Scenario

Be still and listen to the stillness within - Darlene Larson Jenks.

No answer eludes us if we turn to the source of all answers-the stillness within.  Prayer accompanied by meditation will always provide the answers we need for the situations facing us.  The answers we want are not guaranteed, however.  We must trust that we will be directed to take the right steps.  Our well-being is assured if we let go of being the one in control and turn our wills over to the care of God, our messenger within.

How comforting to know that all answers are as close as our quiet moments.  God never chooses to keep the answers from us.  We simply fail to quiet our thoughts long enough to heed them.  Our minds race, obsessively, all too often.  We jump from one scenario to another, one fear to another, one emotion to another.  And each time our thoughts capture a new focus, we push the answer we seek further into the background.

______________

The process is simple, if I want to follow it.  The answers await me if I truly want them.  I need only sit quietly and ask God to offer the guidance I need.  And then I will sit quietly some more.

K. Casey

~ Heavenly MEDITATION ~

When you truly delight in the Word, you will have a desire to meditate on it and make it a part of your life. In Psalm 119, the writer connects "delight" and "meditation" (vv. 15 - 16, 23 - 24, 47 - 48, 77 - 78). Cultivate an appetite for the Word of God.

Warren Wiersbe

~ ** Cartoon ( * Food for THOUGHT ! ) ? ? ~

" A humorous greeting card showed a grotesquely thin cow wandering in a barren desert. The skinny cow was meant to illustrate "where nonfat milk comes from." The logic of the cartoon, of course, is entirely unscientific. Nonfat milk is not produced by nonfat cows!

The idea, however, reminds me of D.L. Moody's comment: "Most people talk cream and live skim milk." If our hearts are spiritually underfed, we will produce "skim milk" Christianity. Our lips may utter spiritual-sounding words in prayer, worship, and conversation, giving the impression of "top-grade cream." BUT the reality is revealed by what is consistently produced in our lives.

How can we live cream and not just talk it? David grappled with this in Psalm 19. In verses 12 and 13 he was honest with himself and with God when he asked to be cleansed from secret faults and presumptious sins. Beyond forgiveness, David knew he needed God's continuing strength and help to harmonize his walk with his talk. So he earnestly prayed, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation (occupied in thought; reflection) of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD" (v.14).

In our walk, let's move from skim milk to cream by being open, honest and prayerful." - JEY.

"I want my heart Christ's throne to be,
So that a watching world may see
His likeness shining forth in me;
I want to be like Jesus." - C.

Our Words And Our Deeds Should Say The Same Thing!

~ RECIPE For Success ! ~

'Wrinkled noses and puckered lips - sometimes this is my family's reaction to my cooking, especially when I'm trying something new in the kitchen. Recently, I had a breakthrough with a unique version of macaroni cheese. I jotted down the ingredients and tucked the recipe away for future reference. Without that set of instructions, I knew the next batch would be a flop.

Without God's instructions, Joshua would have failed at leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. The first step was to "be strong and of good courage" (Josh. 1:6). NEXT, he was to continually meditate on the Book of the Law, and FINALLY, he was to do everything it said. AS long as Joshua followed the directions, God PROMISED him "good success" (v.8).

God's "RECIPE for success" can work for us too, but His idea of success has little to do with money, popularity, or even good health! IN the original Hebrew, "then you will have good success" means "then you will act wisely." Just as God called Joshua to walk in wisdom, He wants us to "walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise" (Ephesians 5:15).

AS we take courage in the Lord, feast on His Word, and obey Him, we have a RECIPE for godly success that's better than anything we could COOK up on our own!' - Jennifer Benson Schuldt

You will surely find at the journey's end,
Whatever the world may afford,
That things fade away, and success IS seen
In the life that has SERVED the Lord. - Anon

"THIS Book of the Law
shall not depart from
your mouth, but you
shall meditate in it day and night . . . Then
you WILL have good success." - Joshua 1:8
(*Perhaps you may be courageous enough to read: Joshua 1: 1-9)

Obedience to God's Word IS the RECIPE for spiritual success!

WHEN you truly/earnestly think about it, isn't spiritual success most important ("in the long run")?? It should be the first priority in life if you are wise (see associated post dated 27/11/2010)!

*** Compare ? ? ! ! ***

WOULD you prefer to have 'per cent' rather than 'heaven cent' ( * "food for thought" or is it "thought for food" ) ? ? ! !