Mews from Meowmix

From my Power for Today devotional:

John 14:1 – Do not let your heart be troubled.  Trust in God.  Trust also in me.

Psalm 145 – …..The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down……………..The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth………..The Lord watches over all who love him…………….

DON’T GIVE UP; YOU MAY BE ALMOST THERE!

And from I Thessalonians, one of my favorite books:

We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also wtih power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.

As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you like a mother caring for her little children.  We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well because you had become so dear to us.

For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

Now about brotherly love……you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.  And in fact you do love all the brothers………do so more and more.

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands just as we told you so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so you will not be dependent on anybody.

FOR THE LORD HIMSELF WILL COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore, encourage each other with these words.

(I love the KJV rendition of the above verses – “and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”)

………………….warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  Make sure nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.  Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

I hope you gained encouragement from your stroll with me through the book of I Thessalonians.  Besides the above passages, I love the book because of the great love with which Paul addresses this group of people.

TODAY’S SMILES:

1. Barney asleep on a bed next to the computer – in the midst of dolls adorning the bed – and you can barely pick him out from the dolls.
2. My intense headache went away with a nap.
3. Brigitt and Greg’s comments on my last night’s blog.
4. Bantering with Kent on Facebook.
5. Patrick is doing well.
6. The smell of my pumpkin pie, just out of the oven, wafting in from the kitchen!

See you tomorrow evening.  And may God bless.