HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Everyone!

May your blessings abound in the year ahead...

May you have GOD'S JOY that is your strength
May you have GOD'S PEACE that passes understanding
May you have GOD'S FAITH that moves mountains
May you have GOD'S LOVE that never fails
May you have GOD'S WORD hidden in your heart

May you have GOD'S SALVATION, CHRIST, your SAVIOR who will be with you through life and who will assure your place with HIM eternally!

Today in History

Today in History
1999

Panama Canal turned over to Panama

On this day in 1999, the United States, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, officially hands over control of the Panama Canal, putting the strategic waterway into Panamanian hands for the first time. Crowds of Panamanians celebrated the transfer of the 50-mile canal, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and officially opened when the SS Arcon sailed through on August 15, 1914. Since then, over 922,000 ships have used the canal.

Interest in finding a shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific originated with explorers in Central America in the early 1500s. In 1523, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V commissioned a survey of the Isthmus of Panama and several plans for a canal were produced, but none ever implemented. U.S. interest in building a canal was sparked with the expansion of the American West and the California gold rush in 1848. (Today, a ship heading from New York to San Francisco can save about 7,800 miles by taking the Panama Canal rather than sailing around South America.)

In 1880 a French company run by the builder of the Suez Canal started digging a canal across the Isthmus of Panama (then a part of Colombia). More than 22,000 workers died from tropical diseases such as yellow fever during this early phase of construction and the company eventually went bankrupt, selling its project rights to the United States in 1902 for $40 million. President Theodore Roosevelt championed the canal, viewing it as important to America’s economic and military interests. In 1903, Panama declared its independence from Colombia in a U.S.-backed revolution and the U.S. and Panama signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, in which the U.S. agreed to pay Panama $10 million for a perpetual lease on land for the canal, plus $250,000 annually in rent.

Over 56,000 people worked on the canal between 1904 and 1913 and over 5,600 lost their lives. When finished, the canal, which cost the U.S. $375 million to build, was considered a great engineering marvel and represented America’s emergence as a world power.

In 1977, responding to nearly 20 years of Panamanian protest, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panama’s General Omar Torrijos signed two new treaties that replaced the original 1903 agreement and called for a transfer of canal control in 1999. The treaty, narrowly ratified by the U.S. Senate, gave America the ongoing right to defend the canal against any threats to its neutrality. In October 2006, Panamanian voters approved a $5.25 billion plan to double the canal’s size by 2015 to better accommodate modern ships.

Ships pay tolls to use the canal, based on each vessel’s size and cargo volume. In May 2006, the Maersk Dellys paid a record toll of $249,165. The smallest-ever toll–36 cents–was paid by Richard Halliburton, who swam the canal in 1928.

All Blue-eyed People...

Interesting...

All blue-eyed people have a single ancestor in common

All blue-eyed people have a single ancestor in common

msn.com

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Prayer Initiative

Prayer Initiative
Vision

Suggested Scriptural references ... You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.  Matthew 5:14,16 His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4-5 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.  Proverbs 29:18 I am about to do something new.  See, I have already begun!  Do you not see it?  I will make a pathway through the wilderness.  I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.  Isaiah 43:19

Suggested prayers ... Thank you, Lord, that in You America can once again become a "City on a Hill" - Your beacon to the world. We petition You, Lord, to lead us according to Your plan, in Your timing, with the power of Your Holy Spirit.  We know You are infinitely bigger and brighter than the darkness before us. We ask that You remind us to keep our eyes and minds focused on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.  Help us to elevate conversations and relationships to those higher things.  May You be the prompter and completer of any daunting tasks before us.  In You only may we find our voice to speak, our strength to move. We pray for a vision of victory over the assaults on America's faith in You and Your will, Your ways, and Your provision for our needs. Teach us, Lord how to best fight efforts to separate this country, culture and people from You.  Give us revelation power to lead our country back to You. God in heaven, we pray that America may once again become a great beacon of Your standards. As the world sees Your ways and Your love demonstrated in this great country, may all people be drawn to Your Son. We pray for a compellingly attractive vision for the future of America based on the real America, founded and grounded on eternal truths.  Bring us back, O Lord, to our First Love. ~~~ “We live in an age of science and of abounding accumulation of material things. These did not create the Declaration. Our Declaration created them. The things of the spirit come first. Unless we cling to that, all our material prosperity, overwhelming though it may appear, will turn to a barren sceptre in our grasp. If we are to maintain the great heritage which has been bequeathed to us, we must be like-minded as the fathers who created it.  We must not sink into a pagan materialism. We must cultivate the reverence which they had for the things that are holy. We must follow the spiritual and moral leadership which they showed. We must keep replenished, that they may glow with a more compelling flame, the altar fires before which they worshipped.”   President Calvin Coolidge – July 5, 1926 "Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins immaculate blood of the lamb and purge my heart by the Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the like of thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of thy son, Jesus Christ."   George Washington's daily prayer

The Purpose of Elevation

The Purpose of Elevation
From: Today God Is First by Os Hillman
December 31, 2017

"And the Lord said to Joshua, 'This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.'" (Josh 3:7-8).

Joshua had been a faithful number two man under Moses for 40 years. Can you imagine serving one man for 40 years? Now that is faithfulness!

Even so, when the time came to pass the mantel to Joshua, God knew he needed to be elevated in the eyes of the people in order for Joshua to accomplish his purpose. That is the purpose for elevation - so that you and I can fulfill our purpose and our mission.

We are not called to elevate ourselves. If we elevate ourselves before our time we will short circuit God's plans for our lives. We will not have the same level of grace as we would have if it were in God's perfect timing. Jesus refused to let others elevate Him or make Him into something contrary to His purpose. Moving into a job or responsibility before we are ready is a formula for failure. We may not be mature enough. We may not have the proper skill set.

Let God elevate you in His timing and you will be successful in the thing He created you to be and do.

Another Year Concludes Tonight

Another Year Concludes Tonight

At the stroke of midnight, the world will usher in a brand new year,  2018.  As we bid farewell to the old year, may we reflect a bit upon the experiences it brought us--both good and bad--and may we take a look at all the years and decades of our lives with gratitude for the life God has granted to us.

May we also have the resolve to fill all the moments, days, years and decades He may grant us in the future with the effort that pleases Him ( "All that your hand finds to do, do it as unto the Lord," ).

And may we also fill our future with the worship and adoration of our Holy Savior that He is due.

LORD JESUS, we place the year ahead, 2018, into YOUR hands. 

We ask YOU to guide our decisions, guide our efforts, guide our mind, guide our hearts, guide our spirits into the fullness YOU would have us to discover there. 

We pray that all our time would be in YOUR hands and that we would live our lives to YOUR glory.  It is in YOUR matchless name we pray, JESUS.  Amen.

Here is a lovely old poem by Robert Burns that captures the heart of those who have had the joy of welcoming in many a new year with one who is precious.  It reflects on the past and it faces the inevitable end together...

John Anderson, My Jo

John Anderson, my jo, John,

When we were first acquent;

Your locks were like the raven,

Your bonie brow was brent;

But now your brow is beld, John,

Your locks are like the snaw;

But blessings on your frosty pow,

John Anderson, my jo.

John Anderson, my jo, John,

We clamb the hill thegither;

And mony a cantie day, John,

We've had wi' ane anither:

Now we maun totter down, John,

And hand in hand we'll go,

And sleep thegither at the foot,

John Anderson, my jo.

Meanings of old Scottish words:

acquent--acquainted

bonie--handsome

brent--smooth

beld--bald

snaw--snow (white)

pow--head

clamb--climbed

thegither--together

mony--many

cantie--happy

wi'--with

ane--one

anither--another

maun--must

thegither--together

my jo--my sweetheart

Get Ready!

Get a good night's rest tonight so you can kick up your heels on New Years Eve!

Frozen Lemon

 FROZEN LEMON IS BETTER...

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Frozen lemon

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After more than 20 laboratory tests since 1970, the extracts revealed that: It destroys the malignant cells in 12 cancers, including colon, breast, prostate, lung and pancreas...