A WORD A WEEK CHALLENGE – Curve
Blog: A WORD IN YOUR EAR



Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. It does not enable us to escape evil. It makes us unfit to face evil when it comes. It is the interest you pay on trouble before it comes.
Corrie ten Boom
“The way to worry about nothing is to pray about everything”

Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.ย C S Lewis
ย FRESH!!!

โงย Sarah loved her FRESH strawberries on toast whilst on holiday!ย โง

โงย FRESH waterfall in the HOT ‘Rainforest Biome” at the Eden Projectย โง

โงย A pigs idea of FRESH!! โง
Photographers, artists, poets: show us SNEAKY
๐ Verse 4 2day!ย ย
Proverbs 5:21ย (NIVUK)
For your ways are in full view of the Lord,
and he examines all your paths.
This daily prompt instantly reminded me of how alert Bruce used to be. If you tried to sneak anywhere, as soon as you look up, he is stood watching you! ๐
Sarah also sneaks photos of me and my camera too!

โงย Bruce catching me sneaking up the stairs!ย โง

โงย And I thought I was the one taking the photos! โง

Blessed is the oneย who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners takeย or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,ย and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in seasonย and whose leaf does not witherโ
whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked!ย They are like chaffย that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,ย nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

An atheist can’t find God for the same reason a thief can’t find a policeman.
Adrian Rogers

1 Timothy 6:3-10
False Teachers and the Love of Money
These are the things you are to teach and insist on. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave here in the UK, so i thought this would be a great summer song! ๐

God, thank You SO much for holding us to a different standard than the world. Releasing me from the constantly changing expectations that are unachievable is relieving. Help me to focus on Your gift, a salvation I cannot earn, and find worth in that above anything else! Amen.
My Thoughts ๐ญย
Judge your worth and value by what God says about you in His Word, not by how somebody else treats you!

My Thoughts ๐ญย
Yipppeee my 1st passport arrived in the post today!!! ๐
It may be a shock to some of you that i’m 38 and never had a passport, but after my interview on Saturday morning at the passport office in Victoria, London to prove face to face that I am me, it finally arrived today.
So, I was wondering if all of you lovely friends could suggest some great places to see and experience?! I’ll finally be able to post some photos from places other than Norfolk! lol.
Me, Sarah, Ben (The Dynamic Force) and Rosie always talk (jokingly but seriously) about a “WordPress World Tour” where we would travel around and maybe meet some of the amazing people who we share our everyday journeys with on here! Is this a crazy dream?! ๐

My new word: “Blesson.” It’s when you’re able to view painful lessons as blessings. A blesson is what happens when you see the blessing in the lesson that your challenge taught you.
Karen Salmansohn
Please pray for Adeline and her husband as they shine the light of Jesus in a dark world.

We must be watchful, especially in the beginning of the temptation. The enemy is then more easily overcome, if he is not permitted in any wise to enter the door of our hearts, but is resisted without the gate at his first knock…First there comes to the mind a bare thought of evil, then a strong imagination thereof, afterward delight, and an evil motion, and then consent. And so little by little our wicked enemy gets complete entrance, because he is not resisted in the beginning. And the longer a man is slow to resist, so much the weaker does he become daily in himself, and the enemy stronger against him.
Thomas a Kempis

Life by the Spirit
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: โLove your neighbor as yourself.โ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
By Jon Bloom | Jul 12, 2013 12:00 am
What do you not feel like doing today?
You know what I mean. Itโs that thing thatโs weighing on you, which you know would honor God because it obeys his law of love (John 15:12), or is a work of faith (2 Thessalonians 1:11), or puts โto death the deeds of the bodyโ (Romans 8:13). You know it would be good for your soul or body or family or vocation or neighbor or church.
But you donโt feel like doing it. You know that God promises you more blessing if you do it than if you donโt. But youโre struggling to believe it because it feels difficult. Itโs like you have weights on your ankles. You donโt want to muster the energy, and every distraction glows withโฆ
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Where the land meets the sea
Is a beautiful place to be
Where the water covers the land
And the stones get turned to sand
Where your life meets the King
Is the most amazing thing
Where his Power opens your mind
And your thoughts become refined

John 17:20-26ย ย (NIV)
Jesus Prays for All Believers
โMy prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are oneโ I in them and you in meโso that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
โFather, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
โRighteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you[a] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.โ
My Thoughts ๐ญย
How united is your church body?
Unity Is vital for us to carry out God’s will to be one united body. The world is watching us, so lets make known the unity and love of Jesus and show the world that they have a saviour and he loves them.

This is the oldest photo I have of my Mum who passed away 13 years ago due to MS. I am sat on her knee with my 2 sisters either side.
Sometimes I feel so helpless and weak. I think that is why God uses me’. โ Mother Teresa
Its so important to put God in everything! Please don’t fall away and put your little god in a box for maybe one morning a week.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. – Galatians 5:22-25
ย
The first command in Ephesians 5 tells us to be imitators of God by reflecting the way he loves us. Our love for others flows out of our sense of being deeply loved. Instead of constantly looking for the right person, God tells us to become the right person. Instead of looking for love, God tells us to realise that love has already found us! God loves as no one else ever can.
Chip Ingram

Good friends are like stars. You don’t always see them, but you know they are always there.

To celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary Sarah & I visited Hunstanton, Norfolk for a few days. We’ve stayed in the ‘Old Hunstanton Lighthouse‘ for our honeymoon and then each year for the next 5 anniversaries, but this year we didn’t have the time to stay for a week, so we stayed in a lovely guest house in the town instead. I didn’t take any cameras with me and only had my iPhone, but I had fun taking photos anyway! ๐

โงย The Burleigh Guest Houseย โง

โงย England, UK is a secular country so this was a lovely surpriseย โง

โงย Me and my lovely wifeย โง

โงย The wolf trail posts lead you towards the wolf along the cliffsย โง

โงย Sarah and the wolfย โง

โงย Sarah jumping for joy!ย โง

โงย Me on Old Hunstanton Beachย โง




โงย Sarah enjoying herself in the seaย โง
On our last evening we decided to have Sarah’s favourite doughnuts and watch the beautiful sunset from the sea front.ย





I decided with the image below, that I would combine my love of sunsets with Sarah’s love of doughnuts. It took a few attempts to get the sun in the hole, but I got it in the end! ๐

โงย Sarah watching her doughnut shineย โง

โงย Sarah wearing her new top sitting on the train on the way homeย โง
When we arrived home after a 6 hour journey, we had an hour to get ready and go for our romantic meal at our favourite restaurant. Our friends who own and run Sicily restaurant made it extra special for us.

โงย They first surprised us with a lovely card and presentย โง

โงย Then amazing fillet steaksย โง


โงย Love heart potatoesย โง

โงย Vegetables with pine nutsย โง

โงย And finally Strawberries & cream with coconut ice cream in a peachย โง
Now i’m back at my computer with 771 emails, so i’m sure you’ll be hearing from me soon. I’m looking forward to reading your posts! ๐
Many couples have a song that they both love and that reminds them of the love they share together.
This song is ours and has stayed with Sarah & i since we both heard it 9 years ago.
Happy 6th wedding anniversary to my lovely wife Sarah! ๐
No words can express how much the world owes to sorrow. Most of the Psalms were born in the wilderness. Most of the Epistles were written in prison. The greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers have all passed through the first. The greatest poets have โlearned in suffering what they taught in song.โ In bonds, Bunyan lived the allegory that he afterwards wrote, and we may thank Bedford Jail for the Pilgrimโs Progress. Take comfort, afflicted Christian! When God is about to make pre-eminent use of a person, He puts them in the fire.
George MacDonald

Father, thank you for making me a part of something so precious, so awesome, as the bodily presence of the Lord. Please help each person in our church family to find his or her gifts of service and to use those gifts in ways that touch others with your grace and that bring you glory. In Jesusโ name. Amen.
We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety; this is especially true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need have no such fears. Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed.
A. W. Tozer

Image via BibleLockScreens
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โThis is a war in the eternal world โ a war for our everlasting-lives โ and we fight halfheartedly, forever losing parts of our armour and leaving ourselves and others wide open to attack.โ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
At the start we said: โIt would be great if we could deal with the Enemy and give him no influence in our lives.โ And we asked: โDo you think that we can achieve that.โ
So, what do you think?
We also said: โwe must not be lulled into a false sense of insecurity.โ
What I mean is this:
We have security โ in God. In absolute respect for God and a complete dedication to obey everything that Jesus said โ there you find security. This is a security that stretches into the everlasting world of God; it never ends. Even if we die in this life, we are safe forโฆ
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Today’s Daily Prompt ~ “Photographers, artists, poets: show us JOYFUL“
Psalm 118:24ย (NASB)
This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.


โงย Sarah’s joy overflowing on our wedding dayย โงย

โง Joyful on our honeymoon too!ย โง

โงย Joy in our marriage as best friendsย โง

โงย Joy in the everydayย โง

โงย Sarah’s joyful Granย โง

โงย Sarah’s joyful Dadย โง

โงย Bruce finding joy on an empty beachย โง

โงย Bruce jumping for joy! โง
Joy cannot be pursued. It comes from within. It is a state of being. It does not depend on circumstances, but triumphs over circumstances. It produces a gentleness of spirit and a magnetic personality.
Billy Graham
Check out “Steve & Sarah” on the “Weddings” ย page

Father, please open my heart! Allow me to see that we’re a vast army of formerly dead bones, brought back to life through forgiveness and the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Help us to stand strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, protected by the full armor of God, taking our stand against the devil’s schemes, in Jesus name, Amen.

โImagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of โ throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.โ
C S Lewis
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โWe are dealing with an Enemy who wants nothing more than to destroy us โ and we are doing the work for him.โ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
As we have already said, the enemy is going to do whatever he can to make us disobey God. He is going to use all his influence to cause as much mayhem in this world as he can. This is a big question: who is actually carrying out the mayhem?
I have certainly never seen the Enemy but I have seen so much of his work being done by people โ by non-Christians and Christians alike.
This is something that Paul wrote:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is nowโฆ
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โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โsome physical problem that we suffer with could actually be part of our spiritual healingโ
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The Enemy is going to do whatever he can to frighten us or persuade us to disobey God and fall away from the faith. He will throw all kinds of feelings and thoughts our way to try and lead us to a place where we lose our trust in the Father.
We will face all kinds of trouble. We will come up against many problems and hardships, but, does that, in any way, mean that we cannot trust God? Of course not โ it means that we have to trust Him even more.
Jesus suffered โ massively โ and the Enemy attacked Him. All his disciples suffered and they were also subjected to the Enemyโs tactics. Although there is so much unnecessary suffering and so much that the Devil willโฆ
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This is a post for all of my sisters & brothers out there who are struggling at the moment. I just wanted to try and inspire you with some of the Songs/Poems i’ve posted on here. Some will have already read them, but its really on my heart to try and help you as you fight with your day to day struggles. Peace be with you.
page links for my Songs/Poems:ย
I Hope these songs/poems will reach out to people who can relate to some of the feelings i went through on my Journey! But i want you to know that you are never alone and a new Life of Love, Joy & inner Peace are waiting for you. Check out my โAboutโ page to read a little more about my journey.
I once observed a moth dancing around a candle light. It zinged past blindly at first and then I wondered if it was blind or just too courageous to consider that it was within an inch of itโs life playing with fire. It wasnโt quite long before the moth flew into the flame and that was the end? I wondered how it could be so dumb, how it could not know that the flames would roast it? In fact, within a short time of that moth falling victim, the next one followed suit. Itโs just like that. Theyโre simply irresistibly drawn to light no matter how dangerous it may be. Itโs no fault of theirs. Theyโre just easy prey.
Is it not odd when human beings that are accredited with much higher intelligence than any other animal act like moths? Like moths drawn to a flame, they fall into theirโฆ
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It Takes Just A Littleโฆ It takes so little to make us sad, Just a slighting word or a doubting sneer, Just a scornful smile on some lips held dear; And our footsteps lag, though the goal seemed near, And we lose the courage and hope we had- So little it takes to make us sad.
It takes so little to make us glad, Just a cheering clasp of a friendly hand, Just a word from one who can understand; And we finish the task we long had planned, And we lose the doubt and the fear we had- So little it takes to make us glad. ~ย Ida Goldsmith Morris
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โWe must learn to see beauty as God sees it.โ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
If you were asked โwhat is the most dangerous thing in this worldโ โ what would you say?
I am sure that there are a few good answers to that question. Perhaps pride or greed or envy; they are some of the most deadly feelings that underlie all the nonsense that goes on โ but where did they come from?
Let me tell you, one of the most deadly things in this world is beauty. It has nearly destroyed our world and we really need to understand that. Do we think that the Enemy is a beast? Well, he has an interesting relationship with beauty. Here is a quote from Ezekiel:
โโYou were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordainedโฆ
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โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ-
โWe must not be lulled into a false sense of insecurityโ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ-
It would be great if we could deal with Satan and allow him no influence in our lives. Can we achieve that?
Hereโs part 1:
โThe Enemy is so cleverโ. We hear this all the time:- how true is it?
Hereโs a quote from the back near the beginning:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, โDid God really say, โYou must not eat from any tree in the gardenโ?โ
Genesis 3:1(NIV)
According to Moses, the serpent was more crafty than all the wild animals. We know that he is referring to the Enemy, the Devil, Satan or whatever you want to call him. So, how clever is he?
Being โmore crafty than all the wild animalsโ means what exactly โ haveโฆ
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