Today's Encouragement (31 March 2023)

Greetings sister soldier saints! 

How are you doing in the battle today? I hope you are strong in the Lord and the power of His might! And I hope none of us are like those fearful-hearted men who had to be sent home lest they affect the others with fear in the real battles in the OT. We can all have affects on each other. We know the strong are to support and lift up the weak. We also know about the roaring lion like enemy looking for someone to devour. 

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Romans 15:1

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

Isaiah 35:3-4

God's ways are awesome! And let us also strive to be strong by trusting in Him and having a great faith and our armour on and everything else that helps us do that. 

And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.

Daniel 10:19

Another scripture to edify.... 

Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. 

Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way. 

Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them. 

The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

Psalm 119:127-130

Cute lil things... 

Peaceful and good creations God made. 

Hold fast sisters and Lord willing I will be back tomorrow to share something to edify.

Love in Christ, 

Find the gospel to eternal life through Christ explained here.

Find my biblical clothing shop here.

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Just My Day

I hope you are all doing well, sisters. 

One of my most favourite chapters - Romans 12 - and I am sure many of you understand that. There is much in it to ponder and put into practice in our daily lives.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." 

So full of truth and God's holy ways!

I had a busy day of various things, bits and pieces.

Looking forward to corn...

 ...and an onion harvest.

Pistachio nuts... 

...in the "Bible Garden" on our property which we planted with some trees that have mentions in scripture.

It also has almonds, mulberries, figs, pomegranates, wormwood, grapes and an olive tree. I guess the climate must be similar here to Israel. 

A few of those scriptures for interest...

"And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:" (Genesis 43:11)

"And when David enquired of the Lord, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines." (2 Samuel 5:23-24)

"For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;" (Deuteronomy 8:7-8)

(And we do have beehives and honey here too:-)

Today, I had to go for a drive to pick up some chicken feed from a farm. I saw this field of hay bales...so I stopped to take a picture for you. 

It looks like summer for sure! 

Then I had to wait for a little bit for something so I went down to the lake in the small town. 

There were lots of these birds there. 

I think this young hen looks so funny with it's comb flopping over! 

I just opened this giant bag of rice, from Costco. It's 20kg (44lbs) and it cost $64 AUD/$48 USD. I wonder how long it will last us.

And made this curry rice dinner. When you cook from scratch, some recipes you think yes we'll be making that again and others not. This one has become popular. It's rice, curry powder, fried onion, sausage, and egg. 

And finally a rose for my sisters:-)

I want to be remembering these encouraging verses as I go about my daily life whether it goes smoothly or some "issue" arises. We know persecutions come with following Christ, and I do expect they could come at any moment...but He can give us power, love, and a sound mind in it all. How wonderful is that! 

I hope this blesses and encourages you, sisters:-)

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:"

(2 Timothy 1:7-10)

See the biblical gospel here. 

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Farm Creatures

I share a few pics of the animals we have here. 

We're grateful for fresh eggs and milk. Perhaps I will share some uses for them later on. 

This rooster thinks he's king of the farm. 

He thinks he can drive me off as well...but he's not going to. 

Looking forward (kind of:-) to learning how to milk the cow. She's a big girl and I'm not very big and strong so I hope she's nice and quiet:-) I'm waiting for my youngest brother to come home and teach me. Her calf gets all the milk for now. We have enough in the freezer. 

Some wool producers... 

I saw this creature on the lawn today. It's called a Shingleback or Sleepy Lizard. We have a lot around here. They love it when you feed them fruit. So I gave this one some banana. I'm sure he appreciated it as there is not a lot else around to eat in summertime. He ate a lot...I hope I didn't give him a sore tummy:-)

They can come in a variety of colours. This one a few years ago had more yellow on it. I gave it some orange to eat.

And an evening walk with the farm dogs.

Most of the family are away so the animal work has fallen to me. I'm grateful to be out in the peaceful countryside doing such things. Praise God for blessings from the animals in our care. 

"And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

(Genesis 1:25-27)

See the gospel good news here. 

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Our Rock...and Peace

Praise God that He is unchangeable and we can have a sure and firm anchor for our souls through Christ. In the changes of this life He is the same and I want to trust in that promise He gave us. 

In an ever changing world we live in, I am glad we can have a sure guide for our feet. 

"To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

(Luke 1:79)

"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;" 

(Ephesians 2:13-15) 

Good to be back in the quiet countryside...free from the distant roar of traffic. 

Peaceful...

 

Hanging out washing...to air dry in God's fresh air...as the sun goes down and surrounded by free ranging chickens. How much better can it get for a keeper at home job (there were mosquitos though).

The sun goes down here to arise for someone else. Another day has ended.

Will we have tomorrow? How will we live it?

Who can we trust in? 

Yes He is our only hope for truth in this world where people are being tossed to and fro in their beliefs.

A few flowers for you sisters... 

It's truly summertime here. The plants have to be tough to survive the hot dry periods. 

How do we godly women thrive in a harsh environment? 

We put on the whole armour of God. 

The Lord will sustain us spiritually in the hard times...just as He did the children of Israel.

"And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."

(1 Corinthians 10:4)

And He gives us living water. 

"Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water."

(John 4:14)

Precious words...

"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

(Revelation 22:17)

Have a blessed day all you godly women striving on in your jobs you have and glorifying God in it. 

Love and peace, 

...from a sister in our Lord. 

See the good news to eternal life through Christ here.

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