HE GIVES MORE GRACE

  SHOWING GRACE

A

n old Quaker bought a cantankerous dairy cow and every milking session became a battle of wills.  Determined to demonstrate grace under fire the old man refused to react when Bessie stomped on his foot, whipped him in the face with her tail, and knocked over the milk bucket.  Finally she kicked him against the barn wall and that did it! Glowering, he growled, "Thou knowest 

I’m a Quaker and cannot strike thee back – but I can surely sell thee to a Presbyterian!"  When we are the injured party, it’s hard to be gracious and finish the job at hand.  That’s when we  need "more grace," and to keep in mind a few important principles:

a)      Conflicting viewpoints help you to grow.  If you’ve ever been around teens you can relate.  They’re experts at coming up with unconventional, off-the-wall opinions that challenge you and keep you honest.

b)      Never resort to character assassination.  Disagreeing is one thing, destroying somebody is another.  Some of the most vicious personal attacks, public and private, have been waged over religion and politics.  If you must fight, fight fair. 

c)      When you lose, take it on the chin.  Instead of endlessly rehearsing old grievances,  "Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault"(Romans 14:14-19). 

d)      Sometimes it’s necessary to go separate ways.  When Paul and Barnabas argued over whether or not John Mark should travel with them, "There followed a sharp disagreement between them" (Acts 15:39).  End of story?  No, just the beginning of 2 different ministries!  So be gracious! What’s happening to you right now may well be God’s way of moving you into a new area of blessings.  Amen

In Christ,

Janet Irene Thomas

Playwright/Screen Writer/Director

Published Author/Gospel Lyricist &Producer

FOUNDER/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org. 

CHAPTER TWO - SONG OF SOLOMON

TV COMMERCIALS

A fifth-grade teacher in a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in some way to communicate ideas about God. Here are some of the results:

GOD IS LIKE …!

BAYER ASPIRIN
He works miracles.

GOD IS LIKE …!

a FORD
He's got a better idea.

GOD IS LIKE …!

COKE
He's the real thing.

This is great

GOD IS LIKE …!

HALLMARK CARDS
He cares enough to send His very best.

GOD IS LIKE …!

TIDE
He gets the stains out that others leave behind.

GOD IS LIKE …!

GENERAL ELECTRIC
He brings good things to life.

GOD IS LIKE …!

SEARS
He has everything.

GOD IS LIKE …!

ALKA-SELTZER
Try him, you'll like Him.

GOD IS LIKE …!

SCOTCH TAPE
You can't see him, but you know He's there.

GOD IS LIKE …!

DELTA
He's ready when you are.

GOD IS LIKE …!

ALLSTATE
You're in good hands with Him.

GOD IS LIKE …!

VO-5 Hair Spray
He holds through all kinds of weather.

GOD IS LIKE …!

DIAL SOAP
Aren't you glad you have Him. 

Don't you wish everybody did.

GOD IS LIKE …!

the U.S. POST OFFICE
Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet nor ice will keep Him from His appointed destination.

In Christ,

Janet Irene Thomas

Playwright/Screen Writer/Director

Published Author/Gospel Lyricist &Producer

FOUNDER/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org.

THE MUD PUDDLE

Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart! — Psalm 119:2

My friend Ed was telling me a story about his little son. He was standing in a mud puddle, so Ed told him to get out. But instead, his son began running through the puddle. “No running through it either,” he said. So the boy began walking through the water. When Ed told him, “No walking!” the boy stood with just his toes in the water, looking defiantly at his dad. The child knew what his father wanted, but he didn’t want to do it.

Sometimes I’m like that stubborn little boy. I know that what I’m doing isn’t pleasing to the Lord, but I do it anyway. God told the children of Israel to “fully obey the Lord your God” (Deut. 28:1 niv), but they failed repeatedly. The psalmist acknowledged his struggle in Psalm 119, “Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!” (v.5 niv).

Jealousy, hatred, rebellion—they occur all too often. But God provided for our redemption through the sacrifice of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit helps us when we are tempted (1 Cor. 10:13); and when we confess our wrongdoing, God promises to forgive us (1 John 1:9).

If you are like me and keep running back into the mud puddles of life, don’t give up. God will help you to resist temptation, and He will never stop loving you!

Dear Lord, help me when I’m tempted. Bring the promises of the Bible to mind and strengthen me by Your Holy Spirit to say no to temptation. Let all my words and deeds bring honor to Your name.

To master temptation, let Christ master you.

OUR DAILY BREAD-APRIL 9, 2015

In Christ,

Janet Irene Thomas

Playwright/Screen Writer/Director

Published Author/Gospel Lyricist &Producer

FOUNDER/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org.

POSSESSING THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side."

      Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know."

    "You don't know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the
            other side?"

 The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side of which came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing...I know my Master is there and that is enough".

In Christ,

Janet Irene Thomas

Playwright/Screen Writer/Director

Published Author/Gospel Lyricist &Producer

FOUNDER/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org.

FROM SOCIAL BUTTERFLY TO SAINT

MADAME GUYON (1648-1717)

NOTHING WAS more easy to me now than to practice prayer. Hours passed away like moments, while I could hardly do anything else but pray. The fervency of my love allowed me no intermission….So strong, almost insatiable, was my desire for communion with God that I arose at four o’clock to pray.

            These are not words one would have expected to hear from the young woman who grew up to become the saintly mystic we now as Madame Guyon. Born into the pleasure-seeking class in France during the reign of Louis XIV, Mademoiselle de La Mothe (Jeanne Marie Bourvieres) possessed unusual beauty. As her mother lavished upon her clothes, jewelry and the things of the world. Jeanne read romance novels and spent hours looking at herself in the mirror.  When she as 15, the La Mothe family moved near Paris where Jeanne continued to climb the social ladder.

            Amid the social whirl of Paris, Jeanne married M. Jacques Guyon, a wealthy invalid 23 year her senior. The marriage was unhappy from the beginning, and thus Madame Guyon began to finally seek her true happiness in God. She was rewarded with a deep sense of God’s salvation and presence, and after a mystical experience while walking the river Seine, she wrote, 

"From this day, this hour, if it be possible, I will be wholly the Lord’s. The world shall have no portion in me."  In the years that followed, trouble mounted for Madame Guyon. She went through what St. John of the Cross called the "dark night of the soul," her husband and young son died, a severe case of small pox left her face disfigured, and she was persecuted and imprisoned in the Bastille by the clergy for what they believed to be her heretical religious views. 

Through all this, Jeanne Guyon prayed with Job. "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be his name." He contribution to devotional literature was prodigious during those years. The poems, hymns and books she authored have touched thousands down to the present day, including Watchman Nee, Francois Fenelon, Hudson Taylor and John Wesley. The shallow social butterfly had become a woman of great spiritual substance by the time she died in 1717.

Guyon outlined her method of 

praying Scripture in her book.

Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ, also known as A Short and Very Easy Method Prayer.  She recommended the practice of reading the Bible very slowly, tasting and digesting each verse, a line at a time, moving on only after extracting the essence of the passage.  The result of this practice: "The Lord’s chief desire is to reveal himself to you and, in order for him to do that, he gives you abundant grace. The Lord gives you the experience of enjoying his presence. He touches you, and his touch is so delightful that, more than ever, you are drawn inwardly to him."

In Christ,

Janet Irene Thomas

Playwright/Screen Writer/Director

Published Author/Gospel Lyricist &Producer

FOUNDER/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org.

           

DIRECTIONS

Coming From Where You Are

 Ø   Make a right on “MADE UP MIND” Drive

Ø   Go Straight until you are on “SAVED” Street 

Ø   You’ll run right into “BIBLESTUDY” Boulevard 

Ø   Which will turn into “PURIFICATION” Place 

Ø   That’ll turn into “SANCTIFICATION” Street  

Ø   You’ll see a sign that says “OLD THINGS PASSED AWAY” 

Ø   Go through the first light- until you get onto “PRAYER AND PRIASE” place

Ø   You should be almost there –

Ø   If you run into Jealously, Bitterness and Gossip, you made a wrong turn.

Ø   Take “REPENTANCE” Road - make a right at “NO CONDEMNATON” Court

Ø   You’ll see the building with the doors open that says “GOOD AND FAITHFUL” 

WARNING: YOU WON’T BE THE ONLY ONE ON THE ROAD, SO PLEASE BE PATIENT.

PLEASE KEEP A COPY OF THE DIRECTIONS – FOR THOSE WHO TAKE A WRONG TURN.

In Christ,

Janet Irene Thomas

Playwright/Director/Screen Writer

Producer/Gospel Lyricist/Author

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org