Psalm 37

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[Editors Note: This is an email written in 2013 to one of the many women around the world that Grandma Rosy and Papa prayed for. She was on the “Husband List” and enjoyed Grandma Rosy’s words of encouragement and testimonies of faith.]

Hi,

I have to tell you that yes, I was the one you were to share with about the 37th Psalm. It is so precious to me. We were going thru a very hard time in 1983, financially, and facing a law suit, that was a year away in which we could have lost everything. Every day that year, before that trial I clung to that Psalm. I took a picture of that page in my Bible, and also the front and back of my raggy Bible, the most precious thing I own. At the bottom you might be able to read, I have written, “From the despair of 1983 to the JOY of 1988”. And see the passages that I marked that were so precious to me. Since we had no insurance, if we had lost that trial we would have lost our land, and that was the only thing we had then, so the words of vs. 33 [“The Lord will not abandon him to his power, or let him be condemned when brought to trial”] were very special and also the many times it said, “for the blessed by the Lord shall possess the Land”. We did win the trial, but had to pay $2,000 in attorney fees, which was a great amount for us at that time, but we still did “possess the land”.

But now as I read that Psalm I see different passages pop out that I think are for you. Verses:

4, “Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

5, “Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and He will act.”

7a, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”

23-24 “The steps of a man are from the Lord, and he establishes him in whose way he delights, though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord is the stay of his hand.”

28, “For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints.”

34a, “Wait for the Lord and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to possess the land.”

Oh, dear one, lift your heart and know that the Lord has something special for you this coming year. I loved your letter and read it outloud to Papa. We will be praying for you.

May you have a happy birthday tomorrow and may this new birthday year be filled with “glad surprises from the Lord.”

Much love,

Grandma Rosy and Papa Dick

IMG_1651 IMG_1661

Thoughts on Elijah, Ahab, and Rest

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A little background on Ahab from 1 Kings 16:29-30, “In the 38th year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty two years. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all that were before him”. vs. 31…. “he took a wife named Jezebel…” vs.33 “And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him”.

So we see in chapter 16 that Ahab was the most evil King Israel had had. And this is the King to whom Elijah has some dealings. We read what he told Ahab and what the Lord told him in 1 Kings 17:1-6.

Then when the brook dried up the Lord sent him to a widow in Zarephath. We read that story in verses 7-14. Very interesting stories in chapter 18 of Elijah doing powerful things for the Lord. I love the words in vs. 45,46 that say,…”And Ahab RODE and went to Jezreel and the hand of Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins and RAN before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.” I love that Elijah ran faster than Ahab’s horse as he ran before Ahab. (The Life Application Bible says he ran 6 miles arriving in Jezreel before Ahab.)

Then it is interesting to see that after being so brave in standing against Ahab, and having felt the hand of the Lord  upon him, he caved in when Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, sent him a message and in verse 3 we read: “Then he was afraid and he arose and went for his life…”

Is this not true often in our own lives? We can be brave get through some hard things with the help of the Lord, and then crumble at a much small thing in our life. We see in 19:4 “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

Now I come to the point of what I want to say in this lesson- Elijah was depressed and wanted to die and what did the Lord do for him? He gave him SLEEP, FOOD & WATER. I think this can be a great simple lesson for us.

When we are depressed, perhaps even after doing a good thing for the Lord, and don’t know what to do and feel like dying, perhaps it is some simple things we should try first and see what happens. Such has sleeping, eating the right food, drinking water, and basically taking good care of our bodies, and our minds too will be restored. Here is what we read in chapter 19:5-8 “And he LAY DOWN and SLEPT under a broom tree; and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ATE and DRANK, and LAY DOWN again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him, and said ARISE and EAT, else the journey will be too great for you. And he arose, and ATE and DRANK and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Herob the mount of God.”

This is what I learned from these verses. Psychology and medicine all have a place in lifting a depression. But why not try the simple things first. Such as sleep, food, and water. I think of the old saying: “When in doubt, read the directions.”

How often do we forget the simple instructions of the Lord and go directly to man’s thinking? Lets slow down today and take care of the gift the Lord has given us.

Instantly Obeying the Voice of the Spirit

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How? By knowing and listening to the Lord’s voice. Can we know the voice of the Lord? Yes!!!

My rudder verse:

Isaiah 30:20,21

“And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”

John 10:27

“My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me.”

John 10:4

“When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”

The Promise of Elijah in 1 Kings 19

“The Lord was not in the strong wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but was in a still, small voice and Elijah did not hear it.”

Silly Birds

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II Corinthians 9:8

“And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work.”

It was a cold and dreary day in February 1975. As I sat with the Lord during my quiet time that morning, I was thinking about my life. My husband, a self employed builder, was between jobs. Our house was full of five children from the ages of 12 to 20. I asked God to give me peace regarding our financial situation. I prayed for a forthcoming job and that our needs would be met until then.

Later that day, I looked out into our backyard and saw that the bird feeder was empty. Little birds were fluttering around the feeder. I thought, You silly birds. You think there is no more food and you are looking very anxious. But I know I have a big bag of birdseed in the storeroom and you just can’t see it.

Suddenly a light went on in my head. Oh Lord, I prayed, Is that what you are trying to teach me? That I am fluttering around like those little birds, worrying about our next job, while all the time, YOU know where the job is and where the food is. It is only I who cannot see.

Prayer: Oh Lord, help me trust you for your provision. You are so faithful. Proverbs 10:3 promises that you will not let the righteous go hungry. Help me walk into this day full of hope and joy in you, knowing that you care for us and will provide for our needs.

[Editors Note: This little article was posted in the Beacon, June 1997 (from Fox Island Alliance Church)]

Email sent February 28th 2015

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Below is one of the last emails Grandma Rosy sent to her family before her stroke. This one of thousands of emails that were sent with the hope of encouraging those around her.
Hi Dear Family,
 I wanted to tell you about today and the “glad surprises” all day.  I felt very good last night and was hoping it would last until today  and it has.  The Lord had special words for me in Jesus Calling this morning,Feb.18.  As I have told you before, the Lord had been speaking to my heart the words,  “I Will Be With You”.   And I told you he said the same words to my heart when Dick was going thru the Brain tumor drama.   Not that all was going to be OK  but that He would be with me.  And that was enough then, and it was enough now.  Also He had been giving me great Peace, and Peace seemed to be the key word.  Prior to that Hope was my fixation perhaps,  but it was as tho that was not as important,  and I just felt covered in peace.
Yesterday morning, during our devotional time Bryna called and it was so good talking with her.  Her kids hadn’t come yet so she had a few min. to talk.  Then when she hung up Dick handed me a little bookmark that had been in his devotion book and it was Rom. 15:13, Bryna’s favorite verse.  “May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in Hope.”  I called Bryna right back and felt it was a confirmation for her, of that verse, but that it wasn’t really for me,  as Peace was my gift at the time.  But I soon realized that the “hope” was for me.  And that the Lord was giving me back “Hope” and it made me excited.  I still have peace but I have that with hope.  Then I told you about the day yesterday, but today was so special.
As I read Jesus Calling the first words were “I am with you,  (I couldn’t believe it and was so excited).   The whole message is so good and I know that many of you read this devotional.   But these are some of the words that stood out,  “These four words are like a safety net, protecting you from falling into despair.  Because you are human you will always have ups and downs in your life experience.  But the promise of My Presence limits how far down you can go.   ………Yet as  soon as you remember that “I am With You” your perspective changes radically.  ………. you recall that not only am I with you,  “I am holding you by your right hand.”  I told you that too yesterday that even tho I had been in a pit, so to speak I felt the Lord holding my hand. So that was such a good start to the morning.
Just wanted to you know that Hope has returned,  and Peace is continuing.  It is Well with My Soul, keeps going thru my mind and I love that song.  “When peace like a river attendeth my soul”.  And Peace and Hope are flooding my soul.  Just wanted you to know I am in a good place, and thank you all for praying for me.  
Much love, 
Mom/Gr. Rosy/Rosy

Empty Pots

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The following are some notes I wrote to myself many years ago, not dated but only, “Monday 5:45am” written at the top. I feel this could have been written even 20 years ago and I feel probably it was in February or at least winter for those empty feelings are often my winter feelings that I have mentioned before. I felt they were important to laying the groundwork for Joyful Motherhood, in that if we don’t feel like being joyful the Lord can fill that need. I am writing them just as I have written them and hope they will be a blessing to you.

2 Kings 4:1-7- borrowed pots- God filled the empty pots with oil- when she ran out of the pots the oil ran out.

My empty pots are:

  • willing myself to set aside early time for the Lord- now an empty gesture but the Lord filled them with oil
  • willing myself to walk each day – no desire. The Lord will fill it with oil of desire and joy and health.

I have first to put down the empty gesture- God will fill it- But I have to make the move.

“You cant steer a parked car”

The Lord showed me the analogy of giving my empty: face, body, house.

Instead of wearing my robe and not fixing my face until I “felt” like doing it- I fixed my hair and face and got nicely dressed. Even though the inside was empty, I trusted the Lord to fill me with emotions that matched the outside.

Likewise the house- what would I have done if I were full of joy? I would have straightened up, built a fire, and put on a record. Well I did just that and trusted God to fill the emptiness… and He did.

Also the song came back to me that I’d been singing- “Jesus, took my empty life and filled it with His love, joy, peace.” I loved how it tied together with what the Lord had showed me.

2 Kings 5:9-14- Story of Naam bring cured of leprosy

v. 13 “If the prophet had told you to do some great things wouldn’t you have done it? You certainly should obey him when he says simply go wash and be cured.”

This verse confirmed by thought from today…. It is important that I am following through with what the Lord calls me to do. It will help me as much as a “great miracle of healing.”

I must first step- then the waters will part.

Give him the empty areas of my life- let Him fill them.

God At Eventide- April 13

Heaven’s Almoner

(Almoner: One who dispenses alms for another as for a prince or the King of Kings)

(Alms: Work of mercy)

“It may not be YOUR need I am seeking to supply at a particular moment, but of another through you. Remember what I have told you before. It is empty vessels that I fill. Into open hands that I place my supply. Too often my followers are so busy clutching their foolish possessions that they have no hand to receive the larger blessing, the needed gifts that I am waiting to pass to them and through them to others. Help all to see the wonderful life that could open out before them. To be Heaven’s Almoner is the work to which I call each follower of mine.”

(Handwritten notes at bottom of page)

  • What am I clutching to so hard that I don’t have time for what God has for me? 
  • Don’t be so hung up on our details that we forget the delights. 

 

 

Summer

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After saying “yes” to many things during the Spring, we get into our Summer season. Oh yes, we are blooming… we are enjoying what we are doing and our self esteem is going up as we get compliments on the good jobs we are doing. But we start hearing from our children, “You’ve been gone three nights in a row. When are you going to stay home?” They start saying “Who is sick?” when they see a cake you have baked or cookies you have made, knowing it wouldn’t be for them. What started out as fun and challenging is turning out to be a drag and hard work and you start thinking “I’ll be glad when this is over!”

Do we get so busy in the Summer season that we don’t have time for our family? We begin to hear, “You said you were going to fix this…. do this… talk more to me about this… but you never have time.” They said, “I have tried to tell you but you didnt listen, you were in a hurry.” Soon we dont have quite the excitement for the job as we did in the Spring when we said yes. This is why you need to ask the Lord BEFORE you say yes. He knows what it will entail and what it will cost your family. He knows better than you how much you can handle. You might say, “Ok, I didnt ask the Lord or get his OK for what I’m doing but the results are good. Isn’t that what is important?” NO. The bible has some strong things to say about “Doing a good job but neglecting our family.”

I Timothy 5:8 “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

One of the strongest examples is the story of Eli: 1 Samuel 2:11-12 “And the boy (Samuel) ministered to the Lord in the presence of Eli of the priest. Now the sons of Eli were worthless men, they had no regard for the Lord.” Now there was a priest at the temple of the Lord He was serving the Lord and doing a good job, wasnt that enough. He had worthless sons who didnt love the Lord, but that wasn’t Eli’s fault was it?

I Samuel 2:22-2 1 Samuel 2:22-25  “Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.  So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good.  If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.”

I Samuel 2:34-35 “and this which shall befall your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you; both of them shall die on the same day. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind; and I will build him a sure house and he shall go in and out before me anointed forever.”

Do we become so busy during our summer season that we don’t have time to restrain our children or even love them properly? I shall give you a personal example of this and what the Lord showed me:

Becky was in Bible School, Cindy and Jane in High School, Bart in Jr High and Pollyann in grade school. Dick and I had been asked to be counselors at a Young Life camp and we said yes. We were done for the weekend and left the older children in charge. Monday after the camp weekend I got a knock on the door and it was a policeman. He said, “Do you know what your darling children were doing this weekend? Oh my, I didnt like the tone of his voice. My children were darling but he was being very sarcastic. He said they had pulled out a stop sign and were stopping cars and then squirting them with whipped cream and then jumping back in to the bushes. It was night time and very dark, and apparently they had left Pollyann home alone sleeping.

When the children came home I told them of the visit. They were very honest and said that yes, they had done that and also their cousin Jim Tobiason was with them. They said they had found the stop sign in the woods behind our house and the whipped cream bit was from some movie that was popular at that time. They were very sad and hadn’t meant to do anything bad. Well, I went to the police station and talked to the policeman. He really was a nice man and realized it was just in fun but he said it could have been serious and we should make the children realize that. So Dick and I talked with them very seriously and told them they had to take the sign down to the police station, and apologize to the policeman and say they will never do such a thing again. They did and it seemed like it worked out OK.

But the next day I went to Bible Study Fellowship and we were studying Genesis and it just happened to be in Genesis 34. Jacob was so busy away serving the Lord that he was not aware of what his sons and daighters were going. One of the questions was, “Are you sometimes so busy serving the Lord that you do not know what your children are doing?” Oh my, did that hit home!

It also taught us some lessons. We would concentrate on raising our own children and “do camps” for other children after ours were raised.

Love from MM “Mama Mentor” – May 2005

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The following was sent to Tanea, one of the many women Grandma Rosy has mentored and encouraged over the years…

Sent May 6th 2005

Dear Tanea,

Now I have sent the two letters to I told you about and all that is in the Lord’s hands and we shall forget about it and know he is in control. But I want to talk to you about some other things. I had a very special time with the Lord yesterday in the morning from the Retreat I was a group leader of 6 women. I told them if they would like to try to get up early each morning to have quiet time with the Lord, I would pray for them for 21 days. And Dick would too. Well, 3 of them chose to do this and we have been praying for them and they have been writing back and the Lord has been blessing them.

I don’t know if I told you, but last Tuesday I woke up at 5am and was wide awake and felt so good. My brain was alive and I had energy all day to get ready for Soup and Surprise. The day before I had my list but the Lord brought people my way to talk to and pray for and I didn’t do anything on my list. But when I just said OK Lord, this is your plan and I will roll with it…..it was a blessed day. I thought for one thing, the Lord gave me that day of energy because I followed his plan on Monday.

I did have energy on Wednesday for Soup and Surprise and prayed that yesterday I would again wake early and have a great day. Well, I didn’t and it was after 6am and I awoke tired. I was also a day of prayer and fasting for us as it was National Day of Prayer for our nation and our pastor challenged us to fast and pray and then all meet at the church at 7pm for a special prayer service. I haven’t been able to fast because of my hypoglycemia, but I tried yesterday with no food, but water, and juice and coffee and did fine. But back to my morning… I felt that I could either have a droopy day or “choose” to have a good one. I could “choose” to exercise and I could “choose” to think about the positive side of things. Years and years ago there was a song that said “You have to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative” and that is what I “chose” to do. So as I sat with my yellow pad while praying and prayed that I could have a miracle from my devotion book to share with my ladies. I wrote on the pad “I Can Choose” and prayed something to do with that would be in the book and I could tell the ladies how so often the Lord has met my heart and need through these books, and of course the Bible. But god Calling, God at Eventide, and My Utmost for His Highest are full of notes on the side of what happened on certain days.

Well, first I opened God Calling for May 5th and what was the title of the message…..LET ME CHOOSE. I was so excited and it blew me away. Yes, here I had been saying “I” can choose in all those things, and wanted a word from the Lord. So I was able to tell all that to my 3 ladies. So I did let him choose, but he also chose to have me exercise…. darn it! Smile.

Then on Saturday morning, just before going to the Agros Training Day leaving at 8am, the Lord brought alive scripture to me that has been a blessing. I dont know if I shared that with you either. But in My Utmost for His Highest for that day, a reference to Romans 5:5 was given and as I looked that up my eyes were taken to the other side of the page where some verses had been marked and circled. What was such a blessing to me was Romans 4:19-21 and what popped out was some words circled were in verses 20-21 “No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith AS he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was ABLE to do what he promised”. I loved that his faith grew strong AS he gave glory to God. He didn’t wait until the miracle happened of the promised baby, but he gave God the glory along the way, and his faith grew. We must give God the glory along the way, not just wait until the miracle happens.

And so with him being fully convinced that God was ABLE. I love that. I learned that years ago regarding healing. I would pray, believing with all my heart that a certain person would be healed and then sometimes they wouldn’t be and passed away. I thought “How can I throw myself into believing and having faith when I know He sometimes does not heal?” Then I realized that I could throw my faith and my belief totally on the fact that yes, God is ABLE. Sometimes He chooses not to heal but is able and I will claim that and believe that.

So with this trip and with your daughter, I know God is ABLE to heal her and I trust and pray for that. What he decides to do is up to him, but I throw myself on the thought that he is ABLE and he loves her more than anything and he is going to care for her.

Well, I think I have rambled on enough. Oh, I need to have you right in this room because I have so much to tell you always and it can be hard to put on paper.

Love you so much,

MM (Grandma Rosy)

Helpful Lessons Learned From Philippians 4:4-10

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Over twenty years ago these thoughts were given to me by Claudia Rowe, a Young life leader, and they have been very helpful to me over the years. They come from the following passages:

Philippians 4:4-10 RVS “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you.”

Philippians 4:4-10 J.B. Phillips Translation “Delight yourselves in the Lord, yes, find your joy in him at all times. Have a reputation for gentleness, and never forget the nearness of your Lord. Don’t worry over anything whatsoever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God, which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus. Here is a last piece of advice. If you believe in goodness and if you value the approval of God, fix your minds on whatever is true and honorable and just and pure and lovely and praiseworthy. Model your conduct on what you heave learned from me, on what I have told you and shown you, and you will find that the God of peace will be with you.”

We are told to give our requests and anxieties to the Lord, with prayer and supplication and with thanksgiving. And then the promise that the Peace of God will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

See the picture of our heart and mind emptied of our anxieties. Then in verse 8-10 we are told what to fill that void with. If we leave it empty it is too easy for the anxious thoughts to return. We are to think about all that is true, and just and pure and lovely. When the anxious thoughts start to return quickly think of what is “true” in that situation. There is always a true fact to state that is positive and will give us something to think about in that situation.

I always think of the lady who always had something positive to say about everyone. Someone said to her, “I think you could find something positive to say about the devil”. She thought a minute and then said, “Well, he is persistent”.

So with us we can usually think of some true positive thing to think about in any anxious situation. When we do this God will put a “guard” around our hearts and minds to help the thoughts and anxieties from returning. But we must do our part.

A Promise to Restore and Renew

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Ephesians 3:20-21 “May you be filled through all your being with God himself. Now to him who by His power within us is able to do infinitely more than we ever dare to ask or imagine– to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever, amen!

Colossians 1:11 “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.”

I Peter 5:10 “After you have SUFFERED a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal flory in Christ, will himself, restore, establish, and strengthen you.”

Dictionary definition of restore: “To give back. Return. Put back into original state. To repair.”

Psalms 52:12 “Restore to me the joy of thy salvation.”

Psalms 80:3 “Restore us, O God; let thy face shine, that we may be saved.”

Lamentations 5:21 “Restore us to thyself, O Lord, that we may be restored.”

Zeph. 3:17-18 “The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will RENEW you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it.”

Jeremiah 31:25 “FOR I WILL SATISFY THE WEARY SOUL, AND EVERY LANGUISHING SOUL I WILL REPLENISH.”

From the Dictionary:

Weary: Strengthen impaired by toil or suffering. Having ones patience or tolerance exhausted. As weary of reading.” (Could it also be weary of children, weary of clutter, weary of requests by others)

Satisfy: “To fill up the measure of want. To gratify fully the desire to make content.”

Languish: “To lose strength or vitality because of outward circumstances.”

Replenish: “To supply fully. To fill again especially after having been emptied.”

Psalms 23:1-3 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me besides still waters; HE RESTORES MY SOUL, He lead me in paths of righteousness, for His names sake.”

One of the best reasons for a quiet time with the Lord in the morning….. To be replenished, filled, restored, renewed, with all that was depleted the previous day. Start the day with a full tank of gas. Don’t limp along with an empty tank.

 

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