Tag Archives: Christianity

Herra Jumala

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Only Finnish people will recognize this title, or perhaps linguists in general.

For me, these words are a wonderful discovery.

I heard them often when as a youngster, I lived with my Finnish grandparents.

My grandmother often used these words with great passion, and it seemed to me, in exasperation at times. For some reason I always thought she was swearing. Why would I think that? I have no idea because I know she was a devout Christian woman.

Upon investigating the Finnish language last night, I discovered the true meaning of Herra Jumala.

It means Lord God.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…I love learning! TYG!

 

 

Sunday Morning Prayers

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Upon occasion I have been asked to do “prayers of the people” at church. It is a good way for me to learn to pray outside my own box. Thank you for letting me share one of those prayers.

Good morning, Father God. We thank you for this beautiful morning and for letting us be a part of it. We thank you for all our blessings, for all our answered prayers, for forgiving all our sins and we thank you for loving us, sometimes in spite of ourselves. We thank you for being with all the people on our prayer lists, for those who are struggling with many difficulties, for those who are grieving, for those who are suffering illness, for those on the road to recovery and we pray for those who have yet to become aware of your presence in their lives.

We thank you for being with your people all over the world, Father, for those in war torn countries, for those courageously coping with natural disasters, and for those loved ones of ours who live in other lands. Please grant them your peace and protection.

Father, we thank you for this opportunity to worship you, to praise you, to appreciate you and to show our love for you by showing our love for one another. We thank you for our awareness of your Holy Spirit present with us this morning.

We thank you for being with each and every one of us as we go about our daily activities and pray that you will keep us safe from all harm and evil and help us to be the best we can be for you today and always.

Above all, Father, we thank you for Your Son, our Lord Jesus in whose name we pray and who taught us to pray The Lord’s Prayer. Amen.

The congregation then prays The Lord’s Prayer in unison. I’m sure many churches follow a similar procedure, and I find it very spiritual and comforting.

A Prayer to Start the Day

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Dear Lord, thank you for the night’s rest you so graciously gave me.

I am grateful for renewed energy and enthusiasm.

I accept this new day as a wonderful opportunity.

May I use it minute by minute to do your will.

Guide me in every problem, every decision I shall make this day.

Help me to treat everyone kindly and to be fair and just and thoughtful in everything today.

And if I should forget you during this day, oh Lord, please do not forget me.  Amen.

Norman Vincent Peale

All Things are Possible

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I was asked to post more of my poetry, specifically the above title, so here it is.

All things are possible

to those who believe,

to those who have faith

as a small mustard seed.

All goals can be reached,

all dreams can come true

when you call on the Power

that’s inherent in you.

All life can be lived

to the fullest extent,

all wishes fulfilled

as you know that He meant

all things are possible

to those who believe,

to those who have faith

as a small mustard seed.

©1984

With God, all things are possible has been my mantra for many years, and what began as mustard seed faith is now as big as the tree depicted in Matthew 13:31,32.

 

 

 

God’s Chain Gang

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I belong to a chain gang.

It’s called The Prayer Chain, and our headquarters is St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Scarborough. (The link to St. A’s can be found on my home page.)

Our gang consists of twenty-two members, each at the ready to man the phones when a prayer request comes through.

I like to think of us as The Prayer Warriors.

Our prayers are not restricted to church members, but are available to any and all in need of prayer.

I’m sure many churches around the world have prayer chains and for those who don’t, why not start your own chain gang? Membership is free and the chain is linked to heaven.

Letting Go, Letting God

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After attending two funerals this week and another today, I have just heard of one on the horizon. Whoa! So much grief in such a short span of time made me sit back and go through some devotional material to try to put it all into perspective and here is what was written in my spiritual journal in 2006; a quote from Our Daily Bread, brackets, mine.

If we are willing to submit to God, any loss in life will be seen as an opportunity to give back to him what is rightfully his and trust him to provide what is needed (comfort, peace, security, whatever is needed). If we commit ourselves to him daily and thank him for every blessing, our confidence in him will survive any test. Submission to God means taking our hands off what belongs to him.

And don’t we all belong to him? Now I will let go and let God pilot me through this sea of grief and pray that his peace and comfort will bless these grieving families.

A Pastor’s Response

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My Precious Life, my book, has received many positive and promising reviews, and this one, which landed in my Inbox yesterday, is among the most encouraging.

The writer of this message can be found in Chapter 23, page 89, of My Precious Life. He is mentioned in only one sentence, and yet that sentence seems to have moved him to this response.

Lawrence Crews is Senior Pastor at Calvary Community Church in Barrie, Ontario, and has given me permission to share his words.

This then, is a Pastor’s response: 

Today at 10:49 AM
Dear Mrs Boyes,
Thank you so much.
I just finished reading your beautiful book. I am deeply moved. I feel honoured.
I am blessed. I am encouraged. I am chosen.
Tears flow down my face as I write. I am truly amazed at the love and care of our God toward you, toward me, toward each of our loved ones and so many others as well.
God’s grace, peace and kindness have again leapt into my heart – this time from the pages of your book. Thank you.
Your old brown Toyota will always hold a special place of memory in my heart. December 18, 1977. My life changed forever that evening at Scarborough Gospel Temple. Jesus Christ sought me. Thank God I was found by him.
How could I have known the rich heritage of God moving in your life? Thank you for being willing and obedient to write.
I am in awe. I am comforted. If God is for us then who can be against us?
Thank you for sharing your precious life so beautifully with pen and paper. I know you now a thousand times more than ever before. My life is that much the richer.
You will be delighted to know…
I woke early this morning and was able to get a good start on the day. I treated myself to breakfast and your book at a quiet, local greasy spoon. It’s a great way for me to read without interruption.
Out of the blue the waitress asked, “What book are you reading?”
Instantly I knew God was at work-again. I shared with her about December 18 and how my life changed that night forever.
She curiously asked me some more questions about the book. I asked her if she would like to read it. 🙂
I’m leaving it with her now.
Thirty-seven years later, I’m humbled and thankful to know that God still speaks to us and through us even today.
With deepest respect, honour and thanks,

Lawrence 😎

It is with a thankful heart that I share this glowing tribute to My Precious Life, the book, which, through Jeremiah 30:2, God prompted me to write.

Up For the Challenge – Part II

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As promised, here is my response to a young man’s thoughts on the Book of Job, and Christianity in general:

First of all, let me direct you to Biblica.com and the links Biblica/Home and Bible FAQs. It explains the writing of the Bible.

My core belief is that God is the author of the Bible, writing through all the people who chose to record the happenings of the day as they were inspired by him. (Just as I have been inspired by him to write my book.) This is borne out in the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered within a ten year period between 1946 and 1956. The Bible is also a wonderful history book, crammed full of hisorical events and happenings. And yes, it certainly is subject to interpretation, and many translations. But at the core, when you sort the grain from the chaff, is God’s basic love for mankind, which only comes to light fully in the New Testament when he stopped being mad at us for being such a bunch of dunderheads.

Christianity survived in spite of political leaders, even though those leaders had an innocent man put to death because he was a threat to their governing, and the god they believed in. Christianity still survives in spite of political agendas because of that murdered man.

God does not “hold it all together”. We are all given free will to choose how to behave, what to believe, and how to live our lives. This is why you believe what you believe and I believe what I believe. And that’s okay, providing we are open to learning everything we can in the short time alloted to us on this planet. It is why we are here.

I suggested reading the Book of Job because of Satan. Most people think it was God who dumped on Job, but as you read, it was Satan’s aim to cause as much harm in the world as possible, both way back then and to this day.

Life is a battlefield of Good and Evil (take an “o” out of good and add a “d” to evil). You can see that in our day to day life, and we all wage our own battles every day.

Please don’t make the mistake of not believing in the devil, because that is just what he waits for. (Aha, I just got another one!)

A little humility is good, and a little less ego is even better.

I’m not here to tell you what to believe or not, but please don’t shut the door on the possibility that there is a God, and that he loves you more than you’ll ever know, and waits for you to give him the chance to tell you so. He is telling you now, through me!

I trust you are intelligent enough to not let “intelligence” get in the way of a great learning experience.

These are my thoughts on your thoughts, and my opinions/beliefs on the matter.

P.S. Have you figured out why you celebrate Christmas yet? It is because of that murdered Man. It’s all in the history book!  🙂

And may I add here that it is my hope that we have continued conversations when circumstances and time allow.

Perseverence with a Capital P

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This post is for those who have not already read My Precious Life. It is Chapter Twenty-Nine, The Way I See It, in its entirety. It is about laying down our lives for our friends.

I need to persevere in promoting my book if it is to become a best seller some day. So here is Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Way I See It

A Lesson in Laying Down Your Life

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

The way I see it, this doesn’t mean that you trade places with the guy tied to a railway track with an oncoming locomotive barreling down on him, or with Jesus on the cross.

In 2004, I worked three days a week at the Canadian Bible Society book store. It was a part-time job that I loved, and had done for close to five years after my forced retirement from the Mustard Seed Gift Shop. It was a perfect match for my spiritual beliefs, retail background, and love of books.

Volunteering at Providence Health Care Centre every Tuesday morning was another activity I loved. A dedicated man and wife team conducted a hymn sing for the residents of the long-term care facility there. My responsibility was to help bring the people to the hymn sing, turn pages for them if they were unable, and just generally encourage them to sing along. Again, it fitted perfectly with my love of music, and a closeness I felt with the older generation, (of which I am one).

Lunch or coffee with friends or family was also a weekly occurrence. At church, I was a member of the Worship Committee, and sang in the choir.

That life gradually changed when Jerry was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2000. It wasn’t debilitating until symptoms of dementia became noticeable in 2002. A once strong and active man became a victim of the dreaded disease known as Alzheimer’s.

In January, 2004, it was obvious that he could never be left alone again, and my life took on a whole new dimension. God had given me an awesome responsibility as Jerry’s full-time caregiver, and in order to carry it out, I was forced to give up my part-time job and the volunteer work I loved so much. Church, choir, and committees were put on a back burner until only God knew when. Likewise, all social activities became painfully few and far between as the task at hand took its toll on the life I once knew.

I had, in fact, laid down my life for my friend. That’s the way I see it.

“….whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39)

My Precious Life is available in E-book, soft cover, hard cover, and can be purchased online at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.uk, Barnes and Noble, Westbow Press, and numerous online book stores as well as your local book stores.

Thank you for persevering with my perseverence!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set Me Free

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Don Merritt’s post this morning, about starting the day with prayer, brought back a memory of a prayer I wrote in 1996 while wondering what God was up to in my life after a home accident I had suffered. I was in pain, miserable, bound in casts and slings and felt totally hopeless and helpless. Here, then is the prayer I prayed out of desperation. It changed my whole outlook and made what I thought of as unbearable to bearable.

SET ME FREE

Oh, Spirit, set me free

to be what I am meant to be;

let loose the bonds of misery.

Oh, Garden of Gethsemane,

the place of pain–yet hope, despair,

was mingled in that garden air

reminding me I am set free

to be what I am meant to be.

©1996

What is your prayer this morning?