If you’re happy and you know it….

 

“He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.”
‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭3:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/act.3.8.nlt

I am not a great person. I get grumpy, I can be moody. I can be mean and I can be a terrible servant of the Lord. Any Christian that tells you or portrays this air of perfectness, they are not living in a real world. They may be great and wonderful people, but they are far from perfect.

I love watching a video on YouTube which is a TED talk from Shawn Achor about the Happiness Advantage. 

He talks about how being happy is completely within our control. Outside influences only affect our level of happiness in a very minuscule way. He mentions in his story about Harvard students. What could they NOT be happy about? It always makes me think of Christians. Exactly why, as followers of Christ, are we not the happiest people on earth. What is it that we could possibly be not happy about? We should all be like this man healed by Peter. We should all jump, leap, and praise God for what he has done in our lives. How could we be such grumpy, unhappy, depressed people when we know the ending. We know we will win. We know our eternity is guaranteed and our place in heaven is secured! Praise God for his love.

If you don’t know that kind of joy, you need to drop on your knees and devote your life to him. Then experience the joy and happiness of life!

Help us finish "The Meeting Place"

 We need your help ---

"The Meeting Place" is almost complete. 

We have been so blessed to have 80% of our monthly budget donated, AND we have had many donations to help us remodel and furnish our ministry area. Our friends and family have donated:

   Couch/loveseat
   Refrigerator
   Stove
   Ceiling fans
   Color Printer

   Flooring
   65" television

   Bibles
   over $2500 in building supplies to redo the ceiling

We are near the finish of this project. We need to 

                paint the room, 

                paint and install the trim work, 

                and our biggest project is to 

BUILD THESE HIGH TABLES and PURCHASE THESE STOOLS. (Pictured above)

The High Tables will be built with supplies from Lowes. The table pictured above is a sample of the table (although it will be stained). 

We are building 6 tables at $250 and purchasing 24 stools at $50 each. 

Donations can be made directly to MVI, preferenced to Steve and Stephanie Rhoades. MVI manages all fund distributions. Giving is VERY SAFE. 

Make a donation to MVI preferenced to Steve and Stephanie Rhoades or "the Meeting place" using the link below:

mvi.org/meetingplace

Click on Give missionary support to make a donation!

MVI is a great reliable organization and we value their leadership and support of Missionaries around the world including right here in Bluffton, Indiana. 

Our ministry has had a very successful FIRST year starting TWO Discovery Bible Groups and building relationships across Northeast Indiana. 

PLEASE SUPPORT MVI's ministry at the Meeting Place!!!!!!!

If you want to purchase some of the supplies directly from Lowes, please call or text me at 260-553-0735 or contact me through Facebook messenger. We will accept Lowes Gift Cards as well!

If you want to mail the donations you can send them directly to MVI

1017 Maitland Center Commons Blvd

Maitland, FL 32751-7205

or send them to 

The Meeting Place

115 East Market Street

Bluffton, IN 46714 

(we will forward the donations to MVI)

Forgotten Books of the Bible - Hosea 11 - Family

 

' When Israel was a child, I loved him, and

out of Egypt I called my son. The more they

were called, the more they went away; they

kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning

offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught

Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their

arms, but they did not know that I healed

them. I led them with cords of kindness,

with the bands of love, and I became to them

as one who eases the yoke on their

jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.

Hosea 11:1-4 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/HOS.11.1-4

 The passage today made me think of family. As you can see from the pictures above, my family is huge and the pictures are missing my youngest daughter, three of my grandkids, a future grandkid and great-grandchild expected to arrive in February!

I think the older I get the more I reminisce about the past. I love my family, and just like our Father in Heaven, I want the best for them. It pains me when I see them suffer and I rejoice when they rejoice. 

My ultimate desire for them is to grow in their knowledge of God, their Heavenly Father, his Son Jesus Christ, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit as they navigate life. I cannot count the number of days my primary prayer is about their relationship with the Lord.

I have such limited things I can do to impact my kids' life now that they are adults. My prayers will have to do. I trust the Lord so I know prayers are enough. 

Dear Heavenly Father, 

I love my family so much. You know my greatest desire is for them to know you, love you, and trust you. I know the answers to their problems and the daily trials they face rest with you. Please Lord, reveal yourself to them, open their eyes and soften their hearts so that they will draw closer to you each day. 

Amen!

Forgotten Books of the Bible - Hosea - 13

 

'When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;

he was exalted in Israel, but he incurred guilt

through Baal and died. And now they sin more

and more, and make for themselves metal images,

idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them

the work of craftsmen. It is said of them,

“Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!”

Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or

like the dew that goes early away, like the chaff

that swirls from the threshing floor or like

smoke from a window. '

Hosea 13:1-3 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/HOS.13.1-3

Forgotten Books of the Bible - Hosea - 12

 

'“So you, by the help of your God, return,

hold fast to love and justice, and wait

continually for your God.” ' Hosea 12:6 https://my.bible.com/bible/59/HOS.12.6

I am constantly amazed at how simple God has made it to follow him. What does that tell you?  

HE WANTS YOU!

God has not made a complex formula to spend eternity with him. The formula is SIMPLE. "hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God."