Life Is A Journey

Life is a journey through many terrain
From gardens of pleasure to deserts of pain
From an ocean of love to a jungle of hate
From mountains of glory to canyons of fate
There's a highway for joy and a highway for sorrow
A road for today and a road for tomorrow
So choose your path wisely and walk with care
If you follow your heart, you'll find your way there
I've been to the garden and planted seeds there
I've been to the desert and felt the despair
I've swam in the ocean and drank of it's wine
I climbed up the mountain to touch the sky
I went to the canyon and started to cry
I've traveled both highways,
Both today and tomorrow
I've basked in the joy and wallowed in sorrow
My path has been chosen and
I've walked it with care
I followed my heart and I'm on my way there
So I'll just keep walking till I find what I'm after
To mountains and oceans and
Gardens of laughter.
(unknown)



The Great Creator did not put a single one of us on earth to be all by ourselves. Life is a journey. Journeys are made easier when they are taken with others. Way back in Old Testament times, the Israelites had many journeys. They traveled in large groups. The early American Indians traveled from east to west together. Nearly every Western movie I ever saw depicted groups of people making their journeys by wagon trains. If your journey has become difficult, look around you. Have you wandered off from the group and find yourself traveling alone? Human beings do much better on the journey of life when they welcome others into their "wagon train" and each one puts to use their special gift. Like the spokes on the wheel of the wagon, each one supports the others.
The single factor that makes communities like "The Woods" so wonderful is that many people are making the journey together!

Make someone's load a little easier today!
Mike

Inspirations from Mike Bumbalough. Mike is a dear friend and a Adlandpro member. Please invite Mike to your friends list here:

 http://community.adlandpro.com/go/papaof7/ 

You can view Mike's Daily Blessings at http://www.TheWoods.phpbbnow.com

Can God's pruning fail to produce? Sure it can, if we don't cooperate. If we resist, rebel, complain, or become resentful, our character will not develop the way God intends it to. God wants to develop nine specific character qualities in your life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. He produces these qualities by allowing you to encounter situations and people full of exactly the opposite qualities. He teaches you love by putting you around unlovely people. He teaches you joy in the midst of sorrow. He teaches you peace by allowing irritations all around you. He teaches you patience by allowing things to frustrate you. God uses all of those things to make you more fruitful, but you must cooperate with him. (cooperate everyday by Zondervan Everyday, 1/30/06)


Can you imagine that your ornamental shrubs and small trees would resist you as you prune them and prepare them for a healthy spring and summer? What if they could fight back, slap us with their ragged edges until we backed off? What if they could refuse their needed pruning? The end result would be, at the very least, a less than maximum beauty that could have been attained. Our cooperation is needed if God is going to assist us in being the very best we can be.

Cooperate with Him this very day. Let Him be seen by others through the actions you take today.

Mike

Inspirations from Mike Bumbalough. Mike is a dear friend and a Adlandpro member. Please invite Mike to your friends list:

 http://community.adlandpro.com/go/papaof7/ 

 The readings here are from his post to The Woods Forum for Marketers. You can join The Woods at http://www.TheWoods.phpbbnow.com

I would like to add if i may? Thank you all for your presents here at Adland! I was reading Ephesians 3:16  and have something to add. What is one of the most important things we can do for those we
love in the Lord? We can pray for them. But more than that, we can
pray that God will strengthen them with power through his
indwelling Spirit. This same Holy Spirit raised Jesus from death
(Eph. 1:19). This same Holy Spirit is God's great gift for those
who ask (Luke 11:13). This same Holy Spirit reanimated a valley of
dry bones (Ezekiel 37). And this same Holy Spirit will strengthen
those we love in the Lord if we ask for him to!

PRAYER:
   Mighty and awesome God, I have several brothers and sisters in
Christ who need your grace, mercy, and power poured into their
lives by your Spirit. Some need to be convicted of their
sinfulness. Some need strength and courage for their difficult road
ahead. Some need power to overcome besetting sin in their lives.
Please strengthen them with your power in their inner being through
your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
I take these prayers and thoughts from my archives from my past walks with God and have decided to share with you at Adland starting this month. Have a great day! God-Bless.  Youre Friend

Thomas, I second the "Amen". Please post here anytime that you wish to. I invite such kind spirits anyday!!

Peace, Sharon

The Silent Years

There are times when God will speak to you through His word and then be silent for an extended period of time. Silence does not mean you have been forsaken by God. It simply means that God has spoken, and now is the time to allow the word that He spoke to you germinate and come to pass.

Silence is not the same as peace. Silence is the absence of noise, but peace is the presence of God! While you are going through "silent years," you should focus on inner peace.

Inner peace produces outward confidence in the face of negative
circumstances so that we can go forward in the assurance that even
though tribulation is coming against us, we are more than conquerors
over it!

The Greek word for peace actually describes a spiritual equilibrium
no matter whatever may seek to upset us. The biblical meaning of
peace never denotes the absence of trouble. Peace is not the absence of negatives but the presence of positives. God's peace is inward and spiritual and never predicated by contrary circumstances or negative events.

Poverty, sickness, death nor debt can override internal peace!

Silent years should indicate a time of reflection, introspection and
listening. The quieter we become, the more we hear. However, we cannot rush the silent years.

Silent years are times of transition. Transition is always
uncomfortable and appears to last forever. We must ENDURE the silent
years! Whenever you see the word endure, it means that there is no
short cut through it. It must be endured.
You cannot circumvent what must be endured.

We are told to ENDURE unto the end. (Matt. 24:13) We are told to
ENDURE persecution and tribulation. (II Th. 1:4-10) We are told to
ENDURE hardness. (II Tim. 2:1-3) We are told to ENDURE affliction.
(II Tim. 4:5) We are told to ENDURE chastening. (Heb. 12:7)

The key to being able to ENDURE is to see the END (ENDure).

Now, here are some things for you to question during the silent years:

Is my life really submitted to God?
Am I submitted at home, work, church and to the government?
Have I learned my lesson?
What is God trying to teach me?
Am I humble enough to be teachable?
Has the fruit of patience been sufficiently developed in me?
Do I still have an appetite for the word in me?
Did I properly respond to the last thing God told me to do?
Have I attained a deeper faith?
Is my attitude right toward God and others?
Am I harboring unforgiveness?
What am I becoming?
Have I sufficiently developed and matured as a person?
Have I taken the time to minister to the Lord? (Acts 13:2)

During your silent years you should:

1. Practice and develop your gifts. Study.
2. Clarify. Define goals. Reorder priorities.
3. Serve (even while you are hurting).
4. Trust God.
5. Pray

Your silent years should change your life! You should come out as a
new person! When you come out, you should have a new level of:

1. Knowledge
2. Responsibility
3. Authority/Power
4. Faith
5. Trust
Remember, problems never come to last, they only come to pass!
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trustin him, so that you may overflow with hope."
Romans 15:13 NIV

Mike

Inspirations from Mike Bumbalough. Mike is a dear friend and a Adlandpro member. Please invite Mike to your friends list here:

 http://community.adlandpro.com/go/papaof7/ 

You can view Mike's Daily Blessings at http://www.TheWoods.phpbbnow.com