Bibliophile

Happy "World Book Night" to all you book lovers!! <3

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"...help thou my unbelief."

Last week I posted a morning devotional from Spurgeon's Morning and Evening; today I am posting the evening devotional from the same day. I've also added my own thoughts at the end.

Enjoy! :)

Spurgeon's Morning and Evening; evening devotional November  9

“His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.”

Isaiah 33.16

O Christian, do you doubt whether God will fulfill his promise? Can the "munitions of rocks" be taken by storm? Shall the storehouses of heaven fail? Do you think that your heavenly Father will forget you, even though he knows that you need food and clothing? When not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge, and the "very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matt. 10.30), will you mistrust and doubt Him? Perhaps your affliction will continue until you dare to trust your God, and then it will end. There are a great many believers who have undergone trials and been very stressed, until at last they have been driven in sheer desperation to exercise faith in God—and the moment of their faith has been the instant of their deliverance. They have seen whether or not God would keep His promise. Oh, I urge you, do not doubt him any longer! Do not please Satan, and do not distress yourself, by indulging in unbelieving thoughts about God any longer. Do not think it is a light matter to doubt Jehovah. Remember, it is a sin, and not a little sin, either; it is criminal in the highest degree. The angels never doubted him, and neither did the demons. We alone, out of all the beings that God has made, dishonour Him by unbelief, and tarnish His honour by mistrust. Shame on us for this! Our God is not deserving of such low-minded suspicion. In the past, we have proved Him to be true and faithful to His Word. With the many examples of His love and of his kindness that we have received, and are daily receiving, from His hands, it is disgraceful and inexcusable for us to allow a doubt to stay within our hearts. From this time on, may we wage constant war against doubts of our God, which are enemies to our peace, to His honor. With an unwavering faith, may we believe that what He has promised, He will also perform. “Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9.24).

I had never thought about it that way. We are pleasing Satan when we doubt God! We are dishonoring Him, and tarnishing His honor with mistrust! I don't know about you, but I'm not perfect. I am a fallen human being. I do not trust Christ as I should. Every time we complain, we are doubting His promises! Does He not know what is best for us? Does He not love us and care for us each and every day? I encourage you - trust Him today! Do not dishonor Him with mistrust. Do not please Satan by complaining. God has given us people in our lives to teach us patience, kindness and obedience. When your mom or dad tells you to clean your room or look after your younger siblings - what is your first reaction? Is it "yes ma'am/sir"? Even if it is, what is your heart's reaction? Do you grumble and complain in your heart? If we cannot obey our parents and teachers with a cheerful and obedient heart, how much harder then will it be to obey Christ? Remember you are setting an example to everyone around you. Everyone! If your little sister or brother sees you get aggravated when you're given an instruction, what do you think she/he will do the next time they're told to do something?

I hope this devotional and my own thoughts have encouraged and inspired you to trust the Lord. I am constantly learning. God is very good to teach me these things. I pray you will seek after Christ!

Soli Deo Gloria!

  *¸.-:|:- .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:|:-  Emily -:|:-~~'
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Did you enjoy the devotional? You can read Spurgeon's Morning and Evening online, here!

"...so walk ye in Him."

My two most cherished possessions are my Bible and Spurgeon's Morning and Evening. (my camera comes in close third:)

Here is today's morning devotional, please read it! I often find encouragement and guidance from this wonderful book. Charles Hadden Spurgeon was a mighty man of God; he was blessed with a ready pen and now I am blessed through his writings.

Spurgeon's Morning and Evening; morning devotional November  9

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.”

Colossians 2.6

If we have received Christ himself in our inmost hearts, our new lives will manifest their intimate acquaintance with Him by a walk of faith in him. Walking implies action. Our religion is not to be confined to our private prayer times. We must carry out into practical actions that which we believe. If a person walks in Christ, then he acts as Christ would act. Since Christ is in him as his hope, his love, his joy, his life, he is the reflection of the image of Jesus. People say of that person, “He is like his Master; he lives like Jesus Christ.” Walking signifies progress. “So walk ye in him.” Proceed from grace to grace. Run forward until you reach the uttermost degree of knowledge that a person can attain concerning our Beloved. Walking implies continuance. There must be a perpetual abiding in Christ. How many Christians think that in the morning and evening they ought to come into the company of Jesus, but then they give their hearts to the world all day? But this is poor living. We should always be with Him, treading in His steps and doing His will. Walking also implies habit. When we speak of a man’s walk and conversation, we mean his habits and the constant character of his life. Now, if we sometimes enjoy Christ, and then forget him; sometimes call Him ours, and immediately lose our hold, that is not a habit; we do not walk in him. We must keep close to Him, cling to Him, never let Him go; we should live and have our being in Him. “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.” Persevere in the same way in which ye have begun. As at the first Christ Jesus was the trust of your faith, the source of your life, the principle of your action, and the joy of your spirit, so let Him be the same until life’s end--the same when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death and enter into the joy and the rest that remains for the people of God. Holy Spirit, enable us to obey this heavenly precept.

 I hope you are uplifted today through this devotional. Always remember to walk with Christ! He is our Hope and Salvation. Our outward actions make more of an impact than we realize. Try your hardest to be a Godly influence in the lives of others and ask God for help! We can do NOTHING without Him. But "[we] can do all things through Christ who strengthens [us]." Philippians 4.13

If you do not own a copy of Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, I wholeheartedly commend it to you. Look it up. Find it. Buy it. ;D Or you can read it online here. Either way, I believe you'll be blessed.

Soli Deo Gloria!

  *¸.-:|:- .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:|:-  Emily -:|:-~~'
     ((¸¸.·´

Sacred Journey

This past Sunday we had a wonderful visitor at our church, Brother David Bandaru (ban-DARE-oo), indigenous missionary to Hyderabad India.
 
Our church has supported his ministry for over eighteen years. It was wonderful to finally meet him! I really enjoyed hearing about his ministry and getting to speak with him. It was a very nice treat and a big blessing.
 
The first picture below is of his Bible. Notice anything intriguing about it? On the left of each page is the scripture in the Telugu language. On the right of each page is the same scripture printed in English! It was very interesting indeed.

   

The second picture below is of our congregation (minus about eight people) with Bro. Bandaru.

You can see John 3.16 in English on the right, and in Talugu on the left!

Bro. Bandaru and I have a common interest...... cameras!!
He repairs film cameras as a hobby and hopes to learn more about digital soon! It was very fun to talk to him. :D

Left to right back row: Me, Dad, Glenn, Bro. Bandaru, Wil, Stephen C., Jan
Left to right middle row: Mom, Peggy, Madison, our pastor JD Graham, Karen, Johnny
Left to right front row: Lily, Stephen G., Caleb
very front: Aiden :)

In Print!

If someone had asked me before today, what it's like to have one of my pictures in a book... I'd have said I have absolutely no idea.

Well now I know!! And it's really cool!!

I received an email a while back saying that "one or more of your pictures have been published in this book" from WestKentuckyStar.com. A few months ago we heard on the radio that a certain publication was looking for pictures from the 2011 flood. So I looked up the website and submitted several photos. Viola. I had NO idea some of my pictures would actually be picked to go in the book!!

Here are a few pictures of the book and the pages my photos are on. You can see the original photos and other 2011 flood photos taken by me, here.

Le book!

www.2011FloodBook.com

My picture is the top right.

I edited this in PSE7, the caption doesn't really look like this in the book.

My photo is, again, the picture on the right of the left page.

Again - I edited this picture so my picture's caption would stand out.

I'm... kinda excited. =))

Excited

The title explains my current emotions perfectly. One or more of my flood photos have been chosen to be published in The Great Flood of 2011 book!!! (2011floodbook.com) I am so excited! wow, I can't believe it!

I look forward to seeing which one(s) they chose. :)