Faith Fully Furnished - The Camera

I love antique/vintage cameras....actually, I love pretty much all antiques...but cameras are my absolute favorite. I have many in my collection, but until I find the perfect place to display them all in the new house, I only have one out. That one is out because it has a purpose, it's one of my memory verse reminders. 

A cameras purpose is to capture a moment in time...a memory. So I use mine to remind me to be thankful for all the amazing people and things I've been blessed with.   

 Philippians 1:3 The Voice 

Whenever you cross my mind, I thank my God for you and for the gift of knowing you.

Love,
Fran
~Joy ALL Ways~

Faith Fully Furnished - The Dog

Purposefully displayed on the highest shelf in the living room, I keep a small but regal looking statue of a dalmation. 

When I see that dog, it's an immediate reminder to be humble instead of pridefully putting myself, my accomplishments, my abilities, my wants, my desires, etc.... up high above everybody else. To also keep my actions in check, and stop foolishly going back to bad habits and selfish destructive behaviors. (BTW...ALL bad habits and destructive behaviors are selfish...that's why we like them..they make us feel good.) Instead, I need to change and no longer allow myself to be spotted by the behaviors of my past. Just because God is loving and merciful doesn't mean I get a free pass to keep messing up. His mercy EXPECTS and REQUIRES me to take responsibility for my actions and CHANGE.

Here are the scriptures that go along with my dog, just click on the links.

1) A dog, a fool, and pride......

2) Pride comes before a humiliating fall

3) We're expected to be different

4) Mercy REQUIRES change

5) Jesus expected us to change too...that didn't stop with Him

Love,
Fran
~Joy ALL Ways~

Faith Fully Furnished - The Menorah

In light of the horrific and heart breaking shooting at the Pittsburgh synagogue yesterday, I decided to change my first photo in this series to this one instead.

I always keep my menorah on display to remind me of the Bible verses that instruct me to always love, protect, honor and pray for the peace of Jerusalem and to also humbly remember that as a born again Christian I have been adopted into the Jewish lineage and therefore all Jews are my family.
Since there are soooooo many verses that speak to this.....click on the two links below for the supporting Bible verses.

1) We've been grafted into the JEWISH vine..... not the other way around.

2) We're supposed to love, honor, respect and PROTECT Israel and the Jews because God loves them.

Love,
Fran
~Joy ALL Ways~

COMING SOON

I decided to start something a little practical and hopefully a little fun. Over the years I've always struggled to memorize scripture. I have no idea why...but I've just never been one of those people that can easily memorize the book, chapter and full verse and recite it back word for word. I wish I was, but so far...I'm not. When my best friend and I were kids and would get the weekly Bible verse to memorize for the following week....she could easily memorize it by the end of the day. I on the other hand, would still be repeating it over and over off of a piece of paper the morning it was due and if all went well, just barely be able to stumble through it in class....soon to be forgotten by the next period. Memorizing scripture to have in your arsenal is REALLY important though so that when we get hit with difficult things in life we can fight back and not get easily buried by the enemy. I know there are others out there who have the same issues...because you've told me so. It's easy to get frustrated and give up and just resort to googling what you need when you need it. I know the embarrassment of suddenly being put on the spot to rattle off a verse reference and you're like a deer in headlights....not because you're stupid...but because your mind just went blank and now you feel like the worst Christian EVER....which is not true. by the way.

I have good news though, remember how Jesus responded to satan when He was being tempted in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13)? When Jesus threw back the counteracting scriptures....he didn't need to include the scripture reference because quite frankly...satan knows them already...he just counts on US not knowing them to keep up his game. So while it's GREAT to know WHERE in the Bible a verse is located (and to make sure it actually IS in the Bible and not Shakespeare....don't even get me started...), sometimes it's easier to start by focusing on content, because content is the weapon we actually need....remembering the location can come later.

Deuteronomy 11:18-20 The Voice

"So let what I’m saying sink deeply into your hearts and souls. Do whatever it takes to remember what I’m telling you: tie a reminder on your hand or put a reminder on your forehead where you’ll see it all the time, and on the doorpost where you cross the threshold or on the city gate. Teach these things to your children. Talk about them when you’re sitting together in your home and when you’re walking together down the road. Make them the last thing you talk about before you go to bed and the first thing you talk about the next morning."

So in the context of doing whatever it takes to fill up my scripture arsenal, for years I've used something a little different than the norm. I L-O-V-E decorating my spaces...and it comes pretty naturally to me. So I've LITERALLY surrounded myself with decor at home and at work that triggers scripture to me. Little things that sometimes may seem like meaningless dust collectors to visitors....to me have a hidden faith based meaning to keep The Word constantly on my mind. So whenever I feel like it, in ~very brief~ little posts, I'm going to start sharing photos of actual things in our home or at my office and the scriptures they represent. I'm hoping it will inspire others who struggle with memorization so that they can use this method too and fill your spaces with scripture. 

So keep an eye out this weekend for the first installment of

"Faith Fully Furnished" 

Love,

Fran

~Joy ALL Ways~