Monday Writings.....6/6/16

Good morning...

      Is it my imagination or did this weekend seem to whiz by. I am finding that time rushes on or as the Latins said, "Tempus Fugit." I remember that my mother used to say that they older you get the faster time seems to pass. I guess I am there. I guess the thing to do which also worked when I was a young adult is to be mindful of everything that is happening and to quote another Latin phrase, "Carpe deum." Seize the day!

So tomorrow is a new day, and I hope you will "seize" every day of the week to follow. Make it  your stage as you live your life, and be happy.

God bless from
Corinne


The Devotional component in the Monday Writings of Women's Focus Ministries is titled, "Roses for Sale" and was written by Mary M. Wilkins. Five years ago she bought three bare rose plants and planted them. Because of the drought only one survived. Read to find out which one survived and why. She applied that to the times when she feels she is in a drought.  Mary wrote, "When I find that I have become complacent, taking God for granted, forgetting to hold onto those truths that are food for my soul, I suddenly recognize I have been in a drought of my own making."

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  Today's Devotional   

"Roses for Sale"

by

 Mary M. Wilkins

Wandering through the garden section of the local store I see a sign, "Rose Bushes Only $4.99." The thin long bags of dirt have a few sticks poking out of the top . Could I grow a rose? I take 3 bushes home imagining the beauty and scent these mere sticks might have one day.

Two plants find nice homes in large garden pots. But what about the third rose bush? Discussing my predicament with my daughter she asks why I don't just dig a hole in the ground. As I admit my aversion to hole digging she offers to do it for me. That's how 3 rose 'sticks' made their home just outside my kitchen window.

Five years later 3 beautiful rose bushes, tall and green, blossom at intervals, releasing silk petals whenever the wind blows. Suddenly one summer, a disease killed one of the plants but the others stayed strong. Then a drought compelled us to water less and less. After 2 summers of reduced water, the remaining rose bush in a planter shriveled and died.

Only the rose with it's roots deep in the earth withstood the intense heat and lack of water. It didn't blossom, but it survived. When the rains came again the plant burst forth in abundance as if it had been saving many seasons of flowers to grow and bloom at once.

When I find that I have become complacent, taking God for granted, forgetting to hold onto those truths that are food for my soul, I suddenly recognize I have been in a drought of my own making.

"For the word of God is living and active

and sharper than any two-edged sword,

and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit,

of both joints and marrow, and

able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 NIV 

Dear Lord, thank You for bringing my true condition to my attention that I may repent and receive Your forgiveness. Please help each of us to drink in Your truth even when we don't think we are thirsty or dry.  Thank You that Your Word will always prove true (see Proverbs 30:5). What a relief to know that I may fool others but I cannot fool You (see Hebrews 4:13). Thank You for not leaving us or forgetting us (see Deuteronomy 31:6). In Jesus name, amen.

Written by Mary M. Wilkins

Jordan Feliz performs "The River"

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   Today's Inspiring Graphic   

He is your hope in times of challenge!

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   In The News   

School Calls Police on Young Boy 

for Sharing Bible Verse...from CBN News       

A California public elementary school called the Los Angeles deputy sheriff to reprimand a 7-year-old student for handing out Bible verses to his classmates.It was a normal routine for the Zavala family. Christina Zavala would tuck encouraging notes and Bible verses in packed lunches for her son, called "C," who attended Desert Rose Elementary School. 

According to the Liberty Counsel, "C" shared his notes with the other first graders. They soon requested notes of their own. Mrs. Zavala sent additional Bible verses for her son's friends and included short stories. 

After one student told the teacher "this is the most beautiful story I've ever seen," the teacher quickly intervened, according to the Santa Monica Observer. The teacher reprimanded "C" for passing out the notes and then called his parents to warn them that their actions violated separation off church and state. The teacher also told the Zavalas that notes were banned from lunch distribution. 

They were told that the only location where "C" could pass out the notes was by the school gate after hours. The family complied with the request but they were further harassed after 15 students met the family at the gate to receive the Bible verses, Liberty Counsel said.

Principal Melanie Pagliaro demanded that "C" only hand out the notes on a public sidewalk, far from the exit, off school property.  The family honored the request. However later that day, a Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff knocked at the Zavala's home demanding that the note sharing stop all together. He warned that "someone might be offended."

The Zavala family soon contacted the Liberty Counsel to help protect their child's constitutional freedom. "This is a clear, gross violation of the rights of a child," Liberty Counsel's Horatio "Harry" Mihet said. "The school district enlisted a police officer to intimidate 'C' and his family makes this case even more outrageous."

"I would expect something like this to happen in Communist Romania, where I went to elementary school, but cops don't bully 7-year-olds who want to talk about Jesus in the land of the free," he added.

The reason for stopping this child from sharing his scripture stories and verses was that someone might be offended. Really? Apparently no one in this story was worried that they could be offending little "C." His family did everything that they told them to do, and still the school district and the police kept changing the playing field. ANNOYING!!!!

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   Encouraging Christian Poems   

This Is The Time;
This Is The Hour

The Lord our God will say to us

To not limit what He can do,
For He is a God of the unlimited,
There's nothing He can’t do through you

For God is doing a new thing
In our lives, today, this hour
To raise us up to be His army,
Clothing us with His power

Remember not the former things,
The things that are in the past
Behold, He is doing a new thing
And will capture human hearts

It's time now to go out and gather
In the harvest of the Lord,
For there are many whose souls are ready
More than we've known before

So take His light into those places
Of darkness and misery,
That they may know the God of love
To give hope and a destiny

Then they may shine right where they are
So others may come to the light
And they in turn may come to know
The saving grace of Christ

Then Jesus' light may radiate there
Like a beacon in the night,
No longer groping in the darkness,
But shining forth God's light

May the spirit of God arise in you
And empower you much more
So His glory may be seen with you
As you proclaim the risen Lord

© By M.S.Lowndes

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Prayers are lifted up daily for 

you by the Devotional Writers 

and the Monthly Writing Staff

of Women's Focus Ministries.

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