His Promise

Imagine living on a livestock ship for over a year with no contact with the outside world. No radio, no TV, no electronics, no books or games. The ship is built for cargo; the length of 1 1/2 football fields and about half as wide, and it’s over 4 stories high. It has the same storage capacity of 500 semi-trailers, and has 3 decks full of different species of animals. Your job, with your 2 brothers and your dad, is to look after them all, feeding and cleaning …. and it’s all manual labor. Your mom and wife and sisters in law are in charge of the kitchen and living quarters – nothing fresh, because everything has been preserved. The eight of you are alone in the world, but you have the LORD to sustain you.
  “With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild, large and small—along with birds of every kind. Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.” – Genesis 7:14‭-‬16 NLT (http://bible.com/116/gen.7.14-16.NLT)

As much as I love animals – and my family – I’m not sure I could stand a whole year cooped up on a livestock boat with them. Especially not being able to go out on deck and see the sky, and not having my books or any contact with anyone else. Not knowing, really, what was going on outside the boat. Solid rain for almost a month and a half after the doors were closed and sealed, and at first, hearing people outside, many of whom were friends and acquaintances, screaming and crying and pounding on the doors to please let them in. Finally it got quiet, and for the rest of the year the only sounds from outside were the waves against the hull, and the whales when they would come alongside.

  “And the floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days.” – Genesis 7:24 NLT (http://bible.com/116/gen.7.24.NLT) 

The earth was completely covered by water, even the tallest mountains. Obviously, after 5 months of being completely underwater, every living thing that breathed on  the earth had drowned. If you think on it, and look at archeological finds throughout the centuries, it all makes sense. Why are there fossilized shells and fish found on mountaintops? How did the dinosaurs end up in piles?  Because the earth was completely covered in water for 5 months. It would be easy for God to do it again, and get rid of all of the corruption and evil in the world, except for His Promise:

  “Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.  And the LORD was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” – Genesis 8:20‭-‬22 NLT (http://bible.com/116/gen.8.20-22.NLT)

Aren’t you glad He promises not to again destroy all living things? He even gave us a sign to remember His covenant with us: “I have placed My rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of My covenant with you and with all the earth.” – Genesis 9:13 NLT (http://bible.com/116/gen.9.13.NLT)

Thankfully, we don’t have to go to an altar and make sacrifices of animals and birds like Noah and his sons did. In spite of God’s Mercy, humans continued to sin and made sacrifices to cover their sins. The earth recovered from the flood and became green and fertile again, the animals repopulated the earth with their offspring, and so did Noah and his sons. 

  “The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with their father were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the father of Canaan.) From these three sons of Noah came all the people who now populate the earth.” – Genesis 9:18‭-‬19 NLT (http://bible.com/116/gen.9.18-19.NLT)

  “These are the clans that descended from Noah’s sons, arranged by nation according to their lines of descent. All the nations of the earth descended from these clans after the great flood.” – 

Genesis 10:32 NLT (

http://bible.com/116/gen.10.32.NLT)

See? ONE race for all mankind. If you will continue to read Genesis 10-11, the reason for our different languages and cultures will be explained.

But to God’s Ultimate Promise. 

  “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought Light to everyone. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 

  So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His Glory, the Glory of the Father’s One and Only Son. For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing Love and Faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the Unique One, who is Himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us. I didn’t know [Jesus] was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, He told me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that He is the Chosen One of God. ” 

  Then [Jesus] said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the One who is the stairway between heaven and earth. ” – John 1:1‭-‬5‭, ‬14‭, ‬17‭-‬18‭, ‬33‭-‬34‭, ‬51 NLT (http://bible.com/116/jhn.1.1-51.NLT)

The Word is Jesus, and Jesus is God’s ultimate Promise to us. Because of Him, we no longer need a priest as an intermediary between God and ourselves, and no more animals need to be sacrificed. Jesus is our Intermediary and our Advocate, and He was the sacrifice to end sacrifices. Can I get an Amen for that??

Have you called on Him today?


Heroes and Warriors

​  “In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.” – Genesis 6:4 NLT (http://bible.com/116/gen.6.4.NLT)

Nephilites. Some translations simply say “sons of God,” but all of them say that from these unions between the sons of God, or Nephilites, and women (who are also called daughters of man) came the giants and heroes and famous warriors. The Greek and Roman gods and myths and fables we have came from these unions and their descendents. 

How would Moses, who wrote and compiled the book of Genesis and the next 4 books of the Bible, know all of this? Obviously, part of it was written from first hand knowledge because he lived it. The earlier history was both written and passed down verbally, so it was just a matter of him putting it on paper… or papyrus, or clay… The final verses dealing with Moses’ death were probably added by Joshua, who arguably knew Moses better than anyone except perhaps Moses’ wife.

I’ve been researching the terms “Nephilites” and “sons of God” for a couple of days, and there is a lot of controversy and disagreement over who they really were. Some scholars say that they are angels, and fallen angels, while other scholars maintain that they were aliens or giant apes. Among the theories and explanations, the one I can hold on to and has the best historical support, is that the Nephilites or Nephilim were the progeny of fallen angels and human women. Look at the myths of the the gods. They all contain stories of gods and humans interacting and procreating, and of their offspring eventually being wiped out from the earth. I believe that fallen angels still visit us and their goal is to deceive us and lead us away from God. Everything described in the Bible is being backed by scientists and archeologists, sometimes when they are trying to prove it’s wrong! 

The Nephilim were real. The so-called gods of the ancient earth and the violence that surrounded them; the heroes and warriors of legend that are described in cultures around the world, were real. Perhaps their tales are exaggerated, but they are the same stories told in the Bible. The story of the flood is real, and it is also repeated (although distorted a bit) in every culture. The Bible is real, and the best record of the earth and our history as a human race that exists. There are many supplemental historical texts that aren’t inspired by God but are still valid historic texts, and they parallel the Bible account. 

What difference does it make, anyway, who or what the Nephilim were? What does it have to do with us? The actions of the Nephilites and the consequences of those actions bring us to Noah. 

  “This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. Noah was the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!” – Genesis 6:9‭-‬13 NLT (http://bible.com/116/gen.6.9-13.NLT)

The human race was about to be completely destroyed and wiped out, along with every creature and plant. God was preparing a clean slate – that’s how evil and disgusting the earth had become. God’s beautiful creation had been destroyed through human willfulness and the blatant sins of angels and men. Without Noah and his righteousness, we wouldn’t be here. I believe the earth is being prepared for another cleansing; the ultimate “ethnic” cleansing. Look, really look, at the earth and it’s inhabitants today. “… the earth ha[s] become corrupt and [i]s filled with violence…. everyone on earth  [i]s corrupt.” (verses 11a,‬12b) 

Are we any better than the people of Noah’s time? I know we aren’t. I don’t know if God could find even one truly righteous person today. There are are lots of good people, and many godly people – and many more self-righteous people, but a man that God would hold us as righteous in HIS eyes?  The one outstanding difference and our saving grace is Jesus. Jesus won’t stand in the way of the cleansing; in fact, He will be (He is) leading the angel army as they clean up the earth. Even as we speak, God has started reconfiguring the earth and preparing it  as the Apostle John describes in his book of Revelations.

  “But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” – Revelation 9:20‭-‬21 NLT (http://bible.com/116/rev.9.20-21.NLT)

These are the verses that frighten me. From Genesis to Revelations, we – the human race as a whole, including Nephilites and all, have refused to acknowledge God’s Sovereignty. Satan wants us to think that we are as good as God, and as smart as God, and as immortal as God. These are all lies from the enemy. He used a serpent to coerce Eve. He used fallen angels to deceive and bring down humanity in Noah’s time. He caused the tower of Babel to built, causing mankind to be divided by language, and he caused Sodom and Gomorrah to be destroyed through his evil and ungodly influence. In history, he has used distortion of God’s Word to help instigate the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition. Even today, he works through men in the pulpit to distort and deceive to promote racism and favoritism and false doctrines. 

How much longer do you think God will tolerate this evil? I don’t know the answer to how long He will let us go on as we are, but I do know this:

Ouch – God hit me again

​  “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” – Luke 16:10 NLT (http://bible.com/116/luk.16.10.NLT)

No, He didn’t physically hit me, although I am convinced that He has handed out corporal punishment in the past. NOT by way of abuse, because God does not abuse or do evil.

 I believe He does punish us in physical ways when we disobey Him (that also includes disobeying parents 😉). Did you ever break a bone or hurt yourself while doing something you knew you weren’t supposed to? Yep, me, too. Wrecked or been involved in a wreck; gotten a ticket, were involved in a fight? How about detention, stood in the corner, or put in a time out? Gone to the principals office for ‘licks’? Thankfully I was never spanked by the principal, but I did make the walk of shame to his office and couple of times…. Shudder! 

Imagine what it will be like, standing before God’s Great White Throne, and having all of the wrong things you’ve done throughout your lifetime read out in front of the God of the Universe and all of His heavenly hosts. THAT idea makes me shudder!! I have broken all of God’s commandments. Before you throw out judgment, think on these words from Jesus: 

  “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’  But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell!” – Matthew 5:21‭-‬22 NLT (http://bible.com/116/mat.5.21-22.NLT)

And in Proverbs 23:7 KJV – 

  “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he….” (

http://bible.com/1/pro.23.7.KJV)

So, by this, I have broken all of the commandments in my heart; therefore, I have to bear the consequences. I have been unfaithful in small things, and I have been dishonest in small things. I have to bear the consequences for those things, too. Sounds pretty hopeless, doesn’t it. Ah, but here’s the best part of this post:

  “For this is how GOD Loved the world: He gave His One and ONLY Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him. 

  There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. 

  But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s One and Only Son.  And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s Light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.  But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what GOD wants.” – 

John 3:16‭-‬21 NLT (

http://bible.com/116/jhn.3.16-21.NLT)

NO judgement; NO condemnation!

Think on this for a bit…. 

Mocking = Gossip

​  “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,  but whose delight is in the Law of the LORD, and who meditates on His Law day and night.” – Psalm 1:1‭-‬2 NIV (http://bible.com/111/psa.1.1-2.NIV)

Really? Not fond of this verse, because I like mocking people. Not in public, or to their faces (that would just be cruel – and wrong). I make comments on the way people are dressed (“Seriously? Those are not baseball game shoes!” or “Walmart person! Oh my!) or their makeup or hair (“He needs a good barber!”). Yep, I am seriously flawed….. but then, we already knew that 😆.  

I am a sinner saved by Grace, not for anything I have done or could do, and I will continue to sin despite my best intentions. Unfortunately, that is the human condition. We have some great news, though. Once we have accepted the Gift of eternal Life from Jesus, we can count on this:

  “Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 

  As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

   For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the Love of GOD that is in Christ Jesus our LORD.” 

  – Romans 8:35‭-‬39 NIV (http://bible.com/111/rom.8.35-39.NIV)

I’m convinced; are you? It doesn’t mean that I can go out and do anything I please without any consequences. What it does mean is that I won’t be forsaken by my LORD in spite of my sins….EVER. Nothing can separate me from Him. I will face consequences when I face the Great White Throne Judgment, but I know that Jesus will be next to me as my Advocate, and I will spend eternity with Him instead of the enemy. Hallelujah!

As always, I am interested in hearing about your thoughts and appreciate the time you take to read these.


 

Downcast and Downtrodden 

​  Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” – Genesis 4:6‭-‬7 NIV (http://bible.com/111/gen.4.6-7.NIV)‬

Is this you today? Are you downcast, and at the mercy of the sin crouching at your door? I wonder if Cain’s parents had told him and his brother about the Garden; about how breathtakingly beautiful it had been, and why they couldn’t be there anymore. I wonder if perhaps he was a little bitter and envious that they had lived in the perfect place, and because of their sin, he had to work hard working the land to grow his crops. His brother Abel kept flocks, and has difficult as that can be at times, it feels so rewarding to see your labor grow into beautiful animals. Personally, I enjoy gardening and the harvest that comes from it, but having animals… They click within my soul and bring me a joy and peace, much more than my garden. Could that be why Cain was jealous of his brother?

It isn’t a contest. God loves us the same, whether we plant like Adam and Cain, or we care for our herds like Abel, or we nurture and grow our family like Eve. It seems that so many of us spend our lives looking downcast and searching anything around us that we can treat negatively and disdainful. We feel superior to others because they haven’t dealt with the horrible life we have. We are so unfair and judgmental in our thoughts and our words… But what do we know about that person, really? They could have recently received news of a parent or sibling or child dying. Maybe their spouse had an affair , or left unexpectedly; they could have been fired or had a wreck or lost their home through some disaster. Life continues, even when our world is falling apart. No matter what we are facing, 

  “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You. Yet I am always with You; You hold me by my right hand. My flesh and my heart may fail, but GOD is the Strength of my heart and my Portion FOREVER.” – Psalm 73:21‭-‬23‭, ‬26 NIV (http://bible.com/111/psa.73.21-26.NIV)

GOD will never leave us or forsake us – it is us who do the leaving and forsaking, every single time. It’s such a rush, and relief, when we finally get it.

Everlasting Love

​  “But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s Love is with those who Fear Him, and His Righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep His Covenant and remember to obey His Precepts.” – Psalm 103:17‭-‬18 NIV (http://bible.com/111/psa.103.17-18.NIV)‬

Here we go again …. Obey God. But why?? I want to be in control; I want to be the “boss” and give orders; I want to be in charge. Oh, wait. All the bad choices, and rough decisions ? Those were my best thinking. Maybe I should let go and let God. After all, He has a proven track record of blessings and of eliminating and punishing those who deserve it. Look at Moses. (Start reading at Exodus chapter 2) He was incredibly blessed at crucial times in his life. He escaped a sure death as an infant because his mother trusted God’s words to her. He was raised as the privileged son of an Egyptian princess, alongside the boy who became the next Pharoah. As a young man, instead of using the proper channels, Moses killed an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew slave. As a consequence, Moses ran to save his own life – and again, God blessed him. Ultimately, Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt where they were slaves, and into Jordan, the land God promised them. Because Moses led a rebellious bunch of people, and because of his own rebellion against God, he wasn’t allowed to enter Jordan with the rest of his people. 

  “The LORD was angry with me because of you, and He solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the LORD your GOD is giving you as your inheritance. I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land. Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your GOD that He made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your GOD has forbidden. For the LORD your GOD is a Consuming Fire, a Jealous GOD.” – Deuteronomy 4:21‭-‬24 NIV (http://bible.com/111/deu.4.21-24.NIV)‬

Even so, Moses was blessed, and you can see many of the times he was blessed by reading Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. The Hebrew people were blessed over and over again, and they were punished many times as a consequence of their sins. Consider the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Do you see how incredibly faithful and blessed she was? She became pregnant with the Son of the Creator God, yet she endured riding a donkey and walking around 90 miles while 9 months pregnant. She gave birth in a stable (probably not as idyllic as we show it every Christmas!), she had to escape to Egypt to keep her young son alive, and finally, she saw her beloved son beaten almost to death and crucified. I can’t begin to imagine how brutal that was for her, but she remained faithful. I’m not sure I would have, and judging from my past, I didn’t stay faithful. 

My choice today is to accept my blessings and to be thankful for them, even when they feel more like punishments than blessings. The key is to follow Jesus Christ and to keep His commandments as best as I humanly can. 

  “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is GOD in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Keep His decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your GOD gives you for all time.” – Deuteronomy 4:39‭-‬40 NIV (http://bible.com/111/deu.4.39-40.NIV)

We are no longer bound to the Ten Commandments, but then again, we are. Listen to how Jesus took the ten and summarized them into two:

  “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The LORD our GOD, the LORD is ONE.  Love the LORD your GOD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:29‭-‬31 NIV (http://bible.com/111/mrk.12.29-31.NIV)

This is recorded in Leviticus, in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and in James and Romans. Think maybe there’s something important being said here? If we put God first in our lives, and that means spending as much time with Him as we do for our football and basketball and jobs and kids and animals and whatever other gods we have, then He can bless us abundantly. More than we could ever imagine in our wildest dreams. It can be incredibly painful at times to follow these commands. “Loving my neighbor” means so much more than the person living next door. The entire population of the earth is our neighbor, and that includes the people who hurt us (past, present, and future). Because “… from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s Love is with those who Fear him, and His Righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.” – Psalm 103:17‭-‬18 NIV (http://bible.com/111/psa.103.17-18.NIV)‬

EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING. That’s how big God’s Love is for us, for ME, and for YOU.

Perturbed 

​per·turbed

pərˈtərbd/

adjective

anxious or unsettled; upset.

perturb. v. late 14c., from Old French perturber “disturb, confuse” (14c.) and directly from Latin perturbare “to confuse, disorder, disturb,” especially of states of the mind, from per- “through” (see per) + turbare “disturb, confuse,” from turba “turmoil, crowd” (see turbid). Related: Perturbed; perturbing.

I am perturbed. You don’t hear this word very often anymore, but I like it. The definition, especially the “disturb” part, is very apt right now. I have a love-hate relationship with electronics and technology. I love the capabilities and opportunities they present. I hate it when they don’t work the way I think they should…

“Perturbed” is a good word to describe the way many of us feel about God. We have that same love-hate relationship with the LORD as we (okay, me!) have with electronics. He disturbs us, and we are confused about Him. We get anxious and upset with God. He unsettles us! I have a friend who has been struggling with this for years. She is definitely perturbed with God and I get it. I know there are thousands of people in the same state of anxiousness who are upset with God. There are multiple reasons for the way they feel, from past hurts to present hurts and worries about future hurts, and they don’t understand how or why an All-powerful, Omnipotent God allows the hurt and the pain to continue. I get it, because I’ve been there. Every situation is different, but ultimately they are all the same. Hurt is hurt. Physical and emotional scarring is so difficult to deal with. We are never going to be free of the hurt until we let go of it. I can’t punish the perpetrators in my life, and the people whom I hurt can’t punish me, either. Oh, we can provide physical, earthly punishment, but that is nothing – nothing – compared to the judgment God will pass down. He will pass judgment, make no mistake! This scripture is a section that I have highlighted and copied many times, because I need to see it and remind myself of the words. 

  “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in 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 the Lord’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 everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” “ – Romans 12:9‭-‬20 NIV (http://bible.com/111/rom.12.9-20.NIV)

Take a look again at verse 19: “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.” Paul is quoting from Deuteronomy 32: 35-36:

  “ “It is MINE to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”  The LORD will vindicate His people and relent concerning His servants when He sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free.” (http://bible.com/111/deu.32.35-36.NIV) 

Does reading all of this make me feel better? Not really, because my human nature wants to taste that revenge. I want to see my perpetrators hurt like I was hurt. Those verses finally soaked into my head and my heart a few years ago. I realized that by holding on to the hurt and the desire for revenge I was only hurting myself. Years ago, on one of my many trips driving from Albuquerque back to our home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, after visiting my {late} husband in the hospital there, a song by Steve and Annie Chapman (www.steveandanniechapman.com) came on the radio. It was called “The Secret Place,” and as I drove the realization of what they were saying hit me. The thing we do as humans is to take our secrets and cram them into places where we can’t see them. Given time, they will bust down the door they are locked behind and cause more pain in the remembering. We have a choice to make when it happens – give the “key” to Jesus and let Him clean up the mess, or stuff it back in and lock the door again. In New Mexico, I wasn’t ready to surrender all of my stuff. I got emotional in the car that night, and I did let go of the current baggage… but not the past. Before it all came tumbling out I slammed and locked that door, tight. Too much pain that I didn’t want to feel. 

I remained a prisoner to my hurts, hang ups, and habits for a long time.

God is patient. He doesn’t cause us to be hurt. That responsibility falls on Adam and Eve and their fall from Grace. They exercised their free will and chose to disobey God and eat of the forbidden tree. It also rests on Satan, the enemy, who gained temporary control over the earth through their disobedience. (Just until Jesus returns, and then our enemy Satan will be vanquished and thrown into the lake of fire; Amen!!)  There is so much wrong with the earth and everything and everyone in it because of the evil of the enemy. Satan makes temptation into a beautiful thing until you are deep in it; then you get to see the ugliness. He perpetrates evil. Even innocent children are drawn into the ugliness of sin. We get to deal with the consequences of this throughout our lives. Sometimes we see glimpses of the beauty God created in nature and in humans, and that’s a wonderful thing. For someone who is stuck in the cycle of sin, it’s so incredibly difficult to see past the darkness that threatens to overcome them. It can perturb you when you are trying to fight your way out of the darkness. 

Here’s the thing. We don’t have to fight it. Does that sound moronic to you? I can see why if it does, because I’ve been where you are. More importantly, JESUS has been where you are. The hurt you feel, the temptation you face, being unsettled and anxious about the Father… Jesus has been there. Look at the battle He faced in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying and pleading for His Father, the All-knowing, All-powerful, Almighty GOD to take away the pain He was facing. He ended His prayer with “THY will be done, not Mine.” Here is this man Jesus, a part of God, Who has the power to call in a thousand angels to deliver Him from what He knew was going to happen, and He prayed “Not My will, but The Father’s.”

That’s a bitter pill, a harsh reality, to swallow. He could have skipped the torture and the cross, but He didn’t. He willingly went in order to offer us eternal salvation from this hell on earth. Nothing we suffer here even comes close to what He suffered at His “trial” and the punishment He received before He was hung on a cross, which by itself is perhaps the cruelest, most devastating way ever to be devised by man to cause the most suffering before death. Belief in Jesus doesn’t take away the evil we deal with on a daily basis. If you believe and let go of the baggage – He will take it and give you freedom in your soul. When I FINALLY released my baggage, that bag full of grief and frustration and guilt, hurt and anger and desire for revenge, I was free. FREE. Free from the prison bars I had created to keep others in but in reality had me trapped while they were out there roaming free. I don’t have to carry all of that garbage anymore. That doesn’t mean that my perpetrators have been punished, but it their judgment and their punishment isn’t up to me. They might be prosperous by the world’s standards, but it doesn’t matter to me anymore. God will judge them. GOD will judge them.  I had to forgive them, and even today, when a thought crosses my mind to remind me of the evil, I have to forgive them again. It’s a lifelong process. Let me make something clear. Just because I forgive the person, it does not excuse them and it doesn’t mean I have to forget it. I have to follow what God says, though. “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…. If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” (Romans 12)

That is NOT what I want to do! It takes a strength I can only receive from Christ Jesus, my Savior, to forgive and to pray for those people. My preference would be to curse them to a horrible death – and then I remember, God’s got this. I can let it go. Once we give Him the baggage, does it make ANY sense to take it back? Not sure about you, but when I am physically struggling with something, I welcome the help if someone offers, especially if they can take it over! Why, when it comes to God and His willingness to take the weight for us, are we so stubborn that we continue to shout at Him, “I CAN DO IT” when we KNOW we can’t? (NOT that I would know anything about that …. Hahahaa!)

I will continue to be perturbed by electronic devices, but I don’t need to be perturbed with God any longer. He has my baggage, and I have His assurance of a  lifetime together with Him. Bad stuff still happens. I don’t like it, but I don’t have to carry it alone. I now have an army of angels to help me! And sometimes out of stubbornness and pride I still cry out “I can do it!” – until I feel the weight and remember I’m not doing it alone anymore, hallelujah! We have to learn to trust God. He’s totally unlike any other being, and He is certainly not like any man on earth. He will never hurt us or lie to us or betray us. Man will ALWAYS do those things. No matter how good or honorable we try to be, sin always sneaks in and causes us to fall. Thankfully, once we accept God’s forgiveness for ourselves, and we begin to forgive others, keeping in mind it is a lifelong process, we can finally be at peace. By the way, the peace that God gives us, that “peace that passes all understanding” is 

indescribable. It allows joy into our lives, and when it happens, even our physical bodies can reflect it in fewer ailments and complaints. Kind of a bonus. Life is so good when we give up all of the baggage. We become free to enjoy life. It’s easier to let things go that used to just tie me up in knots. The person who cuts me off in traffic gets a wave (not the one finger wave, either) or I might call them an idiot, but I am not compelled to yell or cuss or chase them down. The person who cuts in line, I try to just smile and say go ahead. It’s much easier on me than getting upset. It also confuses people when I smile instead of frowning. This is only possible for me through the Grace of God, and it is possible for you, too. Listen to the song by Stephen Curtis Chapman “Jesus.” He tells us all we need to know.

Jesus. The sweetest Name I know.

God, Prayer, and Politics

“What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our GOD is near us whenever we pray to Him?” – Deuteronomy 4:7 NIV (http://bible.com/111/deu.4.7.NIV)

I found this online, and before anyone jumps me and claims it’s all propaganda and the words are twisted, just hang on. Maybe these words aren’t an exact quote for this speech, but she has made these and similar comments many times. Maybe worded slightly different, but her stance remains.

Hillary Clinton, speaking at the Women in the World Summit on April 23, made the statement:

“Far too many women are denied access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth, and LAWS DON’T COUNT FOR MUCH IF THEY ARE NOT ENFORCED.” (Emphasis mine) She continued: “Rights have to exist in practice — not just on paper. Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.”

For once, she and I agree on something. NOT abortion, because that is morally wrong, it murders a living human being, and causes deep emotional scarring in the mother. Constitutional laws need to be enforced. CONSTITUTIONAL laws. So many of the laws on the books are fundamentally unconstitutional and are deeply oppressive to We the People. Our “deep-seated cultural codes” are what make us – excuse me, MADE us – such a great country. The world laughs at us now because of people like her who’s goal is to change us from a Republic and a world leader to an oligarchy or even a dictatorship. We are not a socialist or communist country, despite the changes that Washington is trying to force down our throats. Our “deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases” don’t have to be changed. They need to be supported and emphasized by the people we put in Washington.

Make no mistake, friends. WE put them there. We did did by voting- AND by ignoring it all and not voting. Eldridge Cleaver said: “There is no more neutrality in the world. You either have to be part of the solution, or you’re going to be part of the problem.”

Are  YOU going to be part of the solution this November? We, as Christians and as Americans, need to be on our knees going forward and prayed for God’s guidance and His will. We have His promise:

“…If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My Face and turn from their wicked ways, THEN I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV (http://bible.com/111/2ch.7.14.NIV)

NOW my rant is over….

Man vs. Woman

​  “So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening.

  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. 

  “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” 

  This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” – Genesis 2:21‭-‬24 NLT 

Why did God have do go and do it that way? Creating us (women) From man? Wouldn’t it have been better done the other way around….since we women {ahem} are the “better” sex? I say this tongue-in-cheek, but the reality is this: “So God created mankind in His OWN image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” – Genesis 1:27 NIV

God created us in His image. Both male and female. One is not better than the other. We are equally special in God’s sight. Men were designed to be be providers through tilling the soil (i.e. gardening for you hard core “that’s women’s work” males) and hunting. Women were designed to be the keepers of the home; to raise up children to be productive adults. If you don’t believe me, read Genesis. Even though these are our core designs, it doesn’t mean that a man can’t- or shouldn’t – step in and assume the responsibility of keeping the home (and children) if necessary. The same is true of women. If/when circumstances require it, we are perfectly capable of taking on the “man’s” work. It isn’t chauvinistic to consider it right for a man to support his family, but it is definitely reverse chauvinism for a woman to expect to be waited on by the man. We are designed to provide for and to care for each other, doing whatever it takes to do so. Throughout the years since Eve took the fruit from the tree of knowlege and shared it with Adam, our roles and relationships and responsibilities have gotten twisted. In the corrupt world we have lived in since we were evicted from the Garden, men act as women and women act as men, and the regard for the family as defined by God is disrespected by millions of people.

I spent years supporting myself (and usually some man). There were periods where two of my husbands supported me financially, and a short period of spiritual leadership. I was in a desert of my own creation, because I had walked away from God. Let me put some emphasis on that statement. The desert was my creation,  because I had walked away from God. He did not walk away, He did not turn His back; it was all on me, and it was all about me. God doesn’t turn His back on us, and He does not cause bad things to happen to us. That’s all on us and our free will…. consequences for our choices. Sometimes, unfortunately, the sins of others that are perpetrated against us involve us in the consequences. Again, this is not God’s choice, but ours. If you are going to be angry and blame someone, claim it first for your own poor choices, then put it back on Adam and Eve. A much better choice is to lay it all at Jesus’ feet. Eliminate the anger and frustration and fury and discover what it means to have real peace for a change! It won’t change your circumstances, and it certainly won’t change the people around you. It takes crawling out of that rut we are comfortable in, in spite if the pain of getting out. Change is hard, and change hurts. Even happy change can mean more physical and emotional pain until we are out of the rut. God has great things to offer His people, and all we have to do is open our hands and accept His gifts! Why are we so stubborn?… 

You may never have the perfect spouse, or perfect, pain-free health; there may be serious consequences, even such as prison for our actions. That fancy mansion and expensive cars, and multimillion dollar lottery win probably aren’t going to happen, either. My past – and my future  – doesn’t have any of those things! I have had (very imperfect) spouses who loved me very much, and I am blessed to live in a better place now than I ever foresaw happening, with a (very imperfect) man who adores me…. and as a very imperfect female, I find that I adore Him, too. Life is not perfect. That’s a fact. God didn’t create man and woman to be at each other’s throats. It’s not Man vs. Woman. He designed us to compliment and to complete each other. He also has built in a sort of safety net for those people who are on their own. Jesus can be – is – the perfect compliment to a single’s life, if we only will allow Him in.

These are just my thoughts, and if you are offended…. I can’t – and won’t – apologize for speaking the truth.

(All scriptures are from the Bible app YouVersion.com)