Enduring Wealth

 Happy Sunday!

"I am Lady Wisdom, and I live next to SANITY; 

Knowledge and Discretion live just down the street.
The Fear-of-God means HATING Evil,  
whose ways I hate with a passion—
pride and arrogance and crooked talk.
GOOD counsel and COMMON SENSE are my characteristics;
I am both Insight and the Virtue to LIVE IT OUT.
With my HELP, leaders rule,
and lawmakers legislate fairly;
With my HELP, governors govern,
along with all in legitimate authority.
I LOVE those who LOVE me;
those who LOOK for me find me.
WEALTH and GLORY accompany me—
also substantial Honor and a Good Name.
My benefits are worth MORE than a big salary, even a very big salary; 

the returns on me exceed any imaginable BONUS.
You can find me on Righteous Road—that’s where I walk—
at the intersection of Justice Avenue,
Handing out LIFE to those who LOVE me,
filling their arms with life—armloads of life!"(Proverbs 8:12-21 Message).

The Word of God can say it far better than I can! Don't you just love the Word?

Love and prayers, Cynthia

DOUBTLESS

 Happy Sunday!

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.  He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall DOUBTLESS come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."(Psalm 126:5-6 KJV).

My Pastor used numerous scriptures in his sermon today!  This one stuck out to me!  One word seemed to jump off the page.  It was the word, Doubtless!  The definition of "Doubtless" from the Webster's 1828 Dictionary is "Without doubt or question; unquestionably".  It made me think of the most steadfast and trustworthy person.  Someone who will always do what they say.  Do you know anyone like that?  That "Come Hell or High Water" type of person?  Well, our GOD, the GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is faithful, and trustworthy!

This passage in the Message version is even more descriptive and encouraging!  "And now, God, do it again—bring rains to our drought-stricken lives.  So those who planted their crops in despair
will shout “Yes!” at the harvest.  So those who went off with heavy hearts will come home LAUGHING, with armloads of Blessing."(Psalm 126:4-6 Message).

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."(KJV).  The Living Bible version says, "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead."(Hebrews 11:1 Living Bible)  Don't miss this! Just like a farmer plants his crop and goes on about his other chores, we can be confident like he is that what was planted will "Doubtless" come up at harvest time!  2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we walk by faith, not by sight".(KJV).

Galatians 6:7-9 says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."(KJV).  Don't be weary!  In Due season you will REAP, if you don't faint!

Love and prayers, Cynthia

What Can I Do?

 Happy Sunday!

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

FREE those who are wrongly imprisoned;

    LIGHTEN the burden of those who work for you.

Let the oppressed go free,

    and REMOVE the chains that bind people.

SHARE your food with the hungry,

    and give shelter to the homeless.

GIVE clothes to those who need them,

    and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

 “Then your salvation will COME like the dawn,

    and your wounds will quickly HEAL.

Your godliness will LEAD you forward,

    and the glory of the Lord will PROTECT you from behind.

 Then when you call, the Lord WILL answer.

    ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

“REMOVE the heavy yoke of oppression.

    STOP pointing your finger and SPREADING vicious rumors!

FEED the hungry,

    and help those in trouble.

Then YOUR light will shine out from the darkness,

    and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

The Lord will GUIDE you continually,

    giving you water when you are dry

    and restoring your strength.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

    like an ever-flowing spring."(Isaiah 58:6-12 NLT)

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Power to Produce

 Happy Sunday!

"Make sure you DON'T FORGET God, your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules and regulations that I command you today. 

Make sure that when you eat and are satisfied, 

build pleasant houses and settle in, 

see your herds and flocks flourish and more and more money come in, 

watch your standard of living going UP and UP—make sure you don’t become so full of yourself and your things that you forget God, your God,

the God who DELIVERED you from Egyptian slavery;

the God who led you through that huge and fearsome wilderness, 

those desolate, arid badlands crawling with fiery snakes and scorpions;

the God who GAVE you water gushing from hard rock;

the God who gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never heard of, in order to give you a taste of the hard life, to test you so that you would be prepared to live well in the days ahead of you.

If you start thinking to yourselves, “I did all this. And all by myself. I’m rich. It’s all mine!”—well, THINK AGAIN. 

Remember that God, your God, gave you the strength to produce all this WEALTH so as to confirm the covenant that he promised to your ancestors—as it is today."(Deuteronomy 8:11-18 Message).

Love and prayers, Cynthia