In Christ Jesus, you have God's favor in and upon your life. As a child of God you are a part of the family of God's Kingdom. As God's child you have special honors such as God's blessings, God's favor, God's protection, God's wisdom, God's knowledge, and God's council. According to Ephesians 1 these blessings come through Christ Jesus. There are more such as the peace of God which wants to rule in your heart and the love of God which is greater than knowledge or power. What kind of attitude should we have about all these blessings from the Lord? We should be thankful and joyful unto the Lord. We should live holy and blameless lives before our neighbors, friends, and relatives.  We should expect great things to come our way because we have faith in Christ. Expect God's favor...

In the Smoky Mountains we heard a group from Equador called ATAHUALPA who played "Sounds of the Andes" music with pan pipes and other instruments. I saw this background picture and thought about how God poured His goodness into us like the river provides the water to make an ever flowing fountain like when Jesus shed His blood for our sins. He became sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God.     

Sunday school teacher asked her class, "What was
 Jesus' mother's name?" 
    One child answered, "Mary." 
    The teacher then asked, "Who knows what Jesus'
 father's name was?"
    A little kid said, "Verge."
    Confused, the teacher asked, "Where did you get
 that?"
    The kid said, "Well, you know, they are always
 talking about Verge n' Mary.'' 
**********  
 
 3-year-old Reese:
 "Our Father, Who does art in
 heaven, Harold is His name. 
Amen."
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
A little ! boy was overheard praying:
 "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry
 about it.
 I'm having a real good time like I am."
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
After the christening of his baby brother in church,
 Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the
 car. 
His father asked him three times what was wrong.
 Finally, the boy replied,
 "That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a
 Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys."
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 
I had been teaching my three-year old daughter,
 Caitlin, the Lord's Prayer
 for several evenings at bedtime.
 She would repeat after me the lines from the prayer.
 Finally, she decided to go solo.
 I listened with pride as she carefully enunciated 
each word, right up to the end of the prayer:
 "Lead us not into temptation," she prayed,
 "but deliver us from E-mail.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
One particular four-year-old prayed,
 "And forgive us our trash baskets
 as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets." 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they
 were on the way to church service,
 "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"
 One bright little girl replied,
 "Because people are sleeping."
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Six-year-old Angie and her four-year-old brother,
 Joel, were sitting together in church.
 Joel giggled, sang, and talked out loud.
 Finally, his big sister had had enough.
 "You're not supposed to talk out loud in church." 
"Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked.
 Angie pointed to the back of the church and said,
 "See those two men standing by the door?
 They're hushers."
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
   A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin
 5, and Ryan 3. 
The boys began to argue over who would get the first
 pancake.  Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral
 lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,
 'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'
 Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan,
 you be Jesus!"
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  A father was at the beach with his children
 when the four-year-old son ran up to him, 
grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore
 where a seagull lay dead in the sand. 
"Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked.  "He
 died and went to Heaven," the Dad replied.   The boy
 thought a moment and then said, "Did God throw him
 back down?"
 
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   

      A wife invited some people to dinner.  At the table,
 she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said,
 "Would you like to say the blessing?"
   "I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied.
   "Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife
 answered.
     
    The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on
earth did I invite all these people to dinner?" 

                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to
 her
 mother, "Why is the bride dressed in white?" "Because white is the
 color of happiness, and today is the happiest day of her life." The
 child thought
 about this for a moment, then said, "So why is the groom wearing
 black?"
 
                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
A little girl, dressed in her Sunday best, was running as fast as she
 could, trying not to be late for Bible class. As she ran she prayed,
 "Dear Lord, please don't let me be late! Dear Lord, please don't let me be late! "While she was running and praying, she tripped on a curb and fell, getting her clothes dirty and tearing her dress. She got up, brushed herself
off, and started running again! in. As she ran she once again began  to pray,
"Dear Lord, please don't let me be late...But please don't shove me either!"
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"At The Foot Of The Cross"

At the foot of the cross
Where grace and suffering meet
You have shown me Your love
Through the judgment You received
And You've won my heart
Yes You've won my heart
Now I can
Trade these ashes in for beauty
And wear forgiveness like a crown
Coming to kiss the feet of mercy
I lay every burden down
At the foot of the cross
At the foot of the cross
Where I am made complete
You have given me life
Through the death You bore for me
I'm laying every burden down
I'm laying every burden down