A Bee Lesson
by Lisa Gard

     My brother and I are beekeepers.  We bought 2 hives, bees and all the equipment we needed last spring and got into the bee business.  I love the bees! My family and friends will tell you that I can't stop talking about them....they are so amazing.  And the payoff is really sweet.. ..honey! All was well with the bees.
     But as rookie beekeepers,  we made a terrible mistake.  We were in a hurry one day when checking a hive and we got careless. We believe we must have accidentally killed the queen bee in that hive, because bad things began to happen.
     A week after checking the hive we began noticing dead bees....hundreds of them. Bees were fighting in front of the hive. We investigated and asked questions of our fellow beekeepers and found out that we had a bad robbing situation  on our hands. The bees from our other hive were coming over and killing the bees and robbing their honey. Without a queen, the colony had become weak and was not strong enough to defend itself against a stronger colony. In two weeks the queenless hive was completely destroyed. ...empty of bees and honey. How very sad!
     I was sharing this with a friend and she said, "I wonder if that's how God sees us?" I thought about that....
     I think our hearts are sort of like a beehive. We need to keep our king - Jesus - alive in our hearts so that we can be strong enough to defend ourselves against the attacks of satan. He is out to seek, kill and destroy...just like the robber bees. He wants to steal our joy (our honey). But with Jesus alive in our heart we need have no fear because He has power over satan! Our defense is strong, because He who is in us is stonger than he who is in the world!

     Thank you, Jesus, for defeating satan and for giving us power, strength and wisdom against his evil schemes. We desire to make and keep you King in our hearts. Please bless us and keep us in your care as we daily walk with you. In your precious name we pray, Amen

      The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10.

     I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you  with power through His spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell  in your hearts through faith. Ephesians 3:16,17a

Putting Ourselves last

By: Jessica Finney

2 Timothy 3:2-5 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

Doesn't this sound like today's world? People are so selfish, heartless, all they care about is money, disobedient to their parents is running rapid, people are ungrateful, no self-control, and reckless. When we are so focused on ourselves, nothing good can come of it. Children get abused, neglected, given away all the time because parents are too focused on themselves. We need each other. (Whether we want to admit it or not) When all we think about is ourselves, we push everyone away.

I am not saying that we all don't have a little bit of selfishness in us, I am sure we all can stand here and say that we can be selfish at times but we must try to turn from it and make a conscious effort to think of others before ourselves. (Which is the way God intended it) How much better do we feel when we help someone else and take our focus off ourselves. No more pity parties of what we wish we could have or trying to find pleasure in all of the wrong things.

I feel like we are in our last days, all of the signs are there. We need to put away our selfish ways and try to bring others to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Time to put away our phones, internet, selfies, or anything else that is keeping us from getting closer to God and take the hours upon hours that we were spending on ourselves and start reaching others and do what God has called us to do. Who is with me?



Matthew 9:37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to put myself aside and always think of others. Help me to be the witness that I need to be. Please bring people into my life this week that I might show them your love. I realize that I need people to see You in me. If they look at me, I will fail them but if they see you in Me it will bring them to You. Please forgive me of the times that I fall short and sin. It is in Jesus precious name, Amen.

Jesus forgives our sins!

John 8:11 She said "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." 

How awesome is it to know, if we truly repent form our sin Jesus is quick to forgive us? He could have thrown stones at her because we know He was without sin but He didn't.

Obviously, we are human, we cannot possibly go out and sin no more but we need to start making a conscious effort to try to reflect Jesus to others as much as possible. We need to pray for convictions of our sins.

Too often, we want to judge other people. We want to throw the first stone. When in reality it isn't our place to judge. How can we judge someone else, when we have a sin we need to work on?  All sins keep us from the Father so why do we judge other people's sins as worse then ours? Sometimes it is to make ourselves feel better. We say at least I don't do that. Thankfully, Jesus isn't throwing stones at us.

This week let us try to focus in on our own sins and ask God to cleanse us from them.

Lord, please help us to focus on You and not other people's sins. Help us to love one another and not judge one another. Help us to reflect You in our lives so others will come to know You. In Jesus name, Amen

Beautiful Just the way you are

I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Psalms 14-15.

Isn't this wonderful to know? For all of us that may hold a certain amount of insecurity, this is the verse we should memorize, We may think we aren't pretty enough or maybe our nose should be bigger or smaller. Ones with curly hair wants straight hair and the list goes on and on. We can get rid of that thinking though.  When we complain about our looks, we are telling God that He made us wrong because He is the one that made us.  Yes, we could probably take care of our body more but He thinks we are beautiful just the way we are.

This world has taught our young ones that it is all about looks. To me it is all about what is on the inside. I have seen some beautiful people that had a poor attitude and didn't care who they hurt, which to me made them not so beautiful. As children of God, we must work on our heart and try to make it look more like God's heart. If it reflects our Lord Jesus Christ then that would make us beautiful inside and out.

Please think about this the next time you look in the mirror and think if only I didn't have that scar or if only I didn't ______ (you can fill in the blank), think about how God made you just the way He wanted you. It doesn't matter who turns their back on you in this world, God never will.

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for making me just the way you want me. Help us to turn our hearts completely to You so people can see You in us. Help us to not get so caught up in the outward appearance and look more on the inside.  Let us not conform to this world and let us be who You want us to be. In Jesus, name I pray, Amen

Father's Day

By Jessica Finney

Psalm 103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

Have you ever thought about how much impact our earthly fathers are to show us what our Heavenly Father is like? I have thought about this often. Some come to know the Lord to find the Father they never had and some completely turn their back because how could a heavenly Father love and care for them if their earthly father didn't. 

Our Fathers can be a hindrance to come to know the Lord or they can be our pathway to the Lord.  If you think about it, a father that has compassion on his children will want to lead them to know the Lord. They will protect their children and you can't help but know that they love their children. They love us unconditionally. They put themselves last to make sure their children are fed and feel loved.

A father that doesn't seem to care can hinder us coming to know the Lord.  If our earthly father didn't show love, then how can our heavenly Father love us?  We are apparently not worthy of love.  At least that is what the devil wants us to believe. I cannot imagine how a father can't love their child.  It just doesn't make sense to me.  I have heard about fathers that are afraid to get hurt by their child because of a divorce. To me this is selfish.  A father should put their self aside to show their love to their child.  

Our heavenly Father has done all He can do to show us His love. He gave us His Son to die on the cross for our sins. I hope, if you are reading this and do not have a earthly father that has seemed to care that you will be open to know the love of our Heavenly Father.

I have a "step" dad that has always been there for me. I put step in parenthesis because he has always been a dad to me. He has shown me how my Heavenly Father loves me. My "step" dad didn't go to church until my junior or senior year but he loved me and always put himself aside to make sure I had everything I need, when really he didn't have too. He didn't have to marry my mom knowing she had a child but he did. He didn't have to take time in the evenings after working all day to play with me but he did.

 This is the same with our Heavenly Father, He didn't have to create us but He did. He didn't have to send His Son to die for our sins but He did.

All of you fathers out there, please take heart the blessing God has given you and cherish the moment with your child. It maybe the only thing that brings them to the Lord. They need your love and your time.  Money can't buy happiness so don't just go out and buy them something. Go outside and play ball with them or a board game. (even if it isn't something you enjoy) Your time means more to them then anything on this earth.

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray for all the people that don't have earthly fathers for whatever reason, that they may come to know you and know the love You have for them. I pray that they can get the strength and courage to be the father they need to be. I thank you for bringing my "step" dad in my life because he has shown me the time and love that I needed.  In Jesus precious name, Amen