Thought for the day...

...thanks for the encouragement and helping share the WORD too...

 

Wanted to copy and share, give credit where due.

 

February 29, 2020
Verse of the Day
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalms 90:12 NIV

 

He picked me
By Linda Buxa
In 1846 some Wisconsin residents were trying to choose a name for their small town. No one could agree, so they settled on a solution. They put letters of the alphabet on slips of paper and let a young girl pick them out until the letters formed a name.

Hello, Ixonia! If towns could have feelings, I bet this town would feel pretty special. After all, as the only town in the United States with this name, Ixonia was—literally—handpicked.

Who knew you’d have something in common with a small town in Wisconsin? Isaiah tells you that you do. (And because you do have emotions, the following passage makes you feel pretty special. Just read your name in place of Jacob and Israel.)

“But now, this is what the LORD says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine’” (Isaiah 43:1).

The God who placed stars in the heavens formed you. He handpicked how he wanted you to be put together, your skills, your gifts, your personality, your appearance. You are exactly who he wants you to be.

So while there are things that concern you in this world, you are so secure in his love and protection that you don’t have to be afraid. Because God sent his Son, Jesus, to buy you back from Satan’s control, you are now his—and he calls you by name.

Now you can say, “He picked me

 

1 Corinthians 14:34 ►

the women must not be allowed to speak. They must keep quiet and listen, as the Law of Moses teaches.

 

...I don't think they read that verse...

 

my work here is done.

 

March 1, 2020
Verse of the Day
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.
Proverbs 16:9 NIV

 

March 2, 2020
Verse of the Day
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:5 NIV

 

Giving to God
By Pastor Matt Ewart
Two things determine a gift’s value to you: what it is and who gave it. It needs to either be a genuinely nice gift or come from a genuine person for the gift to be received and treasured.

A gift was given to Jesus that should have been rejected on both accounts. The gift came from a social outcast, likely a prostitute. And it seems she had used the money from her career to purchase some very rare, very expensive perfume. She probably purchased it with the hope that it would increase her clientele.

But instead it turned into a gift for Jesus. “She began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them” (Luke 7:38).

The onlookers that day protested. Both the gift and the giver were inappropriate.

But the same should be true of us. Who are we to give to God? And what do we have that God should want? Both the gift and the giver are insufficient.

But the woman who poured out her perfume on Jesus wasn’t promoting herself. She was celebrating Jesus. He had changed her identity from “sinful woman” to “forgiven child,” and as a result she reprioritized her inventory to honor him.

To this day, genuine giving to God is not a promotion of who we are or what we have. It’s a celebration. We have been given a new identity that moves us to reprioritize our inventory

 

March 3, 2020
Verse of the Day
Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Isaiah 55:6-7 NIV

 

You are here
Not long ago I was somewhere — I think it was Phoenix, but I’m not sure since I didn’t ask for directions — and I was going on another adventure through a big shopping mall. This has been, for some reason, a favorite pastime of mine when I’m in a city that I don’t visit often. After a few wrong turns, I found the big, lighted mall directory. I did not ask for directions — “Excuse me, can you please give me directions to the directions?” I stood there for a few minutes, surveying the way the mall was laid out.

I decided to strike out toward one of the bookstores, but there was a problem — a very serious problem. Some practical joker had pulled the “You are here” sticker off the directory. “How can I possibly get to where I want to go from where I am, unless I know where I am?” I said out loud. No one answered.

The text you read today describes the landscape of your relationships as clearly as the directory at that Phoenix mall. “Do not rebuke an older man harshly . . . treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need . . . Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (4:1 – 3,8).

But all of these instructions are a waste of space unless you and I take an honest look at where we are. If, when we read this list, we say to ourselves, Respecting older men? I do that. Treating young men with friendship and not condescension? I do that. Honoring older women? I do that. Esteeming young women and revering their purity? I do that. Providing for my family’s every need? I do that, too. But if we say these things and don’t do them, we’re as lost as I was in Phoenix.

Life is a lot of hard work. People count on us. They watch us to see how we speak, how we react under pressure, how we honor others and them. We can never go on vacation from these responsibilities. We are always in the process of working on them. But if we haven’t taken a sober look at where we are in our relationships — if we have looked the other way rather than dealing honestly with our propensity for selfishness, dishonor and laziness — these relationships will never be healed. . . .

“Father in Heaven,” we may need to humbly confess, “I am impatient with my elders, patronizing to young people, unaware of people in need, and insensitive to my family. But Your presence helps me to admit my lostness, Your grace forgives me of these failings, and Your wisdom gives me the direction I need. Thank you. Amen.”

Taken from NIV Dad's Devotional Bible

Scripture

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. Give the people these instructions, so that no one may be open to blame. Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
1 Timothy 5:1‭-‬8 NIV