Gift of Time

A phone call, card, or visit
    is a gift of time that's given.
Friendship's caring is a glimpse
    of Father's love in Heaven.

No one knows how long will be
   the lifetime God's given you.
Receive it as a treasure
    and spend it wisely, too.

Give time to God in worship,
    an honor that is due;
He lavishes His goodness
    every day on me and you.

Give time to others joyfully,
    prayerfully doing your best;
Cherish the opportunity,
    and your heart will be blessed.

by Elaine Hardt ©2019

Today is YOUR Day

  Your Faith
    Your Troubles
      Your Endurance
        Your Opportunity
          Your Joy

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way,

consider it an opportunity

for great joy.

For you know

when your faith is tested

your endurance has a chance to grow.

So, let it grow,

for when your endurance is fully developed,

you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."

James 1:2-3  NLT

Improving Today

Joyous Considerations, 

   thoughtful deliberations,

      prayerful conversations: 

         learning to trust God and obey.

Improving is not automatic for me,

   and truly I know I need more energy,

      and wisdom seems kinda hard, you see;

         that’s why I do pray every day.

And I’ll share these words with you,

   Open the Bible, take a careful view,

      What a relief to know that it’s true.

         So, I remind you to pray. 

Open your eyes to view the earth,

   You are a person of great worth,

      It’s time for your spiritual birth,

         Talk to your Maker today. 

by Elaine Hardt ©2017

Encouragement! EnCOURAGEment!

Encouragement is more than a pat on the back,

It’s not just a friendly smile or nod,

Not only some words spoken or written:

It’s a powerful blessing from God.

You can grow in encouragement, speak it to yourself;

Enable it by what you believe!

Find the strength in God, know what His Word promises:

Courage for hard times and testings:  this receive.

In the challenge of life your example can count; 

Look around and you can see

Others need encouragement, too — this you can do;

Pray for them to be set free. 

When you’ve invited Jesus to be your Best Friend

God’s Holy Spirit empowers you,

Now you can experience real faith, hope, and joy,

Encouragement, and EnCOURAGEment, too!

                      + + + 

By Elaine Hardt ©2016

“Encourage” is found 14 times in the Old Testament, 13 times in the New Testament, New King James Version.  “Encouragement” is found 6 times; “courage” is found 28 times in the Bible.    Look up words at www.biblegateway.com 

“Be strong and of good courage, 

do not fear nor be afraid of them; 

for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. 

He will not leave you nor forsake you.” 

 Deuteronomy 31:6

My Version of "The Old Rugged Cross"

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
It was a sad day long ago;
And that’s where my Savior died for my sin.
Yes, the Bible proclaims it is so!

So I’ll commit myself to the LORD,
And tell others of God’s great love;
I will bow at His feet some glad day
When I meet Him in Heaven above!

Oh, I’m grateful to know Jesus paid for my sin
With His blood shed at Calvary;
There was nothing that I myself could yet do.
He revealed God’s love amazingly!

To mankind He displayed His marvelous grace,
In His death He would pardon our sin;
You and I must confess to receive now today
Wondrous forgiveness within!

To my dear Jesus Christ I will ever be true,
I will stand up, declaring His ways;
Holy Spirit empowered, I obey Him and grow,
Dedicated to telling His praise. 

By Elaine Hardt ©2015 

This is my version of George Bennard's hymn from the early 1900s. I think it improves on the message, making it easier to understand, and putting the real focus on Jesus, and not so much emphasis on the old wooden cross on which He died for our sins.  And He arose, and He's coming again!

This is for YOU

Your  Faith

Your  Troubles

Your  Endurance

Your  Opportunity

Your  Joy

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way,

consider it an opportunity

for great joy.

For you know

when your faith is tested

your endurance has a chance

to grow.

So let it grow,

for when your endurance is fully developed,

you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

James 1:2-3

May God “…make YOU complete in every good work to do His will,

working in YOU

what is well pleasing in His sight…”

Hebrews 13:20-21 

 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, 
and in the power of His might,”  
Ephesians 6:10

I Want to be Happy

Happiness may be a choice,

Happiness may be a chore;

Sometimes it seems Happiness says, 

“You won’t see me anymore.”

Oh, Happiness please come back;

Oh, please come back to stay!

I was careless, it was my fault;

I really need you today.

So, thinking it over,

Considering its place,

Happiness is more than a

Little fake smile on my face.

Happiness comes from a peaceful

Trust in the LORD in my heart;

A prayer of welcoming Him

Gives Happiness its start.

Happiness knows: God sees and knows,

Taking me from trouble and strife;

Love and Joy come in with Faith.

Celebrating a new life. 

                                                              By Elaine Hardt ©2015

Oh, JOY !!!

Joy is a short word that says a lot.  Say it, feel it,  anticipate it, be thankful for it. Have you said it lately?  

     Consider it as an exclamation like “Joy to the world, the LORD has come.”     

     Consider it as a prayer like, “Heavenly Father, I’m running out of joy.  Fill me up with your genuine joy.”  

     Consider it as a question, “What brings you the most joy?”  

     Consider it as an explanation, “There’s a fake joy while drinking too much."    
     The real joy can come to your mind when you decide to do what you know is good, and you follow through.  

     Here’s how others say “Joy.”  

Radost = Czech

Vreugde = Dutch

Kagalakan =  Filipino 

Joie =  French

Freude = German

Xapå,  =  Greek

Gioia   =  Italian 

Radość =  Polish  

Джой  = Russian

Alegría  =  Spanish

Glädje  = Swedish 

Sevinç  = Turkish

Джой  = Ukranian

Xursandchilik   = Uzbek

     Look at that Google Translate feature, Select Languages, at the top of this blog.  That's how I found "joy" in lots of languages. There are a lot more languages that I didn’t copy here.  Look them up yourself and be amazed. 

     And if you look up "joy" at www.biblegateway.com you can find many different Bible translations in other languages, as well as over 50 English language translations. 
     Joy is a blessing from God.  You need it, we all need joy.  Find out more about "joy" and you'll be happy today…..and the rest of your life!

by Elaine Hardt ©2014

What is JOY?

JOY is not a silly, giggly, childish thing—

A response to a frivolous jest,

Joy is a deeper, heart-felt quality

That makes it one of the best.

JOY is a simple, profound look at the truth;

It’s a gift that comes from the Lord above,

A response of trusting and obeying Him,

A relationship of love.

By Elaine Hardt ©2012

Life's Mystery and Joy

The older we get, educated and sophisticated,
the greater the mystery that each adult faces.
How can there be a God who is so great?
How can all those planets and stars be up there?
How can the intricacies of plants, animals, even rocks
have gotten to be here, after all?

Honestly, it looks like quite a mystery.
Each of us can make a risky decision
to ignore the whole, huge issue,
But you can’t argue with the fact
that life is; we can see it.
and death is; we can’t deny it.

Each of us can make a mind-boggling decision
A grown-up decision
to believe in God, a powerful Creator.
If so, how does that impact our life?
Do we then surrender our brains to become
a little robot of faith and blind belief?