You are a Precious Jewel

Did you know that?
  
In God’s eyes you are a precious jewel. 

Are you a ruby or an emerald or a sapphire or even a diamond?  

Whatever you are, you are precious in God’s eyes and in His heart.  He chose you precisely because you are precious to Him and He wants you very, very much.
 

In the beginning every gem is dug out of the ground.  Dirt and impurities of all sorts must be cleaned away.  

The stone must be cut and polished and then put into a beautiful setting to display its beauty.  When the jeweler is done, he has a work of art.

We are like the gem stones.  

We must be cleaned of dirt and impurities.  

Some dirt and impurities, that is sin, can be very difficult to get rid of.  

However, because God values us so greatly, He is persistent.  He works very hard to clean us, to cut and polish us and to put us in a beautiful setting.

Our beautiful setting will be heaven.

The gemstone does not have a choice of whether or not to become a beautiful jewel.  

We do have a choice.  

God loves us so much that He lets us choose.  

Our choice is to become His beautiful jewel in heaven for eternity or to spend eternity burning in the fiery pit.

You are a precious jewel.  

Will you choose to shine for eternity?

                        Japanese Iris


Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.  Isiah 43:4

  When we take the time to look below the surface of the water, we see the beauty waiting for us to discover it.  There is beauty in everyone and everything waiting to be discovered and God sees it all.

Beauty

True beauty is a quality 
    that overwhelms our very soul

It is a sight that makes our being rejoice

The first time we see it, it takes our breath away 

We know it is beauty 
   because we can feel it in our soul 

Once we have experienced beauty,
   we know that we will continue to seek it

Our hearts were awakened 
   to an essential part of us that was missing

   and is now complete

Opening our heart and soul to God is like that

At times He takes our breath away 

   with His power and might

Knowing at the same time 

   that He loves each one of us so much
   that He suffered and died for us 

   so we can spend eternity with Him.

It is truly overwhelming

God is an essential part of our being 

Knowing Him makes our souls rejoice 

   and makes us realize
   that we absolutely cannot live without Him

He is as essential as air, food and sleep

He makes our lives shine with His love

He completes our being.

You turned my wailing into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.

Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

   Psalm 30:11-12

        There is beauty all around us if we just look.

      Each day, each choice in our life takes us 
     one step closer to heaven or the other place.  
                 Choose well, my friend. 

Prayer for the Lost

Pray for the lost, the forgotten, the imprisoned, 

all the ones who think no one cares.  

Please Lord, let them know You remember, 

You care so very much.

Please touch them 

so they know they are never alone,
that their Loving Father is with them always.

You will help them get through.

Please help us all.

Sometimes, we are all lost and need You 
to guide us home.

Praise You, Lord for Your infinite Love.

Where ever we go, there is a place to find God, a place of refuge where He will embrace us. A place where we will find His peace and love.

As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.
   Ezekiel 34:12

As we travel through life, we will find a lighthouse in the unlikeliest of places, put there to guide us home to the one who is searching frantically for His lost sheep.

Knapps Station Community Church

(Check out the website for directions and lots of other great information.)
It's a great place to feed your soul the "good stuff" from the Bible.

Vacation Bible School
   at Knapps Station Community Church

Cow Abunga Farms

   

July 11-15, 2016 6:00-8:00 PM

What:    A week of fun and faith

as we learn that God has a plan, 

       God is always with us, 

       God is in control, God convicts of sins, 

       and God is good at the farms

.
Who:     Children ages 2 to 12 years

.
When:   Monday, July 11-Friday, July 15, 2016

           

             From 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM

Where:  Knapps Station Community Church

           3035 CR 47, Norwood, NY 13668
           315-353-5093

For more information click here.  

       For early registration you can fill out the form               below.  Someone will contact you for more 
          information if needed. 

                  Thank you.

I would also like to suggest that you check out the blog page for my friend, Jean Oathout.  I have received much good information and many blessings from her blog

Treasures in Christ

The Most Important Measure of Prayer  

is a recent post that I found helpful.

Book Reviews

The Shack by Wm. Paul Young

I read this book in 2 days.  It's Christian fiction that's a real page turner.  However it does touch on some deep topics that caused me to rethink my relationship with God and want to work harder to close the gap between us.  God loves us so much that He goes to incredible lengths just to have relationships with us.  We just need to cooperate.  I was given my copy but it's available on Amazon and probably most bookstores and libraries.

Great Attitudes by Charles Swindoll

Great food for thought.  Short bites to digest a little at a time and enjoy.  I borrowed my copy from the library at Knapps Station Church.

The Blessing

May you listen carefully each day for that still, small voice that is always present, always waiting patiently to guide you home.  

May you always hear and follow His loving guidance.

Blessings for you,my friend for a wonderful week 

and a safe, happy holiday.

All photos taken by Debbie and Tim McEwen - 

  used with permission

All bible reference from the NIV unless otherwise noted

If you are interested, you can click on the Blog Archive 

  dates on the top right side of this post to connect 

  to previous blog posts

I would love to hear from you either on the comment 

  section of this blog post or through my email  

  debbieamcewen@gmail.com

I post every other Saturday 

The next post will be 7-16-2016

I hope to see you then. 

                                                    A Barred Owl

     Both these winged creatures visited our home in the past.
       Anybody know what kind of moth this is?