The Daily Lily

Romans 7:18-25 .“18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to so what is right , but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is the sin living in me that does it. 21 I have discovered this principle of life-that when I want to do what is right , I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.” ….. Paul is very frustrated with himself because of his sinful nature.
(more…)

Listening to Exodus on cd, the other day, I heard this Scripture. God is instructing Moses in how to build an altar to the Most High God that no tool should be used on the large stones of the altar. And then God admonishes Moses in 20:25, “Neither should you go up by steps to My altar that your nakedness be not exposed upon it.” I thought that a most fascinating command by God to Moses. So I inquired of Sara why did God not want the people or rather, priests, to make steps up to His altar? Her answer was quite enlightening (which is one of her gifts). She said, and I paraphrase, ‘because man cannot make his own way up to God. He cannot make his own steps up to the Most High God. It has to be done HIS way.’ I thought about the truth of that for quite a bit.
(more…)

I had lots of great photos taken of me this holiday season. Why? I have some very good photographers in my family. And, they have some advanced technology in cameras, lighting and editing. Good for the flesh to see flesh improve.

(more…)

Adolescence (lat adolescere, (to grow) is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves biological (i.e. pubertal), social, and psychological changes, though the biological or physiological ones are the easiest to measure objectively. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

(more…)

“If we do not listen we do not come to the truth. If we do not pray we do not even get as far as listening…Four things go together: silence, listening, prayer, truth.” Hubert Van Zeller

In the book of James we are reminded that; “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. (1:19) James goes on to say, “Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it. If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave.” Do you look like a ball of negative emotions? Or a gown of Hope and Praise?

(more…)

Everyone will enjoy a fresh Christmas centerpiece adorning your table and I would like to explain how to make one. Depending on where you live, you can purchase or cut from your yard evergreens such as pine, fir, cypress, cedar, boxwood or northern bayberry (myrtle). Evergreens symbolize the promise of Eternal Life which Jesus gives to all who will accept and follow Him as their Lord and Savior. They provide healing and fragrant aromas and last for weeks indoors if kept watered. When I use these evergreens in arrangements, I am reminded of the handiwork of the Lord and His choice of plant material from this scripture Isaiah 41:18-20:
“I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it. “
(more…)

Mrs. Oynes
I guess by the grace of God I decided to try to find you on the internet today. I don’t know why or how I stumbled upon your e-mail address but in any case I did. My name is Katherine (Katie) Montalbano, I was in your 2nd and 3rd grade class at Woodlake Elementary. To this day, I feel like your class has given me the best foundation to work with throughout my life. Hannah Kaufmann -Swang and I consistently talk about being in your class and how much of an impression you have made on us. Hannah is still one of my best friends and has been my roommate in college for most of the time.
(more…)

Communication is at a premium. And, we need to place a premium on our communication skills. Put a premium on peace and stability. Political talks, religious talks, family talks, and relational talks on all levels and fronts.

We find many times our communication skills look Bokeh. While Bokeh may be a great form for photography it might just lack the higher quality in our words. Our words become blurred or fuzzy when meant to be clear and precise.

If we want to go to a higher level with our words to stimulate the idea of Bokeh, we need to have a higher way of thinking. If we stay focused on what’s happening in the natural realm to fill our thoughts we will not experience Bokeh. It would be the supernatural realm happening in our communication that would produce the Bokeh effect. I think most of us, if not all, want to experience what God is doing behind our natural way of thinking.

photo by Jon M.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trektheworld/
“Bokeh is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field. Different lens bokeh produces different aesthetic qualities in out-of-focus backgrounds, which are often used to reduce distractions and emphasize the primary subject.”

(more…)

We held our Third Annual Retreat of The Daily Lily.com in the beautiful surroundings of eastern NC in the Edenton area with a field trip to Charlotte, NC for a visit of the Billy Graham Library. We studied “The Four Bees” finding our spirituals gifts written and taught by Sara. It was fantastic, inspirational and lots of fun.

Write your story of Hope giving others an update on our retreats!

(more…)

“If you build it they will come.” If you will they will? We have all heard these words and some of us have watched and loved the movie “Field of Dreams” over and over hoping to learn how to build so they will come.
In “Field of Dreams”, an Iowa farmer all his life was searching for his dreams. Then one day, his dreams came looking for him. He hears a voice in his corn field tell him, “If you build it, he will come.” This farmer interprets this message as an instruction to build a baseball field on his farm.” And, come they did!
A tag line for this movie is, “If you believe the impossible, the incredible can come true.”
We at times while dreaming our dreams read the words of Luke from the Word of God, “With God nothing is impossible.” (Luke 1:37) In this story, Mary the Mother of Jesus, soon to be, hears a voice telling her that her cousin, Elizabeth, in her old age had conceived a son. Mary believed the impossible and went to see and the incredible came true. Have you ever thought about making a tag line for your dreams?

(more…)