Master of …, #JusJojan

It’s a word than dons power or specialty as in “master of my house” or “jack of all trades and master of none”; then in golf there is the Masters Tournament each spring in Augusta Ga. or in biblical times and even up to current times there is the master/slave relationships of people. For today’s Jot in January we are following Linda and Sadje’s prompt of master and since it is also a Sunday my mind went only in one direction – The Master.

It is my belief that all people follow. Even those that lead, follow. They follow what they believe to be the truth according to their own priorities and these priorities are gain by things they have lived through and assessed to be the truth in their hearts and mind. And that truth is their master.

Look at all the good and bad leaders of this world we have seen thus far. They lead from their hearts and were able to convince others that his/her priorities were correct and true until someone else came along with a better idea of what they believe to be true. I think in each person’s heart, whether it be for mastering his own life or mastering the hearts of a nation, it starts with being true to what he believes as the truth and that therein is the root of the problem.

In John 18:37, Jesus explains to Pontius Pilate that he is the witness of the truth where Pilate retorted “What is truth”. Philippians 4:8 reminds us that “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think on such things.”

In my opinion when you take life and boil it down to the stickiness left in the bottom of the pan there are only two defining truths and therefore two defining masters – the Masters of Good and Evil and who those Masters are. You can walk in the gray matter between the two for a while but there will be a day where a choice will need to be made. The first choice you have to make and that choice will decide your direction of choices is do you even believe there really is a Good Master and Evil Master.

My beliefs are there is definitely a Good Master and an Evil being that wants to be a master but has already lost. He is just going to take as many as he can away from the Good Master through his trickery and lying by deceiving those into believing the Good Master is not the truth. The choice is intimately up to each individual as he searches for his own truth and that which makes him happy.

Everything we do in life is a choice and my hope is that more of us choose the Good Master as he will bring to us the love, tenderness and kindness we are all so hungry for.

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Enigmatic Equals Mystery, #JusJoJan

Linda’s guest prompter today, Virgobeauty, gave us a word prompt of enigmatic. Such an interesting word reminiscent of times gone by with its amount of use for today but still an interesting word. Come join in on the fun of Just Jot January and say hey to everyone. It promises to be an enigmatically good time.

ENIGMATIC DAWN

The early light sneaks in, etching out shadows of night before

With mystifying stealth, where no man had trod before

With unfathomable skill she stares on open untouched land

Making sure she touched places where no one alone can stand

With brightness she increases, making the impenetrable darkness flee

The valley below eyes twinkle in hopes of the newness it may see

The enigmatic dawn flits quickly by as the brightness of the day begins

Leaving the question behind for all of “Who today will win?”

– Anita Neal –

May the brightness of your life shine as the start of a brand new day. We get the opportunity to start fresh each day, leaving the woes and dramas of previous days behind. Remember God shines His light on you so that you can shine it on others. Always remember to be kind. Kindness is a love gift from above. Let your drop of kindness flow outward creating ripples of joy across the waters of life.

A New Year, A New Challenge

This is really a post for tomorrow to start off the new year but I have to be honest, January 1 to a college football fan leans real strong to watching TV all day long. And since my team will be playing, I will be parked there with chips, snacks and good ole southern sweet tea. Go Dawgs!

But once the game is over, we have the rest of the year to contend with. This is only day 1 so what are we going to do for the 364 remaining days. Well I have an internal challenge for you. Its not a challenge you will share each day or week but one you will keep track of in your heart. It is more of an action by you and sort of a “how you gonna do it” to God – not that God needs a challenge but its fun to put your prayer life into action and then sit back and watch God do His work.

This started off on FB as a 30 day challenge but I know we can do better than that so I challenge you to do this once a month. With a different person each month.

Then a year from now, look back over your year and see what all God has done. Some you may not see much and some may be obvious. In the life of those of us who love Jesus, we need to be lifting each other up in prayer. Some you now need it and some will hide their hurts deep down, not show it but still need it. This is an internal challenge not for sharing out but for praising in as you see God do His work.

So on the first of each month pick a new person and pray for their happiness, just their happiness. God will move the things around to create that happiness. I currently have 75 followers on my blog. If all 75 do this, then in a years time, 900 people would have been prayed for. What a blessing not only for us but for the recipient.

And if this is just not your thing, then always remember to be kind. Even that is a small prayer as it is sharing of God’s love. Kindness is a gift from you to another being and it reflects God’s love for all of us.

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Hope, Joy and Love

The fear and wonder the shepherds must have felt to see the heavens open with bright light and creatures they had only heard stories of but have never really seen. They knew from the prophets that He would come as a child from the lowly town of Bethlehem.

I wish you all the joy, wonder and love this season can bring us. A reminder of what did come and a foreshadowing of what is still to come. May you feel His love, peace and comfort and carry it with you to share with others as you go.

Have a very Merry Christmas.

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Eyes, Windows to the Soul, A Photo a Week Challenge

Matthew 6:22 – The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be filled with light.

Nothing is quite as precious as the sparkle of a child’s eyes or the giggle of their laugh. These are my children and grandchildren. Yes all boys. But they are precious.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Nancy Merrill photo a week challenge is eyes. Come join in on the fun and enjoy each others photos.

Remember the joy of laughter of a child and carry that joy and smile with you as you go sharing that love with kindness freely. It make bring the same joy and smile to one who needs it.

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Ornaments, Photo A Day Challenge

A new site I have found, City Sonnets, has daily photo challenges for December. Now that I am getting more ambulatory I can play with pictures. Come join in on December’s Challenges.

The star of David which shines forth in truth

Lights the tops of steeples and even the church roof

Expressing His cares on the wings of a dove

To show us His light and His endearing love.

-Anita Neal-

And as always remember the value of kindness and how it may not change the whole world, but for one person, it may make their world whole.

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To The Top for The Bottom

One of the most enjoyable things about blogging is the amazing photographers, professional and non-professional that share their photographs for all to enjoy. A lot of the photographs that are shared are due to various challenges as the one I will be sharing with you today, well technically it’s night (2:30)but I couldn’t sleep so I am writing.

Irene from Heaven’s Sunshine was following the challenge for stairs from Pic And A Word by Patrick Jennings. Her picture was so inspiring to me, I told her I was going to write about it, so I did. I hope you enjoy it and do stop by Irene’s blog for some wonderful pictures.

Steps to the Cross — Bailly Cemetery – Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

THE CLIMB

I see and maintain it still is not fair,

I have nothing to lay at the top of the stair.

It’s not my fault, I did nothing wrong,

Well, maybe I did, it’s just been so long.

How long has it been since I climbed to the top,

I remember it’s relief, Why did I stop?

How can a symbol of such astounding grief,

Be given to us to bring so much relief?

With love so amazing, to the cross did He die,

To flood us with gratitude that still makes us cry.

The burdens we carry don’t always seem fair,

Always we can lay them at the top of the stair.

The first step looks brittle, can it carry my weight?

This burden is heavy and may seal my dire fate.

As I touch each step and climb ever higher,

Is this what I should do, is this really my desire?

As I clear the last step, the cross is before me,

I question my worth, did He also die for me?

As my knees get bent, I am smothered by His grace,

And I lay all my burdens at the accepting cross base.

– Anita Tillman Neal –

Always remember there is a burden carrier and it isn’t you. Scripture tells us repeatedly that He is there to carry our burden for us, we just have to be willing to give them to Him.

And as always I remind everyone the much loaded value of kindness. Carry it with you where ever you go and share as much as possible.

Heaven’s Peace

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Christmas is right around the corner. A lot of us are still zipping around and getting ready with gifts, food preparations and house readiness for family and visitors. Sometimes we forget this time of year is a time for quiet reflections on the past year, the coming year, what is happening in the world, in my country, in my town, in our individual lives. Nathanpatrickroach made a profound statement in his blog The reason for the Season and why Jesus had to come in the first place. Its worth the read if you have not seen it. Gives you a different perspective.

This morning we sang O Come, O Come Emanuel, which is one of my favorite songs this time of year. The Piano Guys version of this song will put chills down your spine, at lease it does for me. I could not figure out how to post it here.

The last verse really resonated with me this morning and I thought I would share it with you.

O come, Desire of nations, bind all peoples in one heartfelt mind.

Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease,

Fill all the world with heavens peace,

Rejoice, Rejoice!

Emanuel shall come to thee O Israel. Amen

For all of mankind to come together in one heartfelt mind with heavens peace. May we all come together this season in love, peace and kindness.

Advent Continues, Weekly Prompts

GC and Sue W have created a prompt that is so up my alley. The joys and traditions surrounding Christmas are my most favorite of the year. See their prompt below to join in on the fun and share your photos.

http://weeklyprompts.com/2018/12/14/advent-continues

For me and my daughter, we start preparing the week before Thanksgiving but this year we started the 1st week on November as I was due for surgery the second week and I was not going to miss out on my decorating. We are also major college football fans, so every year there is an off weekend where our team does not play. That is the designated day for Christmas decoration shopping day. Sometimes we find something and sometime we don’t but it has become a yearly tradition we look forward to with love and fond memories.

When I decided to move from the deep south to the midwest for a new job, my daughter wanted to come. He job was going nowhere and her last relationship had crashed and burned. So we moved together. We were fortunate to find the perfect house with a walk out basement and a kitchen on both floors. So she is downstairs where it stays cooler to her liking and I am upstairs. Close to each other but separated as well.

My daughter and I are both suffers of the same…”illness?!?” – YCHTMC – An acronym for “You Can’t Have Too Much Christmas”.

Upstairs I have are 3 full size trees and 3 table trees. Down stairs my daughter has 3 smaller full size trees and 1 table tree.

IMG_20181107_085732 — Dining Room Tree / Village

IMG_20181108_154144 — Bedroom Tree with Santa and Chris Moose

Below are the downstairs trees in her large living area.

I have 6 multiple pieced nativity sets in various styles, colors and sizes with many single unit nativity scenes.

My biggest set has individual lights for each house and my smallest is actually a fountain.

My daughter has 2 multiple pieced nativity sets and several single unit scenes.The reason I have more is I have been doing it longer. It is a sickness I inherited from my mother and I have several ornaments that were hers. It is a family affair. With my sons, their wives keep them in check.

I am also an angel collector and most of those stay out year round; they just get located in a different location allowing other and numerous table decorations. Plus there is the village that grew this year and now has a section located in a different spots which houses the country scenes and the Christmas tree village.

There are traditional decorations, whimsical decorations and some just silly decorations but laughter and the love of Christ is what Christmas is to me. Through November I have displayed some of my pictures so I will repost a few but you are interested you can review my other post from November.

I sincerely hope you all have a marvelous Christmas regardless of your religious affiliation. It is a season of love hope and caring and we must always be considerate and kind to each other, especially at this season. There are many hurting during this time of year and will need and extra hand of kindness shared with them so please share kindness when you can.

Enjoy my love and fun of the season.

Beauty and Truth at Christmas

We have always heard that the measure of beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

rainbow — Nature has a beauty all its own

There are many forms of beauty from nature, or art, or music, or people, or animals…even in life itself.

Take for example any living thing and the ability of today’s technology to break down anything to a single cell…and the parts of that cell, the amazing beauty of creation. I have had conversations with people who don’t see this or who don’t see the reality of creation as I do. I even had one gentleman tell me he didn’t do the “G” word. I had to bite my tongue to keep my composure with someone who gets offended in saying “God”, really. How very sad. It is my opinion that God is very real and the creator of all things. It is also my opinion that He created all humans in His likeness to also be creators in the many forms we love to express and show the beauty of all creation. And I believe all of this to be a profound truth.

There is great beauty in truth. While this may be dipping into the philosophy realm a bit, truth like beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder as well because the world has muddied the waters of truth so to speak. For me, truth is perceived by each individual’s perception of what truth is to them and that is the basis on how they run their life. For me, I base all truth on God’s word. In the bible, John 37:37, Jesus said “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” And Pilate asked Him “What is truth?” Clearly not on the same page as Jesus but on the side of the muddy waters.

I am not eloquent with words or a great biblical teacher but I do study the word of God and believe it to be the truth. We are now in the Christmas season, whether you believe it or not the season’s purpose is to celebrate Jesus’s birth…and our salvation from death. Because without Him we are forever doomed. He was born for a purpose – us – and he died for a purpose – us. It has always been about us, the people, the believers in God. We are God’s beautiful creation but we are not allowed to see God so he can’t come help us. So God sent us His son who can help us. He stands between us and God as a buffer. I ran across a picture of beautiful piece of art that explains the relationship between man and God so well that I felt lead to share with you here.

Truth

Jesus is kneeling in the arms of the cross while hanging onto God’s hand as He reaches down to us who are drowning. That is a truth we all can live by. We can’t get to the father without the son. And they both want us to succeed in reaching for the hand of salvation. I encourage you to celebrate the season of His love as God sent this gift to us and for us.

As you enjoy the love of the season, remember to be kind. Being kind to someone who is also being kind is easy. We need to remember to be kind to those who may not be showing kindness at that moment probably because this is also a season of deep sorrow. Reach out with a word of kindness, a hand of kindness, or maybe a gentle smile. You just may brighten someone world. I enclose my favorite smile. It makes me smile every time.