This is from an email forward that someone shared with me a while back and I truly enjoyed it.  There are so very many people who are out there in this country that are hurting from lost jobs,  lost homes, health problems, broken families, or having lost a loved one or friend recently.  This is for you......enjoy

Hello Vox family & friends:  I know I haven't been here lately.  Too much has been going on to keep me busy, thus limiting my computer time.  But, I have a little bit of free time today and wanted to share this with you all.  I really love her (Jennifer Rothschild) and she has such a precious spirit about her........and, I do "wonder" at her abilities & all that she accomplishes since she is blind.  She does "amaze" me.  And, it makes me feel ashamed of myself,  because I sometimes allow my health circumstances limit what I do or accomplish for a day.   Hmmm-mmmm, guess I need to
re-evaluate myself and what can I accomplish..........do enjoy what follows:

What God Has Been Teaching Me Lately

I do hope you enjoy this......she is very special to me & I enjoyed her little devotion here on worry......hope you enjoy it and God speaks to your hearts as He did mine.  God Bless.......

Fresh Grounded Thoughts

What God Has Been Teaching Me Lately Never Worry Alone   A sage thinker, Charlie Brown, once said, "I've developed a new philosophy... I only dread one day at a time." There's big insight in that funny little statement. It captures the intuitive truth that sometimes we can't always prevent worry or dread, so we must find ways to manage it.     I know the Bible tells us not to worry.  We read "Be anxious for nothing" (Phil. 4:6), "Cast all your cares upon Him" (1 Peter 5:7) and other admonishments.  But, here's the deal-- sometimes worry is just an automatic response.  I would love to obey the "don't worry" commands with soldier-like compliance, but I don't.  I try, but I don't always pull it off.  So, on those days when my worry is getting the best of me, I've learned strategies for handling it.   The first way I handle worry is by turning my worry into prayer.  In other words, I rephrase what I am ruminating on and redirect it to God.  Rather than meditating on the unknown all by myself, I rephrase my worry into a prayer that invites God into it.  So instead of focusing on "what if" and rehearsing it over and over in my own mind, I start with "Dear God" rather than "Dear me!"  Constantly reminding myself about things that haven't happened and things I have no control over are just wasting my precious emotional energy.  But telling God my worries and forming them into prayers moves them from my mind to His shoulders.  That's helped me a lot, but I have also found another way to manage worry--involve a friend!    Friends should never let friends worry alone!  Often, worry is based on feelings rather than facts. Sometimes our worry-filled feelings are due to very bleak and real facts.  But, most often, our worry-filled feelings are because of unclear or unknown facts!  All our worries can find clarity in the honest conversation of a friend. The Greek philosopher Antisthenes wrote, "There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself - an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who loves you dearly."  Why worry alone when a friend can tell you the truth, share the burden and help eliminate the panic?    We need both the friendship of God and the friendship of people when it comes to worry.  People can be the ears of God, the mouth of God and the presence of God to us.  He uses friends to be the blanket of comfort that makes worry settle down.  He uses the ears of friends to be the depository of frazzled nerves so they can't keep unnerving us.    Our first place to put worry is in the presence of God, but if you keep on grabbing it back from the throne of God, share it with a friend over coffee!  I am learning to humble myself and involve friends in my weaknesses and worries, and it lightens my burden and strengthens our bonds.  "The best preservative to keep the mind in health is the faithful admonition of a friend." (Francis Bacon)   Never worry alone.  Nothing that is kept secret brings health and happiness; it just gains more power.  Detox the trouble and disarm the disturbance by sharing it with a trusted friend.  You may find that you leave the conversation with far less worry and far more wisdom than you started with!   "Let us be of good cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which will never happen."  (James Russell Lowell) Well, that's what's been percolating in me lately!

It has been a pretty nice day today.  Woke up to thunder & lightening....saw that it had rained some.  But, it cleared up while my mom and I went out to pay some bills and do a little shopping.  We saw some absolutely awesome trees today that had changed colors....I was wishing I had my camera with me.  I don't know why that happens....usually I keep it in my purse, so guess I need to put it back so I will have it, huh?

Ran up on some great sales at J.C. Penny.....ended up with two pair of shoes (dress & everyday) and also bought hubby a new light weight jacket.  He was in need & I haven't unpacked the winter coats and jackets....but, I knew that he was needing a nice new one, so got him a Kacki colored micro-fiber one for half price....so, it was truly an awesome day for shopping. :) :)

The painter finally got the one wall painted with my dark red color in the dining room.  It really looks great with the Chestertown Buff yellow color that the rest of the room and the kitchen is.  I'm liking this dark red (Fireweed is the name and it's from Sherwin-Williams) so well, I may paint my "mulit-purpose" room that same color.  Whoo-hoo.....

Found out that they are going to have to redo the Mancave.......the tape that was used on the sheetrock is already coming loose....(not suppose to do that).  It was some new kind &, let's just say,  it's not a good buy.  We were going to re-paint the whole thing anyway.......but, I am certainly not happy about them having to go this far.  But, at least, glad that it was found now instead of later once we had the whole house finished and this room was carpeted...can you imagine what a mess that would be with the "muddin' & sanding"?  Just one more set back.......I am still thinking it's going to be Christmas........."time will tell"

See that the Cardinal's will face off with L.A. Dodgers....hhhmmmm......could be interesting.  If they don't play any better than their last few games,  it will be a very short play off for them. 

So after all the tax dollars spent in a campaign for Chicago.......Rio was chosen the winner of 2016 Olympics.........my thoughts on all of this is just this,  what a total waste of our "tax dollars".....sorry Chicago people.  But, after seeing a big front page story recently in USA Today with Pres. Obama and all the hoopla of him & Michelle along with Oprah and other big names campaigning for this & flipping over to the very next page and seeing the quarter page story about the honor student of one of Chicago's high school's being beaten to death by four other teens....made me sick to my stomach. Where are our priorities?  Why don't they campaign for help in keeping our precious young safe!   Shouldn't they be more important to us,  than putting on a big "dog & pony" show for the world?  Why are we not advocates for a safe environment for our children & teens?  Without them,  one day there would be no Olympics. 

I mentioned in comment that this guy was now sharing this as a "blog" entry and you can subscribe to it to come to your personal email box........I enjoy his devotions a lot and decided to share it with those of you here......he is from New Zealand...I think a Pastor there.

Luke 6:45

Posted: 27 Sep 2009 11:27 AM PDT

Luke 6:45 : The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

I like the idea of being a good person! But not just an everyday ‘hey he is a really nice kinda guy!’ good person, but a Luke 6:45 good person. Digging deep into this passage I discovered that a good person isn’t just about helping the elderly across the road, but about living and speaking God’s truth.

And this speaks to something God has really been working on me through my journey deeper into His Word, God is encouraging me to speak out! To talk about Jesus with non Christian family and friends, to share God’s will for His people with other Christians.

But all that I share has to come as much from God as possible. As Tiffany, a good friend of mine challenged me the other day, ‘just NEVER share anything that is not based on the bible, and ALWAYS keep your focus on God, and you will have your shield and sword.’ I need to remain focused on God in all that I do.

And the Luke 6:45 reading describes the source of our goodness as, ‘good treasure of his heart’ and ‘treasure’ literally means, storehouse. So like filling the house with food ready for a number of lovely meals, so I need to fill my storehouse with God’s truth ready to share with His people.

So in striving to be a good person, ready to share God’s truth and love, I need to make sure I am regularly reading and absorbing His Word, active in prayer and often humbly coming before Him confessing my sins. I need to fill the storehouse in my heart with God’s abundant love and truth!

God bless ya,

Mark Brown

P.S Following yesterday’s journey into Philippians 4:6-7 today I started limiting my time on Facebook and began a formal time of prayer.. already feels right!

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This was my "morning" devotion & it spoke to my heart.....hope it does yours, too.

1 Corinthians 13:7  "Charity (love) believes all things, bears all things, hopes all things."

I observed a friend of mine showing great affection for someone I considered unworthy of love.  I thought my friend was being taken in, & I was afraid he would become disillusioned & saddened in the end. (this is where God spoke to my heart because I saw this happen to my husband a few years back).

When I expressed my concern, he replied, "When I stand before my Lord, I hope He'll say of me that I've loved too many, rather than too few." I've never forgotten his words.

Paul insists that "[love ] believes all things" (1 Cor. 13:7). Love "believes in people. It can see the potential in them.  It believes that God can take the most unattractive and unworthy individual and turn that person into a masterpiece of beauty and grace. If love errs,  it must err in the way of trustfulness and hopefulness. 

Certainly, we must be aware of danger when we see it coming, and become "as wise as serpents" (Matt. 10:16). Tough love may be the best response to irresponsible and foolish people, but we can be too guarded, too wary and distrustful.

It doesn't do us any real harm to be hoodwinked and defrauded (Matt. 5:38-48).  It's better to believe in someone and have your heart broken than to have no heart at all.  British poet Alfred Tennyson wrote, " 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." by  David Roper 

Dear Father God;   Teach us/me how to love others as Jesus did/does.  Give me a heart for the people.  This I beg of you......show me how, Father.  I pray....guard my heart from "pre-judging" others as I so often do when meeting new people....open my heart as well as my eyes,  so that I may see, Lord God.  I love you, Jesus........& please be with our services tomorrow....give the Pastors the words to speak, Holy Spirit, & speak to hearts.  I thank you for all you are going to do......& for all the blessings you so richly pour out upon us.   In Jesus' name,  Amen  

Again from "Journeying Deeper Into God's Word" from Rev. Mark Brown.  What a wonderful devotion this morning. Enjoy

Just wanted to share the words to a song that never ceases to bring tears to my eyes any time I hear it, in fact,  I am usually sobbing by the end of the song......it causes me to stop and think about "me" personally and how I live my life. I hope it touches you the way it has touched me:

Hello everyone & wishing you many, many blessings.....sorry that I've not been around for a while,  but just got back from a week's R & R and definitely needed it........the home remodeling has kicked into high gear and sometimes the noise inside is unbearable.....the sheet rockers have almost finished putting it up in the new living room, dining room, entry way, down the stairs to basement and in the kitchen as well as down the hallway & Main bath.  The brick/stone guys have pretty much finished both front ends leaving the middle tall guy that's all stone left....they are doing the garage end now. Not much longer till they will be through.  It is looking mighty awesome.......The construction guys are putting up all the new bronze aluminum trim and I am trying to find some out door lights for the back......always seems like something I have to go look at or pick out.  LOL........after awhile,  it just all looks alike to me.

Below is a person from my Facebook that I've really come to enjoy.....he posts Bible scripture daily as well as does a
pretty awesome Bible devotion...called "Journey Deeper into the Bible"........It has blessed my heart & according to this.....it's become the fastest growing group on Facebook......so, it's definitely worth your checking out.....url is listed at the end.....so, enjoy

Subject: Journey Deeper into 2 Chronicles 7:14

Hey!! Checking out:  2 Chronicles 7:14 : ‘Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.’

It all began about three weeks ago while I was praying for what ministry God wanted me to do next after I finished as CEO of Bible Society New Zealand. I got a really unexpected answer: 'prepare'.

God made it clear that I needed to prepare for my next role. Like an athlete who trains hard leading up to an event, I needed to work on my relationship with God.

The first part of the preparation was coming before God and confronting my sin: brutal honesty, acknowledging the need to shine His light in the darkest recesses of my life. The second part was journeying deeper into His Word, which has involved very early each day, finding a quiet spot and really digging deep into the Bible.

And as I confronted sin and journeyed deep into His Word things started to happen, I got this energy to really serve Him, I started seeing my life and the church around me in a new way, realising of myself and the church that we have been playing at being Christian, happy just to turn up, seeing Bible reading and prayer as a chore, something to be quickly completed then onto the next job.

I realized that reading my Bible isn’t a job but a journey and a joy! As I drew close to God the Holy Spirit started to work more in my life, giving me energy and an overwhelming love!

And things started to move in my life. Within a few days I was approached about a seriously stunning ministry leadership role! Also the Bible page I started on Facebook started growing dramatically and was ranked as the fastest growing religious organization page on all of Facebook (and still is)! My preaching and public speaking, previously really hard work, suddenly became easy as my role wasn’t about keeping peoples attention and imparting some interesting information, but sharing with people what God was sharing with me.

And then about a week ago while journeying deeper into God’s Word, God told me to invite others along on the journey. So I started this group, ‘Journey Deeper into God’s Word’ which in just over a week now has 4,819 members and growing rapidly!

This isn’t about me, most of these people don’t personally know me. This is about God using me, working through me. As I draw closer to Him the more He is using me! What is also happening as I draw nearer is that the amount I am tempted is growing as the enemy increases its attacks. I need to be extra careful and stay strong.

And then a couple of days ago I came across 2 Chronicles 7:14 : ‘Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.’ And then on 4 more occasions I stumbled across it – God cleary wanted me to read this passage and share it!

Reading this absolutely confirms the journey of preparation I am on. Humbling myself, praying, seeking after God and turning from wicked ways and God will forgive my sin and restore my land!

When it talks of restoring land, this is referring to God giving peace and security and all that is required to live productive and exciting life. So I am assured that as I continue to prepare myself, that God has something even more amazing in store!!

The key is that I continue to humble myself, pray often, really seek after God and turn from my sin.

Great to involve you on this journey!

God bless ya,
Mark Brown - http://www.facebook.com/RevMarkBrown