My Heart

2 Corinthians 3:3 New American Standard Bible

³ revealing yourselves, that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts

 

Oh, I wonder why

A blinking Christmas light

Fills us with such delight

Could it be that a CHILD’s

Birth is remembered more

Often than not, on a

Certain designated night?

No, we do not know the

Exact day of HIS birth

But that matters not for,

The fact of the matter is

That the remembrance

Fills our hearts with mirth

Because it reminds us all of

The time that HEAVEN

Came down to earth.

So it is with joy, of the utmost

That I say to all of you

GOD’s blessings upon you and yours

As peace and goodwill abound

And healing is delivered to our shores.©

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Walking by faith,

Alma L. Carr-Jones

 

Holding on to My Joy

 

I am able to hold on to my joy

When I read scriptures like

Romans chapter 6 verse 23

That tell me that JESUS is coming back for me.

"For the wages of sin is death but the

Free gift of God is eternal life

in Christ Jesus, our Lord."

Scriptures like the one above

Tell me to keep working

In joy and love

Because JESUS is coming back for me.

Yes, payday is coming after a while

So it behooves each of us to behave ourselves

As if we are GOD’s child.

Yes, I get joy down in my soul

When I read of HIS coming back

Like the Bible has foretold

And I keep stepping with joy

Because Heaven is my goal.

So, fellowman, if you get

Discouraged from time to time

Just read the manual that GOD

Provided when HE chose us to employ

And hold on to that (Manual) Bible

Where we can hear JESUS say

"I will be coming back for you one day."

Y'all, that means that I will

Be lighter than air

And that I will ride the fluffy cloud

That grabbed my attention

As a child, by being so high up in the sky

It means that I will ride past all of the clouds

On my way to glory

Where I can rejoice and tell

All who will listen about how

Jesus wrote the end of all my heartache and pain

In short, I will get to skip

Around and tell my story

While shouting with glee,

"I made it in, Y'all; I made it

And that is payment enough

Because JESUS came back for me!©

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Y'all, I took a bit of fanciful license with my poem, but the joy in it is sincere. We all know how jubilant we will be when we get home to Glory to GOD's Land and it finally hits us that this is as good as it gets! This is the be all end all and we don't have to worry about

• shedding any more tears


• something or somebody taking our joy because they are jealous because we are so happy


• pain invading our body


• the bills being due (light bill, heating bill, mortgage, rent, food bill, etc.)


• disease attacking us (cancer, Covid-19, etc.)


• leaving our youth behind


• or any other worldly cares because we will be at home with JESUS in HIS Land!

In short, let me make a final bold point. Getting to go home with JESUS will be like every payday that you have ever had in your earthly life, every moment of joy, every smile...all wrapped in one, but even that does not compare! The LORD has said that it has not entered into the hearts of man the joys that the LORD has for those that love HIM! Now that, Y'all, says it all! Does it not? Don't you want to go? And that is one line I won't mind standing in, waiting for my name to be called.

Oh, and by the way, if you see something flit by you like a kangaroo, rabbit, joyful child, etc., that will be me...spreading my joyous smile while skipping for all of Heaven to see!

 

Walking by faith,

Alma L. Carr-Jones

 

 

One Day When the Trumpet Sounds

There will be happiness and joy galore
When the skipper lands on the other shore©

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Y'all know by now that I liken my Bible reading to strolling along a garden path. Well, this morning, as I strolled through the garden of Romans, (one of my favorite books)  the second chapter caused the skipping joy of GOD's payday to envelop my heart, yet again. Here are the verses that grabbed my attention today:

Romans 2 NASB

⁶ WHO will repay each person according to his deeds:

⁷ to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life;

¹⁰ but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

 ¹⁶ on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of mankind through Christ Jesus.

 

After reading the scriptures, I started thinking about writing a poem about those verses that had spoken to my heart so strongly this morning. But then, after I wrote the first two lines, an inkling of something that I had written before came to my mind.

So, I looked back through my work, and what do you know

Up popped material from Chopping My Row!©

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Excerpt from Chopping My Row

In essence, let us wrap our little selves in His love and make plans to meet Him in glory for a blessed reunion at the judgment, hm-m-m?

You see; one day the work of peacemakers and "troublemakers" will cease and somebody will relate the news that we have from this earthly plane found release. There will be no need for peacemakers because we will be residing with Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Troublemakers will be allowed to wreak havoc no more and as I have said before, they and all their "kin" will not be allowed inside heaven's door!

It will be grand! - Got up before the chickens to get my Sunday dinner done. After worship, all that I need to do is cook cornbread. A job satisfactorily done. That is what I want to hear at the end of my time here on earth when I stand before the Lord in the judgement, "Well done, Alma. Enter into the joys of the Lord."  Won't that be a grand day, folks? But, until then, we will keep pressing forward as we work our way down the row that we have been assigned to cultivate in the vineyard. And we will do it with joy, hm-m?

Case in Point 2 - Can't you just imagine when you have been hard ridden all the way to the other side and those old denizens think that they can sail right through the city gates with you. Ha ha ha, I have told you before that I am a skipper and that is true. What I am going to do is fall out laughing when trouble, heartache, disappointment, and all of the rest of that crowd are stopped cold at the gate. They cannot say, we are with her. Ha ha ha ha! That won't wash and I will lie down and howl with laughter, then I will hop up and do what I have told you that I would do, start my skipping. I'm gonna skip high and skip long, if they let me. But I know I won't be the first one to go berserk with happiness, so they will all probably say something like, "It's okay; she just arrived from below." Tee hee

Actually, I don't know how it will go, but I tell you this, whenever He wipes my final tears and turns me loose in the streets of glory, I will skip! It's as simple as that. And I just might howl with glee, too. One thing for sure, no matter what form it takes, I will rejoice! You too?

We are moving toward an ultimate destination. We have a date that has been set on the other side of time. The title for this lesson is a fitting title because it implies that nothing is over. It won't be over until the end of time. It reminds us that we must keep going, no matter the stormy sessions we have, and no matter the pain.

Dried Her Tears

That will be a great day

For us Christians, one and all

For if, we have remained faithful

We will eagerly await the roll call.

Yes, the best is yet to come

Just you wait and see

There will be untold joy

If we stay faithful 'til eternity.

As I have told you before

I am going to be beside myself

When I get through heaven's door.

I had a lady in the hospital

Giggling quite a bit

When I stood around her bedside

And told her what I would do

Once I got inside.

Y'all know that I have told you

That I have always been a skipper

And when I described my joy to her

I told her I would be quite the quipper.

I told her that in my mind's eye

I could see old trouble and old pain

Peeping through the gates of heaven

Itching to, but not able to get at me.

I told her that if I had arms, hands

Legs and feet, in a body of some kind

That I would lie down on the ground

And with glee, my fists I would pound

The turf while pointing and laughing with glee

At old trouble and old pain saying

"I'm rid of Y'all for eternity."

She snickered in earnest then and gone

We're the tears that she had had in her

Eyes when first she called me near

And asked me if for her I would pray

I'm glad she beckoned to me from her bed

I'm glad that she felt better for something I said

But how could I not try to lighten her load

When she, bless her heart, was such a dear?

No, I am not a comedian, just a child

Who is willing to do all that I can to

Help fellow travelers as we make

Our way back to our homeland.

For one day, He will make the final choice

And we, dear friends, will get the chance

To shout in jubilant voice

Along with the angels as we all rejoice.

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I am thankful to be given one more day for building for Him as HE prepares a home for me. When I get there, I can enjoy the things that HE has prepared for me that cannot enter into my mind and my heart because it surpasses my understanding. Don’t you know that nothing that this life has thrown at us will matter then? Ah, in the hands of my JESUS, that will be enough for me. Ah-h-h, how sweet it is and how sweet it will be!

 

Walking by faith,

Alma L. Carr-Jones

 

The Sky: Alma L. Carr-Jones

Do you remember when you were a child that

You would lie down on the grass with your hands

Behind your head and look up at the sky so blue

Do you remember how fascinating

The sky seemed to you?

Remember how you could find different shapes

Among the fluffy majestic looking clouds

Well, have you ever pondered as to why the sky

Held and still hold such attraction to your eye?

As I was reading a passage this morning in Acts

I was held spell-bound by one undeniable fact

And that is that JESUS is not the only one

To tell of HIS returning visit on a cloud

But that the angels said the same words

To JESUS's disciples out loud.

Look at the passage that is listed below

And see if you don't find what I said to be so

For you will find that Acts 1:9-11

Points your mind to the sky and Heaven.

Who knows, one of these days you may

Be looking at the sky to behold a cloud formation

That cannot escape your eye

And can you imagine the wow factor that will

Hold you entranced

As that cloud formation toward you advanced?

And better still, what would you think if you

Saw a figure standing upon the cloud

With a regal air, looking proud?

Would you think to remember that a coming

Back on a cloud was foretold

And would you hope that your life

Was not dross, but gold?

Just a little thought that wrapped itself

Around my mind as I walked through

The first chapter of the garden of the

Book of Acts, just a sweet reminder of

An undeniable fact

That one day, our LORD and SAVIOR

For you and me, is coming back!

And if you are like most folks, when

You go back outside again

Your eyes are going to want to study

The sky for a little bit as you recall

A little poem that you read that

Reminded you of a coming rollcall.

Do you know HIS voice and would

You know what to do

If JESUS came back on the cloud today

And called for you?

I am not a child anymore, but I dare say that

I will not soon forget this sweet little poem of mine

And when I go outside, what am I going to do,

Look up, fellowman, and probably so will you.©

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Acts 1:9-11 NASB

⁹ And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were watching, and a cloud took Him up, out of their sight.

¹⁰ And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, then behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them,

¹¹ and they said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

 

Be safe.

 

Walking by faith,

Alma L. Stepping On Carr-Jones