A call beckoning the Hundredth Sheep...

…the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.                James 3:17

(Are we speaking only of money and possessions here?
Or maybe time and attentiveness and affection and interacting in the journey of life as well?)
Prayer of a God-fearing mother –
Dear God -I pray to be a Virtuous woman.. a woman of strong Character, great wisdom, many skills and great Compassion. An excellent friend, daughter, wife and mother, In whatever task you have given me here on earth may l do it with my whole heart, May my strength and dignity not come from my earthly achievements but may they be found in my reverence for you Oh God! May my attractiveness not be of outward garments but from inward character. Create in me a clean heart oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me, do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me, restore to me the joy of your Salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me... Amen.      - Helena Moorer, Maryland
 

 


 
 
In an entry in his ‘Psychology Today’ blog [secular] in June of 2014, Clay Routledge, Ph.D. identifies:
Five Scientifically Supported Benefits of Prayer”
1.       Prayer improves self-control
2.       Prayer makes you nicer
3.       Prayer makes you more forgiving
4.       Prayer increases trust
5.       Prayer offsets the negative health effects of stress
Down and Out Ruth
Ruth in the Old Testament was possibly at the lowest point in her life just before she met Boaz. All the natural factors were against her. She was a poor widow and a Moabitess—a Gentile in the Jewish nation of Israel.
But she trusted God for favor when she went looking for a field to glean in. She said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor” (Ruth 2:2).
Noticed what Ruth was conscious of? Favor! She wasn’t conscious of her natural circumstances that were against her. And because of that, her situation was turned around completely.
The Bible tells us that she happened to come to the part of the field that belonged to Boaz. And to cut the long story short, Boaz saw Ruth, fell in love with her and married her.
Beloved, when you approach your situation today, be conscious of the Lord’s favor that is all over you! His favor will cause you to be at the right place at the right time, and say the right things at the right time, turning the negative situations in your life around and giving you good success!!                                                      (author unknown to me)


 



As time marches on -
At 6 years old – ‘Mommy, I love you’
At 10  – ‘Mom – whatEVER!’
At 16 – ‘My Mom is SO annoying!’
At 18 – ‘All I wanna do is get OUT of this house!’
At 25 – ‘Mom, you were right.’
At 30 – ‘I wanna go to Mom’s house.’
At 50 -  ‘I don’t wanna lose my Mom!’
At 70 – ‘I would give up EVERYTHING for my Mom to be here with me again…’

Testimony of Miriam to Marcellus in the Book, The Robe
The Robe is a 1950s vintage novel/movie  by Lloyd C. Douglas, an historical fiction account of the crucifixion. The main character of the story was a roman legionnaire named Marcellus, who had just been banished from Rome to Jerusalem for displeasing the emperor. Marcellus arrived the day of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Since Marcellus was the new man in town, his initiation was conducting the horrible public execution. 
Within hours after dutifully carrying out his orders to conduct the ghastly crucifixion, Marcellus received a reprieve from the emperor due to the influence of his powerful father. Immediately Marcellus headed back to Rome. However, despite his familiarity with death and blood and dying, he was beyond distraught…unstable …because, in looking into the eyes of Jesus, Marcellus KNEW He was innocent. Marcellus had in his possession the robe of Jesus, which he had won in a drunken roll of the dice. 
Back in Rome, his physicians told him he needed to go back to Jerusalem to find out what ‘curse’ it was that tormented him. So, Marcellus returned to the place of the ghastly crucifixion, but not as a fearful roman legionnaire. Rather, Marcellus travelled incognito…as a simple garment merchant, curious about folks who made garments such as the robe had had with him.
Marcellus came upon a young lady named Miriam, a wonderfully gifted singer…and paraplegic. She shared her complete devotion and love of Jesus with Marcellus. Marcellus listened, but scoffed at the talk of a resurrection; he, as a roman soldier, KNEW when a man was dead! He had left Jerusalem in the evening only a few hours after the crucifixion, and therefore had not seen what others had seen.  He mocked Miriam, asking her if Jesus was so powerful and could perform such wonderful miracles at will, why didn’t He heal HER? 
Miriam explained that Jesus DID heal her…and Marcellus countered ‘you cannot walk even a single step!’  Miriam agreed, but added how after her injury but prior to meeting her Lord, she had been deeply angry, bitter and depressed. In fact she wished to DIE. In her chance encounter with Jesus, He had somehow given her new joy…new peace…new hope!  As well as deeper compassion for the plight of others and a gift for singing!
And Marcellus again pointed out that she still could not walk even a single step.
Miriam explained that Jesus could easily have healed her legs, and had He done that, of course she would be joyful… because of her good fortune!  But instead, He chose to not heal her legs, but restored joy to her heart –EVEN. IN. HER. PRESENT. CIRCUMSTANCES!  Regardless of her circumstances!
Other than the presence of Jesus in her life, there was simply NO reason for her to now have hope or peace or joy! None!
 

How to Make our Lives Effective: Starfish on the Beach
There was a kid, maybe 8…maybe 10…he was walking on the beach by his summer house one  morning after a storm...there were dozens and dozens of starfish....hundreds....that had been washed up onto the beach during the storm;  and he was throwing starfish back into the surf so they could survive…
After a while, he came upon a scholarly, college professor type who asked the kid what he was doing...and the kid explained;   the college professor said 'son, don’t  you think you’re  wasting your time?  You  KNOW you can’t  help them all!' 
As the kid threw another starfish back out into the surf, he looked up at the man and said 'maybe not…but I helped THAT one!'
10 MESSAGES THIS MORNING
1. If we do not want to be matured by our ‘upbringing’, then we will be matured with suffering.
2. We cannot change the past, but we have a chance to change our future better from our past by responding right today.
3. God created us for His glory. Therefore, we must live to glorify God.
4. Do not focus too much on what we do not have, but focus and develop what God has given us.
5. Do not live in the past because God is preparing many new things.
6. If you feel your condition with God good, but not with your neighbor, there may be something wrong in it.
7. Even if you have fallen, do not doubt you can rise again.
8. Do not try to see first believe, but believe in God first, then you will see great things and magical happen in your life.
9. Donate God's love that has been donated to us for those who have not got it.
10. Examine the love of Christ that is within you to others, so that they too can feel the love of Christ in their lives.

 
 
So, what exactly is it that Mothers DO? 
Alexander  Tsiaras , Dept. of Medicine at Yale, has used a new kind of scanning technology  enabling researchers to ‘see things that had never been seen…things about the body that just makes you marvel- all beginning with two simple cells that had this unbelievable machinery that would become  the  magic…to become YOU!  At 44 days becomes ‘something’ that can be recognized, and at 9 weeks really like a little human being; 
The marvel of this is - HOW do we actually have this biological mechanism inside our body to actually see .this information…the ‘magic’ of the mechanisms inside each genetic structure saying exactly where that nerve cell should go…
The complexity of the mathematical models of how these things are done are beyond human comprehension;  even though I am a mathematician, I look at this with the marvel 0 HOW do these instruction sets not make these mistakes as they build what I us?  It’s a mystery, its magic, its divinity
By the time of birth at 9 months, the human body has almost 60,000 miles of vessels inside your body, only one mile of which is visible…59,999 miles which are basically bringing nutrients and taking waste away…the complexity of building that within a single system is beyond the comprehension of any comprehension that any existing mathematics today….and the instruction set…from the brain to every other part of the body;  look at the complexity of the folding!  Where is the intelligence that the folding
How does the woman’s body understand to have genetic structure that not only builds its own, but then has the understanding that allows her to become a walking immunological cardiovascular system that basically is a mobile system that can actually nurture and keep this child…we can marvel that is again – beyond our comprehension…the magic of the existence that is us!’
[The development of the new human is] ‘…so perfectly organized…we kept seeing this over and over and over again….it’s hard not to attribute divinity to it;  scanning development of fetus from conception to birth’.
                          
2 days                                                                                                      4 weeks
 
                           
9 weeks                                                                                                   19 weeks
 
                           
5 months                                                                                                 All Done!