Bible Verses

Psalm 72: 1-2, 10, 12-13
R: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
1 O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king's son; 2 he shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. (R) 10 The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. (R) 12 For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13 He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save.

G O S P E L
Mark 6:45-52
The presence of Jesus with them in the boat ought to have been enough to give the apostles peace. However, what we have is a lesson in the way fear can lead us to make an irrational response to a given situation. The apostles have seen the power Jesus has over the natural world in the multiplication of the loaves and fish. They ought to have been free from fear in this situation but they were not. Why? They allowed fear in and it began to take over. Let this be a sobering lesson to us all.

45 Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray. 47 When it was evening, the boat was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore. 48 Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them. 49 But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out. 50 They had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he spoke with them, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid! 51 He got into the boat with them and the wind died down. They were [completely] astounded. 52 They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.
my reflections

think: Fear is ultimately a destructive thing if it goes unchecked. The antidote to fear is love.

Bible Verses

1 John 4: 11-18

Fear is ultimately a destructive thing if it goes unchecked. The antidote to fear is love. As John says, "perfect love casts out all fear". This is why we should always be wary if fear arises in our lives. Where does it come from? Why is it there? Let us seek to address the fears in our lives with the truth of God's love for us. If we do this, I am 100 percent sure that we will be transformed for the better.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. 13 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit. 14 Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. 15 Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. 16 We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. 17 In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.

Bible Verses

Redemption in Him: Christ Has Set Us Free!
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:5,6 NIV
______________

Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Galatians 1:3-5 KJV
______________

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
1 Peter 2:24,25 NASB
______________

How's the memorization project coming? "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee." Be an overcomer! Memorize Romans 6.
______________
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

Bible Readings

Meditation: The Bread of Life

"I Am The Bread of Life"

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

"But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.

"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.

"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

"This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

John 6:35-40 NASB

My Day!!

Macadamia, the King of Nuts

taken outside the Chocolate Factory

Me and my friend from Ramstein went today to a chocolate factory in Laaber. The Seidle Confiserie is around 30 minutes drive from our house. Since my friend will be leaving tomorrow back home, she bought some chocolates as present for her family. We really had some fun during our stay there. We made some picture-taking in which some customers were looking at us. They just wondered where the flash of the camera came from. Well, we don't care as long as we can have from photos from there.

The factory sales a variety of chocolates especially with different kind of nuts. Just happened to read there that Macadamia is the King of Nuts. Well, I love nuts but I just avoid eating it all the time because I always got pimples every time I eat a lot.

I would like to share some photos for some evidence...just kidding!!...we just had a nice day today...hope you too..enjoy your weekend!!

the Singing Animals inside the Choco Factory

me and my friend in Seidl Confiserie

that parrot above with the orange bill speaks about chocolates

the moving Elephant, just simply amazing

we really enjoyed taking pix here

Bible Readings

No longer slaves to sin.

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin -- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Romans 6:6,7 NIV

______________

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

1 John 2:1-3 KJV

______________

This is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.''

Acts 10:42,43 NASB

______________

In Christ, we are more than conquerors... Try memorizing Romans 6 - the whole chapter and ask the Lord to help you overcome sin on a daily basis!

______________

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith; the only faith
that saves is faith in Him.

The Exceptions Can Kill You

Just happened to read this in my email which I also want to share with you. Hope you will get some thoughts/lessons from it.

Question: How many times have you been cornered by an individual who was excited about his new eating and exercise program? Did he go into great detail about how much it had improved his confidence, self-image and energy level and how wonderful he felt? Of course he did, and he probably told you far more about it than you really wanted to know.

Chances are good you didn't see that person for a few months, and when you did, you noticed he had regained the weight and that his enthusiasm had diminished, and his life was not nearly as promising for him as it had been.

Needless to say, you wondered what happened. In most cases, the answer is simple: One day, he made an "exception" to the process of eating sensibly and exercising regularly because "one time wouldn't matter." Then, a week or so later, he made the second exception, and a few days later, he made the third because he "couldn't really tell any difference." Once that old set of destructive habits had been firmly re-entrenched, the newer, better way of living was all over. It started with the first exception.

All of us have heard about people who stopped smoking for 10 years and then, one day, they made the exception with disastrous results. Or the alcoholic who had been sober for years and, one day, decided that a glass of wine or one beer couldn't really be that bad, and besides, he owed it to himself to have a little fun.

The rest of the story becomes history. The message really is very clear: Once you get on the right path, stay there. Watch those exceptions; they can be destroyers.

Think about it, and I'll see you at the top!

----

Success Is a Partnership

There is an old cliche that behind every successful man, there is a surprised mother-in-law. In most, if not all, cases, success is a direct result of the efforts of the individual and the support and encouragement of others.

Like the fellow says, when you see a turtle on a fence post, you can rest assured that he did not get there by himself. When you see an individual climbing the success ladder and reaching the top, you can rest assured he did not get there entirely as a result of his own efforts. In virtually every case, each person had hope and encouragement from others.

Nathaniel Hawthorne is a good example. He was discouraged and had a broken heart when he went home to tell his wife that he was a failure because he had been fired from his job in the customs house. Upon hearing the news, she startled him with an exuberant exclamation of joy. "Now," she said triumphantly, "you can write your book!" To that, Hawthorne responded with the question, "What are we going to live on while I am writing this book?" To his surprise and delight, she opened a drawer and drew out a substantial sum of money. "Where did you get that?" he asked. Her response is classic: "I've always known you were a man of genius," she told him, "and I knew that someday you would write a masterpiece, so every week, out of the money you gave me for housekeeping, I saved part of it. Here's enough to last us for a whole year." From wife Sophia's trust, confidence, thrift and careful planning came one of the classics of American literature: "The Scarlet Letter."

This story of success can be repeated a few thousand times -- or make that a few million. It happens all the time.

If this is your story in life, I hope you're careful to give credit to those who assisted you because if you do, I will see you farther up the ladder to the top!

by: Zig Ziglar