A Little Sin, Like A Pebble In The Shoe, Will Make A Traveller To Heaven Walk Wearily - Spurgeon

When You Focus On Being A Blessing, God Makes Sure That You Are Always Blessed In Abundance

Matthew 6: 33 - Seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and ALL these things will be given to you.
Philippians 4: 6
When we become a Christian we are part of God's family. 
He is our Father who looks after us. We find shelter in the shadow of His Wings, food and drink in His Word and air to breathe in His Holy Spirit. 
He is Our Provider - Jehovah Jireh and we are His children. 

He looks after us and His Eyes are ALWAYS on our every move. He cares for us and wants us to be near Him.

How can we doubt His Love for us? The peace He ALONE gives is beyond our understanding, because when things seem to go wrong we can face the circumstances come what may.
He has shown His Faithfulness to me so many times and I can only bow down to His Majesty and worship His Holy Name.
He IS worthy of ALL praise because He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords  forever more. Amen and Amen.

Pain May Be Discipline From God For Disobedience To His Word OR Pain May Be God's Pruning Of Our Already Fruitful Lives To Make Us More Spiritually Productive.

Today's Bible reading this morning was Colossians Chapter 4. 

Verse 5 and 6 especially made me ponder upon my witness to the world - 

"Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer every one."

It is not easy to be gracious in what we say to people around us, when they deal with us treacherously and with a lot of bad intentions, always digging holes to trap us into.

Found these on Yahoo this afternoon. It really gives us the shivers when we consider what we have in our meals everyday.

The 6 Worst Natural Ingredients

Behind the label: You may not have any idea what this weird-sounding ingredient is at first glance, but it's derived from seaweed and used in dozens of so-called "natural," and even some organic, foods to keep ingredients from separating. The problem is, it's been pegged to inflammation, which itself can lead to chronic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and arteriosclerosis.
Your move: Carrageenan is used mostly in dairy products, so read labels carefully or shop from this list of organic dairy products that are free of carrageenan.

Behind the label: The caramel candies you ate as a kid got their coloring from caramelized sugar, which turns brown as its heated. The caramel coloring you find in your soda--not so much. It's created when sugar is heated with ammonium compounds, and the process creates a cancer-causing byproduct called 4-MI, which exists as a contaminant in caramel food coloring at varying levels. Coca-Cola recently switched to a lower-MI formulation of its caramel coloring, but tests from the Center for Science in the Public Interest recently found sodas sold across the country with widely varying, and dangerous, levels.

Your move: Do you really need that soda? After all, cancer-causing contaminants are just one of many disturbing side-effects of soda, which include kidney problems and liver fat. If you do need your bubbly, opt for one of these 8 Healthy Sodas.

Behind the label: Palm oil became the go-to replacement for partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) instituted trans-fat-labeling rules on processed foods, but that replacement didn't do much for public health. A number of studies suggest that palm oil is as bad for your heart as the trans fats hidden in by partially hydrogenated oils. The most recent, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, found that it raised bad LDL cholesterol levels as much as partially hydrogenated soybean oil. In addition to its heart-damaging health problems, enormous tracts of rainforests and peat bogs have been razed or filled in to make room for palm oil plantations. Peat bogs are ecologically valuable, because they sequester globe-warming carbon dioxide, and rainforest destruction has led to the endangerment of 140 animal species in Indonesia and another 50 in Malaysia, the world's two largest producers of palm oil.

Your move: Palm oil is mostly used in crackers, cookies, and other baked goods, so scrutinize labels. Safflower or sunflower oil are healthier and don't carry the problems associated with other genetically modified vegetable oils made from corn, canola and soy. If your favorite product does contain palm oil, call the manufacturer and ask how it was sourced. Some companies use palm oil produced under an industry group called the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, which is trying to develop standards that would protect vital species habitats.

ehind the label: "Evaporated cane juice" may sound benign enough, but it's essentially refined white sugar with a fancier name, according to naturopathic physician Andrew Weil, MD. It's not even really juice, but dried crystals that are left behind after raw sugar cane has been boiled. Those crystals then undergo additional processing, removing any vitamins and minerals that may have existed in the raw sugar cane. Because it isn't juice, the FDA has proposed new rules that would make the term illegal on food packages, opting instead for "sugar" or "dried cane syrup." The agency has even sent warning letters to juice manufacturers who use the term misleadingly, for instance, advertising a product as "100% juice."

Your move: When you do need processed foods, opt for those containing sweeteners with real nutritional value, such as real maple syrup, molasses, raw honey, and others that made our list of The 5 Best Sweeteners.

Behind the label: You probably see the words "fruit juice concentrate" on a jar of jam or in a fruit drink and think it's got to be healthier than sugar, right? Wrong. Apple, pear and white grape fruit juice concentrates are some of the most commonly used sweeteners added to foods, and they're simply empty calories, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. They're used as fat replacements, because their water content provides bulk, yet they still contain high levels of fructose, a form of sugar tied to heart problems and one that can actually lower your ability to remember things.

Your move: Fruit is "nature's candy" so eat it whole. The fructose levels are tempered by the added fiber, vitamins and minerals you get when downing whole fruits. When you do need processed foods, opt for those containing sweeteners with real nutritional value, such as real maple syrup, molasses, raw honey, and others that made our list of the 5 best sweeteners.

Behind the label: There's little redeeming nutritional value to high fructose corn syrup - HFCS, the ubiquitous sweetener added to everything from bread to salad dressing. It provides empty calories, which promote obesity, it's been linked to heart disease, and the manufacturing process has the potential to contaminate it with brain-damaging mercury. Yet HFCS still shows up in so-called "natural" foods. Back in 2008, the FDA decided that, due to the highly industrialized process used to create HFCS, using the sweetener in products labeled "natural" was deceptive and misleading. But after backlash from the Corn Refiners Association, the agency reversed that decision two months later.

Your move: Few nutritionists out there would agree with the Corn Refiners Association's assertion that HFCS is "natural," but since they don't make the rules, it's up to you to read labels. HFCS is very common in "low-fat" foods, so read ingredient lists.

These were seen yesterday from http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/funny-signs-from-around-the-world/

Every Morning Lean Thine Arm A While Upon The Window Sill Of Heaven And Gaze Upon Thy God. Then With That Vision In Thine Heart, Turn Strong To Meet The Day.

Today's morning Bible reading was Colossians chapters 2 and 3.

These are what I noticed in Chapter 2 - 
CHRIST in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.v 3

...you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ⁷ rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

⁸ Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

⁹ For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 
¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
¹¹ In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ...

¹² buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 
¹³ And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses...

¹⁶ So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths...

¹⁸ Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

¹⁹ and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

²⁰ Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— 

²¹ “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 

²² which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 

²³ These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

In Chapter 3 -

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 

³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 

⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

⁵ Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 
⁶ Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience...
⁸ But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 
⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 
¹⁰ and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 
¹¹ where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
¹² Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 
¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
¹⁴ But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. ¹⁵ And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 
¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 
¹⁷ And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.


¹⁸ Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.
²⁰ Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
²¹ Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
²² Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 
²³ And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 
²⁵ But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

Such profound blessings and instructions to lead a fruitful spiritual life in Christ.

Also made a pudding - Express Pudding

Ingredients:
275 ml bread crumbs or plain flour
100 ml sugar
15 ml baking powder
275 ml milk
3 eggs
5 ml vanilla essence
Method:
Mix dry ingredients. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and mix with balloon whisk.
Steam for 20 minutes or 6 minutes on High in a microwave. 
I've added some almonds and chocolate shavers. 

When One Door Of Happiness Closes, Another opens; BUT We Look So Long At The Closed Door That We Do Not See The One That Has Been Opened For Us - Helen Keller

"When a relationship ends, or you lose the job you love, or you don't get that scholarship, it's easy to get stuck in disappointment. Unfortunately, while you're staring at the closed door, you're missing the new ones that are constantly opening all around you.

One way not to get stuck is to ritually say goodbye when happiness leaves you. Write a letter and bid farewell. Then simply sit quietly and mentally release the person or situation you just lost.

Go for a walk and, with each step, see yourself moving on to new opportunities. They may not be what you expect, so be sure to stay open and positive for what the future may bring."  Madonna Gauding

Today's menu was turnip and beetroot chicken soup, patole and salted fish, cauliflower, mushroom, carrot, bell peppers and chicken chop suey.

Discussed about going to Canada next year for my nephew Brian's wedding. However, several issues were brought onto the table: the cost of the ticket, the number of vacation days I would take and the number I'm allowed to take, the fact that it will still be cold at that time of the year.

Everything is pending for now. We'll discuss more later. Request is given to pray earnestly about it. God will surely make a way where there seems to be no way. He is and has always been faithful. We are His children and we know He considers us to be precious as we are close to His heart.

The Time God Allows Us Is ALWAYS Enough For The Work HE Allots Us.

Ephesians 2:4-10 - New King James Version (NKJV)

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 

⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 

⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly placesin Christ Jesus, 

⁷ that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 

⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.

¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

 Everyone of us, children of God, has a race set before us to run. We also have a mission to fulfill and it is only by HIS GRACE ALONE that we can do so. We need to be sensitive to HIS VOICE to accomplish HIS WILL before meeting HIM FACE TO FACE.

We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. - George Bernard Shaw

"Play is not just for children, or even just for humans. Animals play in order to practise for the hunt, to socialise, to keep fit, to stay alert and to enjoy themselves.

Children play to learn motor skills, to practise being adults and to experience joy.

Adults need to play to be creative, to experience joy and continue to learn.

Yet it's extremely easy to forget how to play. How can you bring play back into your life? If you're feeling inhibited, start playing more with your own or other people's kids. Play with your pets. Be more playful with your partner. Try to bring the spirit of play into every day." Madonna Gauding

Today we had a session of Pictionary in French and in English. We had such fun and lots of belly laughs with my colleagues and rector.
These activities form part of our Team Building strategy.

Since Monday I've begun to read "Dig even Deeper".

 Had a few sessions of "Dig Deeper" last year.

These two books are really good for Bible studies. They're easy to follow and written in simple English.

Malcolm Smith Webinar 4

Windy weather today!! Spent the whole morning doing my crochet doily at school. 

Watching Malcolm Smith's webinars - Session 4: Prayer and Receiving His Peace.

Freebies from websites and blogs

This week began with the sermon on "Running the Race with perseverance" on Sunday.  Hebrews 12: 1-3

Finishing The Race Already Won For Us

Exams are on and I'm still discovering how to write and customize a blog.

Found some freebies and some are really lovely.

Still trying to add the buttons and use them here. Meeting some difficulty but keep trying.

Am thinking of creating an educational blog soon to help students and share the riches I have in notebooks I've kept for some years now.

I'm sure everyone will benefit from them in one way or another.  But, of course, I'm relying on God to inspire me and give me insight in this endeavour.

Visiting other blogs and learning how to customize mine

Saw these on http://thesavvvyshopper.blogspot.com/ and found them so funny.