|on being an encouragement|

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, 

when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

Proverbs 3:27 

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not,

to him it is sin.

James 4:17  

today I have a hopefully fairly simple thought....

->> How often do we skip a chance to encourage someone?

big bang in such a little tiny question!

I mean, really think about it! How often do we see someone hurting and keep walking by? How often do we notice someones discouragement and look away? How often do we hear a screaming heart and stop our ears?

too often... waaaayyyy too often! =(

This hit my heart hard- REALLY hard! and Im ashamed of the answers that fled through my head! 

a lot of times we use excuses- we're too busy, too stressed, too tired, etc. We dont have an excuse though, because we know what is the right thing to do, yet we dont do it.

Take 5 minutes and write a note, make a phone call, stop to say Hi, type an email, make a little package of sunshine! 

Just take 5 minutes!!! If the Lord prompts you, do it- if you dont, you will be held accountable!!

hypocrites #1

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith:

these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

-Matthew 23:23 

|| The Pharisee’s + scribes were the “high and mighty” “religious” men of the day. They spent their time “studying” and copying the law so that they might better “preach and teach” it.

Like so many of our religious leaders of today <Pastors, Pastors wives, Pastors children, Sunday School teachers, deacons, deacons wives, deacons children, etc.> these men had a lot of the wrong motives. They liked to stress the non-important issues while completely ignoring the things that were most important.

>>>Sound like anyone you know?<<<

=these religious people were good at giving tithes and offerings> and hefty showy ones at that. They weren’t concerned about giving money to help the missionary that needed to buy supplies to feed his family for the next month. They weren’t giving money so that the church could have nice chairs instead of the rickety old uncomfortable pews they already had.

They were concerned about it being known that THEY were the one who bought the missionaries food and fed them for a whole entire month. They wanted everyone to know that THEY were the ones who bought the chairs for the church so that they could say they went to a church with nice seating.

*They wanted to make a show out of church instead of taking care of the issues that were important like judgment, mercy, and faith.

>JUDGMENT- they forgot to judge themselves and their OWN motives. Instead they judged the outward appearance and actions of everyone else. While yes, we are told to judge sin, we are also COMMANDED to judge ourselves FIRST. If our lives aren’t right> if we are prideful, haughty, judgemental, etc> then we have absolutely no place pointing our finger at anyone but ourself!

>MERCY- The hypocrite conveniently forgets that God was so so so merciful to us. God sent His own Son to this world to save us from our sins. We consistently forget that. In Luke 6:36 God reminds us, “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” We are to be as merciful to those around us as God was to us!

>FAITH- having faith isnt always easy. Most of the time it isnt just there. Faith is something that we all have to work at- its something that we NEED people to encourage us to have!

These are the things that need to be emphasized first> matters of the heart< before the outward issues.

refinement.

Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; 

I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

Isaiah 48:10 

This verse >almost literally< jumped off the page as I was flipping to a passage in church yesterday... I had to reread it a couple times. WOW!?

Times have been hard. But God has shown me more and more lately that every single trial is for a reason. 

*We grow the most when we are going through hard times.

There is a reason for every lesson learned. 

Have you ever thought about how much more we can help people if we've gone through the same thing ourselves!? 

LIGHTBULB!?

It seems funny to say sometimes, but Im thankful, so very thankful that God not only brought me through the trials, but that he brought me to them too, because I can have a greater impact because of them!!

Grow through your trials!

Living Moment by Moment

Focus:

Ephesians 5:15-16 “ See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

Definition: 

Webster’s 1828 dictionary explains that “To redeem time, is to use more diligence in the improvement of it; to be diligent and active in duty and preparation or to capture it.” 

Quotable Quotes:

James 4:14 “ Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away”

Col. 3:23” And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;”

“Make each moment an investment in the future without making it a regret of the past.” Elsie

My Heart:

Are you redeeming the time?  Some of us waste our time reliving the mistakes and regrets of the past missing out on” SO MANY” opportunities of the present.  Others of us spend our time dreaming about the future even though there is no way for us to know exactly what God has in store for us.  Since changing the past is impossible and knowing the future is only available to God we are robbing ourselves and others of the present.  God wants us to learn from the past and plan for the future, but He has us living in the present.  Don’t miss the opportunities God has for you to bless others and to be blessed in turn.  I have been blessed by the moment by moment LIVING of two family members who diligently live every moment positively being thankful for Life in general as a gift in spite of their long and hard battles with cancer.  Another friend is PRESSING on in life even though a terrible accident left her with some very challenging issues. It has encouraged my heart as I have watched these and others joyfully living each moment to the fullest without dwelling on the past or living in the dreams of the future.                                                                              

Something to think about

Am I living in the present or somewhere in the past or future?  Phil. 4:13 tells us that we are to forget what is behind and press on.  In Col. 3:23 God tells us to do everything heartily unto Him.  Live each moment to the fullest realizing it may be leaving your legacy or it may be building your future.  LIVE LIFE MOMENT BY MOMENT HEARTILY FOR THE LORD.

 James 4:14   reminds us that our Life is a vapor.  Don’t delay you may miss your opportunity to bless and be blessed.

On your own:

What is God laying on your heart to do today?  Does He want you to visit someone in the hospital?  Does He want you to ask a widow if you can do anything for them today, or just spend an hour chatting with them?  Does He want you to bring someone a dozen homemade muffins or some flowers? Smile at the opportunity and let it encourage your heart as you follow the leading of the Lord.

////////////////////////////

I am Lynn Marie Crane (Eulian), born and raised in the mountains of Massachusetts. I spent most of my younger years engrossed in athletics, loving school and enjoying playing around in the fresh country air.  There was never a dull moment.  I have always believed that life is a precious gift from God, meant to be whole heartedly lived.  After graduating from Wahconah Regional High School in 1987 I completed a Bible degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education.  In May of 1992, shortly before finishing my college education, I became the wife of Ken Crane.   Currently I am filling the role as Mrs. Ken Crane and mother of four ambitious children in the State of Michigan.  Daily life for me consists of keeping up with my husband, a teacher and coach in the middle school, and my four children ages 18 years, 17years, 16years and 18months.  I enjoy making sure that my 18 month old not getting into too much trouble as curious “ Sam” as he keeps me smiling with his new accomplishments, and sticking my nose is into the lives of  my older three children. Each one of them blesses my life with giggles, tears, and those “I never knew that” moments.  In the midst of such a busy life, my love of the outdoors helps me to appreciate an occasional few minutes resting on the couch listening to the sounds of the birds and crickets outside my window while breathing in the fresh breeze.  I am not sure whether I will have more or less time to enjoy those sounds with three high school graduates and an 18 month old all establishing  themselves in this world.  My husband and I love riding our bikes after dinner most nights.  It is a refreshing time of exercise and chatting on the bike trail for Ken, Sammy and I.  Another thing that I enjoy as a big part of my life is music. Listening to cd’s, my children playing their instruments or spending time playing piano or flute encourage my soul. I hope to be able to share my love of music with others as I strive to establish myself as a piano and flute teacher, giving private lessons in my area.   Some share their -“bucket list”- I think of it as my list of goals and dreams.  It is never too late to learn something new or add memorable experiences that will help us grow as a person.  Publishing women’s devotional books and children’s books; advancing my painting skills; and making my Spanish skills useful enough to help others are all included on my list. 

Start with the Basics

Hi Girls!

My thought for today is not some drastic, revolutionary idea. It's something we've all heard before, many times—Bible reading. My thought comes from Matthew 4:4—

“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

I want to focus on two words—every word. Most churches that I have been to have some kind of Bible reading program that, if you follow, leads you to read your Bible through in a year. If you have never done this, let me encourage you to start here. But if you have, it is time to move on. My question is “How can we know every word of God if we only read it through once a year?”. 

The fact is, we can't. Now, I'm not saying we need to memorize the whole Bible; for one thing, the Bible never commands us to memorize it. Sure, we are commanded to meditate on it and to hide it in our hearts, but, let's face it, to most of us, memorization is remembering the verse long enough to quote it to someone and then promptly forgetting it in order to memorize another passage of Scripture. We need to know the Bible.

 We need to be able to go to our Bibles and go straight to Scripture that will help us. If someone asks us to pray for something, we should be able to go to our Bibles and find out whether or not what they want is the will of God. If we are struggling with sin, we should have verses that we can go to immediately. Lonely? Find passages about peace! 

In my experience, pastors get up and preach that we should study the Word of God, but they have never taught us how to study. My answer—READ!!!! Read your Bibles, not just once a year, but over and over and over again until you know it backwards and forwards, so that no matter what happens in life, you always, ALWAYS have an answer for whatever happens. Only after we know our Bibles can we live by EVERY word of God.

a world we never touch...

He walked along the shores of Galilee
From clay He formed the healing balm
That caused the blind to see
When stones of wrath lay heavy in their hands
He knelt to write His mercy in the sand

Jesus came to set the captives free
Showed us by the way He lived
The way we need to be
Oh love is more than words could ever say
We must touch them with compassion
To help them find their way

How can we reach a world we never touch? 
How can we show them Christ 
If we never show them love? 
Just to say we care will never be enough 
How can we reach a world we never touch? 

Could we be so busy being saved
Trying to impress a world that’s long since lost its way
We pride ourselves in being set apart
Yet we don’t have time to touch a broken heart
Even if we found the time to care
Would we take the risk involved in always being there
Oh we hold the very thing they need so much
Sometimes the Word of life can pass
Through just a simple touch

We hide behind these walls
And the security of friends
While beyond the stained glass windows
The world is lost in sin

How can we reach a world we never touch? 
How can we show them Christ 
If we never show them love? 
Just to say we care will never be enough 
How can we reach a world we never touch? 

How can we reach a world we never touch?

-by Mark Carouthers, Steve Richardson and Tim Pedigo – copyright 1996

beauty from the heart

this is what I shared with the girls last night for cabin devotions at camp. I hadnt really prepared anything, but the Lord laid these thoughts on my heart!  <3 Hannah

______________________________________________________________________

What is THE most beautiful thing you have ever seen?

Last night I got a lot of answers to that question... the Grand Canyon, the countryside in France, newborn babies, nature, trees, the human body, etc...

  Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: 

but a woman that feareth the LORD, 

she shall be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

God made every single one of us beautiful in our own way. He made us exactly how he wanted, and in HIS eyes, each of us are perfect and beautiful. If someone doesn't like us, then they don't like what God made.

Beauty comes from the heart. Someone who has all the money in the world, the most "beautiful clothes", and tons of make up on is not truly beautiful unless their heart is beautiful.

For our heart to be beautiful we must not fill it with garbage, instead we must focus on having godly character...

Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, 

and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, 

in that which is not corruptible, 

even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, 

which is in the sight of God of great price.

1 Peter 3:3-4

Its not wrong for us to spend time looking nice, but we should be focused on making sure that our character is what God wants it to be!

Beauty comes from the heart! <3

*Each Sunday we are going to post a short devotional like this one, and I'd like to encourage each of you to memorize the main verse<Proverbs 31:30> and meditate on it throughout the week!