The other side

 Losing a child to death brings a myriad of emotions ...     

all complicated ... all different ... all difficult.

silent Grief speaks today about ...hard ... 

It's so hard to explain to others what it is like to lose a child. The other side of the coin is that it's impossible to explain what it feels like to lose a child. You have to live through it to understand and NOBODY would ever wish that kind of pain on anyone. So, we struggle daily with this journey and hope and pray we will meet those people who can help us along the way!

Father, Yahweh, I pray today for Silent Grief, and all who have lost a child. or a loved one.  I pray that You will hold them as close to Your heart as You hold the child they love and lost.

Father, bless them today.

xtnyoda, shalomed

Daily Nugget

   Monday, December 30th. Today's cherished Nugget from guest blogger Pastor Bill.

A young man was walking down the streets of New York when he stopped a lady and asked, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” The woman answered, “Practice, practice, practice” (Anonymous).

Nine times out of ten when we see a person who excels in his or her sport or in the playing of an instrument, we can be pretty sure they have invested many hours, miles, and dollars to perfect their craft.
Only a select few are able to achieve by natural ability what the others must pay the price to get to the same level. No matter the ability or the inability we are to “Do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men” (Colossians 3:23).

God bless you today as you choose to serve Him with your best.

Bro. Bill Scroggs

In GOD We Trust!

Daily Nugget

     Sunday, December 29th. Today's cherished Nugget from guest blogger Pastor Bill.

Harry Houdini, the famed escape artist from a few years back, issued a challenge wherever he went. He could be locked in any jail cell in the country, he claimed, and set himself free in short order. Always he kept his promise, but one time something went wrong. Houdini entered the jail in his street clothes; the heavy, metal doors clanged shut behind him. He took from his belt a concealed piece of metal, strong and flexible. He set to work immediately, but something seemed to be unusual about this lock. For thirty minutes he worked and got nowhere. An hour passed, and still he had not opened the door. By now he was bathed in sweat and panting in exasperation, but he still could not pick the lock. Finally, after laboring for two hours, Harry Houdini collapsed in frustration and failure against the door he could not unlock. But when he fell against the door, it swung open! It had never been locked at all!  In his mind it was locked, and that was all it took to keep him from opening the door and walking out of the jail cell (Zig Ziglar).

As the last days of 2013 slip away, what thoughts are keeping us captive? As we begin 2014, how can we change these thoughts so we are free? Remember what the apostle Paul advises us in 2 Corinthinians 10:5: “[Cast] down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and [bringeth] into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

God, thank You that You allow us to be free indeed. Amen
Bro. Bill

Daily Nugget

   Friday, December 27th. Today's cherished Nugget from guest blogger Pastor Bill.

“The worship of God is not a rule of safety—it is an adventure of the spirit” (Alfred North Whitehead, 1861–1947).

Many try to use religion to "hedge a bet" with God. The truth is that the "bet" is not religion, but it is a relationship with Holy God brought about by the gift of God’s Son, Jesus. To enjoy that relationship, we must worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

God, thank You for letting us draw near to You for worship. Amen.
Bro. Bill

In GOD We Trust!

Daily Nugget

   Thursday, December 26th. Today's cherished Nugget from guest blogger Pastor Bill.

“Christmas is not a date. It is a state of mind” (Mary Ellen Chase 1887–1973).

This is December 26th and most, if not all, the presents have been unwrapped and the paper and ribbon have been thrown away. For some even the decorations have been put away for at least 10 and a half months. We may put away the trimmings, but we should never put aside The Christ of CHRISTmas. According to the writer of the book of Luke, let us keep the attitude the angels brought when they proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men” (2:14).

God, thank You for the relationship we have with You that was made possible by Your gift to us at Christmas. Amen.
Bro. Bill

In GOD We Trust!

Daily Nugget

   Wednesday, December 25th. Today's cherished Nugget from guest blogger Pastor Bill.

Merry Christmas!

“The simple shepherds heard the voice of an angel and found their Lamb; the wise men saw the light of a star and found their Wisdom” (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, 1895–1979).

May you find The Christ in CHRISTmas today and all year long.

God, thank You for giving Your Son as the perfect gift at Christmas. Amen.

Wise men still worship Him.
Bro. Bill

In GOD We Trust!

Daily Nugget

   Tuesday, December 24th. Today's cherished Nugget from guest blogger Pastor Bill. 

Spurgeon, that great prince of preachers, was once staying at an inn in one of the valleys of northern Italy where the floor was dreadfully dirty.

“I had it in my mind to advise the lady to scrub it,” said Spurgeon, “but when I perceived it was made of dirt, I reflected that the more she scrubbed the worse it would be.”

Just so, God knew that there could be no improvement of the corrupt nature of man except through faith in His Son. No matter how much we try, our best will never be good enough to deserve the relationship with God that He freely gives us.

The writer of Isaiah 64:6 puts our works into perspective with these words: “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” The good news is found in Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

God, thank You for cleaning us as only You can. Amen.
Bro. Bill

In GOD we Trust!

Daily Nugget

   Monday, December 23rd. Today's cherished Nugget from guest blogger Pastor Bill. 

“TRY TELLING YOUR BOSS ABOUT THE THINGS YOU LIKE, AND SEE HOW WILLINGLY HE OR SHE WILL HELP YOU GET RID OF THE THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE” (Napoleon Hill).

The thought for today came from a secular source, but I couldn’t help but think how true that is when we let God be "boss" in our lives. When we tell (pray to) Him how much we love Him (praise), we will see how the other things we don’t like seem to disappear. The writer of the Psalms tells us: “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him” (28:7).

God, You are an awesome boss and friend. Forgive me when I try to be in charge. Amen.
Bro. Bill

Don't forget to spend time with Him today.

There is always the thought

Losing a child to death brings a myriad of emotions ...     

all complicated ... all different ... all difficult.

silent Grief speaks today about ... the thought ... 

Wherever we go, whatever we're doing, whoever is in our presence, there is always the thought of our child who has gone on before us imprinted in the center of every thought and the love for our child remains alive in the very core of our heart. Will we ever "move on and put this in the past"? NEVER! Why would we want to? This child of ours is our child forever and always! We have not "lost a child" -- we have a child who is no longer with us in the physical form, but our child lives on in us forever! And, oh how we miss the presence of our sweet child!!!

Father, Yahweh, I pray today for Silent Grief, and all who have lost a child. or a loved one.  I pray that You will hold them as close to Your heart as You hold the child they love and lost.

Father, bless them today.

xtnyoda, shalomed
 

Daily Nugget

    Sunday, December 22nd. Today's cherished Nugget from guest blogger Pastor Bill. 

“Ah!” said a woman, who in her poverty had done much for Christ and who had a great sum willed to her, “I cannot do as much as I used to do.”
“But how is that?” someone asked.
She answered, “When I had a nickel purse, I had a silver heart, but now that I have a silver purse, I have only a nickel heart.”

The writer of Mark 10:25 tells us: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” It is not that the riches themselves will keep us out of heaven; it is our inability to let go of this world's riches that will keep many of us spiritually poor, thus eternally poor and, therefore, out of the kingdom of God.

God, let me hold loosely to the things of this world that would separate me from You as I cling tighter to You.  Amen.
 Bro. Bill
In GOD We Trust!

Daily Nugget

   Saturday, December 21st. Today's cherished Nugget from guest blogger Pastor Bill.

A lady named Lori Rhodes from Pinson, Alabama, shared this story with the Readers Digest magazine. She said she and her four-year-old daughter had looked diligently for a bathing suit and finally found a black and white one-piece that they both liked. She tried it on and modeled it for her daughter. It was a hit. “Mommy, you look so pretty!” she squealed. “You look just like Shamu the whale.”

We can laugh, (because it wasn’t our daughter) but we all have had situations where a child’s honesty has humbled us. As we get older, we tend to lose our transparency and excitement with the little things. God help us to laugh and cuddle with You daily in the intimate relationship You want with us. In Matthew 18:4, Jesus reminds us of a lesson we need to learn: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

God, help us to remember the only value we have at all is in You. Amen.
Bro. Bill Scroggs

In GOD We Trust!

Daily Nugget

   Friday, December 20th. Today's cherished Nugget from guest blogger Pastor Bill.

D. L. Moody used to say, “You can always tell when a man is a great way from God—he is always talking about himself, how good he is. But the moment he sees God by the eye of faith, he is down on his knees, and like Job, he cries, ‘Behold, I am vile.’ ”

This realization is not an easy one to accept--to acknowledge the reality that while we may be morally clean, we are vile in our own self-righteousness.

When we see ourselves in the light of the Lord, we will join the writer of Isaiah 6:5 when he said, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

God, help us to see ourselves as we are. Amen.

Bro. Bill

In GOD we Trust!