FREE!!!



 

 

Yes, this is a picture of me "breaking free"!

I'm glad this was just a fake jail cell,

but I really have been set free in a spiritual sense.

 

God has a lot to say about setting people free.

Here's a sampling of a few of those verses:

 

"In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and He answered by setting me free."

Psalm 118:5

 

"He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets prisoners free"

Psalm 146:7

 

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free...

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

John 8:32&36

 

 

That "Son" that sets us free and mentioned in the verse above,

is

JESUS!

 

 

 

Thanks for your visit!

To check out my unusual name for God this week,

click on Names of God on Rocks!

 



YOU have been ELECTED!

 

 

 

 

I love the Christmas Season!

I am usually one of the first in the neighborhood to put up my decorations!

This year was no exception.

 



Since angels were the first to announce the birth of our Savior,
they outnumber the other types of ornaments on my tree.

I have quite a variety of them.

Most are small, and reflect light well.

But then there's the unusual,
like this one made out of shells,
brought to me by my granddaughter
after a trip to Hawaii.

Then there's this one that sits on the top of my tree.

 

 

 

But this is the one that stays up year round
and reminds me of Jesus' words from Matthew 24:31:
"And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet,
and they will gather together His elect
from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other."
 

The wonderful thing about this is,

the invitation is open to EVERY PERSON who will RSVP!
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.
 He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
but EVERYONE to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 



So, how do you become part of this "Elect group"?

Billy Graham has helped many thousands of people take this step.

Click HERE for information on how to have peace with God.

 

 

Click on Rock4Today for my companion blog of

"Names of God on Rocks!"

 

 

 



Delight!

The on-line dictionary I consulted for the meaning of DELIGHT says:

"a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy; rapture"

as its first definition. 

I found "DELIGHT" in seeing the early morning sunlight on the fog, and the interesting affect of the shadows from the tree by the neighborhood duck pond.

The loud honking of the Canada geese drew my attention away from the fog to the brilliantly blue sky overhead.

Looking farther down the pond, I saw the reason for the commotion.  

In an earlier post I shared how the swans protect their turf,

and get very aggressive in their defensiveness.
(Click HERE if you missed that post.)

Seeing the beauty of God in nature delights me.

But what is so amazing to me is that God looks at me with delight!

The Psalmist said "For the LORD takes delight in his people..."

Psalm 149:4 

I guess that's kind of an echo of Genesis 1:31 which says,

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."

Someone else paraphrased it like this:

"God didn't make any junk!"

...And that includes you and me!

So if you're discouraged or beating yourself up,

I hope this encourages you today.

The Maker of the Universe thought He did a good job when He made us,

and He DELIGHTS in us!

Hop on over to Rock4Today to check out Names of God on Rocks!

Thanks for your visit!

Chosen!

Last year I got so excited when a pair of bluebirds looked at my little birdhouse

that my husband had lovingly installed on a tree trunk on our farmland.

I was afraid we had frightened them off by being too observant,

but was delighted when they CHOSE to stay and raise a family!

This past week at our residence in town we've had a pair of bluebirds
scouting out the bird house that we put up last year,
...but unfortunately it went without any tenants all summer!

It will delight me if they come back

and make this their CHOSEN home!

To be CHOSEN is such a wonderful thing!

And that's exactly what God has done -

He CHOSE  us to be His own,

to be a part of His family.

"...The LORD your God has chosen you 

to be a people for Himself, a special treasure"

Deuteronomy 7:6 

"But you are a chosen generation, 

a royal priesthood, a holy nation, 

 His own special people, 

that you may proclaim the praises of Him 

who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light..."

1 Peter 2:9 

To see my Name of God for this week,

click on Rock4Today!

Thanks for your visit!

Beloved!

In my most recent Rock4Today post featuring the

Names of God on Rocks,

I posted the name "Beloved".

It's interesting to me that not only does that name apply to Jesus,

but it's also a name that He has for us!



"The Beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him,
Who shelters him all the day long;
And he shall dwell between His shoulders."
Deuteronomy 33:12

I was not surprised that "The Beloved Disciple" John often used the word

"Beloved"

when referring to those in the family of God,

but it did surprise me how much Peter used the word in his epistle.

...I guess I always thought of Peter as a brash guy

who would have had trouble expressing words of love,

but these words (along with others from him) prove me wrong on that:

"Beloved,

do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,

as though some strange thing happened to you;

but rejoice..."

1 Peter 4:12

It is often easier for me to see that God loves others,
than it is for me to see how much He loves ME!
I guess that's why God tells us in 1 John 4:11-12
"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another,"
because often the way we feel His love
is through another person!



Awesome Annual Marathon

The White River Marathon for Kenya
            A fund-raiser for the "Kids of Katito"
                       

If you live around the North Central Ozarks,
you might have seen the banner announcing
the annual White River Marathon for Kenya.

 

Since I was the courier to bring some of the food

that was served to the marathon participants,

I was lucky to get there just as the winners

of the half marathon race were being announced .

 



The food was served at the Cotter School Cafeteria.

After finishing their race, participants went through the food line...

...then sat around tables recuperating,
and cheering as winners were announced from each age category.

Some may have been too young to run,
but didn't let their age deter them from
helping to support World Vision's outreach
to the needy kids of Katito, Kenya!



I was able to catch my friend
M'Lisa and her husband as they were leaving.



When I asked M'Lisa how she did,
I felt her reply was worth publishing.
"Well, I didn't win the race," she said,
"but I finished!"

Her words remind me of a Scripture verse from 2 Timothy 4:7-8

"I have fought the good fight,

I have finished the race,

and I have remained faithful.  

And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness,

which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return.

And the prize is not just for me

but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing."   

 

If you are interested in sponsoring a World Vision child

or giving a gift to a needy child this Christmas,

 check out their site by clicking HERE. 

 

 

To see my most recent Names of God on Rocks post,

click HERE!

Thanks for your visit!

 

 

If you were a participant, you might like to check out the professional photos

 at "SEE YOUR EVENT PHOTOS".
They have some awesome shots of  crossing the finish line!

Zig-Zag... and back track!

This weekend my husband and I made a return trip to David's Trail.
This time we took a different path -
one that went zig-zagging up and down the hills surrounding the lake.
 

This time we took our granddaughter with us.

As we walked along we enjoyed
the remaining wonderful splashes of color.

 

 

 

Then it happened!
There it was right in the middle of the trail -
some "scat",
more commonly known as bear poop.
The persimmon seeds gave away the animal's identity.
Gary said it looked like "cub size" scat.
Poking it with a stick, we found it was still VERY soft,
which meant the cub might not be far away.

 

 

Living up to his reputation as a protector of his family,
my husband quickly urged us to quit following the zig-zag trail,
and make a U-turn back to our vehicle ---
just in case the cub AND ITS MOTHER were still nearby.

 

As I was discussing what happened with our youngest daughter,

she said the way her daddy always tried to protect us from danger

reminded her of Jesus, our Good Shepherd, and our Guide.

(Click on colored links above to see corresponding posts on Rock4Today.)



In case you're wondering,

no - I haven't got my camera fixed yet.

I had to resort to my little "click and shoot" Nikon.