Reading The Fine Print

    Usually the fine print is found at the bottom of the page in very tiny almost illegible font. With the intent that most people wont even bother to read it at all. Then to make everything worse, the meaning is buried in rhetoric and most boring so that one really doesn't care to wade through.

    I did that with a weight loss herb one time. They were offering a free bottle if you only pay the shipping. Well, I didn't even see the fine print, much less read it. But the following month I found out what happens when you don't read the fine print.

    First off I noticed a charge of $80.00 on our debit card. when I called in to protest they assured me that I had enrolled in a monthly program and that I would receive one bottle of pills per month, that was obviously worth it's weight in Gold!

    They were hard to shake too. They kept offering me potential refunds and whatnot. I finally wrote a cancelation notice and changed our Debit Card number to get them off our back.

    I call that bad business.........


    But I have noticed a different kind of small print that we skim over all the time and we don't notice it or pay attention. It's found at the beginning of almost all of Paul's Epistles in the Bible. Starting at the very top of the page in regular size font and easy to understand if we pay attention and dare to believe it.

  Let's take a look........

  Romans 1: 6-7
 You are the called of Jesus Christ; beloved of God, called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 1 Cor 1, 2-9
 We are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
The grace of God is given to us by Jesus Christ.
We are enriched by Jesus who will also confirm us to the end, that we may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

2 Corinthians 1
   Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our tribulation,

Galatians 1:
 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age,

Ephesians 1
  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
³ Blessed be the  Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, We are adopted by Jesus Christ to God, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. ⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

  Philippians 1
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 
  the fruits of righteousness are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Colossians 1
  We are strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power,  the Father  has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³ He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

1 Thessalonians 1
 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians
 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Timothy
 Jesus is our hope,

2 Timothy 
The promise of life is in Christ Jesus,

Hebrews 1
 God, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom is the heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
 Jesus purged our sins by himself and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

  Some of this is paraphrased. Most people say GRACE is unmerited favor or not getting what we deserve. I'm wondering if that could be better defined as MERCY?

Definition for Mercy:  Kindness toward the miserable and afflicted coupled with the desire to help them.

Definition for Grace: Divine influence on the heart and it's reflection in ones life. (in other words, God's power giving us the ability to do the right thing.)

Definition of Peace: The tranquil state of a soul assured of salvation through Christ and so fearing nothing from God and being content with our earthly lot of whatsoever sort it is.

  I hope you have enjoyed reading the fine print of the Bible and that in doing so it promotes faith in the power of Christ to cleanse our sin, purify our lives, give us the ability to do right and fill our hearts with the Peace that passes understanding.

  If you read further, beyond the fine print you will find that the Apostle Paul always reminded them of who Jesus is and who they are in Christ before he gave any instruction or correction.

  Is that what we are missing today?
 

 

If You Wonder Where I've Gone

For those of you who visit here on occasion or just stumble in by accident, and you realize how little I have been posting here.......

I'm not giving up on this blog. I will be back now and then and here and there, But right now my Mom has Dementia and I am occupied with helping with her care.

I am writing a blog about her Dementia on a regular basis. If you know someone with Dementia I can be found here..... http://momhasdementia.blogspot.com/

Allsorta.com New site to sell goods

    I want to introduce you to an eBay alternative. Allsorta.com is a sister site to Homeschool Classifieds where they have sold strictly Homeschool related materials for a long time. They have now branched out with a new site to sell goods and services.

   The first 100 listings are free. They have paid memberships with 200 listings per year at 10.00 or 300 listings for 20.00. Take one listing down and replace it with another.

  I believe this will be a really great place to buy and sell once the word gets out. You can check out my listings periodically if you like. I have Christian inspirational reading available at great prices.My seller ID is Raindropsonroses.

  This is not an auction site. You contact the seller by email if you want to buy an item, or if you are selling, the buyer contacts you via email.

Spring is here! Take the opportunity to sell those extra items.......or maybe you need something different to make your house special.......

Check out Allsorta.com


 

Faux Fireplace inspired by Pinterest

     I know I haven't been in here in way too long. I wasn't to sure on which page to post this, but I plan to totally revamp my blog anyway soon. So I decided to just go ahead and put it in here for now.


     Here's my story. Many years ago, in the big woods of Wisconsin.....because it gets very cold in the winter.....we thought we would be really smart and outwit the cold by installing a nice pellet/corn Stove. That was our first mistake. It was a Country Flame. Run by computer...bad mistake. I can't tell you how many times Steve moaned over the fact that this machine didn't come with just a plain old on/ off switch instead of a touchy techy computer! Oh, Please! He called it The Country Blame. It worked exactly half the time.



                                                   

Country Flame  The Country Blame

   After 3 or 4 winters of seeing it sit worthless in my living room. I got this great idea. I wondered.....was there a way to make a false fireplace, just for looks? That's where Pinterest came in. Oh, what a lovely place is Pinterest! The place where I pin things that I think would be great to do someday and then I never do them. But this time was different.


   It took me about an hour to convince Steve that this was a great idea.  But he did it. I think the reason he did was because I threatened to do it myself and he was afraid of what it would look like. But he is a master at building and so he pleased me ever so much when he came inside with a very nice looking corner fireplace. I painted it Black. (forgot to take pictures) But the old corn stove went OUT. My reasoning was that its not heating our house anyway, I might as well have something there that I like.

  I learned from Pinterest that you can make a faux fire with logs and Christmas lights. I wasn't completely satisfied with the look, So I searched some more and came up with another solution. A fireplace Screen to hide the fact that there really isn't a real fire in there. So here are the pics of the process.

                                          My faux Fireplace, after I made the fireplace screen.

 HOW I MADE MY FIREPLACE SCREEN

      This was a frame around a mirror that my dau-in-law just gave me recently. It was a perfect size. We sanded it and painted it using a satin Black Acrylic Paint.

The rest of the materials were an easy fix too. Twigs from the yard and cardboard leaves from a cereal box. I planned to spray paint the leaves and twigs but the shiny side of the cereal box didn't hold paint. So we (me and my kids) ended up painting them with a brush using the same paint that we used for the frame.

                                                            My twigs and "leaves".

                                                   Twigs and leaves before we painted them.

                                        I cut 6 of the twigs to fit and hot glued them with a glue gun.

                                                         

                                                        I hot glued the leaves on too.

 Here it is. Mostly done. I still need to get my hands on some screen. I considered using Black lace fabric, but it just didn't look right. So for now it doesn't have any. I am hoping to find an electric log with the crackling fire sound, but until then my Christmas lights will have to do the job on their own.
                                                                              

I don't know what the plywood cost that Steve used to build the "fireplace" I am assuming they were scraps he had laying around from some other project. Every thing I used was free stuff I had available here at home. So my cost for this project was next to nothing. It looks good for now. Steve is planning to find a gas parlor stove to put here before next winter.

And here is the sweet Grandson that is coming on Saturday to find out if the thing is actually child proof. What do you think my chances are?

Jesus is our Wisdom

Picture of our son Lucas,who was the baby in the story following...... He now has a wonderful wife and sweet little son of his own.

                              

Here he is with his wife Anna and their son Kaiden, God is so good!

  Do You Know Someone Who Knows More Than You Do?



    "He doesn't have enough strength to make it on his own. I think we need to put him on a drug to paralyze him and put him on a ventilator to breathe for him." The Doctor paused briefly and went on," That way the machine can do the work for him. He also needs a blood transfusion because he has Sepsis, which means his blood has been poisoned. It happens when the body has an overwhelming immune response to a bacterial infection."

    The Doctors words swirled around and crashed into the walls of my already overstressed emotionally fatigued brain. I felt so absolutely helpless.
    Through my fog I heard my husband ask him. "If this were your child, is this what you would do for him?"
         The Doctor said, "Yes, That's what I would do."

     We will always be grateful to this Doctor, dedicated to saving children's lives. This same Doctor sat up all night that night watching over another child in that same Life Support unit. We were very impressed with that Doctor. 

    He was our wisdom.......we were in way beyond our understanding. Our sweet baby was so sick. He had been diagnosed with Spinal Meningitis and just 36 hours into antibiotic treatment he began to have seizures.The Doctors loaded him with as much anti seizure meds that they could without killing him. Then transferred us to another Dr. in another hospital. He became our wisdom for us because he knew what to do.


        ....Of God are ye in Christ Jesus, who is made unto us wisdom from God.........


     Jesus is our wisdom. I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the meaning of that until I was reminded of the Doctor and our son's illness.

   Jesus is so many things to us. He purchased and secured our salvation. He is also the revealer of all that God has prepared for those that love him.

  As with all of Andrew Murray's writings, Once again this strong message comes through. Christ is our wisdom..... Abide in him.... Just as the Doctor knew exactly what our son needed. Jesus knows exactly what we need. What would have happened to our child if we wouldn't have stayed there and allowed the Doctor to treat him? The message is clear. We must abide in Christ.

   Ye are in him and he is in you. and in him is wisdom. Stick with him! In him you live in the very fountain of light. When you abide in him you have Christ the wisdom of God leading your whole spiritual life and able to give you all the knowledge that you need.The only way to get the answers we are looking for is by a deeper, closer abiding in Christ.

   If you long for wisdom and a spiritual understanding so that you can know God better. Abide in Jesus. Your life in him will lead you to that fellowship with God where the only true knowledge of God is to be had. His love, his power, his infinite glory will be revealed to you as you abide in him.

   You may not be able to explain it in words or totally grasp it in understanding, but the knowledge that is deeper than thought and word will be given you.The knowing of God that comes from being known of him. It is only when God shines into the heart and Jesus lives there that the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ can be seen. (2 Cor 4:6)

  There are a thousand questions that come up and to try to answer them becomes a huge burden. It is because we have forgotten that we are in Christ, whom God has made to be our wisdom. Let it be our first concern to abide in him with all our heart. When our hearts and lives are rooted in Christ, God will give us the knowledge that  he in his wisdom sees we are in need of.

  Without abiding in Christ, knowledge isn't profitable and can often be hurtful. The soul satisfies  itself with thoughts that are only images of the truth, without receiving the truth itself in power.

  God's way is to first give us life and power even though it is only a seed. Men seek knowledge first and do not go beyond that . God gives us Christ, and in him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

  Let us be content to posses Christ, to stay with him, to make him our life. Only in seeking him do we find the knowledge we desire. Such knowledge is LIFE! to us.

   Trust your spiritual life to him. He is your wisdom. He knows what you need. He is able to communicate to you what will help or hinder your spiritual life. He knows! ALL is abundantly clear to him. He will communicate to you exactly what you need to know and what you are able to handle. Trust him!

  Never think that the treasures in Jesus are without a key or your way as a path with no light. Jesus, your wisdom is guiding you in the right way even when you don't see it.

  When you read the Bible, remember this same truth. Abide in Jesus, your wisdom. Study much to know the written word. But study more to know the living word, in whom you are in God.

   Jesus, the wisdom of God is only known by a life of absolute confidence and obedience.He speaks words of wisdom and life to those who live in him. So whenever you hear, read or meditate on his word be careful to take up your position. Understand first your oneness with him who is the wisdom of God. Know yourself to be under his direct training. Go to his word abiding in him. In his light, you will see light.

  In your daily life, abide in Jesus as your wisdom. Your body and daily life share in the great salvation. In Christ the wisdom of God. He is providing for your everyday guidance. Your body is his temple. Your daily life the avenue for glorifying him. He is deeply interested that your earthly affairs are guided right.

  Trust in his sympathy. Believe his love and wait for his direction- it will be given. Your mind will be calmed, your judgement cleared and strengthened. The light of heaven will shine on earthly things and your prayers for wisdom will be fulfilled beyond what you can ask or think.

 The story is mine, some of the instruction is adapted from Andrew Murray's book, ABIDE IN CHRIST. I love the things I have learned from Andrew Murray, But some of it is hard to read. This is my effort of breaking it down and hopefully making it easy to read and understand in our world today. God bless you!
 

The Giver of Light

  

     The evening shadows were lengthening and darkness was settling over the land as the sun slipped beneath the horizon. In the house, Mr Fridley and his wife were straining their eyes over their respective activities. He was reading the newspaper and she was embroidering a baby quilt for grand-baby number four.

   For 35 years they had lived in the house without electricity and it was time to light the lamp. Each was counting on the other to do the job. Every few seconds he would glance at her to see if she was about to get up and do it. She knew it, but she also knew that if she waited long enough he would eventually do it as the light faded and he couldn't see his paper anymore. So they waited on each other and just as he was about to give in, there was a knock at the door.

   They glanced at each other as an unspoken question hung between them. Who????

   The knock came again. A gentle firm knock. Reaching for his cane he got up and shuffled for the door leaving the rocking chair slowly rocking in his wake. As he opened the door, she got up to light the lamp so they could see who their guest was.

  He stood there, a strong man in Blue Jeans with a Tan shirt monogrammed with these words. Godwin's Power and Light.
    "Hello," He said, "I was passing by your house and saw that your house was dark and in need of light." He tapped his name tag," I have what you need and would like to help you."

    There was something about the man on the porch that the old men felt comfortable with. He stepped back from the door and motioned him inside.
     The stranger stepped inside and introduced himself, "I'm Godwin from Power and Light, like I said before, what I have to offer you will really help you."


     Mrs. Fridley set the lamp on the table and pulled out a chair for Godwin to sit on. Mr. Fridley sat across the table from him as his wife left to fetch them each a cup of coffee. Mr. Godwin waited until she returned with two steaming cups of coffee and then one for herself.
     After she was seated he began, "What you need is the power of electricity. You will be able to light your entire house with just a flip of a switch. Plus hundreds of other things that run by electricity. Hot water piped into your kitchen, you can run fans and air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter, a refrigerator and a deep freeze to name a few."

  The old man peered at the stranger and stabbing the air with his finger for punctuation he said, "But all this comes with a price, how do you expect me to pay for it?"
   Godwin smiled, "That's the beauty of it all. My son has paid the price for it already. It is free."
      The old man stared in amazement, "Why?"

  Because light is my business and I want all men to live in light."
    The old man was still amazed, " So, if it is free, why doesn't everyone have light?"
      Because some men love darkness rather than light and some just don't believe that I will give it to them free of charge." was Godwin's sad reply.

  The old man stroked his chin in deep thought and then asked, "Is there anything I need to do?"
    "Well, Godwin replied, The power is free, you will receive it through my son Emmanuel who has paid for it for you and will install it.. There is one thing you must never forget. That is this, you received this power from me, through my son. You must never take any credit for the light that I am giving you. This light will light up many things in your life and you will be able to see clearly. You must always remember that you received this light because of me and my son. Once you have the power installed and you flip the switch to turn the light on or you plug a lamp into the outlet you may be tempted to think the light went on because you plugged it in or because you flipped a switch. That is not true. You have light because of the power paid for and installed by my son Emmanuel with the power that comes from me."

God Himself has United You to Him

Of God are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, both righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30 

My Father is the husbandman. John 15:1

    I pray that you, my reader will be able to forgive me for using something as physical as electricity as an example of the Holy Spirit, the example of a strong man in Blue Jeans as our heavenly Father and his son Emmanuel as Jesus Christ.
   My example in no way encompasses all the beauty of the Godhead, but my hope is to show you the love of the Father and in the process I hope to gain a better picture of it myself.

  The story and thoughts are based on Chapter 6 of Abiding in Christ by Andrew Murray. The following thoughts are a condensed version.

  The Corinthian believers were carnal and feeble yet Paul tells them, "Ye are in Christ Jesus." (In our world today most of us would not dare say that unless we first see perfection.)
   The whole Christian life is based on the clear awareness of our position in Christ. The most important part of abiding in Christ is our renewed daily assurance in faith. "I am in Christ Jesus." All fruitful preaching to believers must begin with this point. "Ye are in Christ Jesus."

   But there is an even greater thought given by Paul.Of God are ye in Christ Jesus. 1 Cor 1:30
He wants us to remember not only our union with Christ, but especially that it is not our own doing but the work of the God himself. As God , the Holy Spirit teaches us to realize that it is of God alone that I am in Christ, Then God himself becomes our security for all I need in seeking to abide in Christ.

   Let's try to understand this wonderful...."Of God...in Christ". In becoming a part in the union of Christ there is a work that God does and a work we have to do. God does his work by motivating us to do our work. The work of God is hidden and silent, what we do is distinct and tangible. 
   
   Conversion and faith, prayer and obedience are acts that can be seen while spiritual life and strength are secret and hidden from view, and so when the believer says. " I am in Christ", he looks more to his own works than to the secret work of God that united him to Christ.

    I know that I have believed, is a valid testimony. But it is of utmost importance that we see that behind our turning and beliving and accepting of Christ there was God's almighty power at work. Inspiring our will, taking possession of us and carrying out his purpose of love in planting us into Christ.

   What a foundation we receive when the truth becomes real to us! Of God we are in Christ Jesus! What an amazing solid ground for our feet as we rest our right to Christ and all his fulness only in the Father's own purpose and work!

  We have looked to Christ as the vine, and ourselves the believer as the branch in the vine. Let us not forget those precious words. My Father is the husbandman. Jesus said every plant which the heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up. Matt 15:3, But every branch grafted by him into the vine will never be plucked out of his hand.

   Just as Christ owed all he was to the Father. Even so we owe the place and security we have in Christ, to the Father as well.The Father watches over every believer with the same love and delight in which he watched over his beloved son. What confident trust this faith inspires! That the Father who drew me and united me in Christ will not only keep me safely till the end, but will also be able to fulfill in me exactly what he fashioned me for. If I will only let him by yielding myself to him that I in every way be worthy of Christ Jesus.

   Oh that I would fully realize this. What confidence it would give my prayer to the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ. How it would make real to me my dependency and make me see the need of praying without ceasing. A continual waiting moment by moment on the God who has united me to Christ to perfect his divine work in me, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

   Here is the highest motive! You are God's workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Eph 2:10, Grafted by him into Christ unto the bringing forth of much fruit. He created the sun to give light. He created the eye to see. He created man to do good works!

   Of God, I am in Christ Jesus. Made new, a branch in the vine, fitted to bear fruit. Would to God that believers would stop looking at their old natures and complaining of their weaknesses, as if God called them to what they are unfitted for. If only we could see how God, in uniting us to Christ has made himself responsible for our spiritual growth and fruitfulness. Our sickly hesitancy and laziness would disappear under the influence of this mighty motive. The faith...in the faithfulness of him....of whom we are in Christ Jesus. Our whole nature could rise up to accept and fulfill our glorious destiny!


 The story is mine, some of the instruction is adapted from Andrew Murray's book, ABIDE IN CHRIST. I love the things I have learned from Andrew Murray, But some of it is hard to read. This is my effort of breaking it down and hopefully making it easy to read and understand in our world today. God bless you!
   



 

The Tale of Two Sisters.......(Which one are you?)

Photo: courtesy of Christopher Young,used by permission

 A crack of thunder, rumbling and growling in the distance, woke the two sisters. Lightning streaked across the sky. Momentarily lighting their bedroom with it's flash of light and then the boom of thunder reverberated across the sky.The rain followed in torrents then. Singing it's song on the metal roof of their house, interspersed with the continual flashes of lightening and the boom of the thunder. They could hear the wind whistling around the house and banging anything it could find that was loose.


  To the one sister, the storm brought a feeling of pure delight and pleasure. She listened to the boom of the thunder, the torrential rain and the wind as it howled around the house. She sighed a sigh of contentment, snuggled deeper into her pillow and closed her eyes. Reveling in the wildness outside and the peace within. Thankful for the security of her warm, strong, shelter where she could enjoy the sound of the storm and did not have to be have to be out in it. Her only regret being that she could not stay awake to enjoy it to the fullest because the storm itself sang her to sleep with its music.


   To the other sister, the storm was a form of purest torture. With each flash of lightning and boom of thunder, her anxiety grew. Her body trembled and she lay tense and listening for possible catastrophe. There would be no sleep for her tonight until the storm passed over. Periodically she would get up and peer anxiously out the window. Hoping to catch any sign of possible disaster with the illumination of each flash of lightning.She paced the floor and cast reproachful glances at her peacefully sleeping sister.

    

As You Come To Him By Faith

     In the Tale of the Two Sisters, we have one who is oblivious to the storm. She is confident in a power greater than herself, giving her protection from forces that are greater than she is. The other is anxious in the face of a force that she knows she is no match for.

   If we can just get a mind picture through the tale of the two sisters of the difference between faith and trust and worry and anxiety.In Col 2:6-7 we read, As you have received Christ Jesus, so walk ye in him.

   Just as we came to Christ for salvation through faith in his sacrifice for sin. Even so must we abide in Christ by faith. Many of us realize that the sinner is justified by faith. Rom 3:28, but we think that after that it all depends on our diligence and faithfulness.We also need the larger truth. The just shall live by faith. Rom 1:17

  In our relationship with Jesus, our one daily and constant duty is to believe, because believing is the one channel through which grace and strength flows into our heart.Our old nature remains evil and sinful to the last. It is by coming daily, helpless and empty to Jesus that we receive life and strength, so that we can yield the fruit of righteousness. As you came to Jesus by faith, so abide in him by faith.

  

 Always remember, you received the miracle of new life in Christ by faith, a gift given to you. Not earned. Even so you will abide in Christ by faith in his power that keeps you, holds you, helps you and empowers you to do right. 

 The story is mine, some of the instruction is adapted from Andrew Murray's book, ABIDE IN CHRIST. I love the things I have learned from Andrew Murray, But some of it is hard to read. This is my effort of breaking it down and hopefully making it easy to read and understand in our world today. God bless you!