Weekly Spiritual Meditations - July 28

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Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you. Psalm 25:4-5

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"Always, He will watch over us and comfort us." --Ernest Holmes

Get some exercise today, walk with God.

God always comes to us when we search for Him.

God always was, God always is, God always will be.

Since each new day is uncharted territory, we need to rely on God to guide us through it.

God can be trusted even when we can't predict the outcome.

Sometimes our role is simply to plant the seed and trust God to bring the harvest.

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WATERING A PATH Author Unknown
A young peasant had two water cans which were attached to a yoke. Each day he put the yoke over his shoulders and went down to the river, filled the cans, and walked back to his modest hut. The water can on the right side of the yoke was fine and sturdy; when he arrived home it was always full. But the can on the left had a crack in it. By the time the man arrived home, half the water was usually gone.
The water can always felt inferior to his partner. He was ashamed that he was cracked and wasn't pulling his weight. One day the water can spoke. He turned to the man and apologized for being defective.
The peasant smiled gently and said, "Did you think I didn't know that you had a crack, and water dripped from you? Look at the path from the river to my hut. Do you see all the beautiful flowers that are growing on the one side of the path? Those are the flowers that I planted there, that you watered every day as I walked home from the river."
Broken or not. Strong or weak. Everything and everyone serves God's purpose.

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Miracle in the Mailbox by Bobbie Bostick
My husband was in the hospital, our bills were piling up… how would I ever make it?
Many years have passed, but I’ll never forget that day in 1976, when I pulled two ivory envelopes from my mailbox. One, the phone bill. The other, a letter from my old friend Buz, who was due to visit me and my husband Clint the following week. Bad news first, I thought, walking into the house.
I tore the phone bill open. The amount made me cringe. $138.37–about $600 in today’s dollars. Back then, we simply couldn’t afford that.
Earlier that month, my husband, Clint, had been badly injured in a head-on collision with a drunk driver. He was still in the ICU, suffering from a broken collarbone, ribs and leg. His face looked like a jigsaw puzzle pieced back together.
When I wasn’t at the hospital, I was glued to the phone, calling our friends and family scattered across the country to update them on Clint’s condition. His mom and four sisters in Michigan. His cousins in California. And, of course, Buz in Tennessee. No wonder our bill was so high.
Clint had a long road to recovery ahead of him. The medical expenses were piling up, not to mention our mortgage payments. What was I going to do about this phone bill... about everything?
At least Buz would be in town soon. I could use some support from a friend. I ripped open his letter, wondering why he’d written. I’d just talked to him to help him finalize his travel arrangements.
“Dear Bobbie,” the letter began. “I know now why the Lord didn’t let me make the trip to Orlando…”
What? Buz had cancelled his flight? Why? I read on…
“I find myself waking up at night thinking of you folks, and pray myself back to sleep. I have a tremendous yearning to be with Clint and you, but prayer will have to do for now. I don’t argue with the Lord and you don’t either…”
“He has told me to send you the price of my ticket for whatever cause you might need,” Buz wrote. “I have no idea what your financial condition is–but it’s not my business—it’s His!”
I shook the envelope. Inside was a check. The second I saw it, I ran to the phone and dialed Buz’s number. I didn’t worry about the cost.
The check was made out to Clint and me, for exactly $138.37.

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Walking in Faith by Guðný Einarsdóttir-Pearson
Did God really care about my favorite pair of red shoes?
I stood crookedly in the middle of High Street, one hand holding onto my six-year-old daughter, the other clutching my busted shoe. We’d been enjoying a beautiful summer day shopping in Stevenage, a town 40 minutes from our home in southeastern England. Until I stepped off the curb and stumbled on the uneven pavement. I didn’t fall…but the sole of my shoe had torn off the heel. What now? I couldn’t walk around barefoot!
My daughter had laughed that morning when she saw my shoes, battered and frayed. Sure, they’d seen better days. But they were my favorite. Bright red, patent leather, peep-toe wedges with a four-inch heel. The kind movie stars wore in the fifties. I couldn’t just throw them away, not without a replacement. Before we left that day, I said a prayer—“Lord, lead me to the right pair!” It sounded absurd, but if God counted the hairs on my head, surely he cared about my shoes.
Clearly not. I’d known my right heel was loose, but thought I’d fixed it with superglue. It turned out I wasn’t fit to be a cobbler. I limped over to the sidewalk, wondering how I’d ever get back to our car.
“Mum, look!” my daughter said. She pointed at the brick building I’d stumbled in front of—a charity shop. We ducked inside. I hobbled past the racks of musty clothes towards the shelves of discolored, mismatched shoes. I examined a pair of mammoth-sized sneakers missing laces. They seemed like the best I could hope for.
“How about these?” My daughter pulled out a torn box from the bottom shelf. I gasped. Slip-on wedges in cherry red. They looked almost brand new, as glamorous as my old ones. Too good to be true? And the price? The same amount of change in my wallet. I slipped them on—a perfect fit! I made my purchase, tossed my old shoes in the trash bin, and walked back to the car, quite pleased with my lucky find.
It wasn’t until my daughter and I got home that I took the sandals off and noticed the brand name engraved on the soles in faded sliver, just barely visible: Faith.

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SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD
I heard about a group of Geography students who studied the Seven Wonders of the World. At the end of that section, they students were asked to list what they each considered to be the Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following got the most votes: Egypt's Great Pyramid, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, St. Peter's Basilica and China's Great Wall.
While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. She replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many."
The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help."
The girl read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are to touch and to taste, to see and to hear . . . " She hesitated a little, "and then to run and to laugh and to love."
It is far too easy for us to look at the exploits of man and refer to them as "wonders" while we overlook all that God has done, regarding them as merely "ordinary." May you be reminded today of those things which are truly wondrous.
"I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds.....Who is so great a God as our God? You are the God who does wonders." (Psalm 77:11-14a)
Praise be to "the God who does wonders"! Have a great day! Alan Smith

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Just Another Tuesday By Julianna Morlet
"He who has a generous eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor." Proverbs 22:9 (NKJV)
I woke up at 5 a.m., hit my snooze button, dragged myself out of my warm sheets and started my normal-every-Tuesday-morning-routine. I drove to Starbucks, swapped the typical weather jokes with my favorite barista, ordered my grande coffee and bagel, and walked out the glass door.
What wasn't routine was the scraggly teenage boy I ran into on my way to my truck. He was asking for something. Though I didn't clearly hear him, I assumed it was money.
I told him I was sorry but I didn't have any, and continued on.
He didn't ask again and he didn't pester me. But something in my head did. Did he ask for money or food?
Quickly, I spun around and asked, "Do you need food?" His reply was so innocent and affirmative. I held out my goodie bag. "Here ya go, a toasted bagel with cream cheese made just for you." He smiled so big, I thought his lip ring was gonna pop out.
I didn't think anything of it until I got in the truck and started pulling away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the boy peeling open the cream cheese, carefully and joyfully, like it was Christmas morning.
On my drive to the office, I wept like a broken-hearted mother.
I didn't know this boy. Had no idea what kind of trouble or circumstances got him to the streets, but I did know he was someone's son. And if my son were out on the streets, asking for food at 6:30 in the morning, I'd want that busy-looking girl to stop and give him her bagel.
Almost a month later, my mother forwarded me an email she had received from a woman in her Bible study. It read:
"Hi Alma, Viola told me she read Julianna's blog which talked about giving a hungry teenage boy her bagel. Viola wondered if it was my son Kyle because of the lip ring Julianna mentioned. I was overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude for her compassion. He was hungry and she gave him something to eat. I have attached a picture of Kyle to show Julianna to see if he is the one she fed that morning. If not, I know there is another mother out there that would be very grateful for her compassion if she knew."
I scrolled down to see the face of the boy and gasped as my eyes instantly filled with tears. It was him! The boy had a name and it was Kyle. But more than that, he had a mother. And now she knew someone had taken care of her son, even if it was just a small meal.
We are not all called to mission fields far away. We are not all called to pastor a church or lead a women's Bible study. However there is one thing we are all called to do as God's people: we're all called to love - to stop, to be aware of the hurting around us, and to have compassion. We are called to share our bread with the poor.
The Lord asks us to care. He calls us to be on the lookout for those who need our time and kindness. And yes, our bagel and cream cheese too.
"Dear Lord, give me Your heart of compassion and Your eyes to see the needs of others around me. Break my heart today, for the things that break Yours and show me how You can use me to make it right. No matter how big or small. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

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A teacher once told each of her students to bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes to school. For every person they refuse to forgive in their life's experience, they chose a potato, wrote on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag. Some of their bags were quite heavy.
They were then told to carry this bag with them everywhere for one week, putting it beside their bed at night, on the car seat when driving,
next to their desk at work.
The hassle of lugging this around with them made it clear what a weight they were carrying spiritually, and how they had to pay attention to it all the time to not forget and keep leaving it in embarrassing places.
Naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a nasty smelly slime. This was a great metaphor for the price we pay for keeping our pain and heavy negativity.
Forgiveness is a not a gift we give to the other person, rather, God's gift to us. --Author Unknown
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Matthew 6:12

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Small Straws In A Soft Wind by Marsha Burns
There are areas in your life where you have overcome or are in the process of overcoming, and all you need to do is to make a few small adjustments in order to come to complete victory. And, I say, well done, good and faithful servant. Your faithfulness and diligence will be rewarded, for the seeds you have sown will produce a bountiful harvest, says the Lord. Continue to stand in faith and trust Me to bring you through to a level of dominion and mastery over every circumstance. Psalm 8:4-6 What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him. For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.

Take time to be thankful, for there is power for blessings in thanksgiving. Stir up your gratitude by remembering what I have done for you, says the Lord. In so doing you will enter the realm of My presence and stand in holiness before My throne. There is nothing more pure in the kingdom than a grateful heart. Bring your perfect sacrifice of praise and be blessed. Psalms 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Beloved, I am bringing revelation to your heart and mind that will reveal strongholds in your life that have not yet been torn down. I will show you the way of victory, but you must quiet your own soul and refuse to give place to fear. Let Me show you the powers that are arrayed against you so that you can wage an effective spiritual war. I am about to level the playing field by giving you righteous perspective of what was and what is and what is to come, says the Lord. John 16:13
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

Old things have come to pass and a new order is being established. Do not resist moving into the new and unfamiliar, for you must do this to fulfill your kingdom destiny. Do not be afraid, but rather be obedient and yielded to My leading. Let Me cause you to stand on the firm foundation of My Word and purposes for you. I will take you step by step through this process of growth and stability in the midst of uncertainty, says the Lord.
Isaiah 42:9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them."

Events in your life will move in a rapid succession as you follow the sequence of My order for change and growth. This is no time to resist or drag your feet. Trust that I am taking you quickly to a new level of experience and existence if you will yield to the flow of My Spirit, says the Lord. Things that have held you back or hindered your progress will be exposed and dealt with. It will be a very liberating experience. James 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

Be aware that there are those who would have you take responsibility and exercise your authority with regard to their spiritual and physical condition. But, I tell you truly that your responsibility does not extend beyond your calling and personal involvement. The enemy will use guilt to suck you into situations that are neither your problem nor your business, and if you yield to the pressure to get involved, you are likely to end up getting blamed for that which is not your fault. Take every opportunity to establish good boundaries for yourself, says the Lord, and stay within your safe parameters. Acts 17:26-28 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; or in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, "For we are also His offspring."

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The Trumpet by Bill Burns
"Set the trumpet to your mouth!" Hosea 8:1
Rise up, My people, and confront the enemy of your soul. Have I not spoken in My Word that whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven? This is a true saying. Let your faith come up before Me as you exercise the authority that I have given you to take dominion over the devil. Victory is by the decree of the watchers (angels) who have watched over you and have seen the affliction that you are enduring. Now, I speak to you and say, rise up and confront the enemy in the power of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Indeed the curses against you will be broken; healing, joy, and peace will come upon you. Regain what you have lost, and re-establish your position of victory today, says the Lord. Enough is enough!

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I Asked and God Gave...
I asked for strength and God gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for wisdom and God gave me problems to solve.
I asked for prosperity and God gave me brawn and brains to work.
I asked for courage and God gave me dangers to overcome.
I asked for patience and God placed me in situations where I was forced to wait.
I asked for love and God gave me troubled people to help.
I asked for favors and God gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted; I received everything I needed.
My prayers have all been answered.
--Author Unknown

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SMILES
God put this smile upon my face.
He also gave me His redeeming grace.
I feel so very good inside
Because in my heart, He does abide.
It makes me happy when I smile.
I feel joy within all the while.
May others see Christ in me.
More like Him, I desire to be.
Every day I love Him more.
He draws me closer than before.
God grant His smile each day.
May I help others find their way.
--Evelyn D. Putnam

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Look For The Lessons
Sometimes in the pain & adversity of our trials
we consume ourselves with one thought,
Of how in the world we can escape from it
and the heartache the trial has brought.
But perhaps a better way to focus ourselves
would be to look for the lessons it contains.
For the lessons God sends us are most surely there
woven into the fibers of pain.
How else do we learn compassion for others
if not through our own severed hearts.
For brokenness is a gift the Father will bless
to prove He is doing His part.
No time of affliction is ever gone to waste
if we learn from the comfort God gives.
And when we share that comfort...grace & power is seen
and God gets glory in the life that we live.
Those times of desperation when we fall down before Him
and beseech Him with our own desperate cries,
Somehow and some way make us notice desperate people
because we see them through experienced eyes.
Heartache and adversity teach us and mold us
for they are the "textbook" God tenderly chooses,
To reveal prices lessons of wisdom and compassion
to the children He blesses and uses.
--Sheila Gosney

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Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Mark 11:22-25

"The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:8-13

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12

Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

Someone will say, "One person has faith, another has actions." My answer is, "Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions." James 2:18

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:14-17

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Sleep Like a Baby by Stacy Edwards
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. — Galatians 6:9
Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. — Judges 8:4 ESV
Whoever coined the phrase “sleep like a baby” clearly never had one wake them up every two hours for nights on end. Having a newborn in your home makes you understand all those tired moms on social media. You begin to realize that coffee is a necessity and showering is a luxury. Words like sleep, tired, and drained do not seem to do justice to how you feel.
A new baby in the house brings absolute exhaustion but also the ability to keep going. A God-given endurance seems to accompany the bone weariness, enabling a new mom or dad to be exhausted yet continue to do the things that need to be done.
Whether it’s taking care of a newborn or an ailing parent, working extra hours to make ends meet, or trying to get through the day, life can be exhausting.
Gideon knew a thing or two about physical exhaustion. He and his men had been engaged in battle, and Gideon himself described his troops as “worn out” (Judges 8:5). Gideon had overcome a great amount of fear and, in obedience to God’s commands, set out to conquer the very enemy he had been hiding from when God came to him. Once Gideon chose to be a part of what God was doing, there was no stopping him.
Sometimes, perhaps even often, God will call us to do hard things. At times we’ll be physically and emotionally weary. We must decide on the front end that, even in our exhaustion, we’ll continue to pursue the will of God.
There’s no shame in being tired. We can know that God gives strength to the weary and power to the weak (Isaiah 40:29). We can also know that if we’ll continue pursuing Him, we’ll reap the reward of those who don’t give up (Galatians 6:9).
There are times when I grow weary, Lord. In those moments, give me the strength I need to continue pursuing You so I can be counted among those who didn’t give up.
Your Turn: In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus tells us what to do when we’re tired — go to Him. Partner with Him instead of trying to do it all by ourselves. He is where we find our rest!

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SERENITY PRAYER
God grant me the Serentiy to accept
the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things i can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Living One Day At A Time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to Peace;
Taking as He did, this World as it is,
Not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right if
I surrender to His will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this Life and
Supremely Happy with Him,
Forever in the Next.
--Reinhold Neibuhr (1926)

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Read Through The Bible
Ezekiel 29
1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: 3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. 4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales. 5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven. 6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. 7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand. 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. 9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it. 10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. 11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. 12 And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. 13 Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered: 14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom. 15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. 16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God. 17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it: 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God. 21 In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

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"Dear God, I have never thanked you for my thorns. I have thanked you a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to you along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of your rainbow look much more brilliant." --Author Unknown

Wherever you are in life, whatever you've done, you can begin again. If you do not have Jesus in your life and wish to ask Jesus into your life please go to this link now to do so: https://bluidkiti.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130 .
Jesus is calling you to live a life that matters.