IT IS HERE

Psalm 29:11   The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.

Two things we desperately need today are promised in this verse.

But all around are the enemies of God who fight Him and wish to curse.

Oh that mankind would call upon God to give them the strength that they need,

Then He would bless them with power and peace, and from their sins be freed.

Make this your prayer today, my friend, and you will get more than you ask,

He'll answer you with a loving heart and in His grace you will bask.(RP)

We had a good class yesterday morning with a better attendance because of the good weather. We had fellowship with long time friends in the afternoon, and last night during supper, our new laptop was delivered. I am in the middle of the arduous task of deciding which things I want to transfer to the new machine. I am separating things onto an external hard drive. It is going well, but I have no idea when I will be able to start using the new laptop. Thanks for praying.

WEATHER PERMITTING

Psalms 7:1

O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me

In days of turmoil and strife, it is comforting to know someone cares,

Someone who listens at all times to believers who make these prayers,

God is a refuge strong, for those who seek help in His mighty love,

Because they know He is with them, helping them from above.

Christians have those who pursue them, trying to upset their day,

But God is their strong tower, giving relief as they walk in His way. (RP)

Even though the weather report talks about snow today, we believe we can still have our class. Tomorrow the snow is suppose to intensify, so now we wonder what things will be like on Sunday for church. We will just have to see. Today our new laptop is supposed to be delivered. We hope so, because this present one is being quite temperamental. I am mostly concerned how to transfer all our files and programs onto the new one. We will face that challenge later. Thanks for praying.  

HAIR & PRAYER

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Acts 16:25

At midnight Paul & Silas sang and prayed to God above.

Who heard their cries and sent relief because of His great love.

They suffered much for Jesus’ sake

But God had made a plan,

To bring salvation in this jail and save the jailer man. (RP)

We have shortened our schedule title for Thursday to Hair and Prayer. Margie goes to the hairdresser in the morning. I take her there and help get her up from the chair where she gets her hair washed. Then I usually shop or whatever, then get her and we go home for lunch. Shortly thereafter we leave for church and the prayer meeting. I tired to get as much done with the laptop yesterday for fear it might die on me. I got everything ready for the Friday Bible class. Last night we had a great time and meal with Armond Daws and his daughter and son-in-law, and Char, a friend. Thanks for praying.

PATIENCE

Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Jesus calls the weary to rest; in Him is there only true rest,

In this marvelous Person one can truly be spiritually blest.

He calls you today to come to Him; there your heart will abide,

Rest and peace you will receive, because you are at His side.(RP)

Working with computers requires patience. As my laptop "awaits" its substitute, a new laptop, it is acting up in unusual ways. I hope I can get everything done I need to before it gives out. I am in the middle of preparing the new study sheet for the book of Matthew that we begin in a couple of weeks. I will hand it to the students this Friday, if I have completed it. We pray the laptop will last that long. Thanks for praying. 

HANGING ON

James 4:14  Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

We really do not know how long we will really be here,

Most of us agree that life is very special and so dear.

Tomorrow is so very uncertain, we all know this is so,

Just check the obituaries and then you too will know.

Life is likened to a vapor that arises out of the kettle,

Eternity is a spiritual matter that everyone should settle.

Jesus is the way to heaven; receive him for eternal life,

He forgives sin, gives eternal life and saves from much strife.  (RP)

We are hoping and praying our laptop will hang on until Friday. It crashed again yesterday. The new computer is scheduled to arrive Friday. The colossal job of transferring everything to the new one can get involved. I read several articles yesterday that mentioned it might take 30 hours. I am looking for software to help me with this. I use the laptop all the time so need to get the new one up and running as soon as possible. Our weather is very cold, and the northeast strong winds bring the chill factor down. Thanks for praying.

HERE WE GO

So we may boldly say;The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me? Heb 13:6

Oh how wonderful to serve the Lord and trust Him day by day,

Leaning trustingly upon Him as I walk along the way.

He is our greatest Helper and trusted Friend indeed.

And with Him no fear assails me and with Him we will succeed. (RP)

Here we go on our new adventure into 2017. At our ages, we are amazed we made it to this year. There are many things we would love to do in our service for the Lord this year. We pray He will be pleased to allow it to happen. Yesterday was a nice day for us. Our son was here for part of the morning. He helped me pick out a practical laptop for our ministry work, and we ordered it online. Harold bought it for us, and we are so grateful for his never-ending generosity. Ione Beyerlin, a long time friend at church was in the hospital yesterday morning, so I left Margie at church and I went to visit and pray for her.  Rawlie did the same on his way home. Thanks for praying. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Psalm 65:11 You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance.

We look back to last year and praise the Lord for all He has meant to us,

And realize very soon that it will be the same as we face this year with a plus.

God's goodness abounds to us all, and we never can thank Him enough,

Because we know one thing is sure: He'll be there in good times and rough. (RP)

We had a good ending to 2016 and now a fine start to 2017. Our son was with us since Thursday night, and returns this morning. The snow did not fall as deeply as they predicted. There will be church this morning. We look forward to it. We trust this day will be a blessing to you, and the entire year will be filled with His blessings. Thanks for praying.