Love Find a Way 1/29-31/20

29-31 January 2020 - Love Find a Way – Manna by Dorothy Callies

“No greater love than this that a man lay down his life for his friend.”

(I memorized this by heart.)

Song: Love Found a Way

Love found a way

     to redeem my soul,

Love found a way

     that could make me whole;

Love sent my Lord

     to the cross of shame,

Love found a way,

     O praise His holy name!

(Lyrics: Avis Burgeson Christiansen,

 Sing His Praise)

Just continue to believe on His Word of promise. So thank you for continuing prayers for Tony and me .

Dorothy  

Grace Abound 1/21-28/20

21-28 January 2020 - Grace Abound – Manna by Dorothy & Tony Callies

2 Cor. 9:8 “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you . . . may abound to every good work.” From Bread Box

At night stand, I picked the verse that one impressed me before I went to bed. I quote this Scripture to put in my heart before I sleep. I searched the word, abound.  I like the meaning of this choice: abundantly supplied like a stream abounding in fish.  To me that’s a good thought.

 So I envision this: His grace gives me abundantly supplied with strength that I sorely need so that I may be abundantly supplies to help Tony with every good work according to his needs as well as mine. I appreciate your encouragement very much as you abundantly supplied with words of comfort and supportive in prayer. 

God bless you!

Dorothy

When You Pray 1/16-20/20

16-20 January 2020 - When You Pray – Manna by Dorothy & Tony Callies

Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say unto you, What things (you) desire when (you) pray, believe that (you) receive them, and (you) shall have them” (KJV ye=you).

Jesus’ word encourages me, “ . . . shall not doubt in his (your) heart, but shall believe that those things which (you) said shall come to pass; (you) shall have whatsoever (you) said” (KJV he=you) Mark 11:23.

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord; and He shall give you the desire of your heart.”  Three different verses encourages me to build the desires of my heart when I pray. 

I came to remember the article I paste up on the kitchen cabinet. It was written about our personal confession of healing; “By His stripes I am healed.” We meditate on it: By whose stripes ye were healed . . . by whose stripes ye were healed.  We take it and chew on it.  We masticate (grind or crush with teeth before swallow it) it, digest (convert food like think it over) it, get it down inside us, and build it unto us because we believe it.

“. . . We’re going to walk in that divine healing, that divine health, that divine life! That’s good.  That’s faith.” Written by anonymous since I didn’t write who wrote it. 

I am trusting the Lord for Tony's healing and mine to be strong in Him. 

May the Lord bless you!

Dorothy 

In Quietness 1/1-15/20

01-15 January 2020 – In Quietness – Manna by Dorothy Callies

Isaiah 30:15 “. . . in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength . . .”

I was reading devotion looking for reason and I chose words and point it out for myself.  “Remember that your life is an integral (needed for completeness) part of God’s plan. So don’t become unduly (excessive or get too much) upset over the minor (small things) inconveniences (things mess up) of life, and don’t worry too much about today’s setbacks—they are temporary.”

“Make time to be still before God. Use the quiet moment to offer thanksgiving and praise to our Creator.  During those moment of stillness, I pray to sense the love and wisdom of God in all the crisis situation I am facing each day.”  Here’s a song that blessed me so much.

Song: Blessed Quietness

Blessed quietness, holy quietness,

What assurance (promise) in my soul!

On the stormy sea, He speaks peace to me;

How the billows cease to roll!

  ASL (Awesome waves become still!)

(Lyrics: Manie Payne Ferguson, Sing His Praise)

God bless you,

Dorothy

Through It All 12/28-31/19

28-31 Dec 2019 – Through It All – Manna by Dorothy and Tony Callies

Mark 13:13 “. . . he that endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

NIV: “. . . he (you) who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

We are coming to the end of December 31, 2019 for the last time. What do I remember the year of 2019 that stands out in my mind at this moment? I thought about it  . . . “God!” I couldn’t remember any details of events, but I do remember that God was there from time to time. That was a precious memory that just strengthen my faith, “God!”    

Since I couldn’t remember details, I looked into my calendar of 2019 and scan through it month by month.  I could not believe so many challenged things had happened. Then the quote came to me, “Through it all.”  I found the song.   

Song: Through It All

Through it all, through it all,

I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,

I’ve learned to trust in God!

Through it all, through it all,

I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.

(Andrae Crouch, Sing His Praise)

So the key was to trust in Jesus! And to trust in God and to depend upon His Word! That’s when I remembered. Depending on His Word encouraged my soul through the year of 2019. I want to share a part of devotion I had read.

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. (Heb. 6:19)” In difficult times, how can we have hope when we would face with challenge situations? Those who put their faith in God’s promises knows that:

            *God is good.

            * God’s love endures.

            * God’s promised the gift of eternal life.

            * God keeps His promises.

John Eldredge quotes, “Faith looks back and draws courage; hope looks ahead and keeps desire alive.”

God bless you! 
Dorothy

Heavenly Host 12/24-27/19

24-27 Dec 2019 - Heavenly Host – Manna by Dorothy & Tony Callies

Luke 12:13-15 “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away . . . into heaven . . .”

Somehow the song echo in my heart: “Hark the Herald Angels sing” meaning “pay attention to the good news what Angels sing about.”  Imagine, angels suddenly appeared out of the sky singing . . . “Glory to the newborn King . . .” That would have been awesome!

Song: Hark the Herald Angels Sing

1. Hark! The herald angels sing

“Glory to the newborn King!

Peace on earth and mercy mild,

God and sinners reconciled!”

Joyful, all ye nations, rise,

Join the triumph of the skies,

With an-gel-ic host proclaim,

“Christ is born in Bethlehem.”

(Charles Wesley, Sing His Praise)

Christmas time is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus! It always seem like Christ being born brings excitement to everyone especially with the angels who had announced the birth of Jesus Christ to the lowly shepherds who were tending to their sheep.

The shepherds came to see Mary, Joseph and the baby lying in a manager. The shepherd were so excited that they shared what they had seen the angels appeared to them from the heavenly host singing to them of Christ’s birth. "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). Mary was amazed and cherished the thought of what God has done by sending the heavenly host of angels to the lowly shepherds. 

So like Mary, let us also cherished this wonderful story of Christ's birth into our hearts. And we wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Tony and Dorothy 

A Cheerful Heart 12/21-23/19

21-23 Dec. 2019 - Cheerful Heart – Manna by Dorothy & Tony Callies

Proverbs 15:15b “. . . the cheerful heart has a continual feast.” NIV

Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart does good, like medicine . . .” NKJV

What’s the difference between cheerful and merry heart? Really almost no difference except that merry has good sense of humor comes from disposition of a mind while being cheerful is more like a good spirits. I was just pondering those meanings.

Merry= full of good humor and good spirits like Merry Christmas!

Cheerful= full of good spirits 2. Pleasantly bright like “a sunny cheerful room”

You might ask what start all this? Well, while I was at the desk, I noticed my different translation Bibles were piled up.  So I reorganized the piles and noticed the Character devotional book was hidden at the bottom. I just felt like to open the Character Devotional book on page 98 and read the above verse of NIV, the cheerful heart . . .

Then it asked questions: What is your attitude today? Are you fearful, angry, bored, or worried? Perplexed (confused)? Frown? (Some places, I summarized to my language instead) To me it was a strange question to ask myself, what is my attitude today? In another words, what am I like? Huh?  Then it says: “If so, God wants to have a little talk with you.”

I thought, “oh, oh. God wants to talk to me through this devotion.” I read on to what it says: “God created you in His own image and He wants you to experience joy, contentment, peace and abundance. God has given you free will, including the ability to influence the direction and the tone of your thoughts.”

I was thinking of Tony and what his attitude was. He often has a sense of humor and laughed a lot.” I have seen him teased the interpreters and they laughed with Tony and his face just glow with joy. Tony has a “cheerful disposition.” I am a serious person.

Then I read on to what it says, “Here’s how God wants you to direct those thoughts.”  Philippians 4:8 in NIV. “Finally, my brothers and sisters, whatever is true . . . noble . . . right . . . pure . . . lovely . . . admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Charles Kingsley quotes, “The people I have seen succeed best in life have always been cheerful and hopeful people who went about their business with a smile on their faces.”

Lord, I thank You for showing me this devotion and that You have spoken to my heart. Now I am asking You, Father for help to turn my thoughts to those verse, Philippians 4:8 and to experience four things: Joy, contentment, peace and abundance. Help me to share my faith and my hope with others through Manna. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen!

May the Lord richly bless you!

Dorothy