~ A Thought On My Heart

Today I was reading in my Bible about how as followers of Jesus we are to be the salt of the Earth.  I never had truly understood just what this meant.  It talks about how if salt looses it's flavor then it is no longer able to be used for any purpose and must be thrown out. Today it struck me on a deeper level when I read about this once again, and I have been pondering on it. 

As God's children, during our time here on this Earth, I believe we are to do His will for our life, what ever that may be. 

If we are only living for ourselves and never giving thought of what the Lord would have us do for Him, then are we able to serve the purpose the Lord has for our life?  If we are not willing to look beyond our selves and strive to make each day a day where we serve the Lord and others, then are we not like the salt that has lost it's purpose?  

I think we may feel a bit overwhelmed when we think of God's purpose for our lives, but it may not look grand, but rather it may be found in the everyday moments of our lives.  When we have a servant's heart and do all our daily things as to the Lord, such as, wiping a child's tear, making a meal, spreading kindness, all the things that may seem little to us now, may not be so little in the eyes of God.  

So as I go about my day today, I plan to do all that I do as a homemaker, a wife, a mom, a grandma and such,  for my sweet Lord, and hope that my day can be a continual prayer to Him.  

This was just a thought on my heart today.  I want to thank you for taking your time to stop by my little space.  God bless you and keep you in His loving care.  Hugs to you.  ~Juli
 

~A Thought On My Heart

 Today I thought I would share what is on my heart.  The other day when I was reading my Bible, I was reading about how a servant of the King owed him money, and how when he begged for more time to pay it, the king showed him mercy and allowed him more time.  However the same servant who was shown mercy demanded payment by another who owed him money, and when he begged for more time to pay it, instead of showing him mercy, he had him thrown in jail.  The king heard of this and with drew his mercy and had the servant thrown in jail.  

I believe that because we are all sinners and because we are given the forgiveness of sin by the grace of God through what Jesus did for us on the cross, He expects nothing less than for us to show mercy on our brothers and sisters.  We should hate the sin but love the sinner.  We should be quick to forgive others when they hurt us, just as God has forgiven us many times in our lives.  It even says in the Our Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  To me it doesn't get more clear than that.  God forgives our sins but also expects for us to show forgiveness and mercy to other sinners.  That is pretty important, we must remember to pray that the Lord will give us a heart that can love like Jesus loves, and forgive like Jesus forgives.   

So when someone hurts us we should forgive and keep moving forward with the work the Lord puts in our life.  I heard it said once that the devil does not need us to act like the sinners, just to get us to take our focus off of Jesus and look at all of the storms he is creating all around us.  Then we are less useful to the kingdom of God during our time on Earth.  

If someone is being abusive to you may need to cut off access for them in your life, but even is such cases we need to pray and ask God to help bring forth  forgiveness for them in our hearts.  It is between them and God.

This is the thought that has been on my heart today, and I thought I would share it in case it may be helpful to someone.  

God bless you and keep you in His loving care.  Hugs to you.  ~Juli

I want to apologize for the font in this post, I am not very savvy when it comes to things such as this, and do not know how to correct it.

~ A Peek Into Our Weeks

 

 

Here is a cute baby bunny that lives in our yard.  It has been very hot in Kansas, so I have been leaving a little bowl of water out for it to drink.

I have been enjoying the air conditioning on days that have been getting up to 107 degrees.  I love to learn about pioneer times and try to live in a simple old fashioned way, but I truly am thankful for modern technology such as medical care and climate control and such.

Here is kitty in a little sitting area off of our living room.  She loves that rocking chair.  I had planned to put it in our downstairs family room, but I am leaving it right where it is so she can enjoy it.

Steven and I just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and we got ourselves some new recliners.  They are such a blessing to have.

This is our study, and where I do my reading and my blog work.  It is also nice to have my book collection housed in here as well.  In the evenings I enjoy listening to my Little House books on audible, it is so cozy and makes my heart happy.

I want to thank everyone who said prayers for my Mom.  She is doing well and for that I am so very thankful. 

 

We are settling in nicely to our new home.  For many years I thought I would never want to move from our home where we raised our children.  There were some things that both my husband and I wanted such as up stairs laundry, a study, sprinkler systems and such that our other home did not have.  One day I told my husband I would be willing to move.  In no time at all we found this house and it checked all the boxes that we had wished for.  I did shed tears of letting go of our home that we lived in for 22 years, but now I know those special memories live in my heart and I don't need to live in the house to keep them close.  

I want to thank you for taking the time to stop by my space.  May God bless you and keep you in His holy care.  Hugs to you. ~Juli 

This summer just seemed to fly by for our family.  We have a lot of changes in our little household.  Steven and I have moved to a new house.  We lived in our other house for 22 years.  I did shed some tears for all of the special memories our family shared in our other home, but I truly am feeling happy and at home in our new house.  I realized that I don't have to live in the house our children grew up in to hold on to those special memories. 

Another big change is that Steven and I are about to become empty nesters.  Our youngest son is going off to college in another town.  As hard as it is to let a child you love dearly go, truly it is a joy to see them spread their wings and fly.

We went to Branson for vacation and while I was there, I met a wonderful women who just turned 90 years old.  She had a heart attack and had died in the hospital.  She told me that she saw Heaven, but she thought to herself that because she had been a sinner in her youth that she didn't deserve Heaven.  She said as soon as she thought that she was back in her body.  I told her that I too had been a sinner in my youth and that as long as we turn away from our sinful ways and repent and truly trust that the blood Jesus shed on the cross can cover even the worst of sins when we belong to Christ, then we can receive the gift of Heaven through the grace of the Lord. It is not because we are good enough, because none of us can earn Heaven on our own.  Only through Jesus can we receive the gift of Heaven.  We talked about how we must place our 100 percent trust in Jesus,  just as a young child trusts their parents, so we must trust Christ. 

I want to also ask for prayers for my Mom, and she is about to have open heart surgery.  I know that the Lord will be with her and is already giving her a peace.  

I'm excited to be back to my little blog.  I hope that you have a blessed day and I thank you for taking time to visit my little space.  God bless you and keep you in His loving care. Hugs to you.                                                                 ~Juli

 

~A Little Break

 I have decided to take a technology break for a few months.  I will start my blog again in August.  There are times when I just long to draw close to the Lord and I find it helps when I limit my use of technology.  There is a beautiful song that I am going to share in case it would be a blessing to someone.  Thank you for visiting my blog and may God keep you in His loving care and bring peace to your heart.  

~A Thought On My Heart

 Today I have been reflecting on how trusting in the Lord is a blessing to our lives.  Jesus said we must become like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  When we place our total trust in the Lord and know that He will use all that we must walk through for good to those who love Him, with this knowledge there is a peace despite our circumstances, as if we were a child knowing we were safe in our parents care.  We must remember that God knows far more than we do and He is still in control of our world as well as our individual lives. 

We must try to keep an eternal mindset, with the understanding that this life is only a small part of our existence, and eternity is forever.  When I reflect on this truth it helps me to put in perspective how life's storms are truly not all they may seem to be.  Knowing that we belong to the Lord and not to this world helps us to keep a peaceful heart during our trying moments here on our Earthly journey. 

It is good to strive to live our lives in such a way that will please the Lord.  One scripture that speaks to this is 

~2 Corinthians 5:9 Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him.

I pray that God will make the meditations of my heart pleasing to Him, my words pleasing to Him, and how I live my daily moments of my life pleasing to Him.  I like to think of our daily lives as being a prayer that we can offer to the Lord.  When we can strive to give as much of ourselves to the Lord and to be used for His purposes then I believe it helps us to truly have a closer walk with Him.

These were just some thoughts that have been on my heart and I thought I would share them in case they may be of help to someone who reads my blog.  May God bless you and keep you in His loving care.  Hugs to you.  ~Juli 

I want to apologize for the font being messed up on this post, I'm not quite sure why it did this and am not sure how to fix it. 

~A Thought On My Heart

 Today I have been reflecting on a Bible Verse, it is Philippians 4:6

Don't worry about anything, instead pray about everything.  Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done, then you will experience God's peace which exceeds anything we can understand,  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

In this life of trouble I believe God wants us to turn our worries into prayer and our fears into faith.  When trouble is all around us coming from every corner we look towards, we must keep our focus on Jesus not the storms.  Some times we may feel we wish the good Lord would just call us home so we could find rest, but we need to know that if we are still here, our service to the Lord is not yet complete.  As believers we are called to do the work the Lord has for us on our Earthly journey and keep our minds focused on the things of God.  We must live in this world, but we do not have to be of the world, our hearts and minds must be on heavenly things and being the hands and feet of Jesus while we are here.

My mother told me that worry is a tool of the Devil.  Worry does not take away problems it only takes away the peace the good Lord intends for you to have.  So it is my prayer that you keep Jesus in the center of your daily lives and focus on the eternal not just the here and now.  My daughter Lauren sent me a beautiful song when I was feeling the weight of this world on my back and I would like to share it with you.