1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. There are many practical and life-changing verses in the Bible, and this is one of my favorites. It is a formula for living a happy and abundant life. We are asked to be thankful, joyful, and in tune with Spirit through prayer, moving our awareness inside. Again, in Colossians 4:2 we are instructed: “ Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart .” If we foll

11/14/2021 (Apocrypha) Ben Sira 9:10 -- Do not abandon old friends, for new ones cannot equal them. A new friend is like new wine; when it has aged, you can drink it with pleasure . I think that God has given us many people. God gives us family so that through them love can flow to us. We are given a spouse so that we can learn to express and receive the love of God. One of the ways that God expresses love to us deeply is through the friendship that we make in our lives. We’v

10/31/2021 Psalm 122:7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. I love going to new places, seeing new things. I love going to familiar places – like to Monterey. Although we’ve been there many times, each visit is refreshing, renewing, and always a source of novelty. I love my time away from the work and the responsibilities. But I love to return home once again. I appreciate the peace I feel as I walk through an ancient redwood forest. I am in awe of th

John 4:48 NIV "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." People learn in different ways: through listening, through seeing, through doing and touching, and through explaining with words. Some of us like to learn in groups, others would rather learn alone. Some use logic and reason, others use intuition and imagination. Most of us use all these avenues in some combination for learning as the Bible infers. In Philippians 4:9

10/17/21 Deuteronomy 6:5-7 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. When I was younger, I used to dream of leaving a legacy behind when I departed this earth, a monument of my achiev

10/10/2021 John 1:12 “ Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God .” There are some differences between the Old and New Testaments in how God was described, and the important qualities attributed to God. Prior to Jesus, the concept of God was more of an impersonal Lord, Creator, Ruler, and Law Giver. God was described by eternality, goodness, grace, holiness, immanence, but also emphasis was placed on God as

10/03/2021 Luke 15:8-9 “…a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully...

9/25/2021 John 17:20-23 20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. I once took a personality study to determine my strengths. One of my strongest traits w