Sharon Sharing God: "FAN THE FLAME" FRIDAY

Friday, November 30, 2012

"FAN THE FLAME" FRIDAY - Serenity

Welcome to "Fan the Flame" Friday.

This is a weekly post that will be "short and sweet" (kinda like me...)

Just a word and a phrase, a sentence or a question...just a little something to "fan the flame" of your creativity!

Today's word: serenity

What does the word serenity mean to you?

Is serenity more than just an absence of anxiety or worry?

What brings you serenity - in nature, in life, in the Word?

Let me know what you think!!

"This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you…For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

9 comments:

WandaNovember 30, 2012 at 5:00 AM
There's just something about sitting at a lake that brings me a sense of serenity.
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KerrieNovember 30, 2012 at 5:24 AM
Sailing by to say "Hi" - I am thinking of you!
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Chatty CroneNovember 30, 2012 at 10:08 AM
Serenity means peace to me. sandie
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DebbieNovember 30, 2012 at 11:05 AM
I'm avoiding my answer. Today is NOT a serene day around here. I am blaming hormones and a real Christmas tree that is already dying and a crazy pants situation in real life.

Oh, and unfinished projects.

I will come back later and read the other comments and find my serenity.
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UnknownNovember 30, 2012 at 3:07 PM
Hi Sharon,

I have misplaced my serenity a few times recently. The hassle and hectic space of moving has left me anything but serene a lot of the time :) But I guess it is resting back in the arms of Jesus and knowing that peace that only He can give.

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UnknownNovember 30, 2012 at 7:28 PM
Serenity to me is that inner peace that can only come from God. When the world is spinning all around me and I stop and listen to the sound of silence, I can feel His presence...and that is so peaceful!

Blessings, Joan (coming over from Water to Wine)
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JanetDecember 2, 2012 at 9:59 AM
I think of calm and peace when I think of serenity, but I also believe to feel that, I am trusting that everything is the way it is supposed to be in God's plan.When I am trusting him, I have that calm, serenity!
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CharlotteDecember 5, 2012 at 9:36 AM
Calm and serene. That is not me today. Maybe tomorrow. I hope so. Thank you for the encouragement.
Blessings,
Charlotte
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SharonDecember 12, 2012 at 6:22 PM
What does the word serenity mean to you?

It means peace. A calmness that is unflappable. Like a pond with no ripples in it.

Is serenity more than just an absence of anxiety or worry?

I think so. An absence of anxiety or worry is just a calm state of body and thought. In this state, circumstances have come together to make me feel calm. But when I think of serenity, I think of a state of my soul. A peace that supersedes life's circumstances and struggles and suffering.

What brings you serenity - in nature, in life, in the Word?

I love the mountains - especially the stars at night when I'm camping. I derive serenity when I am around my family - especially my sons. And, of course, my granddog Marty asleep next to me, well that's a little piece of heaven! There are so many things in the Word that bring me serenity - the faithfulness of God's character, the sureness of His promises, the absolute hope for an eternity that is full of His everlasting serene REST!

GOD BLESS!
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"So [I] have been greatly encouraged in the midst of [my] troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives [me] new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. How [I] thank God for you!" (1 Thessalonians 3:7-9)

Thanks for your comments - it is such a joy to be sharing my journey with friends like YOU!

(NOTE: Anonymous comments will be removed. Thank you for understanding.)

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MY WORD FOR 2016

GRATEFUL

Grateful: feeling or showing thanks to someone for some helpful act; appreciative of benefits received; warmly or deeply thankful; indebted; beholden.

Word origin: 1550's, "pleasing to the mind," also "full of gratitude," from obsolete adj. grate "agreeable, thankful," from Latin gratus "pleasing" – derived from the same word origin as the word "grace."

The trick to changing your behavior is to become more thankful.

The practice of gratitude involves a focus on the present moment, on appreciating your life as it is today and what has made it so.

Let us begin an eternal quest to express in new and creative ways our thanks to God.

So I'm breathing in Your grace,

And I'm breathing out Your praise.

Let our prayers be the overflow of a grateful heart to God.

Three steps in prayer:

PRAISE – praise, reverence, worship, adoration, and awe for who God is and what He does

ASK – honest, earnest, and intense requests

THANK YOU – always end with thanksgiving for everything

Pulpit commentary:

In everything give thanks.

In every circumstance – in joy and in sorrow; for everything – for prosperity and for adversity; in every place – in the house of God and on the bed of sickness.

Christians should not only be engaged in constant prayer, but in constant thanksgiving.

For this – this thankful spirit – is the will of God, His desire.

God by the gift of his Son has laid us under the obligation of perpetual thanksgiving. Our whole lives ought to be one continued thank-offering for all the blessings of redemption.

Gill's Exposition:

Thanks are to be given to him for all things…

For all temporal good things;

for our beings, the preservation of them;

for food and raiment, and all the mercies of life;

for the means of grace, the word and ordinances, and the ministers of the Gospel;

for spiritual blessings, for electing, redeeming, regenerating, adopting, pardoning, justifying, and persevering grace:

for a meetness for heaven, a right unto it, and a good hope of it;

and especially for Jesus Christ, for such a…Saviour, and advocate with the Father, as he is; and for life, peace, joy, comfort, righteousness, and salvation in him.

Thanks should be given to God in every circumstance of life; in adversity, as Job did; when not in so comfortable and agreeable a frame of soul as to be wished for…even under the temptations of Satan…since the grace of God is sufficient to bear up under them, and deliver out of them.

[Give thanks] in afflictions of every kind, since they are all for good – temporal, or spiritual, or eternal.

WHAT IS LOVE?

Love is when you are missing some of your teeth but you're not afraid to smile because you know your friends will still love you even though some of you is missing.

By Emma K. - Age 6

"Out of the mouth of babes..."

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

Anonymous

When you are uncertain, it helps to have someone remind you what is true – someone who knows you well, who sees you, and keeps track of you – not just your body but your soul.

Emily Freeman

Sharon Sharing God

Friday, November 30, 2012

"FAN THE FLAME" FRIDAY - Serenity

9 comments:

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HOW GREAT THOU ART

ALL FOR HIS GLORY

I'D RATHER HAVE JESUS

THE GLORIFIED ONE

SERVING THE MOST HIGH

HE IS ALWAYS THERE, AND EVER NEAR