Something shared to me by a school friend Elsie Felland. You may seen this before:

Come Before Winter

By Charles R Swindoll
Tyndale House, 1985
Page 500 – Stop the Revolving Door
 
From bondage to spiritual faith

From spiritual faith to great courage

From great courage to strength

From strength to liberty

From liberty to abundance

From abundance to leisure

From leisure to selfishness

From selfishness to complacency

From complacency to apathy

From apathy to dependency

From dependency to weakness

From weakness back to bondage

***

"It is he who saved us
and chose us for his holy work,
not because we deserved it
but because that was his plan
long before the world began---
to show his love and kindness
to us through Christ.
And now he has made all of this plain
to us by the coming of
our Savior Jesus Christ,
who broke the power of death
and showed us the way
of everlasting life
through trusting him."

~ 1 Timothy 1:9 &10 LAB

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Bible Commentary:  "This is a brief synopsis of the gospel. God loves us, chose us, and sent Christ to die for us. We can have eternal life through faith in him because he broke the power of death by his resurrection. We do not deserve to be saved, but God offers us salvation anyway. All we have to do is believe and accept his offer."

***

Don't do this often. I looked back to see what my 'Karen's Korner'' was 20 years ago today! Just think of that #655!

Here you go:

Today is Friday, October 21st, 2005;
Karen's Korner #655

 I hope that all of you have a great weekend. Here are a couple of short humorous thoughts, which some of you have shared with me, to take you into the weekend:
 

** James (age 4) was listening to a Bible story. His dad read:  "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city but his wife looked back and was turned to salt."  Concerned, James asked, "What happend to the flea?"

*

** Who has greater contentment, a man with seven children or a man with $7 million?

Answer: The man with seven children, because he doesn't want any more!
(My apologies to several readers who have seven or more children!) 

*
** The sermon I think this Mom will never forget:  "Dear Lord," the minister begin with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. "without you, we are but dust."
    He would have continued but at that moment this very obedient daughter, leaned over to her mother and asked quite audibly in her shrill little girl voice, "Mom, what is butt dust!?"
 
*
** With hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another plus the big earthquake in Pakistan, the quote of the month comes from Jay Leno:
    "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

***

Something in my computer inbox from several months ago by Max Lucado:

FIND A WAY TO GIVE THANKS

"God notices the grateful heart. He took a praise-singing shepherd boy and made him a king. There’s no hint of God getting out of sorts if we aren’t thankful, but there is evidence we’re affected by our own ingratitude. What of the disastrous days? The nights I can’t sleep and the hours I can’t rest. Are we still grateful then?

"Jesus was. The Bible records, 'On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it' (1 Corinthians 11:23-24 NLT). It’s not often you see the words betrayed and thanks in the same sentence, much less in the same heart. In the midst of the darkest night of the human soul, Jesus found a way to give thanks. Anyone can thank God for the light. Jesus teaches us to thank God for the night. He says to us, 'you’ll get through this!; And we will."

  *

Being thankful, even when I am not, is something
I learned when our daughter Merry was sick before she died.
From Thanksgiving until July1999, she needed surgery five times to repair her shunt.
# 4 was July 8!
We were called the evening of July 9.
She was sick and was going to need surgery #5
the next day.
Could we come back to the hospital?
As I was gathering some things to go,
I wasn't saying this prayer aloud, but rattling in my head, I was saying
, "God, I don't want to do this!"
And it seemed He said to me,
"Tell Me thank you!"

Thank you!!??
"I don't want to do this!"
And it seemed He said to me,
"I never said you have to like it!"

Must be what it means in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which says, "Always be thankful."
I started thanking God for doctors, surgeries,
things that made Merry 'better'.

Something happens to us when we tell God,
"Thank You",
even for things we can't stand which happens to us!
It improves our mental and spiritual health; maybe even our physical health!
Some of my prayers are,
"God, you know I don't like this one bit,
but thank You for.........."

***

A couple of verses from I Timothy, written by Paul. He writes about 'being the greatest sinner'. In his past, he not only pursued Christians for their faith, he actively killed them. Pretty big sin, I'd say!

"Oh, how kind our Lord was,
for He showed me how to trust Him
and become full of the love of Christ Jesus.
How true it is, 
and how I long that everyone should know it,
that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners----
and I was the greatest of them all."

~ 1 Timothy 1:14 & 15 LAB

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Bible Commentary:  "When we become Christians, we often feel that our love for Jesus and others is inadequate. But we can be confident that Christ will give us the faith and love we need. Even with our week faith, we must demonstrate genuine love toward others. Christ will increase both our faith and love as our relationship with Him deepens.

"Paul summarizes the Good News. Jesus saves sinners, and no sinner is beyond His saving power. Do we believe that? Jesus didn't come just to show us how to live, or to challenge us to be better people. He came to offer us salvation that leads to eternal life. Have we accepted His offer?

*****

Taken from a poster by "Answers in Genesis" - The Attributes of GOD - (part 2 of 2):

"INFINITE
Beyond all that we
can imagine; cannot
be measured.

*
JUST
Fair according
to who he is;
must punish sin.

*
HOLY
Cannot sin
and hates 
all sin.

*
OMNIPOTENT
All powerful to do
whatever he wants.

*
INDEPENDENT
Has no need of anything
outside of himself.

*
IMMUTABLE
Will never change.

*
FAITHFUL
Will always keep his 
promises; does not lie.

*
OMNISCIENT
Knows everything
past, present, future."

****

Today's entry by Sarah Young and her "Jesus Calling:  Enjoying Peace in His Presence":

"Try to stay conscious of Me as you go step by step through the day. My Presence with you is both a promise and a protection. My final statement just before I ascended into heaven was 'Surely I am with you always'. That promise was for all of My followers, without exception.

"The promise of My Presence is a powerful protection. As you journey through your life, there are numerous pitfalls along the way. Many voices clamor for your attention, enticing you to go their way. A few steps away from your true path are pits of self-pity and despair, plateaus of pride and self-will. If you take your eyes off Me and follow another's way, you are in grave danger. Even well-meaning friends can lead you astray if you let them usurp My place in your life. The way to stay on the path of Life is to keep your focus on Me. Awareness of My Presence is your best protection."

~ Taken from Matthew 28:20, Hebrews 12:1 - 2

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Taken from a recent writing by Max Lucado and his book "Tame Your Thoughts".

It's titled "Christ Runs the Show". We might not always like the way things are going. But we have two choices:  let Christ run the show; or let us run the show. I choose to let (and believe) Christ 'runs the show'. He does a better job!

CHRIST RUNS THE SHOW

"'God raised Christ from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything.' (Ephesians 1:20-22 MSG).

"Christ runs the show. He has authority over the world, and he has authority over your world. Your date of birth, your date of death. Your mood swings, sleep patterns, eating habits, your salary. He’s never surprised, he’s never caught off guard. He’s never ever uttered the phrase,  'Now how did that happen?;

"Uproot your fear of pandemonium and replant the assuring promise: 'God makes everything work out according to his plan.' (Ephesians 1:11 NLT)."

****

Karen's Korner readers know that I am a Bible reader. I pick a book of the Bible; finish it and move on to another random pick.

I am  in the process of finishing 1 Timothy. And, as so many times the case, the reading hits at a perfect time. Chapter 5 and these verses talk about 'pastors'. Right time to celebrate Pastor Appreciation Month:  October!

"Pastors who do their work well should be paid well and should be highly appreciated, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching."

~ 1 Timothy 5:17 LAB

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Bible Commentary:  "Faithful diligent church leaders should be supported and appreciated. Too often they are targets for criticism because the congregation has unrealistic expectations. How do we treat our church leaders? Do we enjoy finding fault, or do we show our appreciation? Do they receive enough financial support to allow them to live without worry and provide for the needs of their families? Jesus and Paul emphasized the importance of supporting ministers who lead and teach us."

**
Thank You, God,
for providing our churches
with leadership.
Thank You for people with hearts
to serve You and people in their lives, 
congregations, and communities where
each of them serve.
Help us to be more supportive
and less critical.
May more people of all ages be
attracted into the ministry and
care of people everywhere.
Thank You!
Amen.

****