February 1


I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
—John 16:33


The peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: "Our country -- when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right."
Carl Schurz

In peace the sons bury their fathers, but in war the fathers bury their sons.
Croesus


Prayer For Today: Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. Take from us all vain ambitions and teach us to aim at the godly life with childlike directness. Amen.


Suggestion: When you make peace with yourself, you make peace with the world.
Maha Ghosananda

February 2


And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe [and] to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
Deuteronomy 28:1


There is nothing which persevering effort and unceasing and diligent care can not accomplish.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca : Spanish-born Roman (Stoic) philosopher, statesman & tutor of Nero
Seneca (4 BC - 65 AD)


Prayer For Today: We crave, dear Heavenly Father, for blessings upon all our friends and neighbors, upon our entire people, upon all the nations of the world, and upon your Church. Let them all share in the riches of your revelation. Amen.


Suggestion: What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence.
Dr. Samuel Johnson : English poet, critic, lexicographer, creator of first English dictionary
Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)

February 3


And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (NIV)
Romans 8:28


Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain.
- Helen Keller


Prayer For Today: Dear Lord, we are living in a day when forces seem bent on filling our hearts with unbelief. Help us to become more watchful over body, mind and soul of self and others while it is day, so that we, your children, may never depart from you. Amen.


Suggestion: You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.>
- Anonymous

February 4


But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (NIV)
Romans 5:8


No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

You can't expect people to look eye to eye with you if you are looking down on them.
- Anonymous


Prayer For Today: O Lord, lonely are the ways we walk and long the road unless Thy Friendly Presence accompanies us. Our hearts need to feel that "inner burning" as we recognize you in the breaking of bread and in all the simple human incidents along the way. Amen.


Suggestion: Listen with regard when others talk. Give your time and energy to others; let others have their own way; do things for reasons other than furthering your own needs.
- Larry Scherwitz

February 5


But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9


Motivation is like nutrition. It must be taken daily and in healthy doses to keep it going. There is much more power in personality than has ever been used—release it. Life has an if at the center of the word and of our existence as well. Assume control of those variable and uncertain ifs. Believe in and accept and affirm the powereful personality force inherent within you. Proactive the amazingly creative magic of believing. See yourself, image yourself as what you want to be—then be just that. Believe that the miracle of change is always possible—for you. Indeed, believe it is even now taking place. Make a new and total commitment to the positive principle and master the skill of keeping it going.
Norman Vincent Peale The Positive Principle Today


Prayer For Today: O Thou living God, who art the source of all life, awaken and quicken in us a sense of our need of you. Give us grace to understand that the dissatisfactions of life are but the inner longing of our souls after you. Then, seeking you, let us find you. Amen


Suggestion: Reading ficture, especially historical novels, is a great way to learn history and to enjoy it. Make sure the history is accurate.

February 6


But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9


We may know a little or much, but the farther we push the more the horizon recedes. We are enveloped in a sea of forces which seems to defy our puny intelligence until we accept the fact that life itself is founded in mystery we shall learn nothing. Henry Miller


Prayer For Today: Heavenly Father, help us to think about you as being present with us in our struggles with the world. Strengthen our faith in you so that today we may emerge as victors over all that seek to overwhelm us. Amen.


Suggestion: Always give people, especially friends a second chance, and a third or whatever you have too, keeping in mind that nobody appointed you judge.

February 7


Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope. Acts 2:26


I am not bound to win but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, But I am bound to live up to what light I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right; Stand with him while he is right, And part with him when he goes wrong.
Abraham Lincoln


Prayer For Today: Dear Lord, who are so loving and strong, grant us out of yourself and your Word nourishment for our souls, strength for our spiritual sinews, power against temptation, and inspiration for life's tasks. May the Bible "find" us so that we may find you. In Jesus' name. Amen.


Suggestion: When you think you've won, learn to do that with grace. In every situation , try to have a win- win experience.

February 8


A few weeks ago, I decided to visit my hometown to go by the spot where my childhood home was located. My brother had told me that the properties were condemned and the structures were bulldozed a few months ago. I was hesitant to see it not knowing how emotional it would be. About two years ago I had gone by there when the houses were still up and it was a very disconcerting experience for me. Mainly because of their state of disrepair. It sort of gave me a keen sense of the passage of time and it felt sad to me somehow.

My Granny’s house was just a few doors down. We spent a lot of time in that house! My father lived in Granny’s house during his final years and actually died in that house unexpectedly from a heart attack in 1987 at the age of 51 – just a few days before my son was born. This would have been his first grandchild and he had been so excited about the prospect! Daddy was alone at the time of his death and was not discovered for several days. It was a very traumatic time in my life to say the least.

Getting back to my recent visit… When I saw the vacant lots, of course it was a daunting site, but as I sat in my car and pondered, I felt this sort of peace come over me. I was able to get some pictures of a few old trees that definitely stand out in my memory as well as a brick wall that still stands behind where my grandmother’s house was located. As a kid, we used to walk on that wall! It really brought me a sense of closure somehow.

Seeing the old, dilapidated houses gone and the clean, level land in their place gave me a sense of things being tidied up. My brother and I both wish we had had the opportunity to go inside before they tore the houses down. Just to grab a few door knobs or doors – anything that we could salvage and keep for memory’s sake. But we didn’t get that chance. It all really served as a reminder to me that this life is temporary and all the material possessions are temporary. But we have a hope and promise of eternal life with Christ and that’s a lot to look forward to. It gives this life a whole new meaning!

Forget the former things; Do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; Do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:18,19

Be Blessed! Pastor D. Autry(Entry into Church bullentin)


Whatever we think of the past, we must not be prisoners to it.
BARACK OBAMA, speech, Jun. 4, 2009

We can draw lessons from the past, but we cannot live in it.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908 - 1973), December 13, 1963


Prayer For Today: Dear God who for the joy that was set before you bore the cross with patience, we pray for the grace to regard life not as a cup to be drained, but as a measure to be filled, until we attain unto the measure of the fullness of Christ. Amen.


Suggestion: Life is what's coming ~ not what was. Unknown

February 9


Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. IPeter 1:22


The family is one of nature's masterpieces. George Santayana


Prayer For Today: Gracious God, bless us today. Teach us the secret of our Master's joy. Give us strength to shun all things which seem to give us pleasure unless that pleasure also helps us to be reasonably happy. Amen.


Suggestion: Call a family member today and tell them you love them

February 10


For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. Psalms 71:5


If at first, you do succeed, try to hide your astonishment. Harry F. Banks. No one can arrive from being talented alone. God gives talent; work transforms talent into genius. Anna Pavlova

If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet. Isaac Bashevis Singer


Prayer For Today: Dear Lord, so often we grovel in the dust defeated by our doubts, fears, anxieties, and cares. Raise us up to a life of victorious faith in you by your great power. May we also overcome and be with you forever in glory. Amen.


Suggestion: In your dealings, daily living, as best you can, always be an honest broker.

February 11


This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. John 2:11


I always prefer to believe the best of everybody—it saves so much trouble. Rudyard Kipling


Prayer For Today: Lord, give us the grace of recognition. May we see you in every experience of our lives, no matter if the sun shines brightly on our path or if the clouds of sorrow hang over it. May we never doubt your presence as a living Saviour. Amen.


Suggestion: The world is full of copies, work on being an origina

February


But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. Psalms 13:5


Our God and soldier we alike adore,
When at the break of ruin, not before,
After deliverance, both alike requieted,
Our God forgotten, and our soldiers slighted.
Frances Quarles (1592-1644)


Prayer For Today: Our Lord and Saviour, may your great love awaken a responsive chord in our hearts, and the harmony of your love mingled with our own make an everlasting melody that is well-pleasing unto you. Amen.


Suggestion: Don't burn your bridges behind you. Be quick to let people cross back even when they've burned theirs. Nothing is really that important.

February 13


Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he [it is] that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
Deuteronomy 31:6-7


Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.
Bertrand Russell


Prayer For Today: God, too great for us ever to comprehand fully, we thank you that you have given us a glimpse of you in your Son Jesus. We thank you that the divine became human in Him. Grant that in us the human may become divine. As you do dwell with us, help us to dwell with you. Amen.


Suggestion: Don't live your life, so you will one day say "It might have been."

February 14


Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.
Psalms 39:6


'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come out right.
.
Shaker Hymn, Simple Gifts


Prayer For Today: : O Thou whom we have been taught to call Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray that today our lives may count on the side of truth, righteousness and love. Help us to do something today that may turn someone to you. Amen.


Suggestion: Work on your communication. Don't label people. Practice staying away from asking them what they do. What difference does it make?

February 15


Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.
Philippians 4:8


I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
Author: William Falconer Source: The Shipwreck (canto I, l. 104)

"My grandmother always told me; beauty fades, but dumb is forever!"
Judge Judy

"Sir don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."
Judge Judy '


Prayer For Today: You know, O Lord, the struggles of our soul, how we would curse when we are slandered, hate when we are wronged, boast when we are praised. Let your Spirit lead us to victory. In Jesus' name. Amen.


Suggestion: Keep learning, no matter your age.

February 16


Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.
Psalms 25:7


Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you.
Langston Hughes quotes (American writer, poet and essayist, 1902-1967)

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
Albert Camus

Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer's year - it brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul.
~Author Unknown


Prayer For Today: O God, we thank you for that knowledge by which we know that all things-light and darkness, health and sickness, prosperity and adversity, joy and sorrow, life and death will work together for our good. We praise you for your paternal providence toward us. Amen.


Suggestion: Life is tough, and if you have the ability to laugh at it you have the ability to enjoy it.
Salma Hayek

February 17


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11


Life is something that happens to you while you're making other plans.
Margaret Millar

A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. John Steinbeck


Prayer For Today: God demands of us that we be holy. There is none of us, however, who is without sin. Forgive us, O God, and make us increasingly sensitive to the heinousness of sin, and lead us ever to repentance. Amen.


Suggestion:Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment.
Horace

February 18


There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ ...
Galations 3:28


Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Robert Fulgham


Prayer For Today:Father in heaven, Thou art pure and holy. Teach us to seek after cleanliness of body, mind, and soul. Make us grateful for the great atonement through Christ Jesus and happy in the thought that we are washed in the blood of the Lamb. Amen.


Suggestion:You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. Henry Drummond

February 19


Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalms 27:14

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Psalms 31:24

It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up. Vince Lombardi

Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.
Mark Twain

The groundwork of all happiness is health.
Leigh Hunt


Prayer For Today:Gracious God, we thank you for the work you have given us to do. Impress upon us the dignity of toil and in seasons of difficulty let us never doubt your blessing. For your sake do we labor, and for the advancement of your glory do we desire our work to prosper. Grant us your favor through Christ our Lord. Amen.


Suggestion:Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live. Jim Rohn

February 20


For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10


Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn. —Michel Eyquem, seigneur de Montaigne


Prayer For Today: May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let His presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us. Amen


Suggestion:Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness. —Yousuf Karsh

Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage. —Publius Syrus

February 21


Wisdom is supreme; therefore make a full effort to get wisdom. Esteem her and she will exalt you; embrace her and she will honor you.
- Proverbs 4:7-8


Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something.
–Plato

Never live in the past but always learn from it.
- Anonymous


Prayer For Today: Father, we pray that we may see our own life as related to your divine plan. Grant us grace to fill our place faithfully, always realizing that all things work together for good to them that love you. Amen.


Suggestion: Do you have wisdom? Do you think before you say something? Or, as my nephew says, do you just " bump your gums"?

February 22


Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
- Bible, John (ch. VII, v. 24)


Beware so long as you live, of judging people by appearance.
Jean de la Fontaine, Fables (VI, 5)

By outward show let's not be cheated; An ass should like an ass be treated.
- John Gay, Fables--The Packhorse and Carrier (pt. II, l. 99)

Be not deceived with the first appearance of things, for show is not substance.
English Proverb


Prayer For Today: O God, our Father of Light, who art the light of all men, lead us, who stumblingly try to follow you, into a firmer life. Show us our wrongs and sins and direct us into the right paths. Enlighten us and give us the will and power to fulfill the insight you have given us. Amen.


Suggestion: You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
Herb Cohen

February 23


These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33


Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it. ~Plato

A man's health can be judged by which he takes two at a time - pills or stairs. ~Joan Welsh

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. ~Edward Stanley


Prayer For Today: Dear Lord, we thank you that you are attentive to our requests, and that you know what is good for us. We humbly ask that in our praying we may be guided by Thy Spirit that our requests being granted, may advance your Kingdom. Amen.


Suggestion: You see, you don't get old from age, you get old from inactivity, from not believing in something.
Jack LaLanne

February 24


What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. IITimothy 1:13


If all the gold in the world were melted down in a solid cube, it would be about the size of an eight room-house. If a man got possession of all that gold—billions of dollars worth, he could not buy a friend, character, peace of mind, clear conscience or a sense of eternity.M
Charles F. Banning


Prayer For Today: O Friend of the dispossessed, give us that divine disregard for material wealth that finds compensation in spiritual riches. Give us that daring confidence in you which, in despair or sorrow, in poverty or pain, with joyous assurance is able to say: "Nevertheless I am continually with you." Amen.


Suggestion: Don't be afraid to insist on what you want, but do it with kindness.

February 25


Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do [it]. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
Proverbs 3:27-28


Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
~Dr. Seuss

It seems to me that any full grown, mature adult would have a desire to be responsible, to help where he can in a world that needs so very much, that threatens us so very much.
~Norman Lear

Prayer For Today: Lord, give us the grace of recognition. May we see you in every experience of our lives, no matter if the sun shines brightly on our path or if the clouds of sorrow hang over it. May we never doubt your presence as a living Saviour. Amen.


Suggestion: Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something.
~Author Unknown

February 26


As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem
Isaiah 66:13


Be calm and strong and patient. Meet failure and disappointment with courage. Rise superior to the trials of life, and never give in to hopelessness or despair. In danger, in adversity, cling to your principles and ideals...
Sir William Osler

The goal is to live a full, productive life even with all that ambiguity. No matter what hap- pens, whether the cancer never flares up again or whether you die, the important thing is that the days that you have had you will have lived.
Gilda Radner

The most important thing in illness is never to lose heart.
~Nikolai Lenin

Prayer For Today: We crave, dear Heavenly Father, for blessings upon all our friends and neighbors, upon our entire people, upon all the nations of the world, and upon your Church. Let them all share in the riches of your revelation. Amen.


Suggestion: The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next.
~Mignon McLaughlin

February 27


Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
Matthew 7:3


Only a kind person is able to judge another justly and to make allowances for his weaknesses. A kind eye, while recognizing defects, sees beyond them.
Lawrence G. Lovasik

Men of ill judgment often ignore the good that lies within their hands, till they have lost it.
Sophocles

Men judge us by the success of our efforts. God looks at the efforts themselves.
Charlotte Bronte

Prayer For Today: We pray Thee, our Father, to lead us into that deep union of soul with Christ, our Saviour, which will make us partakers of the life that dwelt in Him. And grant us, even in this realm of time, an earnest of the life that is to come. Amen.


Suggestion: If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta quotes

February 28


These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
IPeter 1:7


The smallest seed of faith is better than the largest fruit of happiness.
Henry David Thoreau

Prayer For Today: O God, we all too often submit to the law of antagonism and strife without realizing that we harm ourselves and others. Teach us the better way of love and brotherhood, and grant us the grace to walk in that way every day, that through our example men and nations may come to dwell in amity one with another. Amen. Amen.


Suggestion: Always have your own standards, don’t let others do it for you.