Tag: #Faith

Why Israel Exists: Excellent Article!

An excellent piece that per Amir Tsarfati’s research with the help of AI tools and written by Berel Salomon:

There’s something about Israel that makes people uncomfortable, and it’s not what they say it is.
They’ll point to politics, settlements, borders, and wars. But scratch beneath the outrage, and you’ll find something deeper. A discomfort not with what Israel does, but with what Israel is.
A nation this small should not be this strong. Period.
Israel has no oil. No special natural resources. A population barely the size of a mid-sized American city. They are surrounded by enemies. Hated in the United Nations. Targeted by terror. Condemned by celebrities. Boycotted, slandered, and attacked.
And still, they thrive like there’s no tomorrow.
In military. In medicine. In security. In technology. In agriculture. In intelligence. In morality. In sheer, unbreakable will.
They turn desert into farmland.
They make water from air.
They intercept rockets in mid-air.
They rescue hostages under the nose of the world’s worst regimes.
They survive wars that were supposed to wipe them out, and win.
The world watches this and can’t make sense of it.
So they do what people do when they witness strength they can’t understand.
They assume it must be cheating.
It must be American aid.
It must be foreign lobbying.
It must be oppression.
It must be theft.
It must be some dark trick that gave the Jews this kind of power.
It must be blackmail.
Because heaven forbid it’s something else.
Heaven forbid it’s real.
Heaven forbid it’s earned.
Or worse, destined.
The Jewish people were supposed to disappear a long, long time ago. That’s how the story of exiled, enslaved, hated minorities is supposed to end. But the Jews didn’t disappear. They actually came home, rebuilt their land, revived their language, and brought their dead back to life — in memory, in identity, and in strength.
That’s not normal.
It’s not political.
It’s biblical.
There’s no cheat code that explains how a group of people return to their homeland after 2,000 years.
There is no rational path from gas chambers to global influence.
And there is no historical precedent for surviving the Babylonians, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Inquisition, the pogroms, and the Holocaust, and still showing up to work on Monday in Tel Aviv.
Israel doesn’t make sense.
Unless you believe in something beyond the math.
This is what drives the world crazy. Because if Israel is real, if this improbable, ancient, hated nation is somehow still chosen, protected, and thriving, then maybe God isn’t a myth after all.
Maybe He’s still in the story.
Maybe history isn’t random.
Maybe evil doesn’t get the last word.
Maybe the Jews are not just a people… but a testimony.
That’s what they can’t stand.
Because once you admit that Israel’s survival isn’t just impressive, but divine, everything changes. Your moral compass has to reset. Your assumptions about history, power, and justice collapse. You realize you’re not watching the end of an empire. You’re witnessing the beginning of something eternal.
So they deny it.
They smear it.
And rage against it.
Because it’s easier to call a miracle “cheating” than to face the possibility that God keeps His promises.
And He’s keeping them still!

Never Too Far

I’ve said it before. Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, there is no place you can go that He is not there. You can’t run fast enough or far enough to out-distance Him. Turn around. Wherever you are, just turn around. He’s right there with you.

Genesis 28:15 NASB1995 “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Throughout scriptures, the LORD promises to never leave us or forsake us. I know His Word is true. I’ve done lots of running, and inserted myself into plenty of sketchy situations and truly ugly circumstances. I was never alone, despite doing everything I could to drown out that quiet voice in my head. He delivered me out of all the follies I chose for myself, but – and this is important to remember – He did not relieve me of the consequences of my actions.

Pastor Mark Hitchcock said “God destroys His enemies by making them His friends; but those who don’t become friends, will be destroyed by Him.”

Are you His friend? Have you made the ultimate decision? GOD through Christ has given us the opportunity to reconcile with Him. It is our sin that separates us from Him, and it is Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that can reconcile us to Him – IF we choose it. Jesus is The Mediator, The Gospel. He came, He died, He rose from the dead. Simply the most complex and the most simple thing ever to happen.

Be aware though, and don’t fall for an imposter:

2 Corinthians 11:14-15 NASB1995 “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.“

Remember, you can’t run away from the LORD. No matter what you do, no matter where you go, once you are adopted into His family you will never be alone again.

Romans 8:38-39 NASB1995 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

TO AN UNKNOWN GOD

Acts 17:23-31 NASB1995
[23] For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. [24] The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; [25] nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; [26] and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, [27] that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; [28] for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ [29] Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. [30] Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, [31] because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” [https://bible.com/bible/100/act.17.23-31.NASB1995]

People say they don’t believe in GOD. They might try to fool themselves into believing that, but we all believe. They will elevate something, or someone, into the place that belongs to the Creator. Just as the Romans had a shrine to the “Unknown God” in their city, we each have a place in our hearts for Him. The question is, who or what replaces the LORD in your heart, or is your heart filled by the Holy Spirit of GOD?

Hebrews 11:1 NASB1995
[1] Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. [https://bible.com/bible/100/heb.11.1.NASB1995]

I Have Been Renewed

Psalms 40:2-17 NASB1995
[2] He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. [3] He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the Lord. [4] How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. [5] Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count. [6] Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. [7] Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. [8] I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.” [9] I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, You know. [10] I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation. [11] You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me. [12] For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me. [13] Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; Make haste, O Lord, to help me. [14] Let those be ashamed and humiliated together Who seek my life to destroy it; Let those be turned back and dishonored Who delight in my hurt. [15] Let those be appalled because of their shame Who say to me, “Aha, aha!” [16] Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!” [17] Since I am afflicted and needy, Let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God. [https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.40.2-17.NASB1995]

My life has been hard. As a child, we didn’t have many material things, and there wasn’t excess food. I wore hand-me-down or homemade clothes, but we were loved. As an adult, I experienced abuse, was trafficked, abandoned. But there are many who have endured much worse! Psalm 40 was written by King David. He was a shepherd as a boy, a menial, labor intensive job. He went on to become the king, but his life was full of danger, from both those on his ‘side’ and the enemy. He loved the LORD, and still made terrible decisions, among them having an affair with the wife of his general and having that general murdered. Yet he loved the LORD. He broke every commandment. Yet he loved the LORD.

I haven’t murdered anyone, although I have wished them dead. Jesus said that if we thnk it, it’s the same as doing it. The rest of the commandments? All broken. The beautiful thing about our Creator is that He love me, warts and all. No matter how badly we mess up, He still loves us and wants to be in fellowship with us. Thank GOD for His Mercy and Forgiveness! I’m still a sinner, and a mess. So what’s the difference between me and anyone else? I’m forgiven. Are you? He’s just a heartbeat away, waiting patiently for you to ask for His Forgiveness. It is freely given.

ASK.

Ms. Fix-It

That’s me. My identity for years. It’s where I found my worth. It was an unusual vocation 30+ years ago for a woman, and that’s probably at least part of the reason I did it. At one point, I purchased an old home and replaced all 22 windows on my own (I had “help” for one and promptly fired him!). I replaced and added cabinets, added electrical, and replaced porch columns. There were countless little things to fix, including repairing plaster walls (yes, plaster, NOT sheetrock). Painting the interior. Replacing sinks and fixtures.

I was proud of the work I did.

I’m in another old house now. A 1915 farmhouse that was remodeled out of all it’s charm before I bought it. I’m frustrated with myself because my 72 yo body won’t cooperate with my mind and do the things I want done.

What does any of this have to do with anything?

It’s a strong reminder that this world is not permanent. We humans grow old and die. The earth and the heavens are not permanent, either. “Climate change” is a scam the enemy of mankind, Satan, is perpetuating to pull people’s attention away from the reason earth will cease to exist. It’s not because of humans or animals or even manufacturing. It all goes down to sin and the evil unleashed by the enemy. God tells us in His Word that the earthwill cease to exist.

Hebrews 1:10-12 NASB1995
[10] And, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands; [11] They will perish, but You remain; And they all will become old like a garment, [12] And like a mantle You will roll them up; Like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.” (https://bible.com/bible/100/heb.1.10-12.NASB1995)

I might have the ability through the gifts GOD gave me to envision and fix things, but it is only in Jesus Christ that my spirit can be “fixed,” changed through His Blood. My work here is temporary. No matter how good of a job I do, it will perish along with this world. Nothing I can possibly do is good enough to last forever.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB1995
[8] For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; [9] not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (https://bible.com/bible/100/eph.2.8-9.NASB1995)

For years I tried to convince myself that what I did defined me. I still struggle with that. The majority of humanity is the same. Our work and our appearance is the most important thing ….. But it’s not. Almost everyone has heard of John 3:16, but read the following verses.

John 3:14-21 NASB1995
[14] As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; [15] so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. [16] “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. [18] He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [19] This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. [20] For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. [21] But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” (https://bible.com/bible/100/jhn.3.14-21.NASB1995)

I’m not religious. My job in life doesn’t matter. What I AM does matter. The only identity we need is that of Believer. Christ follower. It doesn’t matter how good, ethical, decent, righteous, honest, moral, or just we are. If you/I haven’t accepted Jesus Christ, the Son of God Who died on a cross and was resurrected on the third day, and ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of GOD AMIGHTY, as your personal Savior, acknowledging your sinful being …. you and I are lost, looking at an eternity in hell.

It’s that simple. I believe it. Do you?

1 Peter 1:3 NASB1995
[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (https://bible.com/bible/100/1pe.1.3.NASB1995)

Got Questions?

Going through a rough patch? Frustrated, maybe even angry that God has allowed a certain situation in your life? Remember these encouraging words from the LORD.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.”
Isaiah 43:2 NASB1995

https://bible.com/bible/NASB1995

What JOY we have to look forward to! We may not receive His promise in this life, but, Oh, how glorious the new earth will be! That is His promise, and if you forget everything else about God remember this: He ALWAYS keeps His promises. I forget that fact because I live in the now – and I want it (whatever ‘it’ is!) right now. God’s timing is His timing, and His timing is perfect…. Even when I disagree! God’s Grace and Mercy are perfect. They are here for you to pick up and hold and to make your own.

GOD has answers! Search the Scriptures. Pray daily. Find a church and attend regularly, so that you can hear what God has to say.

“You have put gladness in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.”
Psalms 4:7‭-‬8 NASB1995

https://bible.com/bible/NASB1995

Remembering my Mom, Phyllis Henry

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:15‭-‬19 NASB1995

Today we are celebrating the life of our Mom. Her children and niece, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren, special friends, as many as can be here. It will be livestreaming, too, for you to see. Join us in celebration! http://www.faithbibleok.com at 11am CDT

Phyllis Henry lived a full, interesting life. She didn’t have an easy life, by any means, and she wasn’t perfect. Having a pastor for a husband and 6 children to deal with kept her running, but she found time to help in the nursery at church every Sunday, and to be involved with the WMU, church potlucks, hostessing get togethers and visiting missionaries and preachers, and keeping peace in the family. (You have to be a Southern Baptist to understand 🙂 ) Our house always had to present a put-together face for people to drop in, so that meant keeping kids and toys and the paraphernalia of life out of the living room, and ready to offer tea or coffee at a moments notice.

On top of all that, my Dad was diagnosed with a debilitating disease a few years into their marriage, and the medications prescribed caused serious side effects leading to angina (heart disease) and eventually type 2 diabetes. It didn’t stop him from pastoring full time, going to college at night for his doctorate, visiting the sick, and trying to be the husband and father he needed to be. Mom added nurse, dietitian, and driver to her resume.

Her kids didn’t make her life any easier. We did chores and helped cook and clean as we got older, but children can be pretty self centered and we weren’t that different. School, life, hobbies, church and school activities, music and art lessons, we all stayed busy, too. Add chauffeur and tutor to her list of duties.

There was a lot of rebellion from the middle 4 kids. One left home days before his 18th birthday. I dropped out of college after 2 years and rejected pretty much everything I had been taught. The next two had a lot of craziness in their lives, too. The thing is, no matter how far I went, where or how I got there, and knowing how hurt and disappointed Mom (and Dad) were, I knew they loved me. It wasn’t until years later, YEARS later, when I wrote to Mom to ask for forgiveness that I began to understand Agape love. Dad had been gone for several years, and she said this to me. “There were times when we didn’t like you” (I know it was probably most of the time) “but we never stopped loving you and praying for you.” It’s because of their examples that I have a relationship with my LORD. Their faithfulness, their forgiveness, their love and faith in the LORD Jesus Christ was the centerpiece of their lives.

That’s how God is, I think. As His children, His Creation, we hurt Him and disappoint Him, constantly. But know this. He never stops loving us. He loves you. Maybe your parents didn’t love you. Maybe they loved you enough to give you up for adoption (that’s a powerful love).

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 NASB1995

“We love, because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 NASB1995

Mom loved us, and Mom loved the people around her, because she knew God loved her. She showed that love to hundreds, maybe thousands, of people. She is missed by so many. Her ready smile, her refusal to complain, her ability to listen. I know the angels rejoiced when she joined them.

I’ll see her again, in heaven. Love you.

Look Around You!

“For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 NASB1995

Read the whole chapter. When King Asa relied on his own judgement and looked for help from another king first, before asking the LORD, he lost the war. When Asa relied on and trusted in the LORD, he won the war. This is an incredibly important passage for us today. Look around you!

Whatever we are facing, we can do this …. because we don’t have to do it in our own strength. This is such an important verse for Christians today! Not my strength, but the LORD’S strength. God KNOWS. He sees us. He hears us. He knows. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts….. these are the Eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth.” Zechariah 4:6‭-‬7‭, ‬10 NASB1995 He is omnipotent; He is looking so “that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” RELY ON THE LORD. It always comes down to that. Rely on, TRUST in the LORD; first seek God, then ask others.

“LORD [YAHWEH], there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.” “…. the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.” 2 Chronicles 14:11, 15:2 NASB1995

The Founding Fathers were believers. To know this, all you have to do is read their writings. Were they perfect? No, far from it! They were men, flawed and fallible, just like we are today. But they knew that the God of the Ages, our God, Yahweh, was with them, fighting the forces against them. We are in a battle today! Look around! The forces of evil, the enemy, have the tactics to take over. They are insidious. They lie; they know how to appeal and coerce in order to capture people’s – even Christian’s – minds, and the people don’t even recognize what is happening! God rides the heavens, looking for us, waiting for us to turn to Him, to come down to help us. I can’t untangle my life, but God can. Ask Him. Turn to Him. We need His guidance and His Grace today!

In The Storms

Michael W. Smith, in his devotional Still, writes this:

“Recently when I went to the mountains, they were hidden by a thick layer of smoke from wildfires. Their beauty was concealed. I was so disappointed that I couldn’t see them! Then the next day it began to rain. The temperature suddenly dropped and the rain turned to snow. The strong winds blew the snowflakes around in heavy swirls. It looked like a blizzard in September! When the storm cleared away, the mountains were revealed in striking beauty. The smoke was gone. The trees and mountaintops were blanketed in white.
The following day, the snow melted and the green appeared. The birds sang, the creek flowed, and the sun warmed us. As the land appeared to wake from death to life, God spoke to me and awakened my heart.”

What a beautiful and apt analogy of the some of the things we go through in our lives. We can be in the midst of the ‘fire’, in complete darkness and chaos in our lives, smothering in smoke and flame, thinking things can’t be any worse. We want to give up in despair and hopelessness. Then the rains come. These can be soothing, healing rains, dousing the flames and giving us hope, or it can be a deluge, causing us to feel as though the last of our hope is being washed away. Life can turn into a blizzard of confusion, where we can’t see our hand in front of our face, lost and not knowing where it is safe to step. Am I on the path, or am I about to step off a precipice?

God is there. He is with us throughout these disasters.

In a fire, even with all of their protective equipment and training, people who fight fires can get burned, sometimes badly. Fire can be deadly, even to the most well trained firefighters.

In floods, rescuers wear flotation gear and take precautions, yet some are injured or killed every year.

In blizzards and storms, in avalanches, rescuers have specialized gear and training, and still some sustain injuries and death.

The LORD God is our protection. He is our trainer. His Book provides us the training we need, and the Holy Spirit provides our protection. Learning God’s Word outfits us with our armor, the protective gear that we need to survive the attacks of the enemy.

I feel like a majority of my life has been spent in the fires and the storms of life, without a lot of calm. Many poor decisions on my part have contributed to this, and because of the long reaching consequences of some of those choices, I don’t expect that my life will ever be ‘easy’. Even knowing this, there are many opportunities for me to see the smoke clearing, the rain ceasing, and the beauty of God’s Creation. The green appears. The birds sing, the creeks flow, and the sun warms me. The land – my land, my life, wakes from apparent death to life; God speaks to me and awakens my heart to His Beauty. I may forget, momentarily, but He always reminds me.

For the last few days, my city and state have endured an historic ice storm. Thousands of trees (and consequently vehicles and houses) have been utterly crushed and destroyed. Fierce winds have broken branches and snapped telephone and electric lines. Thousands are still without power. Millions of dollars in damage. Where is the good in this? How can God possibly use this?

Even before the first 24 hours were up, people were posting on social media that they were willing and available to help anyone who needed it, to remove branches, cut down trees, carry debris to the curb. That’s the Spirit moving! Even non-Christians are caught up in it, even if they don’t understand it. What an opportunity for God’s people. In the middle of our personal storms, we have the opportunity to reach out to others and show God’s Love.

The temperature is rising, the rain is stopping, and the sun is coming out. Today will be a good day.

“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord , ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NASB1995

I don’t know God’s plans for you. I don’t even know what His plans are for me! What I do know is this. I have to rely on Him, because without Him, I am utterly and completely lost.