Feasting on God's word or gluttony ?

 I have been reading my bible lately every day. Just like I used to. But like a starving man or a thirsty one, I would devour it by chapter after chapter. But I stopped and realized, I was not getting very much out of it. It was like eating a large slice of chocolate cake quickly without taking time to actually taste it. The bible was so good to my parched soul that I was being a glutton and not taking time to savor it and to ponder what I was reading. Now I try to ask God to speak to me through the word and tell me what I am supposed to hear. Sometimes I will read a few verses, and sometimes I will read up to three or more chapters.It just depends on what I need. I am beginning to know when I have reached where my destination is for that day in the bible.  The Spirit nudges me and lets me know when I have reached that nugget of wisdom for today or this moment. I had been devouring chapter after chapter but with reading so quickly and so much, I was losing track of what I had read. I was not "tasting" the meat of the word. I know it goes into the mind to be brought up later when needed but when we need guidance, we need to slow down and think on what we are being given. 

   Case in point, I have been considering going back to work. It seems we are spending more than we ought to trying to fix the things in the house. My husband has always said that he has the pension and if things got tighter then  I ought to be the one to get a job. So far we have managed quite well. (He really does not want me going back to work.He only brings it up when he is frustrated.)But we had a cushion in the bank which is diminishing. My health is not great physically. I was working and it took a great toll on me. When we moved, it was in the hopes we can make it on his pension.  This is what I have been struggling with. I have laid it out before God and twice now I have been given the same message about God meeting our needs and not to worry about what to eat or wear and what tomorrow brings. Both times this message has come from a snippet on the verse for today on www.biblegateway.com . I opened up the chapter each time to read the verse in context and found my answer for now. Two separate messages telling me to trust God to meet our needs. So for now He is telling me not to take on a full time job. 

  God's word is meant to be savored and to be studied. It is not a race to read through the bible so many times a year to show what a good christian I am. It is a book of life lessons and most of all the pathway to God. When we read the word, we begin to understand(hear) it because we are being called to God's salvation. Once we are saved, it becomes our handbook so to speak on all of life's issues. We learn of how God works and most importantly it speaks to us of His will. Sometimes God speaks to us in that still small voice in our heart. But many times we get the answer through the reading and pondering of the bible. 

   2nd Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof , for correction, for instruction in righteousness," . It is so much more, it comforts us when we are down, it encourages us when we feel like we have failed, it praises God and helps us to do the same. It has the answers to our questions.

   I have been wanting to write about this for several days now and have not had the quiet time enough to get it into words. I felt God leading me to do this. I am setting up my laptop in my sanctuary for times I need to read and pray. I have a small bedroom just for myself  that I have my sewing table and machines, plus my daybed and big reading chair. When I need to be alone, this is where I go.

   We all need that quiet time and place. It might be early in the morning like I do or late at night. It can be anywhere you can get time to pray and to read or listen to God's word. Just remember to pray before you read and seek what you need for today. Our daily bread is not just the food we eat, but the food for the soul, the word which sustains us and makes us grow as Christians. 

   So take time to feast on the word of God. Pray before reading and seek out what the Lord is trying to give you. Take time to study what you are reading and think on it as how it applies to your life. It does not always take a huge amount at a time to give you your need. But it does take thinking on what you have been led to study and to ask for wisdom and understanding. It should not be how many chapters a day you read, it should be how much you are getting out of what you have read. You will know  once you have reached your pearl of wisdom. It will stand out in your mind. Take it and ponder it. Pray over it and thank the Lord for sending it to you.

The power of the tongue. Ephesians 4:29

I know that the HS is working in my heart because I do not feel the same anymore. It used to be I would say something crude or vulgar without thinking about it. Now I feel that battle going on inside . Most of the time, I keep  my mouth shut. But there are times I still mess up. I feel remorse and ask forgiveness.  There is life and death in the power of the tongue.  The bible tells us not to let any corrupt talk come out of our mouth. That consist of lying, crude language or curse words, gossip and sexual innuendo. We need to be diligent on guarding what we see, read and hear. Because once we put it in the mind, it does not come out. Plus if we continually expose our selves to corrupt ideas and  ungodly situations, it is bound to come out of the mouth.Our tongue speaks what is deep in the heart. So use your tongue to speak life into those around you. Lift them up when they fall. Show love and compassion to those you meet. When you fail, seek forgiveness and try again.

"If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit."

Galatians 5:25. If we claim to be Christians we need to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Yes we will fall down and make mistakes, we will sin again and hate ourselves for doing it. But we repent and seek forgiveness and continue on the right path. There is a war that rages within all of us. The war between good and evil. There are powers loose on the earth that are not Godly. They seek to destroy us and draw us away from our walk with God. We have a sinful nature that we were born with. As a Christian it is a daily and often minute by minute task to flee from that nature and do what is right and holy. Being a Christian is not for the faint of heart. But we have a Comforter who lives inside of us and helps us to do what is right. Yes we do make mistakes. We are still sinners. But the difference is we are sinners saved by grace. We cannot earn it nor ever be good enough on our own merit. Jesus paid my sin debt. He can pay yours too. John 3:16.


I posted this on my Facebook page today. I hope it helps someone to see that we need to live what we profess. Yes we are imperfect and weak. But in our weakness God is made strong. He is the power behind our feeble attempts to do what needs to be done. We just need to be the willing vessel. 

On the home front, I managed to put up 7 pints of green beans this morning, The fresh ones were on sale and I bought almost five pounds. I hope to go pick up some more tomorrow. I have some sweet potatoes to can as well. I have the opportunity to go pick more sweet potatoes on Saturday. 

 I have been dealing with some health issues lately. Ear infections in both ears that did not want to go away. I did 10 days of antibiotics only to have the infection move to my sinuses.The ears are still not right but hopefully they will be soon. I start a new regime of different antibiotics tomorrow. Please pray that this time they will get better and I will have no more troubles.In the last year it has been bad for me with respiratory and sinus/ ear issues. 

  The days have been pleasant instead of so hot and muggy. I am enjoying it very much. Have a good day and tell someone you love them. Diana

Integrity

Titus 2New International Version (NIV)

Doing Good for the Sake of the Gospel

2 "You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you."

  Integrity,  the act of living an holy life pleasing to God. Everyone has an excuse, or so they say. But do we really? Yes many of us have faced hardships and bad things have happened that leave scars on us inside and out. But will that stop us from being able to live a life of integrity? No.  Our actions are our own making. 

  Each day we choose how we are going to act or react to the things around us. Each day we are given the opportunity to better ourselves. I am not only talking financially. You need to start from the inside and then your actions will change and you can then have people look at you and consider you a good candidate for financial opportunities or other life changing decisions.

  Integrity in a person creates respect from others. They look at you and want what you have. Sometimes they will give you a hard time because they see where they lack and are jealous of you. Those are the ones you pray for and try to encourage. 

  No matter where you fall in the "social" class of the world, you can have pride and dignity of being the best person you can be under those circumstances. All of this social hierarchy will pass away when we meet God. All that will matter is whether or not you accepted salvation through Jesus and how you lived your life for God. Believing that Jesus died and rose again to pay your sin debt is the only way to heaven.See John 3:16. How you live your life for God, will be your rewards once you get there.

  Can you look in the mirror and see someone who is worthy of respect? We all have our shortcomings. Myself included. But we have opportunities each day to better ourselves. Just for today, choose to change some things for the better. Speak kindly and be respectful to others. Be busy doing good for another with no thought of gain for yourself. Find something to better your education even if it is just reading a book. Tomorrow do it again. And when you make a mistake, ask forgiveness  and try again. Don't forget to forgive yourself. As long as you are trying to live that life of integrity, you are making progress. Trust me, people are going to be watching you. You will become the role model they follow. Make it a good one.

  

More Bible book instead of Facebook.

  With all of the bad news that floods my computer screen, it can overwhelm the mind. The bible talks of the end days and all the rumors and stuff that goes around of wars and such calamity. Well that is going on right now.I know we need to be prepared for what may come, but I do not think it does us good to be filling our mind of the scare tactics they are trying to use on us. God is with us and He is faithful to protect us and give us our needs. That is either us being able to work to get it or other people helping us achieve that.  But He is still providing for us what we need. Sometimes we are dealt a supernatural miracle of provision. It is those times we can really see it is a God thing. But rest assured that God sees our needs and if we take all our issues to Him and thankfully pray not only for what we have been given but for what we really need, they will be met.
 
    I have to admit, I spend way too much time on Facebook. I like to play the games. But at what cost? I have found that the page is filled with bad news and yellow journalism. So much distortion and scare tactics. So little truth. I tried to get in some groups about prepping. Not for militant purposes but for learning how to store things and make things  like they used to do.Maybe I should have chosen more of a homesteading lifestyle group. I like the vintage sewing machine groups. I have a vintage Brother and a treadle machine . But I also have a new machine and an older one too.  I do pretty well about not being covetous on that part. I have learned much on the care of my machines. I love to browse the recipe sites too. There are a lot of good things on Facebook. But sadly much of what I have seen lately disturbs me.I am sickened by the filth that some folks put up. I delete them and sometimes have to block a person. I am saddened by the pictures of animal abuse. That tears me up and makes me angry. I wish I could have a social media that did not allow such things and was Christian based.I  try to spread the good news on my Facebook page. I keep up with family and use it to send messages and such to people.  But the sad truth is I need more bible book than Facebook. If I spent as much time in my bible as I do Facebook, I would most likely be a much  better person. I have lots of bible stuff  and devotionals on my feed. But time spent with God in His word, is going to provide me with something that Facebook never will,  It will allow me to get to know Jesus an to hear God speak to me through the word. It will  teach me and rebuke me where I have failed. It will give me hope and courage in the fight against evil. It will guide my steps. It will bring me comfort in times of distress. It will bring me peace. So that has been my thought this morning. More bible, less Facebook.

The bed that ate my dog.

Good morning friends. My mattress is leaving a gap at the headboard just large enough that my poor dog sometimes gets stuck in it. Gizmo likes to sleep right over my head on my pillow usually. Well this has happened twice so far, he would get to burrowing down into the pillow and his hips and back legs get down in the gap. It is not enough to hurt him, but when he realizes he is stuck, he wants to struggle a bit. So mom to the rescue.I think I will see if my hubby will add a board to the lower part of the headboard so the mattress has something to rest against. That should solve the problem.
  I was on Facebook and of course an ad comes on a little after 7 that tells me you can buy the paint I am using at buy one get one free. What? A one day sale and the ad comes on well after I want to drive 25 miles to the store. In the fine print of comments it said you can buy it online and pick up the next day to get the sale price. Maybe I should have but when asking my hubby about it, he did not seem so enthused. So I let it ride. Lowes has a 30 day price match guarantee. But I did not print out the ad as a reference. I am still able to get a 10 dollar rebate on it. So keep your receipts and if you see the same item on sale for a cheaper price, take the ad and the receipt  (within 30 days of purchasing the original purchase) and go to customer service and have it adjusted. But if you live far from town, sometimes it is not worth spending the gas to go unless you need to go to town anyway.
 I saw an interesting video on preserving eggs for the winter. It said to keep them in a solution of slaked lime and water in a crock. They had a 100 percent success rate for 8 months. It was a ratio of one quart water and one ounce slaked lime. You cover the crock to keep it from evaporating. Now this is not the ground  lime we get in the gardening section. This stuff is in the building section where the masonry stuff is. If I ever get my chickens up and running, I may try this.

Gleaning.

The bible tells farmers to leave part of the harvest for those who are poor and in need. Well many farmers now do not. They turn the fallen or missed crops back under very quickly. Today we(my friend and I) stopped by a lady who belongs to our church.My friend needed to borrow a table for a dinner. We noticed they had just harvested sweet potatoes recently. My friend was already friends with her and asked about the sweet potatoes. We were told to go pick as much as we wanted. Well I wish I had known, I would have come prepared to dig,but we were able to pick almost half a bushel. I could have gotten more and wish I had had the time but my friend was in a hurry. But I am very thankful for what we do have. Some of the potatoes were scarred or broken but that is okay. I will cut the bad off and use the rest. Their harvesters did a fine job harvesting because we could not find many really nice big ones. That is good for them. I need to let some of them cure out better to become sweeter . This should give me a start on the sweet potatoes we need for the winter. Thank God for answered prayer. I had been praying about being able to glean crops. I also mentioned to this lady that if she did not mind, if we could pick up some pecans when the time comes. Since she is in a wheelchair she is unable to. I believe she is going to let me do that too. She is also the one who is going to give me some chickens when I get my coop built .  Such blessings. I do need to spread the word at church  about wanting to glean crops. No one will know unless you ask.   So even though I did not get to put a garden in this year, I hope to put away food for the winter as I see it come on sale very cheaply. When Thanksgiving comes, many times collards and sweet potatoes and such are on a deep discount.That will be the time to stock up. God is good!

A new shade of grey.

   I tried painting some of the darker grey on the house siding. It will look very nice when it is done. I am not the neatest painter so I leave the fine details to hubby. We have a long way to go to get it all painted but one step at a time. It looks like rain so I am holding off.
   I fixed some biscuits this morning from Atkinson's Biscuit mix. I added a chunk of cheddar cheese and molded the dough around it.While they cooked, I fried some link sausage .I sliced the biscuits and added the sausage. Oh my it was good. Not good for me, but to me.
   I sprayed the areas I want for my flower beds today to kill the grass. I would like to plant some gardenias and maybe some bulbs. I love the smell of gardenias. Instead  of buying so  many plants I hope to start some from cuttings.
  I am so thankful each time I pull in my driveway. I believe God had this home in store for us.  I do not know how long we will be here. I plan on being here until God calls me home or takes us all home.
  Blessings to all of you. Diana
 

A heavy heart.

Good afternoon friends,
   Such a busy week. Donnie my husband went and had his eyes examined . With the exception of a freckle and the continuing deterioration of his eyesight, no diabetes complications were seen. Since we were going through medical insurance to file we chose not to buy glasses from them. With our high deductible we still ended up paying full price for the exam. Oh well. I saved money by ordering his glasses from www.Zennioptical.com . I had a new prescription and ordered two pair for him. One transitional lenses and one straight polarized prescription sunglasses. Both pair for 140 dollars.
  We have been busy trying to finish up a few things before winter sets in. I know it will be awhile, but we are expecting a cold winter. We still need to finish repairing the storm windows as well as storm doors and more insulation taping . 
  We bought a gallon of Flannel Grey colored paint for the home. It is a shade darker than what was originally on it.I wanted a soft green for the home but he desired the grey so I let him have that choice.I want to try it out and see what it looks like. Then if we love it, we will buy more. I got my green for the master bedroom.
  We have been blessed with an opportunity to help a friend while making a bit of money. Yesterday we pressure washed her home . She provided the cleaners and we did the work. Since we only had to really do two sides, she offered 35 dollars and we accepted it. We had the equipment and it helped both of us. Next time though we need to not go out to lunch afterwards. That eat up our profit...lol! Tomorrow we will go mow her lawn and do the trim work.They have company coming and her husband is only home one full day week. So if she needs a lawn person, we can help on occasion.
  We have started working on the Christmas cantata . I hope it comes out well. I have just recently joined this choir. It is very different than what I was used to. I am used to having to go by the notes. They are more spontaneous and flexible. It is fun though. 
  So much is being broadcast about the bad stuff going on in the world that it can get troubling. The thoughts of the Muslims who are being so mean and deceitful to those they are trying to convince to join them hurts me so. But Isaiah 41:10 tells me not to be afraid for God is with me. No matter what happens, He has me in his victorious right hand.Nothing is going on that He is not aware of and allowing to happen. We are so close to the rapture that my heart quivers at times in awe of it. Only in the last 20 years or so have I become so aware of my need of salvation and to be right with God. I have been saved a long time, but I took it for granted. I fear I have grieved the Holy Spirit time and again. I am so glad we have a God who loves us enough to chastise us and to draw us back to Him. Now is the time to nail down that assurance of your own salvation. If you have any doubts, get things right with God NOW! It would be a horrible thing to go through life thinking all is well and He tells us that He never knew us. Works will not do it. Only recognizing you cannot do this on your own, believing that Jesus died for your sins, was raised from the dead and now sits on the right hand of God and asking Jesus to save you will get you to heaven. Then repent and turn from your old life. Trust me, once you experience the joy and peace of being saved, you will not want to go back. The weight feels like it is gone. Weight you probably never knew you were carrying.
  There is nothing in the world that we are going to carry with us when we die. Only when you believe and trust Jesus to save you will you understand what is truly important. The only thing we can take with us to heaven is our loved ones who also believe. The soul lives forever. It is immortal. But we only have this lifetime to decide where it will spend eternity once we die, heaven or hell. Yes there is a hell. It is a huge lake of fire that the unbelievers who rejected God and those whom follow Satan. The Antichrist and all those who are doing the work of the devil will go there.  The sad thing is many "good" people will go too because they did not realize that we are not judged against each other but against the purity of Jesus.  He was sinless and through the shedding of His blood our sins are covered and forgiven. So if you love someone, make sure they know how to be sure they are going to heaven.
  I am sorry this was so long. God laid this on my heart today. The choice is yours, seek God  or turn away. You  may never be given a second chance.

A long time coming.

I know many have stopped following my blog. I understand. I stopped writing. Now I am back and settled I hope to pick up my homemaking journal. To make a long story short, my husband retired in 2011. We left our home and all I had started for a life at the beach. Well that did not satisfy us.We are back in the area we came from again. I love being closer to family again.
   We are starting over in a new property and a new frugal lifestyle.We have been in our new home almost two months. In that time we have had so many things that needed repaired or prettied up . We saw money flying out the window without it seeming to.  We sold our single wide trailer we were living in. It seemed like we would have plenty to do all of the stuff we needed or wanted to do. It really diminished quickly.  I had to be the bad one and say no to wanting to replace some things because they were smelly or needed repair.
    For instance, any home will smell after being closed up for any time. Well this one did. too. My DH wanted to rip up all the carpets and replace them. To me it was obvious that these carpets were not very old. They were just dirty. Being a light tan they will get that way. But they were good quality carpets with a thick padding under them. So I begged for him to let me try to clean them. He finally agreed. So I rented the big green machine from the Lowes store. I used pine sol and purple cleaner as the solution. With the exception of a few minor spots it all came out perfectly clean. It smelled fresh because of the pine sol. He was amazed. He would still grumble some because he wanted new everything. Well we all know how that goes.  You cannot afford to buy everything new.       The bathtub is acrylic and it was scratched and pitted. The home inspector said we might need to change it so it does not leak. I asked to try my hand at fixing it too.I got some epoxy putty and smeared it all in the pits as well as I could. I sealed all of the big holes where you could see the webbing. I let it dry and sanded it some. I primed the bottom of the tub and when it was cured, I spray painted it with Krylon Maxx. It also has primer in it. I tried to stick to the color the tub is now. Is it perfect? No. But it looks good and the bath tub mat covers any bumpy spots I did not get perfectly smooth. We did have to buy some new things.
   The fridge and the stove are new. If I had waited longer I might have gotten a good used one but they did not show up until after we bought ours. At least I know how old it is. We had to bring in plumbers to redo some lines as well as replace the tank. That was very expensive. When they offered to come redo our bathroom, I said no.
  The property had a big workshop that was crying out for repairing. We are still in the process of fixing it. It needs new siding and work on the doors and putting in windows still.  The roof was in tatters and leaked like a sieve. We bought tin roofing and the tar paper to repair  it. Tin will last longer and was cheaper to use than shingles. Our son in law offered to come install the tin panels for us. He and his friend and two more came on Saturday to do it. Oh what a blessing. All he wanted was a fried chicken dinner for the trouble. I will be sending them a gift card to the grocery store as a surprise.
  This property is around one and three quarters of an acre.  I have plans to put in a huge garden and chickens by spring. I have tin roofing left from our shop buy. It should be enough to roof a small coop. I am looking forward to it. But we must do it on a strict small budget. Even buying paint to paint the walls was expensive. We went with a better quality paint that had primer in it as well as low odor.So step by step we are making this our home.
  I have used the local swap sites and craigslist for searching for what we need. I also have asked friends and bought things from them.  I want a beautiful home that is functional but I do not want to go broke doing it.
  Home is what you make of it. Faith, love, joy and gratitude will make the smallest home into a palace.