LIFE

12 LESSONS OF LIFE
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.....
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. Its OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles,

use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words, ‘In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

For those of you looking for the joke, it's in the title :-)
Much love, Dennis

Grace

 

How to Get to Heaven?

A teacher asked the children in her Sunday School class, "If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale and gave all my money to the church, would I get into heaven?"

"NO!" the children all answered.

"If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would I get into heaven?"

Again, the answer was "NO!"

"Well," she continued, "then how can I get to heaven?"

In the back of the room, a five-year-old boy shouted out,

"You gotta be dead!"

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Most of the things that I write are not my original thoughts. I put together what I have read. I just wanted to make sure that everyone is aware of that.
 
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. — Ephesians 2:8

Your hearts should be strengthened by God’s grace, not by obeying rules. — Hebrews 13:9 NCV

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. — Matthew 11:28 NASB

Biblical grace is God's unmerited favor. God doing good for us what we don't deserve. In the Bible, grace and mercy are like two heads of the same coin. Mercy is God withholding judgment or evil that I deserve; grace is God giving me blessing or good that I don't deserve. Because of God's mercy, I do not receive the judgment of God against my sins. Because of God's grace, I receive eternal life and a promise of heaven though I don't deserve them. Both mercy and grace come to me though the Lord Jesus Christ.

Max Lucado video

much love, Dennis
 

hearing from God

Brake Fluid Addiction

It's much more prevalent than we realize.  A good friend of mine related this story to me. Evidently, one of her college buddies knew about this firsthand.
It's a sad story.

                        

A mechanic noticed his co-worker drinking brake fluid at lunch.

"What are you doing, man? You can't drink that stuff!"

"Relax," replied his co-worker, "this stuff tastes pretty good, and I don't drink it all the time."

"Seriously," the mechanic exclaimed, "that brake fluid is poison!"

"Hey, man" yelled the co-worker, "back off! I can STOP any time I want."

Of course it's a joke, but my friend "Debbie" set me up perfectly. I fell for it hook, line and sinker.

It does however remind me of a Scripture that I can relate to. I don't consider myself to be influential, wise, or any type of nobility.

1st Corinthians 1:26-31

²⁶ Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

I find myself more and more at ease speaking about my faith in God and what Jesus has done for me. I think that 1st Corinthians is a fairly good description of my life after my accident.

Much love, Dennis