Proverbs 30 ~ There are those

Japanese Bullet Trains

Proverbs 30

[1] The words of Agur son of Jakeh of Massa. The man says to Ith'i-el,to Ith'i-el and Ucal:[2] Surely I am too stupid to be a man.I have not the understanding of a man.[3] I have not learned wisdom,nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

[4] Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!

[5] Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.[6] Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

[7] Two things I ask of thee; deny them not to me before I die:[8] Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,[9] lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, "Who is the LORD?"or lest I be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God.

[10] Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.[11] There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.[12] There are those who are pure in their own eyes but are not cleansed of their filth.[13] There are those -- how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift![14] There are those whose teeth are swords,whose teeth are knives,to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among men.

[15] The leech has two daughters;"Give, give," they cry. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough":[16] Sheol, the barren womb, the earth ever thirsty for water, and the fire which never says, "Enough."[17] The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.

[18] Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand:[19] the way of an eagle in the sky,the way of a serpent on a rock,the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden.[20] This is the way of an adulteress: she eats, and wipes her mouth, and says, "I have done no wrong."

[21] Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up:[22] a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food;[23] an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maid when she succeeds her mistress.

[24] Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise:[25] the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer;[26] the badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the rocks;[27] the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank;[28] the lizard you can take in your hands, yet it is in kings' palaces.

[29] Three things are stately in their tread; four are stately in their stride:[30] the lion, which is mightiest among beasts and does not turn back before any;[31] the strutting cock, the he-goat,and a king striding before his people.

[32] If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth.[33] For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife.



There are those -- how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift!


The two trains are reminders of what Rick Warren said about life. Life always has something to complain, stress, and focus on. Life also has blessings each day, to have gratitude.

Looking at the negative: Feeling stupid. Being rich and denying the Lord, being poor and becoming dishonest. Lying to get ahead and pushing someone aside. Being self-centered and not taking care of parents. Self-righteousness, being unable to admit fault or wanting to see ourselves. Such unkindness transforming our face. Mouths spewing anger, words that are knives & swords used against the poor and the helpless.

Becoming planted in taking only; becoming rooted in the tragedies that occur in life and absorbed in the catastrophe of others. Accepting sin and overlooking it for pleasure, gain or conformity.

Obtaining power to use it with the best intentions and turning it into self-gratification, foolish waste & self-aggrandizement. Playing the fool and exalting self.

Look at the wonder of gratitude, the joy of gratitude: The Mightiness of Jesus, overcoming death, establishing an eternal kingdom and returning - giving us the Good News. Jesus Christ, with God, as His Word. creating the wind, the waters and the ends of the earth.

Every word of God is flawless. He gives us a shield and answers our prayers. He, who created all things, is concerned for the small things and gives them to us to see and wonder. Ants to see diligence and believing it to become fruitful. Badgers to give us determination & perseverance with diligence, the miracles of God going to the hopeful and not the haughty. Locusts to remind us of unseen forces in a transient world, lizards remind of hope in hopeless conditions.

To take the mundane & the ordinary of life and rejoice like a child in the things adults take for granted. To give joy in observation instead of judgement, hope instead of cynical wisdom & to believe the promises of God.


<><

John 2:1-12 ~ Jesus had been invited

William Hole (b before 1600; d 1624). English engraver, appointed chief engraver for the Mint in London, a post he retained until his death. This painting is one of the first to place and clothe Jesus as He was during His life on earth.

John 2:1-12

1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

4 "Woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My hour has not yet come."

5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

7Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.8 Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."

They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples put their faith in him.

12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

Why did Jesus let His first miracle occur in a little town, where only the servants and His mother would remember such a small event?

The current litmus test question, to find out how inconsequentially you allow God to seep into your life and thoughts (or how overzealous a Christian you are) is: "Do you pray at stop lights or for parking spaces?" I've had people laugh when they ask and had people laugh when I answer. I always say, "yes, I pray if I feel a need for help." But the correct answer is: don't put God in a box labeled, what "A Gigantic Creator of the Universe Should Care About." With a subtitle: "I Wouldn't Care About it, if I were God." We trust Him to listen to us and to provide for us, in His plan. Just as Mary asks & trusts Jesus - to do what He knows to be best.

Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." - John 10:10

<><

Proverbs 1 ~ right, just and fair

Buckalew Elementary, The Woodlands

Proverbs 1

1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for attaining wisdom and discipline;

for understanding words of insight;
3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life,

doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the young-
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,

and let the discerning get guidance-
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,

the sayings and riddles of the wise.

7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

8 Listen, my son, to your father's instruction

and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
9 They will be a garland to grace your head

and a chain to adorn your neck.

It's a good week to continue to pray for our children (& parents) to have the Lord present in their classes, car/bus trips, school activities. We ask for our children to nurture others & be nurtured. We pray for their circumstances to draw them to the Lord and to draw others. Father God, in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, we ask your blessing upon these things, now and in the school year to come. So be it, Amen.

<><

Numbers 6:24-26 ~ The Lord bless you, keep you, be gracious and give you peace

Numbers 6:24-26

"The LORD bless you
and keep you;

25 the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;

26 the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace."

Life in Texas made another of those season related changes ~ lots of kids headed off to a new school year. Father God bless us as we have a new day and new changes. In Jesus' name. Amen.

<><

Mark 4:1-20 ~ growing up and increasing

Planting a Gigantic Sequoia tree - found in humid climates with dry summers. Giant sequoia grows best in deep, well-drained sandy loams, such as drainage bottoms and meadow edges. Likes to be planted near other pine trees. When the trees are young they prefer some shade, later in life, they are shade intolerant. Cones bearing fertile seeds observed on trees as young as 10, the usual age is 20 years. Large cone crops of reproductive maturity don't appear before 150 or 200 years. Trees grow an average 1.6 to 2.3 ft per year in height. At age 50, they are significantly taller than other fir trees!

A Gigantic Sequoia is fairly commonly sold in the nursery business. It sometimes grows in the boles of dead or removed trees. Mature trees provide a visual centerpiece for a large landscaped area. Recommend planting a giant sequoia in areas with abundant horizontal and vertical space! Such as parks, campuses, or large yards. Large enough open spaces to provide ample growing room for this species.

Mark 4 (Revised Standard Version)

Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.

[2] And he taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: [3] "Listen! A sower went out to sow. [4] And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. [5] Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil; [6] and when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. [7] Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. [8] And other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold." [9] And he said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

[10]
And when he was alone, those who were about him with the twelve asked him concerning the parables.

[11] And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables; [12] so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven." [13] And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? [14] The sower sows the word. [15] And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown; when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which is sown in them. [16] And these in like manner are the ones sown upon rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; [17] and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. [18] And others are the ones sown among thorns; they are those who hear the word, [19] but the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. [20] But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."

Today is analogy day. Seeing the sky, mountains or the ocean and we are reminded of the vastness of God. God has created us as His children to be part of something so loving, so much more powerful than we can take in.

Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

We are like the seeds in today's Scripture. Planted in one place and doing our best with the seeds planted around us. As we journey through path times of famine, good & joyful times, rocky times, times of tribulation & persecution, cares of the world, delight in riches, desire for other things, acceptance and fruitfulness. We rub again the others around us in their journey.

1 Corinthians 13 is the great chapter of love, reminding us love always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I remember the shock of being rounded up and criticized by my group of friends at 6 years old. We are a lot like the trees in the forest, needing right amounts of light, shade - rest, food and water. Part of life is learning what criticism is healthy and what is simply a tree crowding into the light. With God's love, we bloom where we are planted. As an extreme example, seeing that without God's love, we can become bitter, bent and contorted. Like the bullied boys of Columbine High School, contorting and grotesquely bending. Sometimes we are so occupied by the people around us, we forget to look up and remember God is greater than people and circumstance.

With God, we know we are far more important that seeds, or trees, or just another human cog.
God says He is not a god of the dead. He is God of the Living. In giving us His son, He invites us to His eternal Kingdom, not lasting like the Sequoia, but giving us His Love into Eternity.

"He who has ears, let him hear."

<><

Psalm 19 ~ reviving the soul

Psalm 19

The heavens are telling the glory of God;and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech,and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words;their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth,and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,and like a strong man runs its course with joy.

Its rising is from the end of the heavens,and its circuit to the end of them;and there is nothing hid from its heat.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean,
enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honeyand drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover by them is thy servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can discern his errors?

Clear thou me from hidden faults.
Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,and innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

<><

Psalm 101 ~ dwell with me

Psalm 101

1 I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord,

I will make music.

2 I will ponder the way that is blameless.

Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart

within my house;

3 I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.

I hate the work of those who fall away;

it shall not cling to me.

4 A perverse heart shall be far from me;

I will know nothing of evil.

5 Whoever slanders his neighbor

secretlyI will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look

and an arrogant heartI will not endure.

6 I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,

that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way that is blameless

shall minister to me.

7 No one who practices deceit

shall dwell in my house;

no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes.

8 Morning by morning I will destroy

all the wicked in the land,

cutting off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord.

1 Kings 19:4-8 ~ a day's journey

1 Kings 19: 4 - 8

4
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers."
5
And he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat."
6
And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again.
7
And the angel of the LORD came again a second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you."
8
And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

Elijah received real care from FatherGod in a time of need. Today, my oldest son was travelling home from Houston on I-45. It hasn't rained in a long, long time, we are in a stage 4 drought. At about 10 a.m. he slid, on new tires, across 4 lanes of traffic with cars all around him. During the slide his car rotated 540'. He narrowly missed a concrete barrier. When he came to a halt, he was facing oncoming traffic. All the cars and all the objects had been missed and he was not harmed. Thank God for His mercy.

<><

Mark 1:16-39 ~ that is why I have come

Mark 1:16-39

16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"

25 "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" 26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"

38 Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Meeting Life's Demands by Ray Stedman

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed (Mark 1:35).

After this full day—and what a full day it was, what a heavy ministry our Lord had that day with all the healing He did in the evening!—Mark records that early in the morning, before it was daylight, Jesus went out on the mountainside, and there, by Himself, He prayed. But even there He was not safe. His disciples interrupted this communion, told Him that everyone was looking for Him. And Jesus reveals the heart and substance of His prayer in what He says in reply: "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also." This is what He was praying about—that God would lead Him, doors would be opened, and hearts prepared in the cities to which He would go next.

Why did Jesus seek the Father's face like this, in these hours of pressure? The only answer we can come to is that He wants to make clear that the authority He had was not coming from Him. This is what our Lord is trying to get across to us so continually in the Scriptures—that it was not His authority by which He acted; He had to receive it from the Father.

I do not know any more confusing doctrine in Christendom today—one that has robbed the Scriptures of their authority and power in the minds and hearts of countless people—than the idea that Jesus acted by virtue of the fact that He was the Son of God, that the authority and power He demonstrated were due to His own deity. Yet He Himself takes great pains to tell us this is not the case. "The Son can do nothing by himself" (John 5:19). Why do we ignore His explanation and insist that it is He, acting as the Son of God? He tells us that "it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work"(John 14:10). And all the power that Jesus manifested had to come to Him constantly from the one who dwelt within Him.

Jesus stresses this because this is what He wants us to learn. We are to operate on the same basis. Our response to the normal, ordinary demands of life and the power to cope with those demands must come from our reliance upon Him at work within us. This is the secret: All power to live the Christian life comes not from us, doing our dead-level best to serve God, but from Him, granted to us moment by moment as the demand is made upon us. Power is given to those who follow, who obey. The Father is at work in the Son; the Son is at work in us. As we learn this, then we are given power to meet the demands and the needs that are waiting for us in the ministry yet to come.

Thank You, Father, that the same power is available to me today, making me ready so be your instrument in any and every situation in which demand is laid upon me.

<><

Mark 12:18-27 ~ knowing the Scriptures, knowing the power of God

The photo is unique. It's taken from the The Shroud of Turin topigraphical mapping. A regular photograph can't be mapped, but the unique shading of the Shroud adds a new dimension a regular photo does not have. The Shroud of Turin also contains radioactivity not explainable. It's worth remembering, the early art of Jesus - owned by the Vatican - before the 4th century, all show Jesus to have a face that is very similar to this, long and narrow.

Mark 12:18-27

18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"

24 Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' ? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"

The subject came up about answered prayer. Some people call it Name it and Claim it. Reminds you of what was said about Abraham. "He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness." Abraham didn't always want what God wanted. There's a chapter when Abraham laughs at the notion God is still going to provide him a son with Sarah and he tries to persuade God to bless Ishmael instead. God, amazingly, did His own thing and provided. God tends to do that.

God is pleased, even today, with Abraham's faith. Abraham did not claim the victory of God's promise to have collected God's promised blessing.

Lets see if people in the Bible used Name it and Claim it as a key to answered prayer:

In Acts 3, the man at the gate asking for alms was healed, and told to rise up and walk. He didn't even ask for healing, but he expected people going into the temple to help him. He was asking in his soul and the Spirit heard and was willing. Didn't even ask.

In Luke 12, God says consider the lilies of the feild, because He provides. The chapter goes on to say it gives God great pleasure to provide. God gives with great pleasure.

The Greek woman, born in Syrian Phoenicia, was asking Jesus to heal her daughter, in Mark 7. Jesus wasn't interested until the woman asked for scraps from the table of God. Jesus is touched by her willingness to accept her unworthiness and to ask God, and Jesus heals her daughter.

Later in Mark 7, Jesus takes the man who is deaf and mute and performs a miracle for him privately; and in a way the man understands before his hearing is restored. It isn't a miracle for display, but a communication between just a man and his God. God's glory was for one individual and carried out in private. That's how much one man means to God.

The lady with the flow of blood reached out and deliberately touched the fringe of Jesus' garment. That is Name it and Claim it. The mercy of Jesus. Paul was wise and he knew he'd asked God 3 times to remove the thorn from his flesh, but Paul recognized it was time to rest in God's hands with that prayer. But consider the story of Jacob. Name it and Claim it? Founding starter - Jacob - wrestling with God - received permanent pain in his... hip. If we weren't discussing the maker, creator and King of all, I'd think God might have been reaching for his backside and missed.

Just as only one is judged to be good, only one prayer can be considered to be perfect. It is Jesus. Let Your Will be done, Father.

<><

1 Corinthians 13 ~ face to face

1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love!

Today, we had a discussion about Christian Fiction Books. I've read about 6 years of Christian Fiction Books, at book club, and I found them, at first, a little alarming. Wow, what better Christians and more saintly than I. Then interesting, wow, I thought I can learn. Then I decided, comfortably, it was dull. Okay, some I've remembered and treasured.

I read about a child who was learning about the Bible and was reading Genesis. She was asked by her priest what she thought. She said they seem to be a lot of friends and she liked that part. Friends, the priest asked? Yes, she explained, everyone 'knew' everyone else.

This ties together the point I'm trying to make. The Bible isn't Pollyana - sweetness, it's about real difficulties, real selfishness, real sin, inadvertant sin and incredible love and forgiveness. The Scriptures are about the power of love being squashed down " by trouble, persecution, the cares, the pleasures, the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things."

One of the greatest love stories in my life is my paternal grandmother. This isn't a Hallmark card or movie. One of my favorite movies has a scene, the main character goes back 20 years to high school, the most meaningful scene, she goes to see her living grandparents. Tears me up, tears me up. What a priviledge.

My grandmother has 4 great-grandchildren. 3 are named after her. My husband loves to recall my Mississippi Grandmother and her beautiful, gentle voice and aristocratic talk and ways. Such a gentle woman, believing life should be accomplished with a lot of Christian ethics. Her penmanship going back to being educated in small town, where penmanship was important. Having wonderful supportive, loving parents. Her love for her house - being one of the few not burned down "in the War of Northern Aggression." The Waaaaaarrrr of Noooorthrn Aggggresssionnnn, say it with me, there is no twang in this.

Grandmother was born in the Mississippi Delta, in the era of Eudora Weldy, and she never belonged to or joined the popular racist club. She adored Veelma, her maid, for over 30 years. Grandmother's old antebellum house looked a lot like Miss Haversham's, minus the wedding cake.

Her perfect childhood, her grandmothers she loved - living with her parents, her father's affluence, her loved remembered, discussed childhood home, her brothers she loved, her sister who annoyed her, her father saving from her from her mother's wrath when she ruined the car bumper and Pop secretly paid for the $16 ruined bumper. Falling in love with her brother's roomate from College; meeting the most handsome man in the world and marrying the man you can't live without. He was from a family with another fine house. He writes his aunt Hattie to say he is giving up alcohol to marry her.

Alcoholism can take many years to sink you down. Alcoholism and alcoholic families have several courses; beat it, join it, enable it or leave it. Grandmother, being the gentle soul she was, joined it. We had a Thanksgiving one year, she became angered - this from the most dignified, gentle loving woman in the world - and took off her wig and threw it on the table & thundered about her new marriage (my grandfather had been dead for 15 years) to her new husband, an Episcopal priest. Robin Williams would say we were pretty Episcopalian.

So.

This being said. When the great Chapter of Love is read or said, I never forget my Grandmother. When I grow old, I want to be the example of love she was to us. She found in us, absolute delight. Every time we saw her, she made sure to say, "I love you and I am so proud of you." Sincerity rang out. Sometimes she did without, to make sure we had something she wanted to give us. Grandmother knew we were parented, so she didn't parent us; she asked us what we thought and she would honestly discuss it. Grandmother wanted to know what interested us and she never encouraged us to be lawyers or doctors. Grandmother was interested in friendships and boyfriends. Her message was to forgive unkindness and to always remember the people the people who have been kind and loving to you and never to push them down. My Grandmother paid for my college education when my father scorned it. Grandmother was always astonished I had a job and flew all over the country. We grinned about it a lot.

At our Rehearsal Dinner, my Grandmother began her blessing of my marriage by saying she was "as old as God". But really, Grandmother's love was a dress rehearsal for God's love.

<><

Repeat - due to toothache

Luke 3:1-17

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:"A voice of one calling in the desert,'Prepare the way for the Lord,make straight paths for him.5 Every valley shall be filled in,every mountain and hill made low.The crooked roads shall become straight,the rough ways smooth.6 And all mankind will see God's salvation.' "

7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

10 "What should we do then?" the crowd asked.11 John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."

12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"13 "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them.

14 Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?"He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely—be content with your pay."

15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. 16 John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

<><

Psalm 79:8-13 ~ let thy compassion come speedily to meet us

Psalm 79:8-13
8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of our forefathers; let thy compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. 9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for thy name's sake! 10 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of thy servants be known among the nations before our eyes!

11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before thee; according to thy great power preserve those doomed to die! 12 Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors the taunts with which they have taunted thee, O Lord! 13 Then we thy people, the flock of thy pasture, will give thanks to thee for ever; from generation to generation we will recount thy praise.

It was the worst day. Work had mess ups at the factory from the quotes, the art wasn't right. My son went to Michigan to see his girlfriend today for a week, he has a sprained ankle. My husband has a really hurt pulled shoulder to neck from digging a ditch at the church and then doing disc golf. My older son went to Ultimate Frisbee and severely sprained both shins, had to go out and buy more Ace bandages. My teeth started to kill me all over, like no other, and I read it is a sinus infection. The dog, Merit, has another bladder infection & I'm worried about my 10 year old dog. So he urinated all over Cal's room in front of us and couldn't stop. Cal's dog, Jackson, threw up on the living room rug. And I broke my brand spanking new steam cleaner. But Cal fixed it.

Life has so many issues and complications, we will rest our worries for today in Jesus' arms and look for Him to bear us up.

<><

Colossians 3:12-17 ~ as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive

Colossians 3:12-17 (New Revised Standard Version)

As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Have you had to forgive someone for causing the death of someone you love? We, as a family, forgave a nursing home caregiver for throwing open a steel exit door in anger, not knowing Grandmother was on the other side of the door and breaking our mother/grandmother’s shoulder. Grandmother died from the injury, she was 93. Grandmother had an amazing passing, full of the peace, going home with her beloved FatherGod. She was 93 and death is not unexpected. The caregiver wept and wept, meeting with us twice, to be forgiven. It wasn’t difficult to forgive an act of carelessness; without malice to Grandmother, the caregiver had really enjoyed Grandmother and was her friend. She wept harder hearing Grandmother forgave her and wasn’t angry. Grandmother dreamed many times of being reunited with family and her husband, gone for 50 years, Grandmother didn’t spend a minute being angry.

My father’s passing was a different matter. It’s complicated. His second wife knew a downward spiral was occuring and was, perhaps, tired of her marriage. The funeral photos looked like a christening or wedding photo, with the faces filled with joy of the step family. As I questioned family members, it became apparent with more help, his death might have been avoided. My grief turned into the most amazing rage. I never knew these violent emotions even could exist. No apology would ever come from the woman who now hailed my father, after his death, as the love of her life. She married again, for the 3rd time, within months of his death.

Years before my dad died, I had attended a Bible study on forgiveness. The Bible doesn’t record the sons of Israel asking forgiveness for telling Israel Joseph had died from being mauled and actually selling him into slavery. Israel grieved for his son for many, many years. Forgiveness needs to occur even when an apology is not ever going to arrive. As Israel died, after discovering the needless years of suffering and the deception of his sons, he blessed his sons, giving each the blessing appropriate to them. Israel died at peace and filled with hope. He wasn’t unrealistic in his forgiveness, but peace filled him.

I have found a willingness to forgive is the first step in forgiveness. Time helps to allow forgiveness to grow. I asked God in the name of Jesus to allow my rage not to conquer me. I pictured living water flowing over me as I prayed. I asked for forgiveness when my forgiveness didn’t grow and placed my heart in God’s hands. The pictured living water of God was my best defense. Today, I able to understand my dad’s responsibility and regret my dad’s wife’s choices. I am at peace. I have forgiven. Because the Lord helped me, and with His grace, I know I am forgiven. Thank God.



<><

Exodus 16:1-15 ~ it is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat

Monet, Train Station.

Exodus 16:1-15 (Revised Standard Version)

[1]
They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.
[2] And the whole congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,
[3] and said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

[4]
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
[5] On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily."
[6] So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, "At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
[7] and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your murmurings against the LORD. For what are we, that you murmur against us?"
[8] And Moses said, "When the LORD gives you in the evening flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your murmurings which you murmur against him -- what are we? Your murmurings are not against us but against the LORD."

[9]
And Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, `Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your murmurings.'"
[10] And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
[11] And the LORD said to Moses,
[12] "I have heard the murmurings of the people of Israel; say to them, `At twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'"

[13]
In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning dew lay round about the camp.
[14] And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as hoarfrost on the ground.
[15] When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.

Rick Warren gave an interesting interview after “The Purpose Driven Life” became a best seller. When we come to the celebration part of our lives & when we have trouble, we can choose if we are grateful for the daily blessings or we can dissolve into worry. In prayer with Father God, we can choose to have hope.

Interview with Rick Warren , author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California . In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

“People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal my wife or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72. First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better ...God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD "

<><

Jeremiah 12 ~ desolate, and no one even cares

Jeremiah 12 (New Living Translation)

1 Lord, you always give me justice
when I bring a case before you.
So let me bring you this complaint:
Why are the wicked so prosperous?
Why are evil people so happy?
2 You have planted them,and they have
taken root and prospered. Your name is on their lips,
but you are far from their hearts.
3 But as for me, Lord, you know my heart.
You see me and test my thoughts.

Drag these people away like sheep to be butchered!
Set them aside to be slaughtered!
4 How long must this land mourn?
Even the grass in the fields has withered.
The wild animals and birds have disappeared
because of the evil in the land. For the people have said,
“The Lord doesn’t see what’s ahead for us!”

5 “If racing against mere men makes you tired,
how will you race against horses?
If you stumble and fall on open ground,
what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?
6 Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak.
7 “I have abandoned my people, my special possession.
I have surrendered my dearest ones to their enemies.
8 My chosen people have roared at me like a lion of the forest,
so I have treated them with contempt. 9
My chosen people act like speckled vultures,
but they themselves are surrounded by vultures.
Bring on the wild animals to pick their corpses clean!

10 “Many rulers have ravaged my vineyard,
trampling down the vines
and turning all its beauty into a barren wilderness.
11 They have made it an empty wasteland;
I hear its mournful cry. The whole land is desolate,
and no one even cares. 12 On all the bare hilltops,
destroying armies can be seen.
The sword of the Lord devours people
from one end of the nation to the other.
No one will escape! 13 My people have planted wheat
but are harvesting thorns.
They have worn themselves out,
but it has done them no good.
They will harvest a crop of shame
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

14 Now this is what the Lord says: “I will uproot from their land all the evil nations reaching out for the possession I gave my people Israel. And I will uproot Judah from among them. 15 But afterward I will return and have compassion on all of them. I will bring them home to their own lands again, each nation to its own possession. 16 And if these nations truly learn the ways of my people, and if they learn to swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’ (just as they taught my people to swear by the name of Baal), then they will be given a place among my people. 17 But any nation who refuses to obey me will be uprooted and destroyed. I, the Lord, have spoken!”


Jeremiah warned and warned because he could hear the Lord, the Lord had sent His word about Jeremiah’s generation.

We have a different blessing; we can act as the Lord’s light.When we see injustice, we don’t have to live with it, we can act against it, speak out for change. Jeremiah spends the first verses asking God for justice against evil. If we translate that to our day… our time … God is saying if he is going to make sweeping changes and then everyone will participate in the trauma.

In Texas, there is a saying, “if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute and it will change.” A lot of places have this particular saying. This chapter of Jeremiah could be telling us - we don’t have the judgement of God spoken to our generation in particular - “Go ahead and complain. Go ahead and whine without becoming part of the solution, see what happens.” Ever seen the God billboards? One of my favorites is the black background and white letters saying, “Don’t make me come down there! --- God”

Abraham “trusted in God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” But Abraham spoke up to the Lord God Almighty to save his nephew. In that amount of power, it would have been far and away more comfortable to remain silent.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a minister, put time and effort into opposing the evil of Hitler’s regime from the beginning of Hitler’s rise to power. He, alone as a man of God, is recorded as speaking up from the pulpit to seek to end the slaughter of the Jews.

“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

If you see something you don't agree with in society, don't become part of the problem, speak out. If you don't like media that is not godly, don't participate. Just don't do as everyone else does because it is acceptable. Let your light shine and God will help you.

<><

Exodus 14:21-15:6 ~ the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians

Exodus 14:21 – 15:6 (Oremus Bible Study)

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. 22 The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. 24 At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. 25 He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, ‘Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.’ 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. 29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
‘I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my might,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
4 ‘Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea;
his picked officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power—
your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.

~ the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians

The Lord saved the children of Israel, not armies, not Pharaoh, not Moses. The Lord fufilled his word to Moses, the children of Israel would celebrate freedom on the Mountain of the Lord.

Psalm 33:
10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth-
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.

<><

Jeremiah 10 ~ nor be dismayed at the signs of heavens because the nations are dismayed at them

Jeremiah 10 (Revised Standard Version)

[1]
Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.

[2] Thus says the LORD: "Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them,

[3] for the customs of the peoples are false. A tree from the forest is cut down,and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

[4] Men deck it with silver and gold;they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.[5] Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,and they cannot speak; they have to be carried,for they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil,neither is it in them to do good."

[6] There is none like thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.

[7] Who would not fear thee, O King of the nations?For this is thy due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like thee.

[8] They are both stupid and foolish;the instruction of idols is but wood!

[9] Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple; they are all the work of skilled men.[10] But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King.At his wrath the earth quakes,and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

[11]
Thus shall you say to them: "The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens."
[12] It is he who made the earth by his power,who established the world by his wisdom,and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

[13] When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain,and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

[14] Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols; for his images are false,and there is no breath in them.

[15] They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.[16] Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,for he is the one who formed all things,and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the LORD of hosts is his name.

[17] Gather up your bundle from the ground,O you who dwell under siege!

[18] For thus says the LORD:"Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time,and I will bring distress on them,that they may feel it."

[19] Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous. But I said, "Truly this is an affliction,and I must bear it."

[20] My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken; my children have gone from me,and they are not; there is no one to spread my tent again, and to set up my curtains.

[21] For the shepherds are stupid, and do not inquire of the LORD; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.

[22] Hark, a rumor! Behold, it comes! --a great commotion out of the north country to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.

[23] I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

[24] Correct me, O LORD, but in just measure; not in thy anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.[25] Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not, and upon the peoples that call not on thy name;for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him,and have laid waste his habitation.

~nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
because the nations are dismayed at them

The Teton Mountain photo indicates a storm is coming, not the apocalypse many newspapers shout about. When is it time for the Father to end this world, it will be time.

My husband was reading to me what the normal times & expectations were in 1908 in the United States: average life expectancy – 47 years. The typical wage was $0.22, the total amount of paved roads in the U.S -144 miles, average house cost $1,800. After the First World War, people began to buy clothes already made for the first time. Major fortunes changed & education increased overall. A major flu epidemic. Then a major Depression. Something pondered in great detail today.

When the details of last century’s Great Depression are poured over and examined, don’t we all have grandparents and parents who not only survived the depression, but ‘lived’ through it? I’ve heard history, not only of Survival, but of Compassion. Gratitude. Change. Prosperity.

One thing is certain in life: God loves you.

Psalm 90
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.

Psalm 138:
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes,
with your right hand you save me.

8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.

<><

Exodus 3:1-12 ~ the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire

Exodus 3:1-12 (English Standard Version)

1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." 4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 6 And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7 Then the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." 11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" 12 He said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."

~ the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire

People react differently to the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus recognized the awe, amazement and worship from the followers who understood, He said:

Matthew 13:16
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.

Moses recognized how large the challenge and how small he was. Isaiah saw it differently:

Isaiah 6:5
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

And Isaiah 6:8
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

No matter what the reaction, the Lord’s plan is put into place. The bush is fragile, but the fire does not consume it.

Father God uses fire in the New Testament as well:

Acts 2:1-4
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit

Just as Moses could not believe because of the enormity of the accomplishment, or like the analogy of the burning fragile bush, he wondered for his own safety. Jesus provides for the fragile.

John 20:29
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Acts 13:36-42
"For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:

" 'Look, you scoffers,

wonder and perish,

for I am going to do something in your days

that you would never believe,

even if someone told you.

<><

Exodus 1:8-21 ~ king of Egypt called for the midwives. He asked them, "Why have you done this?"

The site of Pithom, as identified by Naville, is to the east of Wadi Tumilat, south-west of Ismaïlia. Here was formerly a group of granite statues representing Ramesses II, two inscriptions naming Pr-Itm (the city in the reading today Pithom and Rameses), storehouses and bricks made without straw. Further excavation revealed, Tell el-Maskhuta dates only to the end of the 7th B.C. century, and may have been built by Pharaoh Necho II, possibly.

Exodus 1:8-21 (God’s Word Translation)

8 Then a new king, who knew nothing about Joseph, began to rule in Egypt. 9 He said to his people, "There are too many Israelites, and they are stronger than we are. 10 We have to outsmart them, or they'll increase in number. Then, if war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country." 11 So the Egyptians put slave drivers in charge of them in order to oppress them through forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more the Israelites were oppressed, the more they increased in number and spread out. The Egyptians couldn't stand them any longer. 13 So they forced the Israelites to work hard as slaves. 14 They made their lives bitter with back-breaking work in mortar and bricks and every kind of work in the fields. All the jobs the Egyptians gave them were brutally hard.

15 Then the king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth, look at the child when you deliver it. If it's a boy, kill it, but if it's a girl, let it live." 17 However, the midwives feared God and didn't obey the king of Egypt's orders. They let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. He asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?" 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are so healthy that they have their babies before a midwife arrives." 20 God was good to the midwives. So the people increased in number and became very strong. 21 Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

~ 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. He asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"

We looked at Acts 16, the newly forming church Paul and his followers encounter two different Spirits.

Galatians 5:25
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

In this one verse of Exodus, we see two Spirits. A world leader, blessed with all the world has to offer, is reduced to namelessness in the Bible, because he lives in a spirit of fear. Fearful his worldly blessings will cease, he opts for murder of the innocent and helpless. Shiphrah and Puah survive their encounter with Pharoah, because their actions say they live in a Spirit of Hope.

Otto Frank (who survived the Holocaust, while his family and daughter, Anne Frank, did not) rejoices with Miep and Jan Gies’ in their baby son Paul in 1951. Miep and Jan Gies hid the Frank family and fed them during the Holocaust.


<><

Acts 16:1-21 ~ the believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy

Acts 16:1-21 (Today's New International Version)

1 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Paul's Vision of the Man of Macedonia 6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.

16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.

19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."

Two separate spirits are spoken of in Acts 16. The Spirit of Jesus didn't let Paul and his companions enter Bythnia, where they were headed, where they were trying to go with the best intensions. The Spirit of Jesus didn't let them go forward to preach the Good News. Then Paul stopped another spirit proclaiming Paul and the others as bringing the way to salvation from the Most High God. It seems to contradict, doesn't it? The Spirit of Jesus stopped them from spreading the Good News in Bythnia and then they stopped a spirit proclaiming in Macedonia.

Father God's wisdom is greater than our own. Jesus knew they were needed in Macedonia and He redirected them. Paul became annoyed by the constant shouting, the repeating banter of the spirit. It wasn't helpful, just causing chaos instead of order.

That's opposite what Paul learned about Timothy from the believers, Paul didn't hear proclamation's repeated over and over, he learned more about Timothy.

Galatians 5:19-25

19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 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.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

<><