Do you ever feel like your life is  a total waste?   Do you look around and see all the people you know doing so much for others while you seem to be stuck in a rut you can't get out of?  I often feel that way. I am not doing enough for my fellow man and if I were to die, no one would miss me.  My life is a total waste, it seems.  I have said that often, especially during the times when I have been laid up and my family had to wait on me an do things for me.  I just feel like I am of no use to anyone.  
 1 Corinthinians 15:58 made me realize that I am not useless. I never have been.  It made me feel good to read it today..
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

One thing I always did while I was laid up was talk to people on line and pray with them in various groups.  I always let them know someone cared for them and what they were going thru.   I may not have gotten out to see people and talk to them but I do it via computer and I think you can reach people this way just as though you walk out your door and visit them to tell them of God's love.  I am not a wasted soul.  Praise God!!

Some times I think man made religion is screwed up.  I was talking to a man from Norway who is an atheist.  He goes to churches there and talks to people about his lifestyle and tells them about being an atheist. 
They pay him for this.  He says they are offering classes at one of the churches on how to  become a christian.  If he takes the classes and passes, he is a christian.  He is thinking of taking the classes.

I am all for him for doing what he can to get closer to God but my bible says nothing about classes in being a christian.

First of all, being a christian is a serious issue and not one to be taken lightly.  You must believe the bible is the word of God and do what it says to become a christian.  If those classes do not teach you that and really inspire you to become saved, it is not going to happen.  "So then faith [comes] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."(Romans 10:17)  Faith is the most important thing we must possess if we are to become true Christians

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."(John 3:16).  All you have to do is believe and ask God to come into your heart and follow what the bible teaches you about being a christian as close as you can.  God does not expect us to be perfect and he knows we will stumble at times but he knows when you are trying and when you are not trying as hard as you should be.

You do not need classes to do this and I worry about some man made religions leading people astray in this manner.  If the classes are a way to teach you about the bible and tell you what you must do to be saved then they are a great tool but if they do not do that, then they are not a tool of God.

Accept and understand the teachings of Jesus and follow his ways.

"to open their eyes, [and] to turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."(Acts 26:18)

You have to realize that Jesus died for your sins and all you have to do is ask for his forgiveness and really mean it.  That is all....

Church

I have and foster sister that was a wonderful woman in so many ways but she was the kind who felt her church was the only church anyone should go to and if you did not go to that church or one just like it in every way, she felt you were going to hell. I attended a Methodist church many years and she felt that was wrong. I started going to a Baptist church and she felt that was wrong also.
I
Going to church does not make one a christian any more then standing in a garage makes you a car. I go to church because there is something wonderful about having fellowship with a group of people who worship like I do. I feel comfortable with them and enjoy the Pastor's message. I am a sinner who goes to worship God just like all the other sinners in that church. I love the singing too. I have a horrible voice but I sing loud and strong. God gave me this voice and he must love it so I use it.

I do not go every Sunday because of work schedules but I go when I can.  I don't pretend that my church has all the answers.  I just know it is made up of a great group of people who made me feel welcome from the moment I walked through the door.  I thankGod I have my church family to pray for me and with me when I need it.

Great Poem..so true

BEST POEM IN THE WORLD

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp--
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?
God must've made a mistake.

'And why is everyone so quiet,
So somber - give me a clue.'
'Hush, child,' He said, 'they're all in shock.
No one thought they'd be seeing you.'

JUDGE NOT!!

Remember...Just going to church doesn't make you a
Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

Every saint has a PAST...
Every sinner has a FUTURE!
Now it's your turn... Share this poem.

As some of you may know, I have been in a bit of a funk because of some health issues and other things that are going on. I find it easy to pray when I am like this. Much easier then when things go smoothly. I have been doing alot of it lately and somehow god had to be listening. I opened this email that sent me a list of verses that help when things go bad and the first one was this one:
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

-Isaiah 40:31

Doncha just feel your spirits lift at the thought of doing that? Soaring with the eagles? It does mine.

But this is my favorite. He is my rock when times get rough. He is always there to lift my burden. My rock of ages...
My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—
from violent men you save me.

-2 Samuel 22:3

I am sorry...

Some how I deleted the reponses to my previous posting. I feel really awful about it but i I have decided to trudge on with this blog any way. Depression has hit me again since I am unable to get out and do the things I like. So I sit and write or read and ponder what is in some of my devotional readings.

It is also one of those times I think of all the things I should be grateful for. It is very hard for me to do at times then my husband walks in with a bouquet of flowers he has picked or my little grandbaby smiles at me and looks at me with love in her eyes and I start thinking that I am glad God has let me live so long and happily with a man who still picks me flowers and a grandbaby who loves me unconditionally.

I realize it is the little things like that that trip my trigger and make me smile.

Then I come on this blog or my other one and see the wonderful people who took the time to read my rants and respond and I feel I am lucky, very lucky, indeed. And I am sorry I accidently deleted those remarks. I would love you to post them again,please.

Where is God when Tragedy strikes

Years ago I had a friend whose mother happened to be one of the strongeast women I ever met. She was in her ninth month of pregnancy with her 9th child when she saw her husband get killed when his tractor over turned. She raised all nine of her kids by herself. She found one of her sons dead from a gunshot wound after he came home from the war. Another son killed himself a year later. Another son was a police man who was shot and paralyzed from the waist down while her one daughter had breast cancer. She had been through so much. After the second son killed himself in front of her and her daughter, she continued to cling to God and her faith even though her house burned down a few months later.Most people would have lost their minds but she did not. Her faith seemed to grow stonger and stronger. She often said that is what got her through those times.

Paul wrote of his troubles and all he had suffered while he was working for the Lord.

People of faith know that God is with the suffering and dying. He will always be with them. He never leaves them but it is hard for those who have no faith to understand that.

Life does not come to an end with physical death. We move on to our Heavenly father. It is like going home We go home to be with our Father and our loved one. If you an undetstand that, you will be able to accept that God is with you throught it all.

While I was in nurses training, I learned there are several steps in grief, which is what we feel when tragedy strikes us. Faith in God plays an important part in all of them and I feel those who lean on God during those times, fare better then those who try to do it on their own.

So the next time you hear of a tragedy, just remember God is with the ones who are suffering just as he has always been.