APPLYING AND REMOVING By Marion Smith

Each morning and evening I have the same routine. Yours may be similar. I apply my make up each morning and remove it at night. I take off my night gown and put on my work clothes. I remove my bite guard in the morning and replace it before bed. I even have these cycles in other areas of my life. I take off weight, then put it on
again. I shed my life of extra activities, then take them back on again. Off and on, off and on.... What a routine!

God tells us there is something we need to take off, and we only need to do it once. That sounds really good to me! It is our old nature (called our sin nature in the Bible). It leads us into nothing but trouble and is rotten through and through. (Ephesians4:22) When we take that off, God gives us a new nature. One where we have a
spiritual renewal of our thoughts and attitudes. We will display this new nature because we are made new people after we have learned the truth that is in Jesus. Attributes of this new and wonderful nature are righteousness, holiness and truth, for our new nature displays that we have been created in God's likeness.

I am glad I have shed the old nature and received the new. And, I am thankful it is a one time swap! God is so good!

10 RULES FOR A BLESSED DAY Author Unknown

1. TODAY I WILL NOT STRIKE BACK . . .
If someone is rude, if someone is impatient, if someone is unkind, I will not respond in a like manner.

2. TODAY I WILL ASK GOD TO BLESS MY 'ENEMY'
If I come across someone who treats me harshly or unfairly, I will quietly ask God to bless that individual. I understand "enemy" could be a family member, neighbor, co-worker or stranger.

3. TODAY I WILL BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT I SAY . . .
I will carefully choose and guard my words being certain that I do not spread gossip.

4. TODAY I WILL GO THE EXTRA MILE . . .
I will find ways to help share the burden of another person.

5. TODAY I WILL FORGIVE . . .
I will forgive any hurts or injuries that come my way.

6. TODAY I WILL DO SOMETHING KIND FOR SOMEONE, (BUT I WILL DO IT IN SECRET . . . )
I will reach out anonymously and bless the life of another.

7. TODAY I WILL TREAT OTHERS THE WAY I WISH TO BE TREATED . . .
I will practice the golden rule. "Do Unto others as I would have them do unto me"- with EVERYONE I encounter.

8. TODAY I WILL RAISE THE SPIRITS OF SOMEONE WHO IS DISCOURAGED . . .
My smile, my words, my expression of support, can make the difference to someone who is wrestling with life.

9. TODAY I WILL NURTURE MY BODY . . .
I will eat less . . . I will eat only healthy foods. I will thank God for my body.

10. TODAY I WILL GROW SPIRITUALLY . . .
I will spend a little more time in prayer today. I will begin reading something spiritual or inspirational; I will find a quiet place (at some point during this day) and listen to God's voice.

Luke 10:27
He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Luke 10:27
We learn three principles about loving our neighbor: (1) lack of love is often easy to justify, even though it is never right; (2) our neighbor is anyone of any race, creed, or social background who is in need; and (3) love means acting to meet the person's needs.

Wherever you live, there are needy people close by. There is no good reason for refusing to help.

Remember, today is a gift from God so treat it preciously.

ANTIQUES By Marion Smith

There is a television show called The Antique Road Show. The t.v. show sends professional appraisers from one city to another, rent large meeting facilities and set up shop. Camera, lights and ....action! The show is ready to be filmed.

When an announcement is made in a city that the show will be filmed there, people get busy. They scurry to their attics to seek out hidden treasures, hoping that they will have that "special and very valuable" antique. They take what they have discovered to one of the professional appraisers and the stage is set!

Some of their finds are lovely to look at, and I would think they have great monitory value. Others look old and worn, and just plain strange. I wouldn't give two cents for them..!

The interesting thing is that the professional appraiser can look for certain identifying marks to let them know if a particular item is a valuable find. It may be a small engraved date, a certain style of craftsmanship, or another clue that the ordinary person would not recognize. They inspect the item, then make the announcement the owner is waiting for. I usually make my personal assessment before the professional one is given. More times than not, I am totally wrong! I think a piece is pretty or looks good to me, and it is a replica or a forgery. I think something looks old and grungy, and it is very worthy!! I am not a very good judge of antiques, that's for sure.

Christians are like antiques, you know. Some are shiny and pretty on the outside-looking well put together, and others are really old and worn; scruffy and shabby. How quick I am to judge someone by his appearance or by his works. I could be as far off base as I am about the antiques. It's a good thing God sees the heart of each person and knows the intent of each ones' actions. People can fool others, but NO ONE ever fools God. I think I had better just live my life and walk in love, not condemning or judging anyone. I believe I will just leave that up to God.. for He is the great appraiser of each one on this earth.

TO SEE IN THE DARK By: Bro. Andrew Maria

A boy and his father are walking through a large forest. To cross to the other side, they have to pass through a long dark tunnel. The boy hesitates at the entrance.

"Father," the boy says, "how can I walk in there when it is so dark? I will not see where I am going. We have neither candles nor torches to light our way."

The father calmly tells his son, "Once inside, close your eyes for several minutes to give them a chance to get accustomed to the dark. When you open them again, I assure you that you will be able to see the way through the tunnel."

The boy does what his father has told him. After closing his eyes for sometime, he is able to see inside the tunnel. Through it is very dark, he and his father are able to cross safely to the other side.

"Son," the father tells him, "if you don't have anything with which to light the darkness, use darkness to see in the dark."

FAITH is that darkness....

GETTING WHAT YOU WANT By Steve Brown

I saw another senseless thing under the sun: a man alone, without son or brother, working endlessly, his greed never satisfied with wealth ' For whom do I work and deprive myself of pleasure?' This, too, is nonsense and mistaken investment." (Ecclesiastes 4:7-8)


I was in a bookstore the other day and a clerk came up to me and said, "Can I help you?"

"I don't know what I want," I answered. "But when I find it, I'll let you know."

Most of us are like that. We're really not sure what we want. And even if we stumbled onto what we thought it was, we would probably find out that it wasn't what we wanted anyway.

The most unhappy person in the world is not someone who didn't get what he or she wanted. The most unhappy person is the one who got what he or she wanted and then found out that it wasn't as wonderful as expected. The secret of a happy life is not to get what you want but to live with what you've got. Most of us spend our lives
concentrating on what we don't have instead of thanking God for what we do have . Then we wake up, our life is over, and we missed the beauty of the present. You think about that.

What do you really want out of life? In your pursuit of it, are you missing anything along the way? Could you even be missing greater joys? Don' treat these questions flippantly. Your answers will reveal a lot about what you hold most dear, and what your answers don't include may tell you what you're missing in the process.

Is this pursuit really worth the process?