Saying Grace!

...Or "Saving Grace"?

This little squirrel looked like he was saying grace,
thanking God for the abundance of seeds
that had been scattered by the birds from my feeder!

"Saying Grace"

Could it be that when we "Say Grace" over our meals,

thanking God for His provision of food,

(and asking Him to bless it)

that "Saying Grace" actually becomes "Saving Grace"?

“But you—you serve your God

 and He’ll bless your food and your water.

 I’ll get rid of the sickness among you; 

 ...I’ll make sure you live full and complete lives."

Exodus 23:25

(From The Message translation)

"The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on,

 some are going to give up on the faith 

and chase after demonic illusions

 put forth by professional liars. 

These liars have lied so well and for so long 

that they’ve lost their capacity for truth...

 They’ll tell you not to eat this or that food—

perfectly good food God created to be eaten heartily 

and with thanksgiving by believers who know better! 

Everything God created is good, 

and to be received with thanks.

 Nothing is to be sneered at and thrown out. 

God’s Word and our prayers

 make every item in creation holy."

1 Timothy 4:1-5

(This is from The Message translation)

I'm not talking here about "saving grace" that saves our souls from eternal punishment.

I'm just wondering if we've gone a bit over-board on touting health foods,

placing too much value on the healing power of the food

instead of on the God in Heaven who made the food?

This is something that I personally have done at times...

but am trying, by God's grace, to have balance and get the right perspective.

What do you think?

I'd love to hear your opinion!

Birds of the Ozarks

With the drastic change in weather,

my bird feeder had a flutter of activity today!

Here are just a few of my visitors!

The white-throated sparrow

The rufous sided towhee
and
the House Finch

The Cardinal

The Fox Sparrow

Both of my feeders were busy...

...With a variety of birds...

...And plenty more on the ground to pick up
the seeds which fell to the ground.

That's one of the beauties of snow...

Seeing all God's beautiful feathery creatures come to visit!
And it's a reminder that if God's eye is on the sparrow,
He will surely care for me as well!

And that's my Joy4Today!

I think I'm almost finished with Simon Peter's Names for our Lord

on Rock4Today.

Today's post featured several names.

To see them, click on Rock4Today to take you there.

Thanks for dropping by!

Brother Bill's Bachelor Quarters --- Nearly 50 years ago!

I was going to do a "Birding" post this time...

...But recently while studying and researching for an "Affinity Class"

that I will be leading, I stumbled upon my old Bible College records.

Although they stirred up my allergies a bit,

my curiosity pushed me to peruse them despite the sneezes they produced!

One of the treasures I found is from "Theme Writing" class,

and I decided to share it.

  I dedicate this post to my sister-in-law who took up the challenge

to change my brother's bachelor status into that of a family man!

 When you read this,

you can only guess how strict the rules were!

Fraternizing with the opposite sex was frowned on!

Although I'm not sure I deserved it,

the grade I received was a B+ ...just in case you were wondering!

We were privileged to enjoy Bill's company for 49 years 

before he entered his heavenly home.

 "But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

Death swallowed by triumphant Life!"

Passages from 1 Corinthians 15 taken from "The Message" translation

In Memory of

William (Bill) Edward Grusing

Born January 21, 1944

Died December 20, 1993

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