Fear Now!

Do you prefer the sweet satisfaction of abundant life or the wrenching sorrow of shriveled years? Do you prefer accomplishment or failure? Love or selfishness? Joyous friendships or severe solitude? Meaning or despair?

Do your really want to be wise? Fear your Creator. In him you will find the secrets to successful living.

A Prayer begins . . .

Father in heaven, blessed is your name above all others. May we value your teachings as we live each day. We do acknowledge the wisdom of your ways and are filled with gratitude. Blessed is your name above all others.

Look carefully! I'm looking at you. I've got my hands up over my head, my fingers are wiggling happily, a big smile is on my face! At our home we sit around the table on occasion and say, "Eveybody who loves Doug, or Sarah, or Lesley, or Marilyn, or Rich--raise your hands!" Well, now its your turn! This one's for you! I just said your name! Love yourself? Then your hands should be up in the air, fingers wiggling happily, with your own big smile!

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Two selected book quotations begin . . .

Cash In The Bank

Barbara Johnson, Splashes of Joy in the Cesspools of Life, Word Publishing, 1992,
p. 11.   SoAmazing.com

Category: Inspiration
ISBN: 0849933137
Keywords: splashes, joy, cesspool, household products, attitude, laundry soap, Christians, canceled check, promissary note, detergent, dishes, God, Christian, happiness, Lord, river, heart, Word Publishing, Johnson, Barbara Johnson

"In a Joy-less place, in Joy-less circumstances, Paul was Joy-full because he knew the difference between splashes of joy and the cesspool often depends on how you want to look at what is happening to you and around you.

Not long ago I began noticing how the household products I use suggest the importance of one's attitude. For example, I like to use Fresh Start laundry soap because it reminds me that Christians can have a fresh start. First John 1:9 promises us that if we confess our sins we are cleansed from all unrighteousness. That means that the past is a canceled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, and today is cash. 'Thank You, Lord, ' I pray in the morning, 'for a new day that isn't even messed up yet--a fresh start. Thank you for a whole day full of exciting things . . . new experiences . . . new challenges.'

I also use Joy detergent on my dishes, and while I appreciate the 'lemon-fresh smell,' I like the idea of finding joy in new beginnings even better. Joy is the land of beginning again for every Christian. Joy is having God live in the marrow of your bones. Happiness depends on what is going on around us, but joy bubbles up from deep within because of what God does for us. Happiness is elusive and can be wiped out in a second, but abiding joy from the Lord is like a deep river down in your heart that just keeps flowing."

SoAmazing Review: In Splashes of Joy in the Cesspools of Life, Barbara Johnson exudes a breathless enthusiasm for the Lord. She presents her ideas with outrageous humor, story after story and a heart for her audience.

Buy Splashes of Joy in the Cesspools of Life Now!   Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble, Christianbook.

Surprise And Joy!

Francine Rivers, Voice in the Wind, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1993, p. 386. This is the first book of three historical novels in the Mark of the Lion series.    SoAmazing.com

Category: Fiction
ISBN: 0842377506
Keywords: Jewess, sadness, loneliness, worshippers, Rome, Ephesus, spirit, God, pagan, alone, Trophimus, Asyncritus, John, Hadassah, followers, apostle, weeping, Galilee, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Rivers, Francine Rivers

"The young Jewess felt an aching sadness and loneliness. She looked up at the beauty and immensity of the Artemission and felt small and helpless by comparison. She looked at the hundreds of worshipers and was afraid. Rome had been frightening enough, but something about Ephesus oppressed her spirit.

Closing her eyes, she prayed. God, are you here in this place that is teeming with pagan worshippers? I need for feel your presence, but I don't. I feel so alone. Help me find friends like Asyncritus and Trophimus and the others.

She opened here eyes again, gazing at the crowds without really seeing them. She knew she should return to the villa, but the quiet voice within her bade her stay a few minutes longer. So she obeyed and waited. Her eyes casually scanned the milling people . . . then she frowned. She had glimpsed someone among a group of men--someone familiar--and her heart leaped. She rose and stood on tiptoe, peering intently. She had not been mistaken! Filled with joy, Hadassah ran, pressing her way through the crowd with a boldness she had never shown before. When she broke through the last followers, she cried out his name and he turned, his face alight with surprise and joy.

'Hadassah!' cried John, the apostle, and opened his arms.

Hadassah went into them weeping. 'Praise be to God!' she said, clinging to him and feeling she was home for the first time since she had left Galilee five years before."

SoAmazing Review: Voice in the Wind is historical fiction at its best. Francine Rivers combines great story-telling skills with a well researched historical setting just after Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D.

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