Noble art

Besides the noble art of getting things done,

there is the noble art of leaving things undone.

The wisdom of life consists

in the elimination of non-essentials.

Lin Yu Tang

Creative Life

Have a great weekend.

Just As We Are

Good morning.
Here is a little something from the book,
"The Spiritual Maxims of Brother Lawrence".

***

In the way of God, thoughts count for little,
love is everything.

Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do.
We can do little things for God;
I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of Him.

We search for stated ways and methods of learning
how to love God,
and to come at that love
we disquiet our minds
by I know not how many devices;
we give ourselves a world of trouble
and pursue a multitude of practices to attain to a sense
of the Presence of God.
And yet it is so simple.

How very much shorter it is and easier to do
our common business purely
for the love of God,
to set His consecrating mark on all we lay hands to,
and thereby to foster the sense of
His abiding Presence
by communion of our heart with His!

There is no need either of art or science;
just as we are,
we can go to Him,
simply and with single heart."

The little troubles and worries of life,
so many of which we meet,
may be as stumbling blocks in our way,
or we may make them steppingstones to a noble character and to Heaven.

Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things.

Henry Ward Beecher

The rainbow

“The bow shall be seen in the cloud.”

- Gen_9:14

The rainbow, the symbol of the covenant with Noah,
is typical of our Lord Jesus, who is the Lord’s witness to the people.

God’s rainbow is hung over the cloud of our sins,
our sorrows, and our woes,
to prophesy deliverance.

It is said that when we see the rainbow the shower is over.

Certain it is, that when Christ comes, our troubles remove;
when we behold Jesus, our sins vanish,
and our doubts and fears subside.
When Jesus walks the waters of the sea,
how profound the calm!

C.H. Spurgeon

Utopian Society

There is a joke operating behind the scene-flats of history. It has as its running gag the ambition to perfect mankind and create a utopian society. In 4,000 years of such hucksterage it has not dawned on the particular activists that every attempt to perfect humanity brings only calamity.

Michael A. Hoffman II ~ Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare
Preface to the 1995 Edition

What is Grace?

Wikipedia defines grace as ~ "unmerited favour"

God's grace is a wonderful gift to humankind. Grace is God's love freely offered to us. We do not do anything to "earn" it.

The grace or love of God, whence cometh our salvation, is FREE IN ALL, and FREE FOR ALL.... It is free in all to whom it is given.

It does not depend on any power or merit in man; no, not in any degree, neither in whole, nor in part.

It does not in anywise depend either on the good works or righteousness of the receiver; not on anything he has done, or anything he is.

It does not depend on his endeavors.

It does not depend on his good tempers, or good desires, or good purposes and intentions;
for all these flow from the free grace of God;
they are the streams only, not the fountain.
They are the fruits of free grace, and not the root.
They are not the cause, but the effects of it.

The above was taken from: John Wesley

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
John 1:14 & 17 ~ KJV Bible

May we all be blessed by God's grace as go about our daily lives.

The Story of the Song Amazing Grace

Life can be ...

... overwhelming at times.

The news these days is nothing but negative. There are things that we need to think about to survive each day.

Sometimes it is hard to put one foot in front of the other, or to stay in a positive mindset.

But, there is help and hope.

Walking out into my gardens, I see things that make me gasp in delight, or say ooohhh, aaahhh. I am reminded of God and thank Him for His wonderful creation, for the Love and Light He sheds on us each and every day. We don't know what each day will bring us, good or bad, or in between, but we can know that He is with us every step of the way. He is our strength when we are weak, He lifts us up when we fall, and with Him we can fly like the eagles.

May we all feel God's loving presence surrounding us as we go about our daily lives.

Have a great weekend

Musings from FL zone 10