Sandra's Ark is a Blog of Christian Encouragement in your Heart and in your Home with a welcome to all women and some fun along the way.
If you are in the UK and can remember back quite a few years you may be able to remember a song called "Happiness" It was recorded in the 60s but was extremely well-known for many years. I was in the bathroom running a bath last Thursday afternoon when suddenly I started to sing this old song. Now I was headed out later in the day for a doctor's appointment and if anyone had asked me if I was happy I probably would have thought I wasn't really so why was I singing this song? Well here is the reason In a post last year I talked about 5 Little Touches I had used to make the bathroom of this house mine as opposed to just being the bathroom I ended up with from the previous owners of the house. One of these things was my bath pillow which I got new because my old one was too well worn. I had noticed this one in a bargain shop called B&M which I love to browse round any time I am near it. I knew it would match the decor and it just made me smile to look at it. It is also extremely soft. So obviously as I was preparing my bath I had subconsciously noticed the bath pillow and the chorus of that song just popped into my head. I had some time to think about those words and how I felt while singing them as I soaked in my nice, long, hot bubble bath. I have been blessed with a lot of happiness as well as joy. I am often happy about little things that may seem silly to others I just love to have a laugh at some of the silly things that made me happy. And I am very thankful to God for being like that and finding happiness in little things. But it was the first sentence that I really started to dwell on as I lay in that bath. Yes I could say that God had gifted me with things to make me happy or even say He had gifted me with Happiness although it is not the greatest thing that He has given me. But what about the fact that happiness is something we can help to give to others. We can give various things to others but do we give them something to make them happy? What about those little letters and cards we talked about 2 weeks ago in the post Tears over a Little Letter? Of course making someone happy does not always involve giving them an actual physical object. We can bring happiness into someone's life in many other ways. Maybe we can help them out with a task that they can't do for themselves or just give them some support like in I Had Plans a post from last year. I have another object in my bathroom that reminds me of something else. What about helping someone to come to know the saving grace of the Lord Jesus so that they can know His forgiveness of their sin and become a child of God? Share with them the knowledge of the greatest gift God has for them. Yes, Happiness is not the greatest gift God has given me because here is the greatest gift in this verse, the gift of Salvation. The words of that song may not be completely true but they did nudge me into thinking about happiness, and I do thank God that I am blessed with happiness and also the deep joy of knowing Him. So let's be encouraged to go and share some happiness with others. Perhaps then some day you will be able to share the Bible verse with them as well.
A Dose of Encouragement about when we need encouragement Today and what it has to do with Obedience.
Sandra's Ark is a Blog of Christian Encouragement in your Heart and in your Home with a welcome to all women and some fun along the way.
Sandra's Ark is a Blog of Christian Encouragement in your Heart and in your Home with a welcome to all women and some fun along the way.
Sandra's Ark is a Blog of Christian Encouragement in your Heart and in your Home with a welcome to all women and some fun along the way.
A Dose of Encouragement as a reminder to be thankful in a family situation when we are miles apart.
Sandra's Ark is a Blog of Christian Encouragement in your Heart and in your Home with a welcome to all women and some fun along the way.
A Dose of Encouragement about the decisions we make in our day to day life.
Sandra's Ark is a Blog of Christian Encouragement in your Heart and in your Home with a welcome to all women and some fun along the way.
Previously I had written about Reading One Verse a Day and writing down my immediate thoughts on it and I posted them on facebook for a month. This had stemmed from me trying to form a new habit where I would read a verse of the bible before I would read my emails each morning. Well they say if you do something every day for a month you will form a new habit but I am proof that unfortunately it is just not true. It is easier to skim through emails while still half asleep than to sit and take in some Words of Scripture. I'm being honest here. I need to sip my coffee first thing in the morning and gradually come round because I am not a jump out of bed and be bustling with energy type of person. I'm more the don't talk to me or ask me to make any decisions until I've had my coffee. However since this experiment I have been reading a few verses at a time and seeing a benefit from that which I didn't really see before. I am seeing that even one verse read (no matter how quickly) can leave a thought, idea, or even just one word that may simmer inside and come to fruition later. I was always more the "read at least a proper paragraph" person because I always felt like everything should be read in context. Now I'm more "yes I need my context to fully understand" but I also sometimes need a sentence or a word to jar into my subconscious and edge into my thoughts later in the day" So I was coming to the realisation that there is no right or wrong way to read your bible. The most important thing was to read it. So - What about those times when we come to a passage that we feel we know so well? Do we skip it? Do we skim over it? Photo from Graphic Stock Do we read it and let our minds wander as we do so? Do we read it quickly and think we know what is there and we have already got the relevance of it in the past? Do we read it and accept that it is relevant for us TODAY not just because it is part of God's Word but because it is the part He has brought us to TODAY? I love to read but as time goes by I find that I am skim reading more and more and later I cannot fully explain what I have been reading because as I skim read I am not getting the full details of the subject matter and also not taking the time to let the information register in my brain. I need to get back to reading more slowly and reading every word. So I was coming back to the realisation that there is a right and wrong way to read your bible. The wrong way is to skim through it. Is there a Right Way or Wrong Way to Read your Bible? God's Word is important for my everyday life and I want to encourage you that it is important for your everyday life as well. Let's get back to actually reading it and absorbing it instead of skimming it. Or Thinking we know it well enough already that we can skip bits out.
A Dose of Encouragement centred around a fountain and Jesus.
I know, I know, that sounds ridiculous: how can a girl turn into her father? Well the thing is I can remember well the times years ago when my father would need to buy something new and we would get annoyed at his choices. Basically because he hadn't made any new choices. You see I remember the day my dad came in and showed me a new tie he had bought and I was very bewildered because I was sure that I had seen that same tie often; tied around his neck. I was right he had simply gone out and got himself the exact same tie. Why had he done that? Well his response was that the other one had started to fray a little. Yes, if the tie was fraying then it probably was time to pop it in the bin and maybe even a good reason to go buy another one but not to buy one the same surely. However my father was very pleased that he had managed to get the same tie. Then I remember the shoes he liked to buy, & the sweaters; practically the exact same each time. When he needed anything he liked to get the same as he had before. I'm sure it was a relief to my mum that he was not that interested in buying furniture for the house so she got to go pick that and we did not have something just like the previous one. There was one main exception; he did not get the same car each time. But I think that had more to do with the fact that he felt he didn't know as much about cars as my brother-in-law did, so he would take his advice on that issue. So have you guessed it yet? Why I say I'm turning into my father? I love to wear slippers around the house. As soon as I get home I take off my shoes and on go the slippers. Due to the situation of where we live now and the fact that I am not working, I do spend a lot of time in the house so I have slippers on for many hours each day. What have I discovered? In the last 3 years since we moved to this area I have gone to the same shop and bought the same slippers on several occasions. The last two times I bought two pairs at the same time. I don't just mean the same style of slippers, or the same make of slippers; I mean the same make, style, pattern and colour (blue of course). It actually started before we moved here, while we were still living in Belgium. For the last few years there I had bought the same slippers each time (not the same as here though). I just got to the stage where when I found a really comfortable pair of slippers at a reasonable price then why go looking for any others. And It's not only the slippers. No it has now progressed to my shoes. I discovered a very comfortable pair of black shoes and loved them so much that when I saw them in cream I got a pair of those also. Since then I have bought 2 more pairs in cream and two more in black. Hence when I am not wearing my boots you will find me in these cream or black shoes. Undoubtedly I am turning into my father. There is one time when I wear a different type of shoe. On Sundays going to church I wear a more dressy shoe and I do have a variety that I can wear. But of course as you already know, as soon as I return home from church I won't have the shoes on. I'll be in my slippers. There is a white top that I just love to wear and have worn it for over 10 years. This top has v neck short sleeves and has a butterfly design to one side which is made from little diamante things. It has always been easy to wash and only recently have I found that it is not as easy to get stains out of as it used to be. I have searched but cannot find the same top - of course I can't when it is so old. I just wish that I had got 2 of these (or even 3) because I would wear it with almost anything. Do you not agree that I am turning into my father? I mentioned this to my sister one evening a few weeks ago and she laughed at me, but then she did agree because she remembered being with me a few years ago when I actually did buy two of the same black top (I knew that it was going to be a good one as soon as I tried it on and I was right). She also remembered that just that same afternoon I had complained when I was in the shoe shop (the one all those slippers had come from) because I could not see the same slippers and I am down to my last pair - why did I not buy more! I am worried now that I am not going to be able to get those same ones again. I suppose we all have to admit that some things are passed down to us from our parents; likes and dislikes, some habits, some distinguishing features, some attitudes. Unfortunately we don't always get the good attitudes, habits, likes, or features. More often we tend to pick up the bad habits and attitudes. Thankfully we can't pick up any bad habits from our Heavenly Father, we don't witness Him having a bad attitude, He has no ugly features for us to inherit. No, our Heavenly Father only has beauty to pass down to us, grace, mercy and loving attitudes that we can learn from and only good examples of good habits to set us like forgiving over and over again. Thank you Father for your love and all the great attributes we see in you and in Jesus. Help us to focus on these and grow to be more like you day by day. Amen. I want to be able to see that I am growing more like Jesus and my Heavenly Father in all parts of my life. Do you?
A Dose of Encouragement about what a hug should mean and how it can affect someone.
A Dose of Encouragement on how we spend our time waiting and what we really should be doing.
A Dose of Encouragement to Fly free from the restraints others put on us.
A Dose of Encouragement from the story of a character in Mark's Gospel showing the difference of Jesus in our lives as opposed to the devil.
A Dose of Encouragement to Fly free from the restraints others put on us.
I collect Noah's Arks, - but I don't think there's a Flood coming! Some people have joked with me about "is there a flood coming?" when they have seen my collection (or some of it) of Noah's Arks. I have always loved arks and pictures of Arks but my collection really began when our daughter was about 8 or 9. Linda went on a weekend away with a Christian organization called Girl Crusaders. While she was away she saw a poster picture of an Ark and decided to buy it as a present for me. On the journey home the corner got dog-eared and Linda was very disappointed but I love my picture. It was put into a blue frame and has always been in view somewhere in our home ever since. In our present home it sits on top of a bookshelf in the Sun Room. Can you see the crease in the top right corner? Well since then I have collected: An Egg from America On the Mantlepiece in the lounge A Utensils Holder On top of my Paper drawer set in my study A Money Box & Snow Globe On the bookshelves in my study A Wall Hanging In our guest room A Decorative Plate, Beleek Biscuit Barrel, Silver Trinket Box & Decorative Tea Pot All 4 of these have ended up on the large dresser that is now in our kitchen A Photo Frame On the corner edge of the kitchen worktop Some Bags On the back of the door of my study A Memories Box Which can be found in various locations Cushions On our various couches / settees An Apron Also on the back of the door in my study - used for crafting. More Pictures In various rooms Plus a Clock In the kitchen A Wooden Carved Ark with Animals When our oldest son went to Malawi for 3 months to work with a missionary couple he brought it back for me and he had me in tears at this lovely gift. The Ark has always been very special to me. In the Ark there is safety - God's Protection In the Ark there is compassion - God's Mercy In the Ark there is forgiveness - God's Grace The Ark is a symbol of Salvation and our salvation is in Jesus so the Ark is a symbol of Jesus. When I was young and accepted God's Gift of Salvation I knew I was safe. Even though I may not have understood all about God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit or the Bible; I still recognized the fact that I was safe with Jesus. So even though some may joke about my Arks my friend Jennifer in Belgium saw things differently and has always referred to our home as the safe Ark. Are you safe with Jesus? Are you in the Ark which is Christ Jesus? As a teenager I listened to songs by Len Magee and one of them asks the question "Are you in the Ark, or are you outside?" I want to encourage you today with some other words from that song Oh don't hesitate You'll be too late His arms' open wide there will come a time when it is too late but right now it's not! So please consider that Question again "Are you in the Ark, or are you outside?" and but also with the fact that You can be safe with Jesus, He is the only one you can truly trust.
Sandra's Ark is a Blog of Christian Encouragement in your Heart and in your Home with a welcome to all women and some fun along the way.
A dose of Encouragement about how good it can be for us to forget about other things and take a rest.
Sandra's Ark is a Blog of Christian Encouragement in your Heart and in your Home with a welcome to all women and some fun along the way.
Sandra's Ark is a Blog of Christian Encouragement in your Heart and in your Home with a welcome to all women and some fun along the way.
A Dose of Encouragement about what we are on this earth to do and be.
A Dose of Encouragement about how the practical experience of a Waterwheel's actions can remind us of how God works in our lives.
Why is it when we are watching the news on television on an outdoor broadcast and someone walks behind the presenter or runs up and waves or makes silly faces we think they are so rude but when someone photobombs a pic we enjoy a good laugh? The answer - I have no idea except that I know I am exactly like that. Yes I think one is rude and the other can be comic genius. DEFINITION of PHOTOBOMB A photograph that has been spoiled by the unexpected appearance of an unintended subject in the camera's field of view as the picture was taken This was the original definition and remains the official definition but the way things are now means that the attitude towards these pictures are changing. Well I was looking for the greatest photobomb but I did not have too many to look at. A friend in England sent me one Not bad and we wouldn't think he was rude would we? The way I might look at it is He's just a friendly guy waving in the background. But how would the girls view it? To them the photo is more personal. It would be fine if they discovered what had happened immediately and were able to take another one but what if they had only taken this one picture and then noticed him later? I just hope that it was not the first and last time these girls will have a picture taken together or they may be annoyed at the photobomber. So is it the intruder to the picture that makes it good or bad? Or is it the attitude of the subjects of the picture or the viewers? Then of course we have one from our son's wedding reception which I featured in an earlier blog post I Love My Family. Daniel and his new wife Suzie were taking a selfie along with our daughter Linda and our oldest son Jonathan came along and threw himself into the photo behind them. Did anyone get annoyed over this? No way we all think it is one of the best photos of the day. That's the view of everyone who sees it and in fact many would not even realise it was a photobomb. Well I suppose some of you are saying what is wrong with her we all know what the greatest photobomb is, it's the one with the seal. The one with the seal? Yes the one with the seal who pops his head into the corner of a picture being taken of penguins. You know the one that was all over the internet some time ago. I just loved it, even though there is mass speculation that it is a photoshopped seal!!! Taken from the internet where credit does not seem to have be given to anyone and if you do know who was responsible please let me know and I will credit it accordingly. So is it the greatest? Well it could be a tie between it and another photobomb that happened at that very same wedding. Yes at the same wedding but this one was actually in the church! Daniel and Suzie were posing for photos after signing the register and not one but two people decided to photobomb the picture. Again it involved a family member. Not Daniel's brother this time but his cousin Glen. And the other one was Suzie's best friend Ashleigh. Now to make matters worse Glen was the best man and the Ashley was the bridesmaid. It was a spur of the moment thing but you would think it was planned because it was so good. Just look at those faces. Of course if you knew these two you would understand how something like that could happen because they know Daniel and Suzie so well and they are all full of fun. How do we decide if the picture is ruined by that extra person popping up where they were not expected or if they have made it a great photobomb. Who decides? Who forgives the person for photobombing? Or who blames the person for ruining the photo? We each have to make our own decision on it. We each have to take responsibility for our own attitudes. This is just the same as forgiveness in other matters. We make the decision whether to forgive or to blame. In some cases it is our perception or conclusion that the person is to blame for the outcome, we see the incident as something directed at us and focus on how it has hurt us. In some cases it is really obvious that the person is definitely to blame for the outcome, they deliberately did the act that spoilt something of ours. God's word does not have advice for different scenarios it only has advice on how we should forgive. It is our attitude that God points us to. It is up to us to make the decision to forgive. Well now it just remains to make the decision here. Which is the greatest photobomb? Let's have a vote on it. Make your decision and then leave me a comment to tell me your choice. Which one is it? The Penguins & the Seal or The Wedding You can also tell me if you can make the decision to forgive.
A Dose of Encouragement about a good kind of fear that we don't need to be afraid of.
A Dose of Encouragement about how we may not keep our promises but God keeps His promises.
A Dose of encouragement to help us know at least 5 different ways we can worship God
A Dose of Encouragement to help us discover where true beauty, Godly beauty is by looking at the question Where is Beauty?
If you are in the UK and can remember back quite a few years you may be able to remember a song called "Happiness" It was recorded in the 60s but was extremely well-known for many years. I was in the bathroom running a bath last Thursday afternoon when suddenly I started to sing this old song. Now I was headed out later in the day for a doctor's appointment and if anyone had asked me if I was happy I probably would have thought I wasn't really so why was I singing this song? Well here is the reason In a post last year I talked about 5 Little Touches I had used to make the bathroom of this house mine as opposed to just being the bathroom I ended up with from the previous owners of the house. One of these things was my bath pillow which I got new because my old one was too well worn. I had noticed this one in a bargain shop called B&M which I love to browse round any time I am near it. I knew it would match the decor and it just made me smile to look at it. It is also extremely soft. So obviously as I was preparing my bath I had subconsciously noticed the bath pillow and the chorus of that song just popped into my head. I had some time to think about those words and how I felt while singing them as I soaked in my nice, long, hot bubble bath. I have been blessed with a lot of happiness as well as joy. I am often happy about little things that may seem silly to others I just love to have a laugh at some of the silly things that made me happy. And I am very thankful to God for being like that and finding happiness in little things. But it was the first sentence that I really started to dwell on as I lay in that bath. Yes I could say that God had gifted me with things to make me happy or even say He had gifted me with Happiness although it is not the greatest thing that He has given me. But what about the fact that happiness is something we can help to give to others. We can give various things to others but do we give them something to make them happy? What about those little letters and cards we talked about 2 weeks ago in the post Tears over a Little Letter? Of course making someone happy does not always involve giving them an actual physical object. We can bring happiness into someone's life in many other ways. Maybe we can help them out with a task that they can't do for themselves or just give them some support like in I Had Plans a post from last year. I have another object in my bathroom that reminds me of something else. What about helping someone to come to know the saving grace of the Lord Jesus so that they can know His forgiveness of their sin and become a child of God? Share with them the knowledge of the greatest gift God has for them. Yes, Happiness is not the greatest gift God has given me because here is the greatest gift in this verse, the gift of Salvation. The words of that song may not be completely true but they did nudge me into thinking about happiness, and I do thank God that I am blessed with happiness and also the deep joy of knowing Him. So let's be encouraged to go and share some happiness with others. Perhaps then some day you will be able to share the Bible verse with them as well.
A dose of Encouragement about walking and talking with the most important person.
Sandra's Ark is a Blog of Christian Encouragement in your Heart and in your Home with a welcome to all women and some fun along the way.
A Dose of Encouragement to know who we need and who wants us.
Sandra's Ark is a Blog of Christian Encouragement in your Heart and in your Home with a welcome to all women and some fun along the way.
Why do I love reading, what books do I recommend, when & where do I read, some encouragement from a long time reader.
Sandra's Ark is a Blog of Christian Encouragement in your Heart and in your Home with a welcome to all women and some fun along the way.
A Dose of Encouragement from the story of a character in Mark's Gospel showing the difference of Jesus in our lives as opposed to the devil.
A Dose of Encouragement about the use of quotes, bible verses and the truth
A Dose of Encouragement about what to do in our busy daily lives and to do lists.
Last month I wrote about God bringing my attention to a special song to share about His Mercy in the post You're Not Guilty Anymore. Then last week I started this short series on looking at God's Mercy in more detail and covered the question What is Mercy? Today I would like to come back to look again at this subject and consider when God's Mercy is shown upon us. When Can I receive Mercy? On Salvation God is shows mercy to us as sinners and extends His mercy so deliberately at the point of Salvation. In fact isn't He so merciful that He wants to draw us to Salvation and has provided His perfect plan in Jesus to be our substitute at the cross. This is the obvious time in our lives for us to witness His mercy towards us and to understand partly what His mercy entails because suddenly we truly know we are being treated with Love and not rejection and death as we really deserve. From Creation Right from the start of mankind God’s mercy is shown. All the way through the Old Testament. All the way through the New Testament. His mercy was not just produced at the cross although it is His greatest sign of mercy. Mercy is an attribute of God so has always been part of Him, and always will be part of Him. For Evermore Every Day God is merciful to us every day at all times it does not stop at Salvation. This is the part that is hard for many Christians to fully understand, often we do not feel that God can possibly continue to show His mercy to us once He has Saved us. Even though we will read about it and sing about it and speak about it we still deep down do not accept that He is always a merciful God. It is one of His attributes and He doesn’t change so He is still merciful. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3 v 22-23 New Every Morning what a blessing! 1. Each day we can start afresh knowing that He is still merciful. 2. Can we even experience new different examples of His mercy on a daily basis? Yes God is infinite so His Ways are infinite Edith McNeil wrote the words of this song based on Lamentations 3 v 22-23 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end, They are new every morning, new every morning, Great is Thy faithfulness O Lord, Great is Thy faithfulness. She was leaving us with a great prompt to help us remember that God extends His mercy to us on a daily basis. Not only that but this song should be on our lips each morning as we rise to face the day with the new mercies He will extend in that new day. We need to accept His mercy that is given so freely to us and be thankful for it daily. Even when we do not feel worthy of it. He has not put any conditions on it. Let's be thankful for His Mercy even when we do not feel worthy of it. And the last & most important comment is Right Now Aren't we thankful for that! Enjoy this version of the song today and then go on to enjoy His Mercy. The Other Blog Posts in this mini Mercy Series are: What is Mercy Where, Why, Who of Mercy The How of Mercy
A Dose of Encouragement about when we need encouragement Today and what it has to do with Obedience.
