“His” Smile on My Face

I was at the dentist today and he is finishing up my teeth! I had a lot of work done on them over the past year and still have more that can be done the road when I need it.  It was great when he did my lower front teeth and that did help my smile.. .  But today is the day I really have been waiting for…my front top teeth!! I wanted them done first but I guess Dr Murphy knew if I had them done first, I might have skipped the rest (smile) YES…SMILE…I can smile and not feel like covering my mouth and teeth. What a blessing!  But with that blessing comes this thought….that it really isn’t the teeth that make the smile…..the smile comes from the inside out and only the Lord is the author of such a smile.  At least I hope that is true of me! I want it to be true of me!!   

Ps 126:2 says Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy…..

and Ps 68 :3 says But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. 

Only the Lord can make such a black heart as mine…whiter than snow and filled with laughter and sweet sounds of praise.  What a great God we serve….one that gives us dentists that  have the talent to repair a broken smile,  husbands that work it into the budget to afford a new smile, friends that don’t mind if your smile isn’t quite perfect on the outside and a loving Savior whose spirit fills our smile from the inside out… with all the fruit and gifts of the Spirit.

What a Traceable Trustable Treasure is “His” smile on my face

The Treasure of Praying Together

I have been busy this month with Prayer Force One Women’s post each day in their 31 Days of Prayer for America. What a blessing ithas been....
I tweak their posts so that they fit in the 420 characters allowed in a Facebook status and then look up and add scriptures. I have enjoyed doing this each day and reading the feedback or just the “likes”. What an awesome privilege it is to pray each day for our country….to pray for the many phases of our government, to pray for our leaders and to pray for the people who are the citizens of this nation. God has given us the precious calling to lift up America and ask his blessing on it.   In 1863 Abraham Lincoln offered an amazing prayer for this nation…..how can we do less? Listen to part of it and stand convicted and convinced that our GOD is a great God and Mighty to save.....even to the uttermost.

Whereas, it is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.


We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope, authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former condition of unity and peace.


Amen and Amen

 I trust that you will lift your voice in prayer with the hundreds of other ladies in Prayer Force One Women each day ….what a wonderful blessing to be able to come to the throne of the Most High GOD and  join together….to bring our own unique thoughts, our prayers and perspectives; But still coming together with one heart, one Spirit. We can stand alongside our sisters, holding hands  and say "AMEN!"……What a Traceable, Trustable Treasure is the body of Christ... especially when it is praying together!

The Tremendous Power of Prayer

31 Days of Prayer for America
           A few years ago I read Frances Meyers books 31 days of praise and 31 days of prayer so I was excited when I saw the title of Prayer Force One Women for this month. How Tremendous is the power of prayer…so often we say “I can’t do much for you but I will pray”
When in reality that is the greatest thing we can do for them! Scripture says in James 5:16 “The effective prayer of a righteous person has great power”.
I esp like it in the Amplified version where it says “The earnest (heartfelt and continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [and dynamic in its working]” So now you see where I got my “T” word for the power of prayer !! It can also be Traceable and Trustable!

I also found the first half of that verse to be most interesting as well “Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual mind and heart].” We are to confess our sins to one another and then pray for one another that we might be restored to a spiritual mind and heart….a right relationship with our Lord…. and then we, in turn, will be in a place to pray for someone else. And the gift goes on and on and on.

Back to the admonition that The effective prayer of a righteous person has great power. ….At this time in our nation’s history we need many righteous people offering up effective (heartfelt and continual) prayers for our country, its leaders and its future. We need to encourage one another to pray and ask the Lord to be merciful to this nation and that we may continue on doing the work that the Father has called us to do in the world in which we live…that He might enable us to go forth in His name and accomplish His commissions….Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matt 8:19-20

I will plan to share with you each day the 31 days of Prayer for our Nationas, as set down by the Prayer Force One Women.

What a Traceable and Trustable treasure is the Tremendous power of prayer.

The Treasure of a Light

Alright, so it is a fact, I love Light houses !! And I have really enjoyed reading and hearing about the history of the lighthouses. Each lighthouse has a different light pattern and a different foghorn pattern so that ships can look at navigational charts and know where they are. Some light houses are there to guide the ships up the coast and to show them the entrance to a harbor. Some are there to keep the ship from running aground on dangerous shoals or sandbars. And lighthouses can also be used to triangulate where a ship is, if lost.

Do any of these statements seem to be a sharp parallel to what the scripture has to say about Light. Maybe we can take a look at it together and see how closely they parallel.

First, the Lighthouses on the shore often mark the path to the safe harbor….to guide the ships And in the Beginning God made light and used it to serve as a sign and later used the light as a guide


Genesis 1:14
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years


Exodus 13:21

By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

The light houses ran their lamps at all times and many times if the keeper was sick or could not “keep” the lights, his family would do it

Leviticus 24:2
"Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually.

They show the way to those who need a light to guide them and are willing to follow that light as directed.

Nehemiah 9:12
By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take


Psalm 43:3
Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me;


Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path


The Lighthouses show where the shoals, the sandbars and such dangers are located....their light brings these dangers out into the open

Job 28:11
He searches the sources of the rivers and brings hidden things to light.

Isaiah 9:2
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;

John 8:12
"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."


1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts

Lighthouses can be used to show us where we are when we are lost…they guide us to the safety of the Harbor


Isaiah 60:19b
for the LORD will be your everlasting light,


Ephesians 5:8,13
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light…For everything exposed by the light becomes visible


Revelation 22:5
There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.


The Lord is our LIGHT and our Salvation…..What a Traceable Trustable Treasure

The Treasure of a Child's Smile

It is such a joy to see my grandchildren smile…..their smile comes from the inside out, unlike ours (as a grownup) which often comes from the outside in….a forced smile I would say. Children cause you to smile right back at them because their smile is just soooo genuine. You see their shining face and you can’t help but smile right back.


I was also thinking about Chad’s words concerning the Light Shine children. How in their pictures, they were smiling a genuine smile….one he couldn’t have made them smile just for a picture…it was a realistic and “from the inside out” smile. One that showed true JOY !

In Job 9:27 we read
“ If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile”

First he tells us to forget our complaints…not an easy thing to do on any given day! BUT that is our instruction so it must be possible to do it!! So, we need to put our problems aside and quit complaining Then change our expression…. be of good cheer…then put on a happy face…and…Smile ! Is that the most appropriate way? The most genuine way?? Probably not…..the best way is to have the Joy of the Lord in your heart and have that joy (His Joy) come flowing out! Then I think our smiles will look more like the smile on a child’s face~sincere and radiant !

Psalm 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.


Ps 144:15b
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord


Psalm 146:5
Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD

 Philippians 4:8
[ Meditate on These Things ] Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Think on these things and you will have the  traceable, trustable treasure of the JOY of the Lord and a child's smile.

TheTreasure of Being a Blessing

When I was back at my Aunt's house after the funeral.....my cousin's wife gave me a card that had been posted on my Aunt's refrigerator and it had alot of wise words ...being wise they were treasures fnd in God's Word ...where the scriptures tied to these words were even wiser! I am sure you can find others as well.....and if you do, just leave them in the comment section for me! thanks !

Take joy in the gift of today....
Count your blessings....Eph 1:3   Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Shine in the light of God's love...John 3:16   For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son

Forgive and forget.. Psalm 103:12….as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Encourage those around you... Philemon 1:7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

Grow gracefully... 2 Peter 3:18 8But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever!

Obey with a cheerful heart..


Be true to your belief...

Be strong in the Lord... Corinthians 16:13   Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.

Stand firm and be counted....


Keep the faith...


Share God's Word...Matt 28:18-19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you

Seek simplicity...

Pursue what is true.... Philippians 4:8  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Listen with your heart...


Memorize the scriptures... Psalm 119:11  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Fuel your faith...


Delight in His creation... Psalm 19 :1  The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Celebrate God's promises...

Be earnest in prayer... Acts 12:5   so Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

Believe in miracles...


Walk not talk...


and Live the life .... Galatians 2:20    I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me

Don't forget to add to my Traceable Trustable Treasures and be a BLESSING !!

The Treasure of HIS Guidance

Well on my Facebook page you might have read the article called

       “ Dancing with God” Author unknown (adapted by me)…If not you can read it now…….

When I thought on the word Guidance, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word. And I thought that doing God's will can be a lot like dancing. When both people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky. But when one person realizes that, and lets the other lead….then both bodies begin to flow with the music. One gives cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing in one direction or another. It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and guidance(wisdom) and skill (knowledge) from the other.

A second time my eyes drew back to the word Guidance. When I saw "G": I thought of God, followed by "u" and "I”~"God”, "u" and "i" dance." God, you, and I dance. As I prayed, I became willing to trust God to give me guidance in my life. And once again, I became willing to let God lead. May you abide in God, as God abides in you. Dance together with God, trusting Him to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

The first verse that came to my mind after reading this was :

Psalm 37:23
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.

How that needs to be true in my life and in your life as well.

Next a PG favorite Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

How about Isaiah 30:21
Your ears shall hear a word word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left .

And of course one of my all time favorites…Proverbs 3:5,6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.

And in closing, 2 from the Psalms

Psalm 25:9
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

Psalm 25:12
Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.

It is a joy to think on these scriptures in light of the “Dance”. The Lord orders our steps if we will but follow his lead and if we acknowledge that he is our lead and we will allow Him to lead, then He will direct our path and show us which steps to take! Having our feet on His paths, following His directions, from His Word is a very basis of whole process.

As we are taking a turn around the dance floor, following our Lord's lead, may we rejoice in the Traceable, Trustable Treasure of God’s loving Guidance .