Ok, so it isn't just MY anniversary.  It is also my husband's anniversary, or it was on Tuesday, June 29.  We've been married for a long time so we're told.  I don't know where the time went. We have been married 31 years. We have 2 sons, 2 daughters -in-law and 1 grandson.  We have lived in the same house for about 4 months shy of 27 years.  I live 2 blocks from where I grew up. One might think I'm not big on changing things. That isn't exactly true.  I believe in changing things that need to or should be changed. I believed that children should go off to college, and later that they should move out on their own when it was time - those were changes.  Changing ones taste in music, food, clothing is always a growing change. Several years ago, the place where I worked needed to a "step change" meaning that they needed to change things radically enough that there would be a BIG, evident change, a change our customers would recognize. I was part ...

Courtesy of Deanna Etienne.  Used by permission. Relationships should make us better than we would be on our own. I have analyzed this statement through the eyes of many relationships, those of couples, friends, co-workers, etc. I believe it stands up to scrutiny. When we start to date, when we start a job, when we meet new people or join a new group, we should expect to be changed by it. We each change over time. Some of those changes are a direct result of our relationships. They call it peer pressure.  We often relegate that concept to teens or preteens but we all change to meet the expectations of those around us. Many times we are completely unaware of the changes we're making. If I am with people who use a lot of profanity, I am likely to use it more often than before. If I am with people who carry cell phones with them all the time, I am apt to carry a cell phone too. If I am with people who praise God openly, I am likely to praise God also. Peer pres...

I was looking at the clouds during the evening hours. Then through the clouds to the sky. There was a storm roll through the other day. The clouds then were just stunning (see the picture). A friend took nearly the same photo, of the same cloud, from her house. My husband commented while staring at the moon the other night, as clouds floated past, that Jesus looked at that same moon.  He wondered what Jesus wondered when he looked at the moon and the clouds. Or did He wonder? Since he was there when they were created, they might not hold any wonder and awe for Him. After all, He is FROM heaven. He lives WITH and is PART OF God. The other night I was thinking about the layers of clouds. Our vision is blocked by clouds and distance. We can't see the sun, only a glimpse of it. There are layers and layers between us and the sun, us and the heavens, us and God. I watched as the clouds rolled past, covering then uncovering the bright blue sky. I have flown, both long and short trips....

Psalm 4:3:  Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;        the LORD will hear when I call to him. There are at least two perspectives for this verse.  One is that I know that you are godly - so we both can take comfort in that.  The other is: I know you are NOT godly so I can take comfort (revenge) in that.  There are several places in the Bible where I am uncomfortable with the implications.  There are a lot of verses where the sentiment expressed is joy that someone else will "get his", or somehow suffer for the consequences of his actions.  Most of these as far as I can remember are in the Old Testament; so it occurs before Jesus comes to turn the world on its ear.  Jesus came to remove the idea of "an eye for an eye" ideology of the OT. When we read this in the Old Testament, we need to remember that it is in the OT and that Jesus came to say turn the other cheek when struck ( Matt 5 :39),...

I learned something this week.  Actually I learned several things but one is relevant for this blog. Do you know what worship means? This week at Bible Study, we got into a discussion about worship and how a lot of songs sung during Sunday Worship services are not "worship" songs. Well, after I got home, I got to thinking about this topic for a post to this blog.  This is what I learned. Worship as a verb means: "to render religious reverence and homage to" - "to feel an adoring reverence or regard for (any person or thing)." - "to attend services of divine worship." -" to feel an adoring reverence or regard." (From dictionary.com ) That is NOT what I thought worship was.  I have always used the words praise and worship almost interchangeably. Worship, in my mind, was the act of praise to be centered on the One being adored.  Well, as you can see, this is not the same thing. Wo...

There was a comment to one of the earlier posts that got me to thinking. The comment asked if Jesus existed before His birth and if there was a Holy Spirit before Pentecost.  I, kind of flippantly perhaps, responded with a couple of Bible verses to prove that Jesus and the Holy Spirit did exist prior to those named events. The Triune God is one of the hardest concepts for Christians to grasp and to explain and for others who are not of the faith to understand.  I don't know if Jews believe in the Holy Spirit or if they believe that the Holy Spirit is part of God. I do know that Jews do not believe Jesus is part of God (except for Messianic Jews).  After all, that was one of the blasphemes that prompted the Jews of the day to have Jesus crucified. This is what I think on the subject, at least the parts I can articulate. God was, is and always will be. (See Exodus 3:14 where God tells Moses His name and Revelation 1:8 .) This means that He existed before anything else...

Isaiah 5:24b .... so their roots will decay.....for they have rejected .... the Lord Almighty. When we reject God, or The Word, our roots will decay. What do roots do?  They provide nourishment, both nutrients and water. Roots also supply a good strong foundation. Without a good root system, a plant will soon die. A short drought comes along and the plant can't take it.  A strong wind blows and the plant is pulled from the ground. The same is true of people.  When our root systems fail to nourish us, we lose focus.  We are easily led astray. We lose health because we are not getting the nutrients and water we need.  We also risk being blown over at the first sign of a strong wind. When we reject God, we are damaging our very core. We lose our foundation that keeps us sustained, grounded, fed.  Depending on God is the very essence of what we need to survive in this life, and the ONLY way to survive in the next. We have only one logical choice.......excep...

2 Chronicles 26:16a : But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God,... Someone once made the comment to me that he believed that all sin originates in pride. I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and believe it to be very nearly true. I actually haven't thought of anything that didn't have an origin in pride if you look deep enough. For example, if you choose not to try something, you might be fearful of failure. Fear of failure is really fear of damaging your pride, isn't it?  Not taking a risk might be due to a fear of failure - which is back to pride. see link for video I've seen people on street corners, holding up worn Bibles, quoting verses from it, looking rather worn themselves. I used to think how embarrassing for them. Somehow in their spiritual journey, they have abandoned their pride for the sake of scripture, for the sake of The Word, Jesus who is the Word - See John 1 :1-2 "In t...

For I know how many are your offenses and how great are your sins. ( Amos 5:12 ) How dreadful.  God is fully aware of all our offenses.  He knows how many and when and what they are.  He also knows how great they are.  We do not know the extent of our sins.  We don't know enough t understand what is offensive and sinful but God does. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)   Thank God he is gracious and merciful.  Despite knowing all our offenses and the greatness of our sins, it is his good pleasure to give us the kingdom.  What will we do today in appreciation for that?  It is a love that demands a response.  Do SOMETHING to say thank you to the Father. It is by our actions that we can reflect our true appreciation for his grace and mercy.  We sin and continue to sin.  Oftentimes we even know when we are doing it.  God knows this and even expects it.  ...

Hosea 5:4 : "Their deeds do not permit them        to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart;        they do not acknowledge the LORD. How awful!!!  Deeds ruling lives to the extent that we can't return to God. This doesn't imply that God won't let them return, but that they won't. I can't imagine being tied to my sins so completely that I couldn't return to God. It is possible to have such as sinful nature that you don't even recognize you're sinful. I know I was like that and probably continue to be. The more I know of God's nature, the more I know about how far I am from where He wants me to be. My actions, thoughts, and words do not betray God's nature, but rather who I am, a sinful, sin-filled person. I pray for forgiveness then learn more about what I need to ask forgiveness for.  The spirit of prostitution visits in my heart sometimes.  I put other things in front of God....

Ephesians 2:10 " For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." I am not an artist. I don't "create" things. I dabble at this blog but that is the extent of my creative endeavors. I can't imagine how I'd feel about real works of art.  I have heard of artists having places in their hearts for the pieces they create.  I have seen price tags on pieces of art that blow my mind. I have thought, "boy, they are proud of THAT piece."  So obviously I do not have an idea how one feels about their creation.  This is a point lost on me.   This is similar to ours. The point that I do get though is that God created me. I am not a result of some scientifically or medically explained event. That fascinates me. I am intrigued by what an artist or craftsman creates. I see a desk and understand its purpose.  But I don't understand the point of many other craft pieces. We bo...

I just love finding Jesus in the Old Testament.  He's there from the beginning ( Genesis 1 :26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." ) and interspersed throughout the rest of the Old Testament. Today, I found Him in Hosea 6 .  Hosea 6:2 says   After two days he will revive us;        on the third day he will restore us,        that we may live in his presence. When the Lord gave these words to Hosea, I doubt that he had any idea what he was saying.  He was only doing as he was told, repeating the words that the Lord told him to say. But as we read it, we can see Jesus.  "On the third day" is when Jesus was raised and offered us forgiveness and salvation. That's when we were revived.  That is when we were restored.  That is when we were offered the opportunity to live in his presence. I have a study Bible that says that Hosea became a prophet in 753 BC. He...

1 Corinthians 15:51b: "but we shall all be changed," The Bible is very clear about this.  We will all be changed.  Actually, everything, except for God, changes.   The climate changes.  The weather changes. The dress styles change. The tools we use change. Just look at the picture! The food we like changes over time. The people we want to be with or be like change as we change.  Our children grow up.  Our parents grow old.  Then we grow old. That is just the way it is. Change is all around us.  We can be afraid of it, or we can embrace it and say "Thank You, God. You are changing me." I for one know that I need changing.  I am selfish, rude, demanding, etc. Of course I'm not those things all the time, but enough that I need to be changed. Jesus was never any of that. Sure I'm not as bad as some people about some things. But I am no where close to THE example of Jesus. So...... Thank you dear Jesus for the example You set. Please Ho...

  2 Kings 13:20-21 Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. Isn't that funny!!?? Well, I guess it wouldn't have been if you were there or later saw the dead man walking around but I think it's funny! The Bible is full of these little stories, nuggets of more-or-less inconsequential things that maybe don't mean a thing to us today. Much of the Bible, at least the Old Testament, is oral tradition that was eventually written down.  I guess in the storytelling period, they had to spice it up a little to keep everyone's attention. Imagine sitting around the fire, listening to the storyteller telling the same story you'd heard dozens of times before.   Except this time, he throws in...

Luke 12:2 (NIV) There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. Luke 12:2 (ESV) Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Today, in the period of so much scientific knowledge and so many archeological finds and technological breakthroughs, many people want to explain stories of the Bible.  They look for "reasonable" explanations of the events recorded there.  I saw a video several years ago where they'd set up a simulation of the parting of the Red Sea.  In the video, they determined that there was a logical scientific reason for the Red Sea to part for the Israelites to cross to get away from the Roman soldiers. I couldn't find that video but found an article about finding the location for Sodom and Gomorrah complete with sulfur pellets! While science looks for answers and "learned" people search for explanations to explain the Bible in an attempt to discredit it or...

Mark 11:22 And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God." This is one line in the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree and it withered.  He made this statement to the disciples.  This statement " Have faith in God " can be taken completely out of context. I wonder if this is a command.  I think it is.  Have faith in God. If we can obey this one command, all others will fall into place.  Have faith in God. If we have faith in God, we can obey the other commands much easier. Commands like love your neighbor as yourself. How much easier would all things be if we just had faith, complete faith, in God. Jesus told the disciples if they had faith the size of a mustard seed, that they could move a mountain into the sea.  Who wants to move the mountain into the sea?!  None of us. But if we have any faith, any complete faith in God, we can do anything.  Nothing is impossible. I think faith in God, though, includes allowing His will to be different from ...

There are a lot of unnamed people in the Bible.  Many of them are key to some aspect of the Bible story. For example, Genesis 4:17 says "Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch."  I'd say that the mother of all the descendants of half the population was a key person.  There is a servant girl in the story of Naaman. (See 2 Kings 5 )  In the New Testament, there is the person who supplied the colt that Jesus rode when entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and another who supplied the "upper room" for what came to be known as the Last Supper was also unnamed.  In one case I can easily think of, the person isn't even mentioned. Luke 2:7 - "and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Christmas programs all over the world portray the innkeeper as turning awa...

1 Timothy 6:6 (ESV) Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, Ah, to be content with what we have. I know that I miss today's joys when I wish for things to come, or wish I had this or that,  or wish I didn't have this, or hope for future events and plans. I know what joy I'm missing. But I never thought of missing out on gains in godliness.  Paul tells Timothy that there is gain in godliness when he is content. I wonder if some gain is made in patience as one sits in contentment - instead of fretting about the future.  I looked up godliness. My Bible dictionary says it is a spontaneous virtue that comes from the indwelling Christ.  So I'm wondering if the fruits of the spirit ( Galations 5:22-23 ) are parts of godliness. (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control)  If these are developing in me, perhaps I am gaining godliness.  And if I am gaining godliness, maybe I'm also gaining in contentment...

2 Chronicles 20:12a (NIV)  O our God, will you not judge them?  2 Chronicles 20:12a (ESV) O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? I looked up the word "judge".  In dictionary.com the definition includes the meaning from the Hebrew Old Testament, where judge means to govern or rule or law when used as a noun.  So if we use this meaning when reading the NIV version, it reads, "will you not govern or rule them?" Jehoshaphat asks God to govern or rule their enemies.  But I wonder if that is what he is asking.  That certainly isn't what I think of when I read it.  I have the impression that Jehoshaphat is asking God to eliminate his enemies or cause them to fail, not just govern them. I then looked up "judge" to see the places it was used in the Bible and other translations of the same original word. I used the Strong's Lexicon as I did in other blog posts. There are 116 original words that were sometimes translated into the word Judge....

I read a devotional today that someone sent me.  I don't know who wrote it.  Because I don't know anything about the origin, I can't add a link to it. This particular devotional writing was about a psalm that David had written.  The devotion made reference to David hiding in a cave. Qumran  - Dead Sea Scrolls Then I was reading the daily Bible reading about Elijah ...who was hiding in a cave.  So I got to thinking about caves. There are all kinds of caves. I looked up the word CAVE in the Enhanced Strong's Lexicon which is part of the Essential Bible Study Library that I have.  The Hebrew words that are sometimes translated cave are also sometimes translated as den, hole, and cavern.  Caves were used for hiding places and burial sites and as a place to live .  Joshua used it to hold five kings who were hiding there as prisoners.  In 1 Samuel 24:3 , Saul used it as a toilet.  Caves were also used to store things. The Dead Sea Sc...

James 3:16:  For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. I used this because it implies evil Have you noticed this to be true? I'll bet if you've thought about it or if you think about it now, you can attest to the truth of this. Jealousy is selfish and, of course, so is selfish ambition. How can there NOT be disorder if everyone is out for him/herself?  When others are looking out for themselves only, they will do or say anything - provided it benefits them. If it benefits others that's okay but that is not the goal. Jealousy feeds off of selfish ambition. Someone has what you want, but you only want it because they have it and you don't. Now think about the times where there was disorder and chaos. I'll bet you can find glimpses of jealousy and/or selfishness close by.  Disorder is defined as lack of order, confusion, irregularity, or disturbance. Jealousy can cause people to be confused o...