What blessing has God bestowed upon you recently? I invite anyone to share your feedback comments. Below are some verses of encouragement for those faithful Christians who obey God’s commandments. How do we do that, by loving others, sharing our faith, and using our spiritual gifts as the Lord directs us.
“”Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the Word of God and put it to practice.”” Luke 11:28, NLT
“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all His commandments that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord, your God: Your towns and your fields will be blessed. Your children and your crops will be blessed. The offspring of your hearts and flocks will be blessed. Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed. Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.” (Deuteronomy 28:1-6, NLT)
“”Bring all your tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord, “I will pour out a blessing so great you have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put Me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard then from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Then al nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”” (Malachi 4 10-12, NLT)
In every season, God’s Glory is seen in nature. “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”(Luke 12:27)
Whenever I walk my dogs in through the paths of our property, I usually have my phone in my back pocket. I never know when I might want to take picture of the scenery which may be a pictures of our creek that flows on one boundary, trees, or flowers. The flora changes with each season. Amazingly, the simple weeds, display some of the prettiest blooms. Below are some of the autumn blooms along my walking path (and some mushrooms, too).
While on my morning walk with my dogs recently, I noticed some caterpillars in a bush besides our creek. After several days, I realized they were eating the leaves on this bush. Several days later the caterpillars where gone. I saw several chyrsalises (cocoons). About ten days later, I experienced the chance of a lifetime. I witnessed a female tiger swallowtail butterfly that had only recently emerged from her chrysalis. Her wings were sill moist. She was trying to dry them, so she could make her first flight. These butterflies spend most of their lives as caterpillars and unfortunately only live one to two weeks as butterflies.
The transformation of this caterpillar into a butterfly reminded me of the Bible verse, Romans 12:2. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by a renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (NKJV). When I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, I was transformed with a new life.
caterpillars on the bushThe green chrysalis between the flower and the leaves the butterfly after just emerging from the chrysalis
I have been a Sunday school teacher for elementary school-aged kids and in the past I taught many years for Girls in Action (GAs). One thing that I have learned is that you have to teach these kids on their own level.
Words such as mercy, compassion, grace, and humility are very common words in found in memory verses. When teaching the memory verse, I try to explain the definition of the words so the kids will understand what they are memorizing.
Mercy- compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.
Compassion – Sympathetic pity or concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others and shows kindness, caring, and willingness to help others.
Grace- A gift from God, given through Jesus Christ, enabling power and spiritual healing offered though mercy and the love of Jesus. It is a free gift. It can’t be earned.
God’s Mercy – God not punishing us as our sins deserve, deliverance from judgement.
God’s Grace – God’s blessing us despite the fact that we don’t deserve it. Extending kindness to the unworthy.
Humility – Modest, without and excess of pride. Appreciate others. If someone does something better than you do, compliment them for their work. Being humble is the opposite of pride.
Justly – Acting morally good.
God oppresses the proud, but shows favor with the humble..
Micah 6:8 says, “The Lord asks us to do three things, act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with the Lord.”
Another Psalm from King David. His message is as pertinent today as it was in his lifetime.
“Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all. In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked that really are. Everything they say is crooked and deceitful. They refuse to act wisely or do good. They lie awake at night, hatching sinful plots. Their actions are never good. They make no attempt to turn from evil.
Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains; Your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.
You feed them from the abundance of Your own house; letting them drink from Your river of delights. For You are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.
Pour out Your unfailing love on those who love You; give justice to those with honest hearts. Don’t let the proud trample me or the wicked push me around. Look! Those who do evil have fallen! They are throw down, never to rise again.”
(Translation this chapter is from the New Living Translation)
The book of Psalms is full of inspiration. Many of these books were written by King David. Many of his psalms are pertinent to us today, especially in these times of uncertainty. There is so much in the news, and we don’t know what is true or untrue. But God is true. We don’t know the outcome, but God does and He is in control. I pray that the following Scripture will comfort you and give you peace.
King David writes in Psalm 34, “I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praises. I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart. Com let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt His name together.
I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation, prayed and the Lord listened; He saved me from all my troubles. For the angel o the Lord is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear Him.
Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him!. Fear the Lord, you, His godly people, for those who fear Him will have all they need. Even the strong, young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.” (vv. 1-10) NLT
Christian bothers and sisters, need to come together in unity, in the body of Christ. We are all in this together Christians and non-Christians. We need to be a positive witness to others. Currently in the state of the world, our words are speaking louder than our actions (rather than our actions speak louder than our words). James 1:22 – “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” NJKV. James 1:26 “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.” (NLT)
If you are a Christian and are bashing others and instead of lifting them up, shame on you! We need to uplift others, not tear the down. We need to pray, pray hard for those who have lost love ones, those who are fighting for their lives, those who have lost their jobs, the medical personnel, our President and his staff, the list goes on an on.
Remember Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (ESV)
“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm agains all the strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but agains even rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against the mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places……Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be present in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Ephesians 6:10-12, 18 (NLT)
If you have to go somewhere for any reason, remember the coronavirus can live on hard surfaces for a week according to infectious disease physicians.
Should you need to go to a restroom, use a tissue to turn the door knob. Use an elbow to cut on and off the light switch. Wash your hands at least 20 seconds. Use a tissue or paper towel to open the door to leave the restroom. For an extra measure after leaving the restroom, use hand sanitizer.
If you are at a doctor’s office, bring your own pen to sign in (who knows how many people have touched that pen at the office!). Avoid touching the counters. at the appointment desk. In the waiting room, if possible sit away from other people.
If you are in a restaurant, sanitize your hands after reading the menu (again, who knows how many people have held that menu).
At the grocery store, use the wipes provide at many places to sanitize the buggy handle. I have started wearing gloves at the store, especially when selecting items and checking out.
Think about your mail and packages. Who knows how many people handle these items. Wash your hands/sanitize after opening your mail, bringing in your groceries.
When at the gas station, use a glove to handle the gas pumps and touch screens, and always sanitize after taking off your gloves.
This may sound a little paranoid, but I think these tips are small things we can to to be safer.
Psalms 56:3 “But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.” NLT
The next morning, we saw the damages done to our pontoons. There was a hole in the left front pontoon with a rock stuck in it bout the size of a small watermelon. The son the owner of the marina said that he could fix our hole and gave us an estimate of $800 cash. Our friend, Herb, also said he could repair the damage, but we would have to beach the boat. The other man said that he could get in the water and plug the hole well enough for us to make it to a boat repair shop. We were in a dilemma. Since the man from the island said that he could plug the hole while the boat as docked, and we didn’t want to take advantage of our friend’s offer, we chose to pay the man for the temporary repair. Long story short, the man put some kind of putty in the hole. We anchored for the night (reinforcing our lines mooring lines this time) and there were no signs of leakage. There were only about three places that could pull our wide boat out of the water, the closest being Spanish Wells in the Eleuthera’s. We had been there before and were familiar with the route. We set out and after we picked up some speed, our bilge pump sounded, the patch was not working and water was seeping into the pontoon. So we hailed our friend, Herb, who was still at Little Farmer’s Cay, turned around and returned to anchor there.
We knew that we had hurt Herb’s feelings by turning him down. My husband explained that he didn’t want to take advantage of him, by asking him to do this job. Unbeknownst to us, Herb told us that he had been a crew member when he was young on the actual ship, The Bounty. I assume it was the replica of the original ship, the Bounty built in 1979; either that or since he is Austrian, maybe there was another ship of the same name when he was younger. Anyway, he said he learned how to work with fiberglass and and make repairs. My husband carried some waterproof putty and a little bit of fiberglass. The son, who did the original faulty repair for $800, either felt sorry or guilty and brought us his supply of fiberglass to help with the repairs. (Herb refused to accept money for his work, as he was a friend, and as I said before, a Christian).
The next morning, when the tide was low, we beached the boat. Herb and my husband began the repairs. When he was ready to apply the resin to the fiberglass, he asked if anyone had a brush. No one had a brush. My husband asked me if I there was any kind of brush on the boat. The Lord provides – my hair dresser had given me some hair dye and a brush to apply it in case I needed a touch up before I returned home. I brought the small brush to Herb, and it was exactly what he needed! After the repairs we were done, reflected the boat and the next morning set out for Spanish Wells, again. This time, there was no leak and no no bilge pump alarm. We were thankful for God’s grace, again.
1 Peter 4:10 “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” (NLT)
1 Peter 4:11″……..Do you have the gift of helping others? Did with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to Him forever and ever!. Amen. (NLT)
The $800.00 botched job. The fiberglass and other supplies, the marina brought us to help out, since they botched the job.This is where we beached the boat at low tide. Herb and my husband repairing the damage with fiberglass and waterproof putty.The second repair, this one was a professional temporary repair by our friend, Herb.
After we left Fort Pierce, Florida, we sailed to West Palm Beach and waited there until we had a “window” of good weather in order to cross over 66 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. Approximately ten days from our initial departure from St. Mary’s Georgia, we arrived at West End, Northern Bahamas.
Fast forwarding to the later part of December (I fill in the gaps of our journey later), we had traveled down to the Exumas . We had met some fellow boaters who had the same itinerary. One couple had a trawler and actually had lived a county next door to us several years ago. Herb was from Austria, but had live in the the states for years. He was a seasoned boater, a Christian, and now resided on his boat.
We had just left Big Major’s Spot where the pigs actually swam to meet us as we brought our dinghy ashore. Nearby was Thunderball Island, where one of the of the underwater scenes from the James Bond Movie was filmed. Our next stop was Little Farmer’s Cay, before moving on to Georgetown which was about 47 miles away.
Little Farmer’s Cay was pretty much populated with one family. Everybody seems to be related. Their marina left a lot to be desired, so we decided to moor in the bay. Our friends anchored near us. Herb always dove down to check his mooring. He made sure there as no problem with the mooring. We were newbies and moored in the usual fashion. Our boat was equipped with a system that would alarm if our position when we were anchor, if the boat shifted but never used it. , indicating a dragging anchor, but we were moored and did not use it.
Even though Herb had a trawler, he had an aft mast, and usual had a blue neon light which was visible at night. The first night went fine. We had a day of exploring the next morning . The second night was another story. We went to bed and about 1:30 AM, we were awoken by our boat rocking back and forth, like it was banging on something. The drawer had opened in the galley and there were utensils all over the floor, as well as anything that had not been stowed properly. We got up, ran to the flybridge, and it was pitch black and the wind was blowing. We could see not anything. We could not get our bearings. We did not now where we were, or how we got there. Somehow we had gone aground!. I tried to find a landmark. For some reason, Herb’s blue neon light was not on that night. My only bearing was a radio tower, and its lights were visible in the darkness. Apparently when the wind picked up that night, our boat came lose form the mooring. My husband assessed the situation. The bilge pump was alarming indicating that we were taking on water. Fortunately the pontoons separate compartments so the leak was contained in the tip of the pontoon. The next step was power up the boat and reverse back into the water, the Lord told me to use the marine radio and call May Day. I repeated my plea every minute or so.
I don’t remember how long it took, but miraculously someone answered my MayDay! Turns out the owner of the title marina, kept his marine radio on and gotten out of bed to get a snack, and heard my call. He asked us if we could make it to the marina which was across the bay, and he would meet us there with help. By this time, my husband was able to get the boat afloat. We had a powerful spotlight and we were able to navigate across the bay, dodging other moored sailboats. By God’s grace, we made it to the marina. The wind was blowing away from the dock, disabling us from docking. It took four or five men heaving lines to us and pulling the boat to the dock. The marina owner’s wife was a nurse and she had come along as to see if we were physically okay. We finally got the boat properly tied off. My husband jumped onto the dock as the men commented that they saw the hole in the pontoon. We were not taking on any more water so we tried to get some sleep for the rest of what was left of the night. The next morning we surveyed the damage. Thank God, He protected us from a major catastrophe.
“This is my command – be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NLT)
TO BE CONTINUED…….
My husband was checking something on the mast (76 feet in the air) and took a picture . Here you see mooring and mooring line in the front of the boatOur friend’s trawler, moored near usThe Radio Tower Little Farmer Cay Marina, where we docked that fateful night.
