Zephaniah 1:12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps        and punish those who are complacent,        who are like wine left on its dregs,        who think, 'The LORD will do nothing,        either good or bad.'  From a freelance war reporter-see link How many people can you say are complacent?  How many of them say they follow Jesus?  That they believe in God?  I know plenty.  I can count myself in that number sometimes too.  Not that I think the Lord will do nothing but that .... well I guess I don't care if He does or not.  Boy, that sounds awful, doesn't it? I have to say that because there are situations that I don't pay attention to.  I don't pray about.  They don't affect me so I .....am complacent.  If called to act, if a friend asks for prayer or for action, I may be likely to respon...

Zephaniah 1:7 Be silent before the Sovereign LORD,        for the day of the LORD is near.        The LORD has prepared a sacrifice;        he has consecrated those he has invited. Why are we to be silent before the Sovereign Lord?  Is it because He already knows so we don't need to defend or explain ourselves? Perhaps it's because the more we explain, the worse we make it for ourselves.  We really don't have any decent excuses for anything we do.  But we ALWAYS seem to want to explain.  "I'm sorry I did that but...."  We often think that the excuse makes it okay regardless of the transgression. The sentence ends with " for the day of the Lord is near ".  Are we supposed to be silent so that we don't draw attention to ourselves?  Maybe God won't notice when he pours out his wrath? Then the next sentence is hopeful. "The Lord has prepared a sacrifice...." We...

Here are additional verses from Zephaniah that I want to explore.  I'll do that over the next few days.  I may post on them or not.  Depends on where my explorations take me. Zephaniah 1:7 Be silent before the Sovereign LORD,        for the day of the LORD is near.        The LORD has prepared a sacrifice;        he has consecrated those he has invited.  Zephaniah 1:12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps        and punish those who are complacent,        who are like wine left on its dregs,        who think, 'The LORD will do nothing,        either good or bad.'  Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,        you who do what he commands.        Seek righteou...

Have you read Zephaniah, the book of the Bible?  Zephaniah was a prophet. A tough job when the Israelites spent more time rebelling against God than listening to their prophets. It is a very short book, having only three chapters. Much is spent on warning about the coming "day of the Lord" when there will be destruction and God's wrath poured out. This is a hard thing for me to grasp. The God of the New Testament is so full of love that all the talk of wrath and destruction seems so out of character. I want to think about some of the passages and see if I can find hope and Jesus in this hard book. After introducing Zephaniah and his reason for speaking ( "1:1 The word of the Lord ...came to Zephaniah... ) it quickly gets into the heart of the matter. (Zeph 1:2-3): "I will sweep away everything        from the face of the earth,"        declares the LORD.  "I will sweep away both men and animals;   ...

I received an email forward today titled God versus Science. You can find it on Snopes.com or TruthorFiction.com if you are interested.  The email got me thinking.  At one point in time, eons ago, perhaps when science was new, scientists believed in God.  Scientists did not intend to disprove the existence of God.  Scientists used their theories and mathematical equations to prove the existence of God.  After all, creation is so complex, how could it not be governed by principles set up by a Creator?  Somehow over the course of time, perhaps because we have grown so smart, educated, and self-sufficient, many people use scientific theory as proof that God does NOT exist. For all those people who think that somehow all of this stuff (from whatever keeps the planets from bumping into each other to why crude oil breaks up in salt water to why my kids look like both mu husband and me) is random, I feel so sorry for you because you are missing out on such a r...

I think I need to let everyone know that my computer is acting up - badly.  I'm going to try to find someone to work on it the first week in August. But it may not make it that long. I'll try to get some posts ahead but....that is a lot of posts to get ahead.  So, don't be surprised if there are no posts for a week or two.  I'm also starting a job soon - August 9. After I'm trained it'll be part time. During training I'll probably be gone 10 hours per day for 5 days per week for 2 weeks or longer. But after I'm trained the job is only part time. Perhaps I'll be able to blog part time too. I'm thinking I'll post 5 days a week instead of 7. That will help me keep up. I do love to do this. But I also need to pay bills so... a job here I come.

Don't you wish you could be like Paul?  Well, my husband wouldn't.  His determination, perseverance, strength, go-to-it-iveness are all traits I wish I had more of. He is so forceful in his faith and trust in the Risen Savior. I read a verse in Colossians where Paul writes " To this end I [Paul] labor, struggling with all his [Christ's] energy, which so powerfully works in me." (Col 1:29) I actually never thought of it before. But now that I am, I wish I felt Christ's energy. I've never prayed for Christ's energy. I have prayed for strength, courage, and peace. I've prayed to not be lazy and for the want to do service or whatever is asked of me. But I've never prayed for energy, let alone Christ's energy.  I know I don't have it. I found this image on the Internet images of renewable energy. It leaves out the most obvious and faithful source of energy. Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, God. I also found several images saying "SAVIN...

The other day, we were sitting around discussing the little things that we really don't appreciate enough.  We are too busy to notice.  We take them for granted.  Whatever, we just aren't appreciative enough.  I don't have the group list we'd come up with but here are some of mine. We have this very large shower head, maybe 8 inches across. Feels like a gentle rain shower. Sometimes, I notice how wonderful it is and just stand there enjoying the warmth and the calming drops.  AHHH! Then there are the times when I drop a sharp pointy knife.......and it DOESN'T land on my foot. Thank you, God. Rainbows.I just get giddy over rainbows. See? I don't even have to have a pretty setting to go nuts. This photo was from a vacation, off a hotel balcony, with too much building in the way to enjoy the full rainbow but still, it's a rainbow!!! An unexpected laugh. A deep, side-hurting belly laugh. The kind that brings tears to your eyes. I saw a commerc...

A friend of mine went in for outpatient surgery for something minor. As it turned out, it was not minor. It was a tumor, cancerous - a recurrence of cancer. This is her 4th bout with cancer. She has had two different kinds, each two times over the course of about 30 years or so.  I didn't know her any of the other times. I'm glad to know her this time. You can order scarves here. I don't know anything about it. Her attitude is amazing. She says things like, "I can do this. I've done it before." and "I'm fortunate that I don't have small children to try to take care of while taking these treatments so I can concentrate on getting well." She is being proactive with losing her hair.  I guess she hasn't lost it with previous treatments but the side effects of this chemotherapy include likely hair loss.  She has ordered several scarves.  She says if she by chance doesn't need them, she'll give them to someone who does. She repeat...

By Deanna Etienne.  Used by permission Jeremiah 17:9 is a strange and chilling verse. It says:  The heart is deceitful above all things        and beyond cure.        Who can understand it? I say chilling because to me it means that we can't trust our hearts. Our feelings which is what I think is meant by "heart" can distract us. Our feelings get in the way of evaluation of things around us, and in us. They say that love is blind. I believe that's true and even necessary. I mean that when we love someone we can put on blinders so that the same thing that would make us crazy if someone else did it, doesn't when our loved one does it. This passage tells us though that we need to use more than our hearts to discern truth or we will be led astray. Our hearts are deceitful above all things . Following God involves more than just a feeling of peace and a feeling of gratitude.  We also have to be prepared to u...

I'm reading a book called " The Top 100 Miracles of the Bible " .  I haven't gotten very far, only to page 17 and miracle number 5. The first miracles noted in this book are about creation in Genesis .   I'm intrigued because I hadn't thought of each line of the creation story as a separate miracle. I hadn't even thought of each day separate from each other day in the narrative. If you reread the story, one verse at a time, you will see an interesting picture.  Before the first day, God created the heavens and the earth.  Picture this, the heavens and the earth.  I picture the stars and a dark sky. But the earth is more difficult. Genesis says the earth was formless and empty, dark, covered with water.  This was BEFORE the first day.  How do we comprehend that?  How can we grasp the meaning of before time. Then - sometime later, when it became the first day, God created light.  He didn't dispel the dark though. He separated darkness from...

I learned something this week that I wanted to share. I meet with some people regularly.  We discuss our prayer concerns, our activities and where we've failed God.  We have a script of sorts that we follow or try to follow.  We share moments of triumph and weakness, times when we met Christ and when we've missed an opportunity to do good.  We share insights when we learn something in our devotional readings or scripture.  We talk through things that are hard to understand or difficult to accept. One of the first lines of the script/format is: prayer, study, action.  We report how we've done in the last week on all of these areas.  This is where I've learned something new, or rather had my eyes opened to a new way of looking at things.  One person shared that her action was ......(without being specific)....letting someone do for her.  Now isn't that interesting? Every action requires an equal and opposite reaction. (I think that's some r...

Today's devotional ( Jesus Calling , page 207) begins "self-pity is a slimy, bottomless pit." Today's UpperRoom reading is about not being locked in....locked into despair, emotionally locked into hopelessness. I am not suffering from despair or hopelessness, or even self-pity, well maybe a little self-pity. I can't help but wonder why I'm not finding a job. I have several explanations that make sense to me, but that doesn't keep me from questioning myself. Do I need new skills?  Don't I have plenty?  If I need new skills, which ones do I need and how do I go about getting it? I'm already "over qualified" (whatever that means) and in this economy, for other positions I am not exactly qualified. There are other people who meet a job description exactly who are out of work. We are ok.  At this point, we don't NEED the income.  But we sure would like to have some spending money, planning money, extra money. So two of today's de...

Matthew 25:14-30 is the story of the talents. The master gave talents (money) to three servants to use while he was gone. They were to do something with it.  They could decide how to use it. Two of the three used it to increase the amount by the time the master returned. The third servant was scared and hid the talents he'd been given so there was no gain or loss. The master was mad, saying he'd wasted the talents because even putting it in the bank would have earned some money. The part of the story that I usually focus on is in verses 21 and again verse 23 where the first two servants are praised. "..... You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things....."  and verse 29a " For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. "  I've been a little scared of the part where now the servants are in charge of many things.....oh, the pressure! But then I noticed the second half of verse 29.   Verse ...

I wonder how we got to a place where we think it is all about us.  Even we Christians think that, though we don't exactly know or acknowledge that we do.  We think God forgives us because he loves us.  We think that He sent Jesus because He loves us.  It's not about us. Isaiah 43:25 (NLT) records that God says: “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again." God did not forgive us for us.  God did not send Jesus for us. God did not create all of this for us.  Not even the best of us.  God created us, forgives us, sent Jesus for HIS SAKE. 1 Samuel 12:22 : " For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own."   2 Samuel 7:20-22 : " What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Sovereign LORD. For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant....

Isaiah 40:12-14 (NIV)  12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,        or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?        Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,        or weighed the mountains on the scales        and the hills in a balance?   13 Who has understood the mind of the LORD,        or instructed him as his counselor?   14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,        and who taught him the right way?        Who was it that taught him knowledge        or showed him the path of understanding? The He or Him in the above verses refers to God.  This passage should put us in our places.  After all, who else is able to hold all the earth's waters in the PALM OF...

For the first time in weeks, we have rain.   It was cloudy all day yesterday but no rain fell. But during the night, rain fell.  I've heard that it rained hard part of the night.  I slept through it.  If it stormed, I was completely unaware. This morning, I took my dog for a walk.....in the rain.... When I started putting on my take-the-dog-for-a-walk-clothes it was not raining.  It was cloudy but it was cloudy all day yesterday and not a drop.  So I got ready. The dog, Winston, knows when I'm going to take him for a walk long before he sees his leash. He was excited. By the time I was done dressing and getting my walking stuff ready (dog treats, radio with earphones, cell phone) it started raining.....raining, not just a mist, but with drops....frequent, large drops of rain. I knew I'd be soaked by the time we got home.  The dog doesn't care if it is raining.  He just wants to go...anywhere.... anytime.... for any distance. There is so much we ...

I have a little pet-peeve .   There are times in the Bible where the writer changes the audience right in the middle of the passage.  Sometimes it drives me nuts. I have to go back to through the passage to find out who is speaking to whom, perhaps I missed something. But nope, they just switched who they were talking to. I haven't been able to figure out why the writer is talking to people, then almost mid sentence, starts talking directly to God.  I think I have a glimpse of an answer. To day o ne of my readings was Psalm 23.   It is one of those passages that I almost don't read, more like skim it. Today, I forced myself to read it slowly, searching for something new. I found it, or I got the something new.  A psalm of David.  1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his ...

Check yourself against this list to see how your fair: Romans 12:9-21 (NIV): Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the...

22 Kings 17:41 a (NIV) Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. Don't we all do this? We don't want to. It isn't our goal. But we all do it sometime or another. I have a friend who bought a new vehicle. Every day for what seemed like months and months, this friend washed this new vehicle. Every single day. At one point the friend made a comment about "having" to wash it. I said, "you don't have to wash it." The response was about it being a new vehicle.   To me, that is serving an idol. Now, I am not saying there is anything wrong with washing your car.  But it seems like the car owns the owner if it demands to be washed!  If you HAVE to wash it, you are not in charge. The car is. I think we look at the idols in the Old Testament and think of wooden carved pieces, or golden calves, and somehow become trapped into thinking those are the only things that are idols.  We think it is silly praying to an Asherah p...