Mid Week Question~December 31~Resolutely Because of Grace

The last post of the year is written in the form of a question.

As you consider resolutions, what about Bible verses?

What is your focus verse for 2015?

“He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10

Resolve in 2015 not to lose your new-ness and your joy.

The easiest thing of all to lose is your joy. You can lose it with one phone call or email, a letter or conversation. You can watch a commercial on TV and lose your joy. It’s the easiest thing in the world to lose. And a lot of people in a lot of circumstances are conspiring to rob it from you. ~Rick Warren

My mother used to say that JOY means “Jesus Occupies You.”

When “Jesus Occupies You” then other gremlins have no room to wreak havoc.

 

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Previous Questions

Last Monday Word for the Soul for 2014~December 29

A concluding word for the soul for 2014 is one that you know and need to always remember…Because of Grace

Please do not forget…or, (worse) let anyone else contradict God on this point.

You Are Beautiful…Renee Swope writes eloquently on  your beauty

 “You are precious and honored in my sight …. and I love you.”
    Isaiah 43:4

 

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More words for the Soul

a word from The Sponsor~December 28~Resolution Verse

Open my eyes, so that I may see the wonderful truths in Your Law. ~Psalm 119:18

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More words from The Sponsor

Because of Grace-Wishing You

“When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy”
~Job 38:7

 For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior. ~John 3:17

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Picture Source

Christmas Peace

a word from The Sponsor~December 21

Psalm 37:7

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More words from The Sponsor

This Weekend~ December 19~Carve it

Today marks an anniversary of one of my favorite stories of love.

On December 19, 1972, the last Apollo crew landed safely back on Earth. Apollo 17’s crew of three included the last two men, Harrison Schmitt and Gene Cernan, who would walk on the moon. It is the final act of astronaut Gene Cernan that contains the favorite gem for me.

As he walked toward the lunar module, Cernan knelt and scratched his daughter’s initials in the lunar surface.

It is possible that his daughter’s initials, TC, still remain on the moon’s barren surface. His act of fatherly love certainly remains in memory and…in practice for me, and maybe you too, today. Because of Grace, we have received such love.

 

 

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. ~John 15:13-14

 

Today, might you consider, some act of “initial impression?” I know you won’t deface anything, but might you be on the lookout for, and notice any opportunity to impress the initials of a loved one (doesn’t have to be a daughter) in the snow, the garden soil, the playground sand, even a Styrofoam cup (this is where you’ll find me scratching out my daughter’s initials).

Do it in honor of Gene and love that literally can be to the moon and back!

 

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Sources:
The Writer’s Almanac
Gene Cernan
Picture 1
Picture 2

 

Additional Weekend Activities