Have a happy day friends!!

 2 Chronicles 16:9

"The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him"

A meaningful and personal relationship with God can give us inner energy and strength that can sustain us. Engaging in spiritual exercises like prayer, reading the Bible and abiding in God’s presence can help us tap into special power that only God can provide. When we are alone with God… when we “wait” on him, we are able to receive his strength. When we believe and trust what we read in scripture and in how God works, our hope is bolstered. This strong belief and hope, grounded in scripture, can give us strength. It’s the same strength that the Psalmist writes about inPsalm 138:3  when he says “As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength.”

 

House of 1000 Mirrors
(Wherever You Go, There You Are!) 

Long ago in a small, far away village, there was place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the house, he thought to himself, “This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often.”

In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, “That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again.”

All the faces in the world are mirrors.

What kind of reflections do you see in the faces of the people you meet?   

                                                                                            Japanese Folktale

Kodi



This bright, new day... complete with 24 hours of opportunities, choices, and attitudes… a perfectly matched set of 1440 minutes.This unique gift, this one day, cannot be exchanged, replaced or refunded. Handle with care. Make the most of it. There is only one to a customer.

The morning sun shines bright outside my window! 

Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Dear friends, I am so thankful today for all the blessings I have received,

I wish you all a happy and blessed day,

Kerry :-)

Proverbs 17:22

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Colossians 2:6-7

“[Spiritual Fullness in Christ] So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Success is a way of life

Success is not a secret. Success is a direction, a process, and a way of life.
Success is not merely something that you get. Success is all about the way you choose to live.
You can be successful right now. Simply turn your focus, your awareness, your thoughts and actions in a positive, meaningful direction.
Success is the journey, and not merely the end of the road. Every moment is your opportunity to live the success you seek.
Dream without limits, and act on those dreams. Live without excuses or apologies, and with a persistent, driving desire to make a difference.
Success is a way of life. Choose that way right now, and in every moment of every day.
                                                                                        — Ralph Marston

Proverbs 1:5
Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance - (NIV)

Revelation 1:8

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

The Secret Of Life

As the Lord God was creating the world

he called upon his archangels.

The Lord asked his archangels to help him decide where to put the Secret of Life.

“Bury it in the ground,” one angel replied.

“Put it on the bottom of the sea”, said another.

“Hide it in the mountains,” another suggested.

The Lord replied, “ If I see to do any of those only a few will find the Secret of Life. The Secret of Life must be accessible to EVERYONE!”.

One angel replied, “I know, put it in each man’s heart. Nobody will think to look there.”

“Yes!” said the Lord.

“Within each man’s heart.”

And so it was -

The SECRET OF LIFE

lies within all of us.

Psalm 94:18-29  (NIV)

¹⁸ When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
   your unfailing love, LORD, supported me.
¹⁹ When anxiety was great within me,
   your consolation brought me joy.

A Beautiful Heart

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town

proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.

A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect.

There was not a mark or a flaw in it.

Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen.

The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said,

"Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine."

The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart.

It was beating strongly ... but it was full of scars ...

it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in ...

but they didn't fit quite right and there were several jagged edges.

In fact ... in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.

The people stared ... how can he say his heart is more beautiful ... they thought?

The young man looked at the old man's heart ... and saw its state and laughed. 

"You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with mine ...

mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears."

"Yes" ... said the old man ... "yours is perfect looking but ...

I would never trade with you.

You see ... every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love ...

I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them ...

and often they give me a piece of their heart

which fits into the empty place in my heart ...

but because the pieces aren't exact ...

I have some rough edges ... which I cherish ...

because they remind me of the love we shared.

Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away ...

and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me.

These are the empty gouges ... giving love is taking a chance.

Although these gouges are painful ...

they stay open ... reminding me of the love I have for these people too ...

and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting.

So now do you see what true beauty is?"

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks.

He walked up to the old man ... reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart ...

and ripped a piece out.

He offered it to the old man with trembling hands.

The old man took his offering ... placed it in his heart ...

and then took a piece from his old scarred heart ...

and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart.

It fit ... but not perfectly ... as there were some jagged edges.

The young man looked at his heart ...

not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever ...

since love from the old man's heart flowed into his.

They embraced and walked away side by side.

Believe in yourself

............and in your dream
though impossible things may seem,
Someday, somehow you'll get through

to the goal you have in view.

Mountains fall and seas divide before
the one who in his stride
Takes a hard road day by day
sweeping obstacles away.

Believe in yourself and in your plan.
Say not - I cannot - but, I can.

The prizes of life we fail to win,

because we doubt the power within.

Surfin´ Bulldog (Beach Boys - Surfin´ USA)

Hello friends, I received this youtube in an email, I just had to share it with you, it put a smile on my face for the day! God Bless, Kerry :-)

God's Elephants

　

No one is insignificant in God's eyes, and His care for sparrows, finches, eagles, and elephants is a constant reminder that He cares for you, and for me. What He makes, He cherishes.

Consider the elephants of the Pavilion Hotel in Phuket, Thailand, where one of the most popular attractions is elephant rides. As many as eight people on one elephant, first into the surrounding forest, then down to the beach, to lunch at a fresh water lagoon, then back to the hotel.
"Our nine elephants," writes Pavilion Hotel Group manager Jim France, "are kept chained to in-ground posts, not because they need to be, but because it makes the tourists feel better because their children seem safe from a tromping when they're feeding the beasts."
"About twenty minutes before the first wave of the recent Tsunami hit, the elephants became extremely agitated and unruly. Four had just returned from a trip and their handler's had not yet chained them. In a desperate panic, the four elephants helped the other five tear free from their chains. They all then climbed a hill and started bellowing. Many people followed them up the hill. Then the waves hit." After the waves subsided, the elephants charged down from the hill, and started picking up children with their trunks and running them back up the hill. When all the children were taken care of, they started helping the adults."

God's elephants rescued forty-two people that day. Then, they returned to the beach and carried up four dead bodies, including one of a child. Not until the task was done did they allow their handlers to mount them. Then, with handlers atop, they began moving wreckage.
So remember, whatever God makes, He cherishes... including elephants, sparrows, and you.
Especially you!

Quote Today

“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, 'How many good things have you done in your life?' rather he will ask, 'How much love did you put into what you did?”
― Mother Teresa

“It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.
It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.”
– Mother Teresa

Hebrews 11:1

Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.

Bible Verse Today

Job 37:5-6

 

“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’”

Once you have started seeing the beauty of life,
ugliness starts disappearing.
If you start looking at life with joy,
sadness starts disappearing.
You cannot have heaven and hell together,
you can have only one.
It is your  choice.

Osho

Bible Verse Today

Genesis 2:8-9

"Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

Bible Verse Today

Psalm 121:7-8

The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

 

 

You've got to have a dream...if you don't have a dream then how are you gonna have a dream come true.

- From the musical South Pacific

 

 

Each moment that you are happy
is a gift to the rest of the world. ~ Harry Palmer

When you forgive, the debt doesn't just go away. You absorb the debt. That's why forgiveness is so hard.

(from Weekly Wisdom)

Say you lend a person one thousand dollars, but suppose that when the time comes for the loan to be repaid that person is unable to repay you. If you forgive that person of his debt, then that person no longer owes you anything. By forgiving, you forfeited the money—you absorbed the debt.

How is it that God is able to forgive our sins against him? He absorbed them by sending his son to suffer the penalty for our debts (sins). Christ absorbed the penalty of death so that we don't have to. When God forgave us, he said, "There's no need to repay me." (We couldn't repay God even if we tried, but now we're freed from the burden of trying.)
When you forgive someone, you absorb their debt. That's why forgiveness is so hard.

In Luke 7, Jesus tells this parable to Simon: "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

Forgiveness is a sign of love. To forgive someone of a massive debt (in this case, five hundred denarii) is a sign of massive love. How is forgiveness a sign of love? Because if you forgive much, then you must absorb much debt (pain, suffering, loss, etc.). Our sin against God is the biggest possible debt we could have; so for God to absorb that is a sign of his endless, measureless love.

When He forgave us, God didn't just ignore our debt; he absorbed our debt.

The Dalai Lama’s 18 Rules For Living

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs:
   1. Respect for self
   2. Respect for others
   3. Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Thought For Today

30 years from now, it won't matter
what shoes you wore,
how your hair looked,
or the jeans you bought.
What will matter is what you learned,
and how you used it.

God Speaking

The man whispered, "God, speak to me"
And a meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear.

So the man yelled "God, speak to me"
And the thunder & lightning rolled across the sky.
But the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, "God, let me see you."
And a star shined brightly.
But the man did not see.

And, the man shouted, "God, show me a miracle."
And a life was born.
But the man did not notice.

So, the man cried out in despair, "Touch me, God, and
let me know you are here"
Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man.
But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.

The man cried "God, I need your help"
and an e-mail arrived reaching out with good news and encouragement.
But the man deleted it and continued crying.....

The good news is that you are loved.

 Ephesians 1:18

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,”