Isn't it amazing with the changing seasons, how the sunrises and sunset times change? At first, the days are longer. Light in the morning early. Stays light pretty late at night.

There is the longest day and then it begins to shorten. At first, we don't notice the few less minutes at each end of the day. But now! It is pretty dark in the morning, later. And it gets dark earlier and earlier.

A few minutes at each end of the day, makes a big difference....over time.

I couldn't help but think that many times that is how 'sin' does that in our lives. First, it is just a 'little' change. And then, sometimes something we 'should' or 'shouldn't' be doing controls our lives. I have heard my cousin say, "The problem with sin is that it is so much fun.....in the beginning!" He has participated a number of things in his life!

Who among us doesn't know that is true? Either in our own lives? Or the lives of others? Some things we can 'see' easier than some others.

My dictionary definition says of sin, "breaking a religious law, especially when done on purpose; a wrong or fault".

So who sins? "Yes, ALL have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious ideal..." (Romans 3:23).

Later in Romans, it says, "Sin fooled me by taking the good news of God and using them to make me guilt of death." (Romans 7:11).

Oh great! So now what?

Later in Romans 3:23 (now verse 24), it says, "......yet now God declares us 'not guilty' of offending Him if we trust in Jesus Christ---who in His Kindness freely takes away our sins."

Thank You, Jesus, we sin. We trust You. We are not guilty, because of you! Amen.

"And so we keep on praying for you that our God will make

you the kind of children he wants to have----

will make you as good as you wish you could be!---

rewarding your faith with his power."

~ 2 Thessalonians 1:11 LAB

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Bible Commentary:  "When we truly love God, we are repeatedly disappointed in our performance. We want to be good; and yet we are unable to do so. God's purpose for all believers is to make them the kind to do so. God's people for all believers is to make them the kind of children he wants to have. This would mean becoming as good as we wish we could be. As our faith in God increases, God increases the power available in us to do good. If we want God's power in our lives, believe in his ability to do good. If we want God's power in our lives, we need to believe in his ability to do good rather than in ours. Then when Christ comes again, he will make us better than we ever thought we could be."

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I am not much of a facebook person but here are two. I don't know who posted this first one:

You don't get a GOOD LIFE

or a BAD LIFE.

You get a LIFE

what are you going to do with it?

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The second one was emailed to our long-term friends Jacob & Jaynie Michael who were missionaries for years to Africa; now retired and reside in Ohio:

"You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you, making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill your coffee? You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea.

"The point is whatever is inside the cup, is what will spill out. Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which will happen), whatever is inside you will come out. So, we have to ask ourselves, 'What's in my cup?'

"When life gets tough, what spills out? Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility? Or does anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions come out? You choose!

"Today let's work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation, kindness, gentleness, and love for others."

"But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart and these defile them. For out of the heart comes evil thoughts---murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them."    ~ Matthew 15:18 - 20

As Good As It Gets

"Is this as good as it gets? Many people assume that it is! Many people think their deepest joy and most profound happiness happens somewhere between the delivery room and the funeral home. Is that as good as it gets? For the Christian, this world is as bad as it gets. Set your heart on this hope from the 2 Corinthians:

"Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside

us is made new every day. We have small troubles for awhile now,

but they are helping us to gain an eternal glory that is much greater than our troubles.

We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see.

What we see will last only a short time,

but what we cannot see will last forever."

(2 Corinthians 4:16 - 18)

"Because God's promises are unbreakable, our hope is unshakable!"

~ Today's inspirational email by Max Lucado

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If we are old enough, we remember where we were seventeen years ago today:  when more than 3,000 people were brutally killed at the trade towers and in Pennsylvania. It's always good to remember!

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Today's entry from Sarah Young in "Jesus Calling:  Enjoying Peace in His Presence":

"Rejoice in Me always! No matter what is going on, you can rejoice in your Love-relationship with Me. This is the secret of being content in all circumstances. So many people dream of the day when they will finally be happy:  when they are out of debt, when their children are out of trouble, when they have more leisure time, and so on. While they daydream, their moments are trickling into the ground like precious balm spilling wastefully from overturned bottles.

"Fantasizing about future happiness will never bring fulfillment, because fantasy is unreality. Even though I am invisible, I am far more Real than the world you see around you. My reality is eternal and unchanging. Bring your moments to Me, and I will fill them with vibrant Joy. Now is the time to rejoice in My Presence."

~ Taken from Philippians 4:4; Psalm 102:27

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Some place in upper elementary school, we learned there are three main types of sentences:  declarative, question, and exclamatory.

Here is a familiar Bible verse:

"This is the day the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it."

~ Psalm 118:24 LAB

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'This is the day the Lord has made." Simple declarative statement. It's true.

'We will rejoice". Another simple statement. Not a command. A choice.

'Be glad in it." Another choice. A declarative statement. We are to be glad. Our choice. No matter how we 'feel'. If we have the dreams of our life; a great family; lots of money; a wonderful job, we are to 'rejoice'. If our health isn't the best; our family life is in a shambles; have had to attend one too many funerals lately; or we have made a 'major' life decision mistake, today is a new day 'which the Lord has made.'

The day has just begun. Whether we know what is going to happen the rest of day, 'we will rejoice and be glad in it.'

Yeah, God!

As I alluded to yesterday, Naomi Maxheimer died last Saturday. She was another 'one-of-a-kind' as was Bob Stephenson, who died part of month ago. Both were staunch members of our church. We could count on them for anything. Both were in the early 80s, but young!

Naomi was a do-er, a go-er; someone we could count on; not only in the church, but in the community. And her family; oh, her family! She was active in the M & Ms (Marys & Marthas, an ecumenical group of gals); helped with home communion for shut-ins; and as her funeral brochure said a 'Martha Stewart'. Decorating her home and inviting people in for teas and lunches were high on her 'to do' list.

And what a sparkle for life. Two thoughts came to mind. A good number of years when Irish Riverdance was especially popular, she organized the older ladies (older than she was at the time) to 'dance! Using cardboard boxes she (some else helped her?) painted and colored various legs and dancing shoes. The 'dancers' came out at a Mother and Daughter banquet, holding the waist-high boxes and moving them up and down as they 'danced' to the music. It was fun! Funny!!

Thought #2 was Naomi's 'bright idea' for a handful of us girls to dress up like Christmas gifts using large cardboard boxes which we could put our heads/arms through; wrap them up with Christmas wrap and plunk bows on our heads. She supplied the striped elf-looking socks. We were pretty well set until we found out we didn't fit in the church bus, wearing them. No problem. Take them off and ride them through the wheelchair lift. And we were on our way to Christmas carol people in our lives. Naomi leading the way with her infectious smile and laugh!

At her funeral service on Wednesday, our minister Warren Curry captured these three thoughts from her 'stash':

"Prayers go up....blessings come down!"

"Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they will never cease to be amused."

"If you want to be rich, count all the things you have that money cannot buy."

Rest in peace, Naomi!

Thank You, God, for sharing Naomi with us. We have been, and will continue to be, blessed, by her!