
in God's Word we can claim. 
I try to take time each day 
to dwell in God's faithfulness 
and bask in His love. 
No safer place to be!
 
 "You are the salt of the earth. 
But if salt loses it's taste, 
with what can it be seasoned? 
It is no longer good for anything 
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." 
Mt 5:13-16. 
You and me, with all our gifts and talents, 
are salt, flavoring, preservative here on earth. 
Salt is very necessary, even in our bodies. 
It regulates our water content. 
How does salt lose it's flavor? 
LOTS of water! 
Sometimes we lose our effectiveness as Christians 
because of trials, busyness, distractions. 
 We can get tired, give up and think 
what's the use of praying, reading the Bible? 
Nothing changes! 

Then we need to step back and 
let God give us back our vision, 
to see ourselves the way God sees us. 
Without our vision, 
our purpose on earth, as salt,
 we are "not good for anything"‼️ 
What use is a beautiful home, 
high paying job, good grades in school,
 the best bag in the world, if we are not 'salt', 
hope and encouragement, 
 a nurturer of life in a dying world?

If we are able to see ourselves as God sees us,
when we are able to enter into His heart,
we will be more effective.
We will be the "salt" 
God has called us to be!

 Previous Posts


Posted by at 5 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)