Never before or since has there been a day like that one                                                                                                   Joshua 10: 14 (NLT)
 
 
Hello Dear Friend,
          Have you discovered the child within you that is yearning to be free?  Children take great delight in the simple things of life.  Running around in the backyard with a canning jar with holes punched in the lid and catching lightning bugs was one of my favorite summer pastimes.   Or mom would tie a towel around the neck of my brother and his imagination would soar as he raced from room to room waving his light saber.  Every day is an adventure when you’re three. 
          How about you?  Do you wake each day ready for an exciting journey?  What a miracle we have been given—twenty–four hours to savor new quests and discoveries!  If you are in a pattern of living whereby each day is the same, change it up, rev it up, and get excited.  As adults, too often we focus on the broken faucet, the Visa bill, or the looming sneer on the face of our boss. I know you have those bone-tired, doomsday moments, or months, or years.  You and I need to lighten up.  God says, “He will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy” (Job 8:21). Laughing and shouts of joy are not just childhood utterances.  When was the last time you had a good belly laugh?   Trust God with your troubles.  In truth, there is always something we can choose to worry about.  Let’s make a new choice.  Let’s choose a new attitude.   God wants you to laugh—to enjoy your life—to experience wonder and awe at each sunrise and praise and thanksgiving at sunset—to say “never before or since has there been a day like that one.”   Isn’t it time you tried something new? 
          Ask God to fill you with enthusiasm and power.  Tell him you’re ready for an adventure.  Then get off the couch, tie that terry towel around your neck, grab your light saber, and prepare to go where no man has gone before.   Let’s enjoy being a child of God!    Linda
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​Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.  Luke 9:62
Good morning, dear one,
          Our scripture today in Luke 9 comes after a section in which Jesus is addressing several who had made excuses as to why they must delay following Jesus.  When we “put our hand to the flow” we must be ready for a lifetime relationship with Christ.  Many approach the altar and accept the Lord as their Savior.  But will they follow Him?  When you look back, you are not all in. As a follower, you must do it with your whole heart, not looking back with regret on earthly pleasures, wealth, position or honors. My Bible’s heading for this portion of scripture is “The Cost of Following Jesus.”   Christ will not accept a “conditional” servant.  Matthew 7: 24 says, “Anyone who listens to my words and follows (is convicted by, believes them, writes them down and puts them into practice) is wise.”  Jesus asks each of us, “Will you live this way?”  Are you an almost follower or all in follower?  In Matthew 5, Jesus tells you and I that we are to be the light of the world and warns us not to hide our light under a basket, but place our lamp on a stand where it spreads light to all. So, my question for you this week is:
List three ways your light is impacting the world?
1._______________________________________
2. ______________________________________
3._______________________________________
          Or, list your excuses.  Would Jesus accept your excuses as to why you are not following?    I have decided to follow Jesus.  Have you?  Linda