November
Thanksgiving vibes flow through our veins,
fill the atmosphere with celebratory strains.
Our hearts overflow with holiday cheer
as carols ring out in the blustery air.
Tinsels, lights and bows are strung
along the streets, in our homes are hung
as shoppers search for gifts far flung.
Christmas carols begin to be sung
by old and young and those in between,
and one can almost see a glistening sheen
as everywhere people cast doubt aside
and swear by His will they do abide.
Thanksgiving Day we'll offer up a prayer
for all the love, food and wealth we share --
the Spirit overcomes all we cannot hold dear.
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Photo above:The First Thanksgiving -- by Bettman/Corbis @ Smithsonian.org,
John 1:1-5 (NKJV) John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word Was God.” John 1:2 – “He was in the beginning with God.” John 1:3 – “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:4 – “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:5 – “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
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John 14:6 (NKJV) “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’“
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John 5:19-24 (NKJV) John 5:19 – “Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do, for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.‘” John 5:20 – “‘For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does, and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.‘” John 5:21 – “‘For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.‘” John 5:22 – “‘For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,‘” John 5:23 – “‘that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.'” John 5:24 – “‘Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.‘”
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NOTES — by tkbrown
The apostle John tells the story of Jesus birth, life, death and resurrection from a perspective of love. He tells of the love that God had, and still has, for man. In a previous discussion, we leaned from . . .
John 3:16 – “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Holy Bible: The New King James Version
. . . God has no desire that any should perish. We also saw that God does not condemn any person; it is the lack of belief in His Son that condemns a person. If we believe, we can have everlasting life.
In John chapter 1, above, we are told that the “Word,” or Jesus, existed in the beginning – that He was with God, that He was God. This shows the connectedness of God the Father and God the Son.
In John 14:6, Jesus tells us He is the way, the truth and the life. He further states – no man [or woman] comes to the Father but by Him.
In John 5, verses 19 through 24, Jesus explains God’s expectation that He [Jesus – God’s Son] be honored just the same as we honor God. God has backed this up by granting judgment of all to Jesus, His Son. If we believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, we will honor and obey Him just as we honor God. All who do this, will have life through Him [Jesus Christ – God’s Son].
Do you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God? If you do, are you willing to say that in front of men? These are two requirements of anyone who wishes to become a Christian. If we do not believe, then we have already condemned ourselves. God does not have to condemn us. On the other hand, if we do believe, then God loves us as much as He loves His Son. If we obey all that Jesus commands of us, then God will give us life everlasting. How much more can He love us?
Do you love your children’s friends enough to give them a permanent home with you – and to make them joint heirs with your child? That is what God does. If we love His Son, Jesus Christ, then God will give us a permanent home and life everlasting. Again, I ask, how much more can He love us? This is love that goes beyond all other love.
Bless you for taking the time to read! Have a Blessed Lord’s Day!
Halloween is coming up, and the safety of all children should be front and foremost in our minds. The past two to three decades has seen a spate of evildoings with regard to the Trick-or-Treat activities. Many have reported receiving candy with poison, straight-edged razor particles, straight-pins, needles, etc. embedded. Only evil people would do such a thing. Therefore, it is up to the communities to protect the children.
In decades past, alternative practices have been coordinated as part of a collaborative effort to protect the children. Hospitals began offering ‘free of charge’ x-ray services to detect metal particles in candy. Churches began coordinating ‘Trunk-or-Treat’ activities for the children in the community and for those who wished to visit. Neighborhoods began coordinating ‘Trick-or-Treat’ for the children within and for the friends and relatives of those children. Many efforts have been launched to protect our children on Halloween. There are not, currently, as many reports of such evil atrocities occurring on Halloween as there have been in decades past. For this, I am thankful.
If you have a child, or children, who will be participating in ‘Trick-or-Treat,’ please take precautions to protect them. It is better to limit the treats received in a protective environment, than to expose them to the evils noted above and possibly others to which we have not been alerted. When the children go Trick-or-Treating, go with them. Have one or two adults go along to ensure their safety, while one or two stay behind to give ‘safe’ treats to those who come to call.
Let’s all join hands in this effort to ensure a Happy and Healthy Halloween for all!!!!!
Halloween . . .
is about the most candy ever seen.
You'll find it for months
betwixt and between.
As it hypes kids up
and makes them mean;
if any goes missing
eyes will be keen
for any sign
of the need to intervene.
It's easier from the bottle
a toddler to wean.
'Twill make a kid fat,
he'll no more be lean.
It makes me wonder,
is the ER keen
to the increased numbers
of diabetics they screen?
How many new sugar cases have been
first diagnosed . . .
on Halloween?
Ingratitude is an attitude that can interfere with calm life, fills it with ire, trouble and strife, allows rage to gain altitude as voice ramps up the amplitude -- volume overflowing with rife . . . Ingratitude!
It leads to responses of rude interchange with one's husband or wife that wounds the soul, cuts like a knife, leaving disbelief at such a rude . . . Ingratitude.
In Part 1, we discussed the choice to ‘believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God’ or ‘not to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ It is our individual, personal choice whether or not we are saved by God. If we believe, then He offers a plan — through Christ Jesus — whereby we can be saved. If we do not believe, then we have already condemned ourselves to an eternity of darkness without salvation. Here, we can read this message directly from His word (NKJV).
John 3:16 — “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.“
John 3:17 — “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
John 3:18 — “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he wo does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
While Jesus was on the earth in human form, He was given power to reveal this plan to all mankind through His personally chosen disciples. If we study the New Testament through, we can see how Jesus personally called His disciples — one by one — to follow Him and become ‘fishers of men.’ He did not choose these disciples from the educated and the elite of the synagogue or from the community. He chose ‘sinners’ whom He knew to possess the character traits necessary to understand His will and to relay that will to people from all nationalities and walks of life. Before He ascended back into heaven, He instructed these disciples in the manner to convey His power to those who would believe.
Matthew 28:18 — “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.'”
Jesus assured His disciples that His time on earth was to impart His teachings to all mankind via the disciples. He assured them that God is concerned even about the grass in the field which is here today and gone tomorrow. If God loves even the grass in the fields, how much more does He love us. We who are made in His own image are loved so much that He sent His only Son to die on the cross as payment for the sins of those who choose to believe — thereby choosing salvation and eternal life with Him. First, we must seek His kingdom and His righteousness, then these things can be ours.
Matthew 6:30 — “Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?“
Matthew 6:33 — “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.“
The New Testament is the ‘last covenant’ or ‘will’ imparted from God to mankind. If we are to know what we can inherit, we must study that will and obey the commandments outlined within it. The guidelines are all spelled out for us in the New Testament of God’s word – the Bible. If we believe Him, we will study this covenant which was delivered via His Son’s death and we will strive to obey the blueprint presented. Paul told Timothy to continue in teachings outlined in the Scriptures which provide all that is needed for salvation.
2 Timothy 3:14 — “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them.“
2 Timothy 3:15 — “and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.“
2 Timothy 3:16 — “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,”
2 Timothy 3:17 — “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Thus, if we choose to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, we will study His word — the Bible — to discern His guidelines by which we might be saved. Once we have studied and obeyed the plan of salvation outlined in the Holy Scriptures, we must continue in His teachings. Even in His kingdom, we find those who strive to obey and those who do not obey. If we believe, we will obey His teachings because we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to earth to provide a way by which we can be saved. Those who do not believe engage in profane babblings and wrest with the scriptures to their own destruction. Therefore, it is our will to be saved or to not be saved. God accepts the choice we make and will not force the issue. Do you believe? Will you obey? I pray that you will.
October October brings cooler days and colder nights blanketed with red and yellow, crimson and orange — color sights to deck the hills, welcome bellows whence we fan the flame on cold nights. Bonfires and hayrides, fun for all, caramel apples and smores bites fill tummies midst those dunking calls. Bobbing for apples, ghoulish frights are all part of October fare; fall festivals and frightful dights round out the Trick or Treat scare. Then as the month comes to a close we pull out our warm winter clothes, wear a scarf to cover our nose.
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Photo above:Fall Apple Harvest -- Portland Monthly@ google.com.
First cup of joe in early morn -- it starts the day in bliss array; clearing the mist almost away, aroma wafting high airborne, opulent pleasure ever worn throughout the day to mold the fray. First cup of joe!
Anticipative thoughts adorn the scent its brewing casts my way -- words to describe are wont to say, casting aside the fog forlorn! First cup of joe!
John 13:34-37 — “Love one another . . .” John 13:34 — “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another: as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” John 13:35 — “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:36 — “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,” John 13:37 — “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”
John 13:38-40 — “Love the Lord they God . . .” John 13:38 — “Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heaert, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.'” John 13:39 — “‘This is the first and great commandment.'” John 13:40 — “‘On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'”
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Notes: by tkbrown
First, we are told to “Love the Lord thy God . . . ” above all others. If we do this, then the second – which is like unto the first – will follow. Jesus said, “This is the first and great commandment.“
Second, we are to “love one another . . . ” as Jesus loved us. By this, His disciples shall be known. If we strive to emulate Christ in our lives, others can see Him in us by the love that we have one for another.
Finally, He goes on to say that “on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” All else that we as Christians are required to strive toward hinges upon these two commandments. If we strive toward complete obedience of these two commandments, all else will fall into place.
William Christopher ‘W. C.’ Handy — Father of the Blues — published “Memphis Blues”, considered to be the first blues song.
On 27 September 1912, W. C. Handy, musician and ‘Father of the Blues’, published “Memphis Blues”, which is considered the first blues song.
William Christopher Handy — born 16 November 1873 in Florence, Alabama, USA — is considered one of the most influential American songwriters. While he did not create the blues genre, he took it from a regional music style (Delta blues) with a limited audiencce to one of the dominant national forces in American music. As such, he is known as the ‘Father of the Blues’.
by tkbrown 
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