Cliché Month: Toe The Line 👣
Boundaries With Purpose…
Aren’t you glad the toes in this image stay lined up exactly on the line rather than crossing into the text and creating unreadable chaos? That neon yellow boundary keeps order and allows the text message to remain crisp, visible, and perfectly legible. When things cross the line, structure (even digital structure) can collapse into a messy blur.
P.S. A quick spelling alert: Because we often talk about “towing” a heavy load, many people mistakenly write this idiom as “Tow the line.” But as you can see from our neon friends above, it is strictly Toe the line—as in physically placing your feet against a boundary!
And that physical boundary is exactly where tonight’s cliché story begins…
From Deck Seams to Track Meets
While we use “toe the line” today to describe following group rules or conforming to expectations, its literal roots come from strict physical discipline.
The most widely accepted origin comes from 18th-century wooden warships. The wooden decks of Royal Navy vessels were built with long planks sealed together using black pitch and tar. When the crew was called for morning inspection or disciplinary roll call, barefoot sailors were ordered to stand in a row with their toes touching the dark seam line running along the deck.
Standing still with your toes precisely on that mark meant you were paying attention and doing exactly as told. And since obedience to command in the military is necessary for victories and to save lives, most sailors did, in fact, toe the line. Here’s an image I found at archive.org depicting an inspection of hands and feet by The Royal Navy.
by Major W. O. Carlile, published in the Illustrated London News (1873).
Public Domain.
Interestingly, Captain Basil Hall was one of the first Royal Navy officers to write down the phrase “toeing the line” in his 1831 memoirs, describing how boys on the ship were made to stand at the deck seams as a routine discipline drill or punishment.
As time went on, the practice spread:
- In Schools: children were made to line up with their toes touching a floorboard or painted stripe before entering class or answering roll call.
- In Sports: Early runners placed their shoe tips right at the starting mark. Stepping over meant instant disqualification.
In every scenario, the lesson is identical: get as close to the line as required, but don’t step over it.
A Little Wiggle Room
Which brings us to the annual August 6th celebration of National Wiggle Your Toes Day. As one website reminds us, it’s one of the easiest holidays to celebrate because it doesn’t require any special equipment or dress code. Personally, I think wiggling barefoot is best, though. 🐻🦶😁
Really, there is a fun irony in celebrating toe freedom right next to an idiom about strict obedience. Toeing the line requires keeping your feet anchored and perfectly still. But once the inspection is over, the race is run, or the school day or work is done, there’s nothing quite like kicking off your shoes and giving your toes some room to wiggle.
Sometimes, learning how to toe the line is what earns us the freedom to relax when the day is done! Apparently, it’s even a treatment for anxiety, so don’t wait for just one day a year. Free up those “piggies” and get wiggling.
And don’t forget how much obedience is mixed with blessings in God’s order of things. Here’s a message from God through Joshua to the Children of Israel…
Joshua 1:7 BSB
[7] Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jos.1.7.BSB
Plus…
Psalm 37:23 BSB
[23] The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord who takes delight in his journey.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.37.23.BSB
This one took quite a bit of research between Google, Gemini, and Archive. Big thanks to both models of Google Gemini for their collaborative help.
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Cliché Month: Actions Speak Louder than Words
I almost added an ellipsis at the end of the word “speak” in the above illustration. I forgot to ask for it in the prompt, so when Nano Banana created it, I was pleasantly surprised to see this powerful message of “Action Speaks” jump right out at me. Even without the remaining words of the cliché, it’s a solid and true message.
I realized after writing all of this that it’s almost an argument against yesterday’s cliché that the pen is mightier than the sword. I mean, if you’re taking action by a sword, that would definitely be louder than threatening words. But today’s message is more about the actions that must follow the life-changing words of the pen.
Has anyone ever told you they loved you and then made you doubt their words by their behaviors? Or have you ever had someone promise you something from the bottom of their heart with a pinky promise and, no matter how strongly they swore its truthfulness at the time, never fulfilled that promise?
If you answered yes to either of those questions (and I’d think most people could,) you’ve had a demonstration of words being weaker than actions. If the bad behaviors or broken promises have broken something in you, then you’ve truly understood the louder language of actions.
Of course, this also works the opposite way. Like when I moved in with my grandparents at 12-years-old and fell in love with a neighborhood kitty cat that started hanging around our house. When she showed up pregnant, I asked my grandfather if we could bring her inside to have her kittens, and he vehemently said no to my pleas.
One afternoon, a few days later, I got home from school to find a box in my room. Not only was it perfect for Mama Cat, but Grandpa had added some cushiony towels and cut a little area in the front of the box shorter to make sure she could get her oversized belly in there. Those actions were not only a gift to the cat and her kittens, they were a precious gift from my grandfather to me that stayed with me forever.
Actions speak! AND they speak louder than any words—no matter how true and passionate those words may sound. It’s why real Christianity is far more than an emotional confession during fleeting moments of fear or conviction. What you do after you stand back up from your knees makes all the difference. It’s why baptism is one of the first things offered to new converts. More than a ritual, it’s an action that speaks of your plans to turn away from your sins by literally washing them away in the figurative blood of Christ. Your old self, along with the actions you engaged in while in bondage to sin, is buried with YahShua (Jesus) in baptism, so your new self can rise up like He did in resurrection and perform new actions that imitate Him.
What would Jesus do? is much more powerful than What would Jesus say? (Though, in His case, what He said was pretty important as well. 😊)
Even the Bible has strong words about the importance of actions over words. When shallow actions performed by habit spoke to The Messiah that people didn’t really care about Him as much as they did their rituals, He called them hypocrites.
Matthew 15:8 BSB
[8] ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.15.8.BSB
Action that springs from the action of listening with our hearts brings blessings when we act on what we have learned:
James 1:25 BSB
[25] But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so — not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer — he will be blessed in what he does. (Emphasis added by me.)
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jas.1.25.BSB
YahShua says it’s our good deeds that shine a light and glorify God:
Matthew 5:16 BSB
[16] In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.5.16.BSB
In First John, we’re reminded of the power of action and truth:
1 John 3:18 BSB
[18] Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1jn.3.18.BSB
And in Colossians, we’re reminded how important our focus is whether we are speaking words or doing actions:
Colossians 3:17 BSB
[17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/col.3.17.BSB
And I’ll close with a parable of YahShua that perfectly demonstrates today’s cliché. It’s called “The Parable of the Two Sons” and says:
Matthew 21:28-32 BSB
[28] But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ [29] ‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went. [30] Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go. [31] Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. [32] For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.21.28-32.BSB
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🎵The Tongues of Angels
One more thing happened 43 years ago that still matters today; I prayed to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. My experiences may not match every person who reads my posts, or any person who reads my posts, and that’s okay. I’m just going to share my own experiences.
Missionettes …
Way back when I was about 9 years old, I was part of a group within the Assemblies of God churches called Missionettes. It was like a lot of other clubs for girls where you earned badges for learning skills. The difference was in the skills—they were all biblically or spiritually based. It was an awesome experience with an amazing and sincere group of girls and a great leader for our particular group.
We had a sleepover in the church one night, and these girls decided that I could not go to sleep unless I was filled with The Holy Spirit which would become evident when I spoke in tongues. It was about 2 in the morning when I quit resisting just so I could go to sleep. 😁 But I did speak in an unknown language, and that was followed by some experiences where I truly felt I’d stepped into the Presence of my Holy Creator.
But then …
When life changed and we moved away from our stepdad and his family, my mom took us back to the Baptist church. They were quick to tell me that no one gets filled with The Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues in this day and age. I believed them and did not allow myself any non-English words in my prayers.
A Little Hope …
By 8th grade, I’d found a wonderful friendship with a girl who was in the Pentecostal church, and when we prayed together, I allowed myself to speak in tongues again. But the Baptist church I attended looked down on that as something not okay. Still, between me and God, that moment with my friend Lynette let me know God was still there for me. And that was the year of being on the honor roll, graduating 8th grade with special awards, and getting glowing compliments from my teachers—and even my principal—in my yearbook. I was like a different person from the ways I’d behaved in 7th grade. (Still smoking, though. I guess I was addicted by then.)
A Time of Giving Up …
If you’ve read many of my testimony posts, you know I went back and forth between my grandparents’ home and my mom’s home. While with my mom, we tried other religions, some New Age teachings, and finally tried to find a “God as we understood Him” within our 12 Step groups. In that last one is where I prayed my I Give Up prayer. I said something like, “But, God, I don’t understand You. If You really loved me, why did You force Your Son to die? Why didn’t You do it Yourself?”
After that prayer, I basically gave up trying to serve God because I was thoroughly confused by all the different ideas people had about Him and what it meant to serve Him. Plus, life was filled with chaos, so with foster care and court visits and moving all over the state, I wasn’t thinking much about God anyway.
A Time of Searching …
That all lasted until I was back in Arizona and ended up at another Baptist church just to get a sale on some rolling shutters. If you read that testimony, you know God used Scripture from John 10:30 to answer my give up prayer, but the preacher told me it didn’t mean what I thought. So off I went into my own thoughts and ideas again, not daring to share them with anyone who might correct me.
A Time of Finding …
And then came all those events with reluctantly attending the Pentecostal church where I repented on July 14th and got baptized on July 16th. That was followed by a prayer meeting on July 19th where the ladies wanted to help me be filled with The Holy Spirit. They did not know any of my past experiences at that time, and they had no idea of the battle raging in my mind while I prayed.
See, I wanted that experience from Missionettes back. I wanted the time of victory that I had during my friendship with Lynette. And I wanted these promises this new group of people were making about speaking in tongues “as The Spirit gave the utterance.”
At one point, I felt like I heard this different language in my mind, and just as I did, the pastor’s wife spoke through my mental chaos and fear and said, “That’s the Holy Ghost, Crystal. Just yield to It.” I thought to myself, well, if it’s wrong, I guess they’ll tell me. So I gave up fighting and began to speak in an unknown—yet familiar—language. And as I spoke, I felt like I was on an elevator platform rising upward to hear angelic voices singing with the ladies in the prayer meeting. It was a moment of perfect peace and perfect joy.
My Thoughts …
There are as many ideas out there about the Holy Spirit as there are stars in the heavens, I think. I once heard of a missionary who was serving in an area where no one spoke any English. Someone got baptized and came out of the water speaking praises to God in English! Another time, I watched a deaf and mute girl suddenly begin to speak a language as she was prayed for, and she signed to her interpreter to ask what she was saying. You know she couldn’t have been faking anything or copying anyone.
Even the highly respected Got Questions website has an article stating that we do not need tongues anymore. It suggests that tongues are only human languages used to spread the Gospel.
But what of my own experiences and those I’ve seen on my own? And what about the Apostle Paul talking about speaking in an unknown tongue. He doesn’t say not to speak at all but rather to speak directly to God.
1 Corinthians 14:2, 14 BSB
[2] For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
[14] For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1co.14.2-14.BSB
Paul also makes a distinction between the tongues of men (that would be languages) and the tongues of angels (heavenly language?) in 1st Corinthians 13, so it would appear that he could speak in these non-human tongues for him to bring it up.
1 Corinthians 13:1 BSB
[1] If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1co.13.1.BSB
In a recent move among some Bible teachers, a few are swearing off speaking in tongues at all, believing they only spoke what they did within the emotional hype of the moments in which they spoke. If that is true for those teachers, they should definitely stop speaking until they know that it’s truly The Holy Spirit speaking through them.
I have had times where I didn’t know how to pray or what to pray. In those times, I have sought God in a language I did not know, and answers came to me as a result. I believe it’s because The Holy Spirit spoke in ways that bypassed my human understanding and let me momentarily become a conduit of communication between my needs and what The Spirit in me knew would bring answers. I didn’t need to understand in my mind if God knew what would fix things, and I could just trust Him.
Wrapping up…
These testimony posts have been me being very real with my readers. It’s not easy to share these deep and honest parts of myself. I’m not trying to convince anyone that I, Crystal, am perfect or walk a perfect way that everyone else should walk in.
But I do serve a perfect God who has proven Himself to me more often than I could fit into these posts. (Many are tagged with the word testimony if you do a search to see them all together in one place.) And I am grateful for those moments in my childhood where God’s Heavenly Presence invaded my earthly flesh. It’s possible those moments are why I made it through some of my more difficult experiences with often miraculous victories. And I’m even more grateful that 43 years ago, He showed up for me as an adult with understanding and gave me a strong foundation to build a solid walk upon. May I continue to walk with Him, and if you don’t know Him as your trustworthy Confidant, I pray my honesty plants a seed that will grow into your walking with Him one day as well.
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🎵The Watchman vs The Defender
Today is my 43rd “Spirit-versary” of when I repented of my sins and chose to give my life to Christ. Before July 14th of 1983, I was living a very different life, some of which I’ve shared pieces of in various blog posts. The July 14th repentance story is on my Torah commentary post about Numbers 16 and 17.
Recently, my Bible study has brought me to the book of Ezekiel. This is a hard book to study because the rebellion of Israel has pushed God too far, and He’s got Ezekiel speaking their consequences. In the third chapter of Ezekiel, Yahveh has assigned the prophet the position of a watchman.
Ezekiel 3:17 BSB
[17] “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/ezk.3.17.BSB
I don’t think anyone today who calls themselves a prophet or prophetess would be willing to go through the trials Ezekiel (or other OT prophets) had to endure—especially for a people whom God has said will not listen to him. But even the hard-hearted and hard-headed cannot ignore some of the visual examples Ezekiel had to display. And I’m certain, since it is not God’s will for any to perish (and since He is the same yesterday, today and forever) that God’s hope was to find that remnant who would be moved by the words and deeds of this obedient prophet.
But even with a one-in-a-million hope, prophesying doom and gloom is not the easy path to take. Still, we need the obedient voice of one willing to share the reality of The Law and the dangers of violating it.
The Hard Yet Beautiful Truth
The law defines the boundaries of holiness and exposes what separates us from God. We cannot apply the blood of Christ without first knowing what needs to be forgiven, just as we could not hire a defense attorney unless we know what we need to be defended of.
Ray Comfort (an evangelist) meets people on the street and runs through the Ten Commandments with them asking if they have willingly violated any of them. Most people say yes, and Ray makes them comfortable with their answers by admitting that he is not better than them, and that he has also violated them. He then goes on to tell them about a courtroom scenario where a violation is met with a fine, but someone comes in to pay the fine, so the person is free to go.
Hiding Judgment “Under the Rug”
We live in a culture now that is terrified of being judgmental. We don’t want to offend someone who might turn around and point fingers at us, and—if we’re Christian—we also worry about driving someone away from finding salvation in Christ. In our efforts to love people, we often try to play the part of the defender by excusing bad choices, softening truths, or blurring the lines of God’s law just to make people comfortable.
But when we do these things, when we play the role of defender instead of being a watchman for people’s souls, we are actually stepping into a job that doesn’t belong to us. We are not mediators between the law and the sins people commit that violate it. And we are definitely not called to ignore violations and sweep them “under the rug.” If we do that, no one can experience the blessing and power of forgiveness because we’ve excused the very things that require it.
One Mediator
We’re told in 1st Timothy chapter 2 that there is ONLY one Mediator who can take away human sins without denying or excusing them.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 BSB
[5] For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, [6] who gave Himself as a ransom for all — the testimony that was given at just the right time.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1ti.2.5-6.BSB
Though we want to be like YahShua, we do not have perfect blood to shed to cover sins forever. True, compassionate ministry looks more like the high priests of old: gently but clearly identifying the law so that people can see their need, separate themselves from their sin, and place it under the perfect sacrificial blood of Christ. And to be like YahShua means to do all of that with love. It reads well in the second chapter of 2nd Timothy in the World English Bible:
2 Timothy 2:24-26 WEBUS
[24] The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but be gentle toward all, able to teach, patient, [25] in gentleness correcting those who oppose him. Perhaps God may give them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth, [26] and they may recover themselves out of the devil’s snare, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
https://bible.com/bible/206/2ti.2.24-26.WEBUS
Loving Like The Lord
Sometimes, the most loving thing we can do for a person trapped in the bondage of sin is to hold up the mirror of God’s Word and Law so they can find a path toward freedom. Love doesn’t mean affirming captivity; it means pointing the way out of the cell. That Way is YahShua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ) who is our righteous Judge and Defender of a law He says has not changed by one tiny letter or pen stroke (jot or tittle in KJV).
Matthew 5:18 WEBUS
[18] "For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished."
https://bible.com/bible/206/mat.5.18.WEBUS
What has changed is that we now have a permanent way to cover violations of the law, so we can be made free of their consequences—consequences that still exist for a law that still exists, but with a fine that has been completely paid in full.
2 Corinthians 5:20 BSB
[20] Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/2co.5.20.BSB
Since we are called to be ambassadors of The Lord and urge people to look at their sins and place them under the blood, let’s stop trying to do The Defender’s job and start loving people enough to tell them the truth—the truth that will set them free to live and walk in the newness of life here and in eternity.
2 Corinthians 5:17 BSB
[17] Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
https://bible.com/bible/3034/2co.5.17.BSB
Romans 6:4 BSB
[4] We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/rom.6.4.BSB
I must tell this story 43 years later because of the wonderful changes it made in my life. Enjoy these two videos with the song “I Love to Tell the Story,” first by Alan Jackson and then a beautiful a capella version by Chris Rupp.
(a capella–no lyrics unless using captions)
Note: I realized this difference between watchman and defender the other day, and I could not figure out how to communicate it without sounding harsh. With some collaboration tips from Google’s Gemini, I’m very happy with the presentation now.
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Prompt Response: The Word of God
Which book have you read more than any other?
There are a few books I’ve read more than once, though mostly short ones and children’s books because I have so many I want to read that I don’t want to miss the new ones while I’m rereading older ones. But there is one exception to that personal rule: The Holy Bible.
When YahShua asked His closest disciples if they wanted to run away with others who left due to a misunderstanding of His words, Peter answered this way…
John 6:68 BSB
[68] Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jhn.6.68.BSB
Who else has the words of life? What other book has the amount of good fruit that comes from the Bible? Many testimonies have been given that detail amazing and wonderful life changes as a result of God’s precious words. They include things like…
- Relationship repairs,
- New Hopes and Dreams,
- Miracles and Answers,
- Education and Wisdom,
- Healings and Life,
- Provisions and Jobs,
- Promises and Protection,
- Comfort and Peace,
- Love and Joy,
- And so much more.
When you’ve come to the very end of yourself and have nowhere else to go, you can turn to God’s Word. When you’ve searched for answers in everything else and found none, you’ll be amazed at the good advice His Word can provide. When you feel completely alone, you can look into His Word and find His presence.
It’s no small thing that The Creator of the universe has preserved these holy words through many centuries to speak directly to those who are looking for Him. He says that when you seek and search for Him with all your heart, you will find Him. And most likely, you’ll find Him in His own Word. As the old acronym says: BIBLE… Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth!
I encourage you to try His Word for yourself. Whether you’ve been taught it all your life by someone else and never really looked for it to speak to you personally, or you’ve never opened it up at all, start with just being willing. When you open it, ask Yahveh Almighty to speak from the written words directly to your heart. He wants you to get to know Him, so He will reach out to you. And when you see Him for yourself, you’ll be so glad to meet Him, you’ll want to love and serve Him forever.
Note: The cute little heart in the corner of today’s image is from one of the images I made for my post on February 24th of this year called “I Love the B-I-B-L-E.” That post has three great music videos about the Bible, and a larger size of that cute sticker. Which, by the way, I was thrilled to figure out how to make into a custom sticker. Using my Samsung tablet or phone, I could press and hold the image and be offered the chance to turn the highlighted portion of the image into a sticker. It took a little editing in the Photo Studio Pro app to get the transparent background, but I’m really happy with the result. Have you ever tried making your own stickers? If so, I’d love to know how you did it and see one if you’ve saved it online.
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Prompt Response: Life is a Classroom
Are you a lifelong learner?
Did the class move into the guy’s dorm room, or did the guy bring his bed and microwaves into the classroom? You decide. But either way, the “Welcome to Life and its Lessons” message on the wall answers the prompt question. Yes, I am a lifelong learner. And so are you. (And maybe that partly goes with being short based on the midget teachers standing on the classroom window sills. Lol 😂)
As in almost all classrooms, we have star students who excel at everything they try, we have hard working students who try lots of things even if they don’t fully succeed at every attempt, and we have those who choose to sit in the corner with a dunce cap on because they’d rather be doing anything else other than learning.
I really don’t understand the dunce cap students because I love learning. I joined Duolingo for Spanish but have since added Esperanto, Hebrew, Chess, and Music. I study the Bible daily and follow up with lessons from The Bible Project and Got Questions and Bible Hub because I want to know the meanings behind the messages. Each of these sites also has an app.
I’ve never been satisfied to just take the words of someone who says they know something no matter their position or authority. It’s why I don’t just automatically believe everything said by the media or on social media. And it’s why I try to provide links to expanded texts and websites to show the sources of facts or opinions I share.
Being a lifelong learner is not the same as gnosticism where the pursuit of knowledge is often used as a substitute for God because it’s not always easy to trust what you cannot see. But if I consigned all my beliefs to only what I can see, hear, taste, touch, or feel, my life could have no true love in it since love exceeds all our senses.
Note: While love and wisdom exceed the boundaries of our senses, God also uses our senses to teach us. Think about King David saying, “Taste and see that The Lord is good.” And a member of our local writer’s group put together a wonderful devotional book called Our God of Common Senses by Victoria Hicks. (Affiliate link for views used.)
Faith is also something that requires lifelong learning. Learning to accept love from God and from others; learning to trust the process until things finally work out; and learning to let go of some things while leaning in to deeper understandings as you mature in faith. That applies to faith in general AND faith in The Lord.
Scripture tells us that we need The Holy Spirit’s guidance to understand biblical wisdom.
1 Corinthians 2:7, 9-10, 12 BSB
[7] No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began.
[9] Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” [10] But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
[12] We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1co.2.7-12.BSB
And wisdom brings us blessings and long life according to the writer of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes 7:12, 19 BSB
[12] For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
[19] Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/ecc.7.12-19.BSB
And it takes time and experience to gain wisdom, so being a lifelong learner is not only a way to absorb benefits from life but also to make it last. And if you share that wisdom with others, it becomes a legacy that will outlive you when your time on Earth is done.
Proverbs 16:31 BSB
[31] Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is attained along the path of righteousness.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.16.31.BSB
Job 12:12 BSB
[12] Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/job.12.12.BSB
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🎵The Hospitality of Rest: Why the Sabbath Was Made for Us
Sometimes, a roadblock that changes our plans is exactly what it takes to slow us down for just long enough.
Today, my “Operation Cleanout” friend and I had big plans to build a new project. FedEx had dropped off my package a couple days ago, and it looked like it had been through a war zone. How is it that when your tracking shows your item is out for delivery, and then it gets delayed, it often shows up damaged? We didn’t know if the shelf would be as bad as the box, so we dug out all the heavy pieces. Sadly, even with lots of great packing materials to protect it, the mistreatment was more than it could survive. Our plans were instantly derailed.
(That kinda sounds like life, sometimes, doesn’t it? We think we’re all cushioned against the blows, and then reality hits.)
At first, I felt that familiar, heavy spike of aggravation. Broken momentum tends to undo all my other plans as well. Especially after calling Amazon and finding out that I had to deal directly with a seller in another country. But, as much as I dislike my plans being hijacked by circumstances beyond my control, I was actually more at peace because of having the presence of a good friend to share in the frustrations.
So, we started fellowshipping and talking about God and His Word and His precious promises to us. I noted her resilience to stand on The Word and not compromise what it directs her to do. In our conversation of why we do what we do, we talked about that tendency in modern Christianity to identify Friday-Saturday Sabbath as Jewish and Sunday as a “Christian Sabbath Day.” She doesn’t think that way herself, but I mentioned what I had learned in my Messianic Jewish studies about the fact that Sabbath existed before Moses or Abraham or Judaism. It was the 7th day of Creation!
Later in the day, that conversation came back to me. As the evening approached and the thoughts of this week’s Sabbath rolled in, a verse kept circling through my mind: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:27-28 BSB
[27] Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. [28] Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mrk.2.27-28.BSB
When we look at the creation story and read about that first Sabbath, we read that God rested on the seventh day. But I found myself asking tonight: If the Sabbath was made for man, why did God rest? He doesn’t get tired.
And then it hit me…
For the first six days of creation, God was working alone. He was building, shaping, separating light from dark, and speaking galaxies into existence. He was being the Supreme Creator and doing Supreme Creator things all by Himself—but not for Himself. At the end of the sixth day, He made us. The prophet Isaiah reminds us of these plans in God’s blueprints in Isaiah 45:18…
Isaiah 45:18 BSB
[18] For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens— He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.45.18.BSB
The seventh day wasn’t a pause because God ran out of energy or creative ideas. He took the time to pause because the home was completed and His family had finally arrived. He finished the work, turned the garden over to man, and then walked in the cool of the day with him.
Isaiah 40:28 BSB
[28] Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.40.28.BSB
The Sabbath was made for man because God wanted a designated time and space to fellowship with us. It’s not about religious observance and law keeping. It’s about spending time with God and making the time and space for God to spend time with us. It’s preparing a seat at the table, having a fulfilling meal, and then taking a walk together. And though God knew we would need a designated space to fill our wells for the week ahead, He made the Sabbath out of His deep, passionate desire to simply fellowship with us. Picture it like this: The Creator of the universe setting down His tools, turning around with a smile on His face, and saying, “Okay, I’m done working. Now, let’s spend some time together.”
While I collaborated with Gemini on this post, this beautiful statement came out of it:
“The entire multi-day cosmic construction project wasn’t an empty display of power. It was the intentional staging of a home, built specifically so He could move in and share with us.”
So for this Sabbath weekend, the battered box is still in the hallway, and the momentum for that project is still broken. But as I step into this day of rest, I can see my derailed plans as a gift. They slowed me down to talk of this deep subject with a sister in The Lord, and that came back as such a wonderful realization that my future Sabbath days will have a much deeper meaning than before.
If something in your life took a beating this week, and if your own plans got derailed, take a breath and take a break. God has invited us to take a walk in the garden with the One who made it. Let’s meet Him where He’s waiting for us. And as we’re walking, we can sing this wonderful old hymn with a new sweetness in our hearts and voices:
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🎭How The West Was Lost—Or, Pure As The Driven Smog (Part 3–Finale!)
And here we are for the grand finale wrap of my short tenure as a teen actress in LA. (Yes, the San Fernando Valley is still considered LA. Lol 😂)
Recap
- I started as a New York newspaper boy with my long hair tucked up into a beret and a bulky scarf to hide part of my feminine face.
- Costume change two put me in raggedy orphan clothes just after we’d been rescued by a kind-hearted benefactor.
- Costume change three was like the scene above where the Irish nanny was getting the three orphans ready for bed. She had gotten us into clean night clothes and allowed us to dance around singing about living the “Life of Riley” in the song When My Ship Comes In. (Full chorus on yesterday’s post.) And within this scene, she also sang the light-hearted song “I’m Only a Shoplifter’s Daughter” which went something like…
Shoplifter’s Daughter Turned Nanny
I'm only a shoplifter's daughter,
My mother was one of the best.
Sometimes the cops almost caught her,
But somehow she always seemed blest.
One day she lifted a sable,
And wore it right out of the store.
Since that day she has been able...
To not have to work anymore.
Hers was a fine occupation,
She wanted to teach me the trade.
But to my sweet ma's consternation (guessing on this line),
I never could quite make the grade.
I’m pretty happy with remembering (after 45+ years) all but one line in a song I didn’t even sing in the play. And I’m thankful the poet in me was able to create a line with similar syllables and a close rhyme. 😁
The Torch Song (Tears on My Pillow)
Now you may be wondering about the guy peeking through the door. He was the one the nanny had a crush on. Butler? Assistant? Barrister? I’m not sure. But he was totally not interested in her, so she sat down in the corner to sing a song of lament and cry a bit. Of course, we orphans had no clue about what it meant to crush on a guy, and we definitely didn’t know what a manipulative, guilt-inducing torch song was. But you’ll get it by the end of the lyrics.
Tears, tears on my pillow.
Each tear I shed for you.
With a heart that is burning...
With yearning desire.
But with tears like a rainstorm,
To put out the fire.
Some day when it's over,
I hope you'll know it's true.
When they tell you I died,
Please remember I cried...
All those tears on my pillow—
For you!
And on that last “you,” she noticed him in the door getting ready to burst in and repeated it until it came out a little bit angrier.
Mr Crush (I cannot remember his name or his character’s name) shouted that she had to get the kids dressed and packed because they thought they found our father or uncle or some family member we had to go see.
More Costume Changes
- Costume change four was back to the newspaper boy that opened the play in my first post. Only this time, I don’t recall what the headlines were. I think something about orphans finding a long-lost relative.
- Costume change five had me back in day clothes to go with my orphan sisters to find our lost relative.
- Costume change six was likely back to the newspaper boy again, but I’m not absolutely sure how many times I did the little herald. I’m sure it was mostly for the moments the actors needed to get new props and people onto the stage.
- Costume change seven was the final and most complete change. There was no going back to any other costumes because it required me to paint my hair black (my first time using colored hair spray) and slather any visible skin with reddish-brown pancake makeup. This transformed me into an old Indian woman. (I don’t ever recall the word indigenous back in those days.)
And this brought me to my final line in the play…
“Ugh, come, we go. Old man sick. Not long he go Happy Hunting Ground.”
I don’t remember who the old man was other than him being someone who knew who the orphans really belonged to. They may have been children of someone related to the rich and fancy Astorbilts, or maybe to deceased parents who weren’t part of any fancy family.
But I’m pretty sure that the whole play ended on a bunch of happy notes, like the children moving to the mansion because their ship did come in. Maybe Mabel got the guy the nanny liked, and the nanny figured out someone else was interested in her.
Cue Exit Lighting
My age and lack of experience, or maybe being so busy with my own parts in the play, meant I didn’t actually get to watch the play, so the ending I remember best was coming out on stage with the whole cast and doing a group bow to the audience.
We repeated that whole experience multiple times. Maybe once a week or maybe more, and I think for 8-12 weeks. It was definitely more fun at the beginning than at the end when the newness wore off and the crowds got too small. I vaguely recall hearing that Jim and Teddy were trying to sell the entire showcase, actors and all, to an investor, but that was way, way above my head then.
It never got picked up, and soon all the actors found new stages and movies. Me, I enrolled in a trade school to become an administrative assistant (because the school told me I could be “more than a secretary”), and I stayed there until I got a chance to travel with a company selling an all-purpose cleaner called Show Off. That’s a whole adventure for another day, though.
No More Acting
The experience taught me that acting is hard work far beyond memorizing lines in a script. And it taught me that actors behind the scenes like to self-medicate—or at least the young ones in this production. I tried very hard to stay away from the temptations, and they tried everything to get me to give in, including trapping me between two people in a sealed up car while they smoked and tried to give me a “contact high.”
I didn’t let myself get in that type of precarious position again, and it wasn’t right to try so hard to assuage their own guilt by not letting my no be no. But we were all young, and that’s just part of the experience of learning boundaries. I’ve prayed for all of them even without remembering most of their names. And I’m thankful that the glitz and glamour I thought was acting was not everything I imagined, so I was free to go the directions God picked out for me in this life.
If you aren’t sure where your steps should go, please consider allowing The Lord to guide your steps according to His good plans for you. I can tell you from experience, God’s way IS the High Way!
Proverbs 16:9 BSB
[9] A man’s heart plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.16.9.BSB
Psalm 37:23 BSB
[23] The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord who takes delight in his journey.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.37.23.BSB
Jeremiah 10:23 BSB
[23] I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jer.10.23.BSB
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America, Bless God!
First, Happy Semiquincentennial (250 years) Birthday, America! 🎂🗽🇺🇸 I’m grateful for this nation that so many flock to because they know there is hope here they may not find in their home countries. It’s up to us to teach them the skills to work for those freedoms, starting with lawfully abiding by the plans we’ve put in place to bring in immigrants and keep out our enemies. We sure don’t want to bring thieves into our own homes and businesses to make it easier for them to case the joint, right?
By the way, that cross in front of the 250 on the cake was unintentional, but I left it there because it seemed right for this post. In the image prompt, I was trying to get 250 candles and sparklers, so I put a “+” sign in front of the 250 to show importance. Wombo turned it into a cross. How cool is that, right?
The Freedom to Bless God
So, what exactly is freedom? Is it getting to make all our own decisions, not answering to anyone above us, and never having any responsibilities? Is it always having everything go our way? Is it a land with no laws that cause someone to feel less than welcome no matter what evil intentions they may be hiding in their hearts?
Or is it a place where we have the freedom to do the right things, and we get to harvest the results of our hard work without someone who thinks of themselves as better than us taking it away just because they can? Even if it’s done under the guise of charity, if we can’t keep what we’ve worked for and choose where to share our abundance, we are missing the true American dream—the dream where we work hard and gain an abundance that we want to share with others.
An Entertaining Example
Even though it’s a Christmas movie (though Christmas in July is a thing now), one of my top movies is “The Ultimate Gift.” It stars James Garner, Drew Fuller (before his 6 seasons on “Army Wives”), and Abigail Breslin in roles that perfectly demonstrate the blessings of hard work and heartfelt obedience out of love. I highly recommend it, and if you’ve got Amazon Prime, it’s there for free. Also, I found it on YouTube with ads. But in case you want to see a preview before you decide, here’s one that’s less than 3 minutes:
Where is the Blessing?
Most of us have likely heard the adage it’s more blessed to give than to receive. That spirit has driven some of the finest moments in the US as a nation. The moments when someone sacrifices for the benefit of someone else even with the risk it may cost them everything. It’s the drive that makes a soldier keep fighting, a woman in labor keep pushing, and a tired parent keep striving to bring a better life to their family. It’s a mix of hope and resilience with a finish line calling out, “Don’t give up!” These people give even before they have a promise of payback much like the biblical patriarchs in Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11:13, 16, 38-39 BSB
[13] All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
[16] Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
[38] The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.
[39] These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.11.13-39.BSB
The whole faith chapter:
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.11.1-40.BSB
But there is a promise out there. The soldier often survives and makes it back home to a loving welcome and a family. The mother gets to hold her new baby in her arms. The striving parent is able to get a home for their family, or at least a nightly meal on the table. And usually, someone says thanks to them, and it makes all the sacrifices worth it.
Don’t Give Up!
We have a loving Father and Creator who has built a world for us. It’s a place where the law of the harvest allows us to plant exactly what we want to grow. If we care for the plant according to its needs, we will reap a harvest if we’re patient. And all He wants is a thank you and to not be forgotten when things are going well.
Galatians 6:9 BSB
[9] Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/gal.6.9.BSB
An Attitude of Gratitude
In the USA, we have freedoms and blessings now that were just hopes and dreams of our founding fathers. They knew back then that true abundance came by the provision of our Lord and Creator. And beyond the harvests in this life, we have the same great and precious promises our biblical forefathers had. Some happen here, and some come with eternity. All are gifts from God that are worthy of our thankfulness to Him.
People have a choice to be grateful even when things don’t go their way. They can endure the hard things and keep pressing toward the goals they desire, and they can be both satisfied and hopeful at the same time. They can ask God to bless America and still thank Him for the abilities to do the hard work to bring in an abundant harvest. Even more, we can thank Him for the ultimate blessing of His presence through all the moments of this life—good and bad.
Or, people also have a choice to become petulant and ungrateful with a perpetual demand for entitlement—throwing tantrums and filing lawsuits for every minor offense or discomfort. They can demand that God bless them (and maybe America), and all the pet projects they deem worthy of His blessings.
Which do you think will bring people the most genuine happiness? The demand for a blessing? Or the grateful heart that blesses God first and gives more than it receives. I vote for the latter, so I say,…
“America, bless God!”
Note: I’m grateful for a bit of collaboration with Gemini catching a couple issues where the flow went a different direction.
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🎵A Heavyweight Dilemma
Many children shout, “I can do it!” as they struggle with a new task. At the same time, parents wrestle with when to step in and when to let them try—even if it means a painful lesson. But just like physical training, learning to lift beyond what is easy means building new muscle and new strength.
The Heavyweight Path of Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts, the 1700s preacher and songwriter dubbed the “Father of English Hymnody,” wrote over 600 hymns, including the one that helped convert Fannie J Crosby. (Alas and Did My Savior Bleed.) But he didn’t reach those heights on a lightweight path.
A gifted writer and linguist from a young age, Watts learned Latin at four, Greek at nine, and Hebrew at thirteen. At only seven years old—the same age I wrote my first song—he wrote an acrostic poem using the letters in his given name:
I am a vile polluted lump of earth
So I've continued ever since my birth
Although Jehovah grace does give me
As sure this monster Satan will deceive me
Come, therefore, Lord, from Satan's claws relieve me.
This early intellectual and spiritual discipline strengthened him for the trials ahead. As a “dissenter” against the Anglican Church in London, Watts faced a lot of opposition. In those days, church worship only allowed the literal singing of Psalms or other Scriptures. Writing songs outside of accepted Scripture made him a target.
But Isaac stayed resilient for most of his life, having learned to fight these spiritual attacks from his parents, who were also dissenters. Yet, in his final years, the attacks seemed to wear him down, leading to an early retirement.
Perhaps spiritual muscles mirror physical ones. Decades of fighting can cause fatigue. Or maybe, as times changed and non-Anglican beliefs became more widely accepted, life grew easier. With fewer attacks, he could lower his guard; and that may have allowed some weakening in his spirit.
The Cost of Lowered Expectations
My husband and I talked about this recently after he shared Watts’ story with me from Robert J. Morgan’s Then Sings My Soul book.
When we first met over 30 years ago, his young nephews were living in harsh conditions. While removing them from those conditions was good, the state’s foster and group home system placements ultimately hindered rather than helped them. Like the strongman in the image above, the system tried to “help” by removing all the weights. They followed that by taking away their self-control with medication and a counseling narrative that drilled into them how they were victims.
By removing the weights, the state stopped their life-muscle building process. The toll of that deficit remains visible in their lives to this day.
State agencies often view themselves as virtuous for saving all of these kids from their hard lives. But we believe it would be far better for them to act like spotters—making sure the weight doesn’t cause injury—rather than superheros who take the weights away entirely.
Consider one of our nephews: he was placed in a remedial reading class with lowered standards and materials. It quickly became a place for the kids to just goof off. During the four years we had custody, we removed him from that school for a single semester. I tutored him myself, and in just that one semester, he advanced four grade levels in both reading and math. Dumbing things down and lowering expectations does more harm than good.
Raising the Bar(bell) for the Next Generation
This brings me to my final point: young people are capable of growing up far earlier than we allow them to. If we expect less and hold them to low standards, that is what we will get.
Biologically, their bodies are proving they are entering adulthood; that they are old enough to become parents themselves. Yet we trap them in a frustrating limbo of zero responsibility and zero freedom. Instead, we should acknowledge their transition to adulthood—like a Bar or Bat Mitzvah—and let them lift the weights that come with it, staying close by to spot them in case they stumble. Given the chance, I believe they will prove themselves far more often than they will fail.
The real dilemma is getting the agencies in charge to finally get on board.
Revisit the Legacy of Isaac Watts
Here are a few of his amazing hymns you might recognize.
And if you’d like a solid 25 minutes of songs by this same YouTube channel (Old Hymns and Lyrics) watch the full collection here.
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Prompt Response: You Make the Lemonade
What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?
Sometimes, I think people have the idea that getting lemonade from the lemons in life simply means looking for the good in the bad. That’s my specialty. I’m often very good at finding even a thread of hope or promise within a terrible situation.
But what if it’s more than just looking for the thread? What if we learn from a young age to actually be the one responsible for adding just the right amount of sweetness to turn a sour moment into something more palatable to help us survive it. And maybe more than survive it, thrive from it because just sugar or honey in a glass by itself isn’t refreshing at all.
So learn your tastes. Figure out which sweetener is the best to your many tastebuds. Maybe you prefer honey or agave, or you need a sugar-free additive like Stevia leaf. Maybe you’ve even learned that the juice of one orange to about 5 lemons makes a lovely mix of flavor and color in a tall glass of summer refreshment.
In life, even if you’ve grown up as a survivor from a dysfunctional home, you cannot see the future and exactly which lemons might come your way. So get a recipe ready for dealing with the bumps and potholes no matter what they are. The first part of the recipe will always be looking for the golden thread of hope or peace to hang onto until you can get to the sugar jar. And I believe the strongest golden thread is the voice of our Creator as He speaks to us from His Word.
Take Romans 8:28 for instance…
Romans 8:28 BSB
[28] And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/rom.8.28.BSB
Notice it doesn’t say all things (or all lemons) are good, nor does it say we should just give up and wait for them to turn good. It says they will work together for the good. And here’s an interesting factoid: the Greek word used for “work together” in the verse is synergeo—where we get our word “synergy.” That implies partnership, cooperation, and an active blending of ingredients.
And remember this: you are not alone. Whether you are young or carry a bit more experience, your Master Creator is already in the kitchen with you ready to help you with your lemonade mixture. He will provide the ingredients for the golden thread and the sweetness, just like He provides oranges and sugar cane for real food and beverage recipes.
King David learned this, and even though he dealt with many bitter things in life, he ultimately proclaimed:
Psalm 34:8 BSB
[8] Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.34.8.BSB
And later in this same chapter...
Psalm 34:19 BSB
[19] Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.34.19.BSB
Note: Compliments to Google Gemini as my collaborator and for giving me the info on the Greek in Romans 8:28. It fit perfectly with the direction for this post.
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🎵Looking for Love—And a Father
In my last post, I shared the beautiful memory of my birth father—the man who tattooed my name on his arm as a mark of his love for me. But human stories are rarely simple. Sometime shortly after my fifth birthday, he was gone. And a little girl was left wondering: Why did he leave? What did I do wrong?
When your hero leaves, that important space is left empty. A lifelong search begins looking to replace everything that’s missing. Love; a father; protection; a new hero. If you don’t know what a father’s protective love actually looks like, you start looking for it everywhere and in everything.
In the years that followed, my mom made great efforts to replace what my little sister and I were missing. Men came and men went, many who tried to play “Daddy.” While some of them worked hard to live up to the name in their own fractured ways, darkness, addiction, and brokenness sometimes invaded those dynamics. Instead of finding safety, boundaries were broken that love should never have crossed.
When the very people who are supposed to protect you become the source of your wounds, the marks left behind may be invisible from the outside, but they are there nonetheless. These are not marks of love like a tattoo; they are stains of shame you feel the whole world can see on you. And those marks breed a quiet, devastating conclusion: If earthly fathers brought pain and abandonment, how could I ever trust an unseen Heavenly one to love me and stay in my life?
The “Foster Child” Mentality
By the time I was a teenager, I was looking for love—and a father—in all the wrong places, learning all too well how to live with a victim mentality. But God is a master of rescue. Years later, after I began walking with Him, He began the work of healing those old, deep wounds. Eventually, I was even able to find a place of reconciliation and peace with those in my past who had hurt me.
Yet, as wonderful as the healing was, a quiet barrier remained around my heart. Not having a solid and safe father figure while growing up left me entirely unequipped to comprehend God as a “Father,” especially as my Father.
I read the Scriptures about the “Spirit of Adoption” bringing us into God’s family, but in my heart, I still felt like an outsider. To me, God felt like the world’s best, safest “foster parent.” I knew He cared for me, but how could I accept Him as a true Father when I didn’t even know what that word meant? I wanted to be a real child of God, not just someone pulling up an awkward chair at a mixed family table.
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🎵 Daddy Can Never Forget Me
Yes, that’s my name. No, that’s not my dad. Lol 🤣 I looked everywhere for the old photo I had of my dad with a small group of soldiers in Vietnam, but I couldn’t find it. So, I decided to have Wombo recreate it for me. My dad did have my name tattooed on his arm since I was his firstborn, and years later, that ink inspired a song.
While I can’t find the exact words for the song right now—I have a feeling it’s only on paper in one of my many notebooks— I still remember the heart of it. It’s about how no matter how far away my dad went, even getting married and having other children, that tattoo meant he could never totally forget me. Even if he’d had the tattoo removed, the remaining scar would always remind him of the name that used to be there.
There’s a beautiful Scripture about God’s hands where the exact same rule applies. I’ve used bold and italics to highlight the part of the verse I’m referring to.
Isaiah 49:15-16 BSB
[15] “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!
[16] Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.49.15-16.BSB
As my song continues, I mention how God also has a tattoo right in the palm of His hand, and that, just like my daddy, Jesus can never forget me. Years ago, when my dad read those lyrics when he was running from The Lord, he told me it brought him to tears.
Dear reader, maybe you are like so many this Father’s Day (including me) where your human father has left this Earth. This year, I’m without my birth father and my stepfather, and others (like a grandfather) who were fatherly toward me.
But that is because this life is temporary. It will always lack the things that would make life “perfect,” but it will never lack The most Perfect Savior and Friend we could ever have. That Perfect Savior let nails pierce right through where our names are written, shedding His perfect blood for us. And because of those scars, He can never forget us.
Here is a beautiful chain of promises from the Scriptures reminding us of that truth—from The Torah, through the Psalms, to the words of YahShua, and into the epistles:
Deuteronomy 31:6 BSB
[6] Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/deu.31.6.BSB
Psalm 37:25 BSB
[25] I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.37.25.BSB
Matthew 28:20 BSB
[20] and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.28.20.BSB
Hebrews 13:5 BSB
[5] Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.13.5.BSB
I’ll wrap this up with two beautiful songs I found. The first is directly inspired by Isaiah 49:16, titled “Engraved on Your Hands.” It features gorgeous video scenes, rich lyrics, and beautiful moments sung in Hebrew (with both Hebrew and English subtitles).
This second one has amazingly moving lyrics paired with beautiful beach imagery. (It may be AI generated, as I couldn’t locate specific vocalist info, but the message is timeless):
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Sealed for Your Protection
U.S. Government, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
(edited to 3D using Wombo Dream AI, Gradient/Text added in Photo Studio Pro)
My patriotic self saw the special day from 1782 (The US adopted The Great Seal on June 20th, 1782) and had to make it the focus of tonight’s blog. The original image is public domain, so creating derivatives is okay. And I love the 3D detail I got from Wombo. You can download your own image from Wikimedia Commons at the link in the photo caption.
Seals have so much more meaning than just an image. First, there’s the wonderfully creative-sounding word sigillography. That’s the study of seals (not the critters that look like sea lions, live in the ocean, and dine on penguins in the Antarctic), and a student of seals is called a sigillographer. And you can hear the word pronounced at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2H8xoFnI6LE
If you want to know some interesting history of seals, check Wikipedia, and The National Archives has a huge collection of them if you’re curious.
But the best thing about seals is what they represent. They mark authority and ownership, they prove authenticity, and they offer protection. This even works in our walk with The Lord who seals us by His Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13 BSB
[13] And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth — the gospel of your salvation — you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
https://bible.com/bible/3034/eph.1.13.BSB
Ephesians 4:30 BSB
[30] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/eph.4.30.BSB
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 BSB
[21] Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us, [22] placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/2co.1.21-22.BSB
Many years ago, I heard a great song (and the story behind it) by singer/songwriter Nancy Grandquist. Pill bottles in stores were in the early years of getting safety seals (after the infamous Tylenol poisonings of 1982) and manufacturers printed “Sealed for Your Protection” right on those stuck-on covers. She read that on a bottle and immediately thought of how Christians are sealed by God for our protection. I had the song on cassette (yes, a long time ago 😁) and I could only find one source with an incomplete song. But a few of the lyrics say…
“If the seal is in place, then you know that you’re safe, and no harm is gonna come to you.” And then the chorus says, “Sealed for your protection …. nothin’ can break through the shield of faith around you.” You are welcome to listen to what I found on YouTube, though it’s not complete and a little hard to understand from the cassette the channel used. Still, it’s a lively tune with a great message.
As I looked for the song, I found a video saying Nancy passed away in the last year, but she really put out a lot of songs. Her own YouTube page is at https://youtube.com/@nanfam?si=g0_II54bxeNoKJHa
On a personal note, I no longer attend the type of church she ministered in (United Pentecostal Church), but I will never be sorry for the changes in my life as a result of the strong doctrine that took me completely away from living for worldly pleasures and brought me to a decision for Christ. It’s nearly impossible to sit on the fence in that type of religion, and I’m still thankful that my life totally changed direction back in July of 1983.
I’m still sealed by Yahveh Almighty for a future He determines and leads me in. I am part of the blood-bought, blood-washed bride of Christ, and I only hope that what I share in these posts will help people to either walk closer to The Lord or turn to Him if they’re walking their own way now. He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and He will seal you as one of His own if you’ll trust Him and ask. Let me know if you have any questions about making a choice to serve Him.
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🎵Prompt Response: Happiness vs Joy
What’s a common misconception people have about happiness?
There are many common misconceptions about happiness, but I think the biggest one is that it means the same thing as joy.
Happiness is an emotion. It is something we can choose to receive or to reject. It fully belongs to us to do with as we wish. And because human emotions are not always steady, it means that happiness will ebb and flow like an ocean tide. It’s mostly based on our current experiences, but for those who are good at making lemonade from life’s lemons, it can show up despite sour events in life.
I’m not saying that happiness is not a gift, though; it is a wonderful gift that often fills us up with what we need to sustain us in unhappy times. But it’s not joy. That is something that comes from only one source—God Himself. Because joy is a fruit of The Holy Spirit, it means it belongs to Yahveh, and it’s in His control. And just like The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever; joy is always the same and not dependent on circumstances.
See, we really need both of these in this life. We don’t deserve happiness (that’s another message all together), but we need it for balance. It will give us strength and hope to keep us looking for that next happy day and help us to not be so willing to give up because we know what we’d miss.
Sometimes, though, it’s really not easy to feel happiness. Even those with 24/7 lemonade stands sometimes struggle to be happy in the face of hard events or times. If they are followers of YahShua, though, this is where they can lean into joy. Because His Spirit is inside them to sustain them at all times, they can tap into that deep joy (along with the other fruit like love, peace, mercy, etc.) and make it through the hard times with strength to carry them to the next moment of happiness. They can trade temporary smiles of happiness for permanent hearts filled with God’s joy.
Nehemiah 8:10 BSB
[10] Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/neh.8.10.BSB
Now, for a moment of happiness, look at these adorable pictures from Wombo using the knitting filter.
And when you get the joy, joy, joy down in your heart, you’ll find that the joy of The Lord is your strength.
And while I thought I was almost done with this post, I have to append this note: I was looking for the old Sunday School chorus about the joy of The Lord when I came across the song above. I liked it right away, but before sharing it here, I wanted to research the spiritual foundations of the band. It turns out, they wrote this song specifically for a time of grief in the band when they needed the joy of The Lord to comfort them in unhappy times. (Shout out to Gemini for this important historical note.) That makes me feel like finding this song after everything I wrote before I even looked for it is not just happenstance or coincidence.
And here’s the one I was originally going to share.
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Same but Different
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
If you’ve known me for any time at all, you know I have a real thing for butterflies. A lot of my text and Messenger signatures have butterflies in them, and my uncle once asked me why I added it.
Many years ago, I was a member of a group called Ala-Teen. It’s where I first encountered the 12 Steps. They are a path of realization and healing that can help anyone. I believe my time studying and applying the steps in my own life set me up with a better attitude for understanding deeper biblical principles when I began walking with The Lord. Though the 12 Steps I’ve linked to, are related to alcohol, they’ve been adjusted on several platforms to line up with healing goals. Like, “We admitted we were powerless over gambling,” or “drugs” instead of “alcohol.” They can be applied as needed because the principles work for all of us made in the image of Our Creator—that is; having a body, a soul, and a spirit.
There’s even a great set of 12 steps for Bible believers that say, “We admitted we were powerless over our sin—That our lives had become unmanageable.” That one, and the other 11, are in a book called A Hunger for Healing by J Keith Miller. It’s on Kindle (including Kindle Unlimited at the time of this writing), but I also recommend the workbook which is better in print format. (Used affiliate links for tracking purposes.) Step 1 in this book and study are based on Paul’s words in Romans 7:15-20…
Romans 7:15-20 WEBUS
[15] For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do.
[16] But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good.
[17] So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
[18] For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.
[19] For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.
[20] But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
https://bible.com/bible/206/rom.7.15-20.WEBUS
I separated the verses to make them easier to understand, but here I also want to share this in “The Message Bible” because it reads more like you would expect someone nowadays to speak to you.
Romans 7:14-20 MSG
[14-16] I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.
[17-20] But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
https://bible.com/bible/97/rom.7.14-20.MSG
Anyway, somewhere in all of my 12-step discoveries, I was introduced to the concept of metamorphosis as represented by the change a caterpillar makes when it turns into a butterfly. It is literally the same “bug” it was born as, but after the struggle and change, it’s a more beautiful version of that bug.
Knowing that all of us who have been created by God are essentially the same in our most basic ways, and knowing we are all (as King David points out) “born in sin and shaped in iniquity,” means a few things. It means we all need to go through a change (metamorphosis) to become our best; it means we are all able to change; and it means that God loves each of us enough to offer us His mercy and grace before the change along with the love and strength we need to become new rather than staying trapped in our old selves.
So my butterflies mean, change is possible! And for me, they mean change has happened in beautiful ways. The saying goes something like, “I know I’m not yet what I want to be, but I thank God I’m no longer what I used to be.” 🦋
And if you’re interested in an outline of all 12 steps as applied biblically and with a bit more detail, you can visit the Uncuffed Ministries site for what they call “The 12 Steps of Christian Discipleship.”
This next image should bring home what I’m saying. I used exactly the same prompts but a different filter. It’s the same, but yet it’s different. I don’t know how many different filters God used during creation, but I know that He is the common denominator. And HE (His Spirit) is also the filter by which we can change our entire lives into something better and more beautiful. He knows us as we are, He laid down His life for us while we were yet sinners, and He is ready to help us to experience the change that will allow us to rise up to walk in the newness of life.
Just for your information, here are the 12 Steps as applied to sin aka the 12 Steps for Overcomers…
1. **Step 1** – We admitted we were powerless over sin—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. **Step 2** – Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. **Step 3** – Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. **Step 4** – Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. **Step 5** – Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. **Step 6** – Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. **Step 7** – Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. **Step 8** – Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. **Step 9** – Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. **Step 10** – Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. **Step 11** – Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. **Step 12** – Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
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🎵A Very Big Tree
I’m keeping this shorter tonight.
I was thinking about the conversation Eve had with the serpent in the garden. Here’s the beginning of it from Genesis 3:1:
Genesis 3:1 KJV
[1] Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
https://bible.com/bible/1/gen.3.1.KJV
Do you see the anxiety-inducing, manipulative question in that statement? “…Ye shall not eat of EVERY tree of the garden?” (My emphasis here.) In many translations, the word “every” is replaced by “any” which still shows the manipulation, but I think every reveals the hidden agenda a little better. Basically, the enemy made ONE tree bigger than ALL the trees of the garden. One tree that God forbade to protect their innocence became more desirable than who knows how many others with wonderful and sweet fruit available to them 24/7.
That manipulation still goes on today, and sometimes even using words from The Holy Bible. Someone will use the word “slave” as an excuse to avoid God and His words, even though far more of them are filled with mercy and grace. A Christian battling with performance or perfection issues will find a verse like “Be ye perfect” larger than “My grace is sufficient.”
So, I just want to remind you today that the garden was bigger than one tree. And God’s plans for salvation are bigger than any man-made set of do’s and don’ts that demand our adherence to earn God’s love. When you encounter anxiety from the written word, ask God to show you through His Holy Spirit how to understand it and correctly apply it to your own life. It will be His pleasure to let you know because it’s His desire for you to spend your eternity with Him.
2 Peter 3:9 BSB
[9] The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/2pe.3.9.BSB
And if you travel while on this Earth and if those travels take you out Arizona way like they did me in May of 2010, stop and see the World’s Largest Rose Tree and museum in Tombstone, Arizona. I wish my pictures were better at showing how magnificent it is, but the images and video on the website should.
And now, since we’re talking about roses, sing along with this beautiful bluegrass version of “Where the Roses Never Fade.”
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🎵 The Upside-down Mountain of Blessings; Part 3
The dark clouds roll in with a thunderous crackle, and a howling wind blows blinding sheets of rain against the neighborhood. A flash flood violently surges over the riverbanks, ripping up trees and slamming directly into two houses. From a distance, the two structures look identical. But as the mud rushes over the foundations, their differences become obvious. One house stands completely unmoved against the torrent, while the other one collapses into a catastrophic heap of crushed bricks and broken wood. This is the closing cinematic scene of YahShua’s famous sermon.
After dismantling four millennia of religious chaos and bringing the focus back to its original purpose—grace—He ends with a sharp warning about an unavoidable storm. He forces us to look past the outward appearance of our lives and look directly at what is underneath them. Without explicitly asking Himself, He poses the question: What is your foundation?
Matthew 7:24-27 BSB
[24] Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
[26] But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. [27] The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell— and great was its collapse!”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.7.24-27.BSB
So I ask you, dear reader, what is your foundation? Are you trusting in The Lord and built on a rock-solid foundation that is backed up in Scripture? Have you tested the beliefs that frame your spiritual life against the words of The Carpenter?
And if you’ve ever wondered what a house (and rock) made of knitted yarn looks like, check out this cute image…
I loved working on this study with Gemini because it brought up some focal points I may have missed if I’d spent the hours required to search all the sources the AI has access to. One great point was this: The wise builder didn’t build a house to earn the rock; he built on the rock because he trusted its strength. At least it’s a great point to someone who has spent many days and hours trying to perform flawlessly enough to keep the Rock in my life rather than causing Him to give up on me.
I also liked the notes on comparing our walk with Christ to a phone that needs to be charged. A phone doesn’t earn its power by working, it sits passively on a charger to receive power. But it receives power *so that* it can go out and run its apps. Good behavior and holy living are not a currency we pay to get God to love us—they are the natural fruit of a life that has finally let God and His love be the source of power.
Stopping the Grace vs Works Pendulum
We don’t obey God to convince Him we are worthy of His love; we obey Him because we have finally allowed Him to fully love us. His way. Based on His worthiness—poured out in blood at Calvary. We obey because, like a glass submitting to a vessel that’s pouring water into it, we trust Him to fill us up. Good behavior and obedience, including letting God serve us in healings and other blessings, is the fruit of that trust.
The balance of both grace and good works—with grace setting us free from struggling for a paycheck attached to our workload—stops the pendulum. Once we’re free from being servants of sin, we become like children who want to please our holy Father because we love and trust Him. We’re no longer swinging from one extreme to the other trying to figure out which lessons to follow to become perfect or shunning works all together as if they are a type of bondage.
Now, we’re praising God from the top of the upside-down mountain of blessings, and from the valley below. We realize blessings are His gifts of love toward us rather than rewards for our perfection. He pours out gifts because He wants to. No more begging; just receiving, trusting, and loving in all kinds of weather.
As we wrap up this journey on the Upside-Down Mountain of Blessings, look at your own spiritual foundation today. Are you still trying to climb the old mountains of performance, or are you ready to build on the Rock of Christ’s finished work? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below: Which part of this upside-down message speaks most deeply to where you are at in your faith journey right now?
Read Part 1 at: https://crystal-writes.com/2026/06/07/upside-down1/
Read Part 2 at: https://crystal-writes.com/2026/06/08/upside-down2/
And now, enjoy an old childhood favorite about the wise man and the foolish man…
And I’ll finish this in style with the beautiful song “God on the Mountain” by Lynda Randle…
Note: Parts of this study (and a few of the words) were assisted by Google Gemini, alongside website studies at Bible Hub and Got Questions, but I’ve edited and personalized all of it before publishing.
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The Upside-down Mountain of Blessings; Part 2
Picture a candle-lit upper room at dusk on the night before the crucifixion. The air is heavy with tension, and the disciples are doing what human beings always do when they are insecure: arguing about who among them is the greatest and therefore deserves the seat of honor nearest the Messiah.
Suddenly, the room falls dead silent. Everyone turns toward the front of the table where YahShua has pushed aside His plate of bread and the cups of covenant He had just taught about.
Silently, The Rabbi stands up and ties a towel around His waist. The others watch as He pours water into a basin and lowers it to the floor. He kneels before the first disciple to wash his dirty, dust-covered feet. And then He washes the feet of the next one, and the next. These are moments of profound beauty—and total theological panic. The stunned disciples submit to their Master, but it all feels upside-down to them.
When YahShua gets to Peter, the tough fisherman recoils in flat-out refusal. Even though YahShua had just stated He was there to serve them, Peter’s religious training told him that followers serve the Master, not the other way around.
“But it’s me who should be washing Your feet,” Peter exclaims!
YahShua looks up at Peter from the floor. In a loving moment of warning, He reminds him that without submitting to Him as a servant, Peter will have no part with Him.
Now Peter swings the pendulum the other way requesting for his Master to wash him head to toe. It’s a beautiful way for Peter to state that he is sold out to The Messiah and is fully committed to His ministry. We know that commitment will be tested within the next couple days, and Peter will fail, but it won’t be the end of his ministry.
YahShua has seen the future denials, but He has also seen the future. In Mark 16:7, He sends an angel to specifically include him: “go tell the disciples and Peter” to meet Him in Galilee.
Mark 16:7 BSB
[7] But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.’”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mrk.16.7.BSB
This story of deep messages and lessons across the dinner table is shared in all four gospels, though not all parts are in each rendition. Still, for quick reference to read these yourself, check out these links at Bible Hub where you can read a variety of Bible translations and even put them in parallel.
Matthew 26... https://biblehub.com/bsb/matthew/26.htm
Mark 14... https://biblehub.com/bsb/mark/14.htm
Luke 22... https://biblehub.com/bsb/luke/22.htm
John 13... https://biblehub.com/bsb/john/13.htm
My introduction to this upside-down view of YahShua came during a recent Bible study in the YouVersion app. It’s called “Daily Encouragement,” and it’s a year-long study of 366 devotions written by a lifelong missionary. On Day 207, the devotion covers the verse in Mark 10:45 (“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”) Then he gives a quote from Bible teacher P.T. Forsyth that really got to me:
“Christ came not to be ministered to but to minister, and our first duty therefore is to be ministered to by him.”
From Peter’s experience and this quote, I’m trying to look at how letting Christ serve me is an act of obedience.
In the devotion, the missionary mentions some of the words to describe God like Comforter, Shepherd, Helper, Keeper, High Priest, Husband, and Father. All of these words show actions in service to us. If we ask Him for comfort, and then we actually let Him comfort us, we are submitting to His service toward us. The same when we ask Him to save us, deliver us, or heal us.
Going back to yesterday’s thoughts in Part 1, it’s not about being the perfect performer to earn His blessings. The upside-down reality is that while He is the Master, submission and obedience to Him means receiving what He offers us.
If you are a follower of Christ, you took that first step of obedience by submitting to the mercy and grace found in His blood, allowing Him to wash your sins away just as He washed Peter’s feet. It didn’t elevate you above your Master or make you perfect any more than it did Peter, but it did prove that obedience given out of trust and love is the very definition of redemption.
That submission to salvation is the first step of many. But if you’re like me, your next steps took all the responsibility onto your own shoulders as you struggled to please The Lord (and maybe a few preachers) with flawless performance. You forgot—or maybe weren’t taught—you had stepped into a submission of receiving from The King of Kings Himself, the One who declared Himself your servant.
True Christian obedience doesn’t begin with a checklist of things we do for God; it begins with the vulnerability of opening our hands and letting YahShua (Jesus) minister to us through His salvation, healing, and comfort. Asking, seeking, and knocking (Matthew 7;7) isn’t an act of begging a distant deity—it is the posture of a child receiving from a good Father.
But here is where the pendulum usually swings to the opposite extreme. If the Christian life is entirely about passively receiving the grace and service of Christ, does that mean our actual behavior doesn’t matter? Can we just claim mercy and live however we want?
In Part 3, we are going to look at how to stop the pendulum from swinging between legalism and laziness, and discover what it truly means to build a life on the only Rock that stands firm when the storms hit.
Note: Parts of this study (and a few of the words) were assisted by Google Gemini, alongside website studies at Bible Hub and Got Questions, but I’ve edited and personalized all of it before publishing.
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🎵Upside-down Mountain of Blessings; Part 1
Imagine standing in the desert heat in the Shechem Valley of ancient Israel. You’re listening to the voices of the nation’s tribal leaders shout across two steep cliffs. From one lush green peak, Mount Gerizim, you hear shouts of blessing after blessing poured over the crowds. The shouts promise things like wealth, rain, and victory. And then, from the barren ridge of Mount Ebal, terrifying declarations of curse after curse ring out, warning of catastrophic dangers like poverty, hunger, and exile. This was the environment of the “valley of decision”—the place where God asked for a commitment of loyalty from His people. In Deuteronomy 30:19-20 it says,
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 BSB
[19] I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, [20] and that you may love the Lord your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/deu.30.19-20.BSB
For centuries, this was the landscape of ancient Judaism—a clear-cut line where your physical state (blessing or curse on wealth, health, and safety) was your spiritual “report card.” Originally, it had a beautiful purpose in driving loyalty to The Creator and away from the many false gods of the surrounding nations.
But even good things can become co-opted by human misunderstanding until they no longer resemble their original purpose. Over time, religion began to use those “report cards” as excuses to elevate or destroy people based on how they determined God must be judging them. (Think of Job’s “friends.”) If you were successful, you were deemed blessed, and if not, you were deemed cursed.
Suddenly, instead of “one people” gratefully serving the One Lord who delivered them from the bondage and slavery of Egypt, religion devolved into a caste society of judgmental haves lording themselves over the have-nots. It didn’t help people’s hearts grow closer to Yahveh at all. In fact, His heart broke for every person driven away from Him by those whose service to Him was shallow and purely on the surface.
But fast-forward to a different hill in Galilee. Here, a radical new Teacher sits down with the crowd. He looks far beyond the external “report cards” and instead looks deep into the eyes of the poor, the grieving, and the socially rejected. Even if they only came for a free meal or healing, he doesn’t shout at them from a mountain of curses.
Instead, He catches everyone completely by surprise. He looks right at the broken and says, “Blessed are you.”
Welcome to the Upside-Down Mountain of Blessings, where YahShua (Jesus) rewrites everything we thought we knew about the favor of God.
When we talk about this event, we call it The Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew, and The Sermon on the Plain in the book of Luke. On the mountain, YahShua mirrors Moses going up the mountain to receive the laws of God, bringing tried-and-true instructions for Kingdom living to His disciples. On the plain, He acts more like Joshua delivering those historic blessings and curses—except He turns them totally upside-down.
We call them “The Beatitudes” (from the Latin word beatus meaning “blessed” or “happy”) and “The Woes.” Notice how the traditional “report card” gets completely flipped. Here’s the account from Luke 6…
Luke 6:20-26 BSB
[20] Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
[21] Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
[22] Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. [23] Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[24] But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
[25] Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
[26] Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/luk.6.20-26.BSB
(You can also read Matthew's account of The Beatitudes, which focuses on the blessings without the woes, here: https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.5.3-11.BSB)
In all of this, you can see how far humanity swung the pendulum of religion away from God’s original intent of “encouraging” people to choose His ways. From the Old Testament mountains to the hills and plains of the New Testament, religious systems had stripped away God’s mercy—leaving a distorted picture that still causes people today to accuse God of being a bully in the Old Testament. But YahShua demonstrated the true heart of The Father by fully ministering to the actual needs of those who followed Him.
And now, as you see your hardships are not a sign of God’s judgment or abandonment, you can release that crushing burden of being required to perform flawlessly for Him to earn your mountain of blessings.
But this leads to a slightly uncomfortable question: If the Kingdom is a place where the empty are filled and the broken are blessed, how do we actually receive it? What does it look like for Our King to roll up His sleeves, kneel down on the ground in front of us, and offer to do the one thing our spiritual pride hates the most—minister to us in our messy and broken conditions?
In Part 2, we will look at exactly that scenario as YahShua declares Himself a servant and washes the feet of His disciples. Read Part 2 here.
In the meantime, check out this fantastic ApologetiX parody of “Venus” by Bananarama and titled “Jesus (Sermon on the Mount). While this specific video isn’t sung directly by them, it’s an excellent parody with great visuals and full lyrics included!
Note: Parts of this study (and a few of the words) were assisted by Google Gemini, alongside website studies at Bible Hub and Got Questions, but I’ve edited and personalized all of it before publishing.
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🎵The Upside-down Mountain of Blessings
Do you think that when they declared June 6th to be National Trails Day in 1993 they were thinking about the rabbit trails in the minds of those of us with ADHD? Lol 😂.
So, I’ve got a great Bible study I’m working on to share with readers, and it’s got so much in it that I’ve separated it into 3 parts. The problem is, I ended up studying so much that I tired myself out too much to get part 1 up right now. The image above is a clue, though, and if you want to read about these mountains, check Deuteronomy 11, 27, and 28 plus Joshua 8:30-35. Here are a few brief parts of those Scriptures…
Deuteronomy 11:26-28 BSB
[26] See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse — [27] a blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, [28] but a curse if you disobey the commandments of the Lord your God and turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/deu.11.26-28.BSB
Deuteronomy 27:9-13 BSB
[9] Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: “Be silent, O Israel, and listen! This day you have become the people of the Lord your God. [10] You shall therefore obey the voice of the Lord your God and follow His commandments and statutes I am giving you today.” [11] On that day Moses commanded the people: [12] “When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. [13] And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to deliver the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/deu.27.9-13.BSB
Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 8 BSB
[1] “Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. [2] And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the Lord your God:
[8] The Lord will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; the Lord your God will bless you in the land He is giving you.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/deu.28.1-8.BSB
Joshua 8:30, 32, 34 BSB
[30] At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the Lord, the God of Israel,
[32] And there in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.
[34] Afterward, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law— the blessings and the curses— according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jos.8.30-34.BSB
You can see from just these few verses that there’s lots to unpack here, and it gets infinitely more detailed when we tackle how YahShua (Jesus) turned these mountains of blessing and curse upside down. Be prepared for hiking some fantastic trails through Scripture. In the meantime, since we’re talking about mountains, enjoy this congregational singing of As the Mountains are Around Jerusalem with lyrics on their song board.
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🎵Prompt Response: Angel on my Car Hood?
What’s a moment that made you question reality?
More than once, there have been events in my life that seemed helped by an unseen hand. For example, the times when I used to catch the city bus on a street also known for solicitation activities (you rent where you can afford), and a car would pull up to question me… Before I could even give an answer, the driver would look up a little behind me and shudder just before driving away. What did he see, I wondered? Once, a whole group of people walking in the opposite direction split apart and walked a wide area around me like I was more than one person. They also seemed to look above and behind me as they passed. So, was there an angelic being playing bodyguard where I couldn’t see but others could?
Many years ago, I frequently attended a Cowboy Church that was about 40 minutes from home. We had concerts with some amazing Christian country artists followed by fellowship and pizza that often lasted into the wee hours of the morning. I miss those deep Bible and life conversations that drove me to see and seek God beyond simple church attendance. But I will always cherish those times. And one of them comes with an event demonstrated by the image Wombo Dream created for me.
It was probably about 4 AM when I left to head home. For most of the drive, sleepiness was not an issue. But as I got within a few miles of the freeway exit, drowsiness fell over me like a heavy blanket. Windows open, AC cranked, and determination to get all the way home worked for at least part of the time. But then, boom! Something large and like a big shadow landed on the hood of my van and actually made the metal of the hood pop loudly. It woke me up with a startled jump that infused the rest of my drive with major energy. Though I couldn’t see anything still on the hood or outside the van anywhere, I was sure I saw something like a silhouette jump off the van and fly away. Had I fallen asleep? If so, did I dream about something landing on the hood and then leaping off? Or, did God send an angel to wake me up by jumping on the hood and making the metal pop? I vote for the angel idea.
It’s not far-fetched to believe it could be an angel because the Bible is filled with moments where angels visited with people. And there’s even a reminder to take care of strangers because sometimes they are angels. When they show up as unseen helpers, or even as a shadow that jumps on your hood and then disappears, it does make you question what the reality was in those moments; but not question if they happened so much as how they happened.
Hebrews 13:2 BSB
[2] Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.13.2.BSB
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🎵Rejoice in This
It is The Lamb who will sit in the midst of the throne for eternity, and it is The Lamb who is worthy of all our praise (and pride) this month and always. His is the book, written in His own blood, that will determine the destination for each of us in eternity. We can have perfect works, but a prideful and haughty spirit to go with them can still bring destruction. So, after the disciples came back victorious in a battle with the enemy, they were instructed in the right attitude to keep them humble and blessed.
Luke 10:20 BSB
[20] Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/luk.10.20.BSB
Paul reminded the Philippians that he had places he could take pride and have confidence if he chose, but he reframed his own experience, power, and ability in comparison to Christ. That gave him all he needed to reject pride and stay humble.
Philippians 3:7-8a BSB
[7] But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ. [8] More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/php.3.7-8.BSB
When he talked to the Romans, he reminded them that grace is the main reason to look at ourselves through God’s eyes of grace. That is enough to keep us on solid ground rather than being puffed up by pride.
Romans 12:3 BSB
[3] For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/rom.12.3.BSB
And the book of James echoes the idea that grace belongs to the humble.
James 4:6 BSB
[6] But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jas.4.6.BSB
Though many others are writing on the subject of pride this month, it still bears worth to remind ourselves what happens at the end of pride and haughtiness.
Proverbs 16:18 BSB
[18] Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.16.18.BSB
Circling back to the first verse I shared, let me encourage you to recall where you were headed before the mercy and grace of The Lord made a better way for you. But for the grace of God, go I as well. We serve a God who pursues us even while we are sinners because it is His idea & desire to spend eternity with us. Even our own desires to serve Him were put in our hearts by Him, so He still gets all the praise. We are so not worthy of the wonderful love of YahShua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ), and yet He has poured it out on us in abundance. Now THAT is a good reason to celebrate with pride humility!
And this seems like the perfect place to share a beautiful song recently shared with me by a beautiful friend and sister in The Lord. It’s called “The Author.”
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🎵 Prompt Response: Soul ATM
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
If you had an unlimited budget for 24 hours, what would you do?
Day One
When I first read this prompt, my mind immediately went to how many lasting things I could get if I had no limits. I thought of how I’d contact a banker and ask for help with investments that would keep the unlimited flow going long after the 24 hours. And then…
It occurred to me that an unlimited budget did not have to be about any kind of money or finance. What could be worth more than those things and give me unlimited prosperity for 24 hours? Souls! Having a flow of guaranteed souls dispensed to me like an ATM does money, and then being able to send those souls in a new direction—toward the cross of Christ—would be amazing.
I think my mind went there after hearing from a Facebook friend who I met on the site years ago but who has since blessed me greatly with her sincere love for The Lord. She told me about how she tries to use every opportunity God gives her to share her salvation testimony. She is driven to carry the Good News to as many souls as God allows to cross her path.
So, can you imagine having a day with an unlimited budget of souls being sent your way? They need The Lord you serve, the peace He provides, and the promise of eternity. You have the answers that will give them that hope and peace, and this unlimited budget means they are sent right to you and ready to listen.
Most of us will share our experiences and testimonies here and there as a door opens or an opportunity presents itself. A few, like my friend Miha, will create open doors and opportunities. And whether you were only given 2 talents or the whole 5, or even only 1 talent, the Lord wants to gain interest on the investment He made for your soul and paid with His very own blood. Anything that can make interest (usury) is certainly a valuable asset, and we really do have an unlimited budget of hungry and empty people who need God.
In The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) it begins like this…
Matthew 25:14-15 BSB
[14] For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions. [15] To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent — each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.25.14-15.BSB
Each servant spends his investment differently with one of them not spending at all but burying his talent. There are many interpretations of what these talents are, including the possibility of those abilities within each of us that can be called talents, but the end result is always the same. We need to multiply what The Lord has entrusted us with that He will be able to profit on His return. He tells the person who hid his talent…
Matthew 25:27 BSB
[27] Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received it back with interest.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.25.27.BSB
So whether it’s financial gain, or actual performance talent, when The Lord returns, we know He is returning for souls. That means interest on that would be more souls.
Over forty years ago, I sat on a church pew in Riverside, California, where I was visiting for a revival. They presented a video set to Steve Green’s classic song, “People Need the Lord.” But it wasn’t a generic Hollywood production. The church had taken photos of their own community—ordinary people on familiar street corners, living out their daily lives. I wept as I watched unfamiliar faces with the same needs as the familiar faces in my own daily life. I understood then that the mission field isn’t always across an ocean; it’s often right outside our own front doors. We are surrounded by a Soul ATM, a world of empty people rushing by with a need for mercy and grace and maybe not even knowing where to look. It just takes one person willing to step out of their own busyness, set up a chair, and offer the only Good News that can truly change their direction and fill them with the hope they need.
Here’s a beautiful rendition of that song…
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The Worst Best Gifts
I looked through my draft folder and found one of my oldest unpublished posts. And guess what? It’s probably worth 3-4 posts with all the subjects I tried to include. Granted, when looking through all the gifts in life that come with a healthy dose of responsibility, the list can get pretty long. So, I grabbed the first few paragraphs to share a little part of myself and the way my mind and heart functions.
So, ignorance is bliss according to some. Of course, I can admit it would certainly be more blissful to die instantly in your sleep than to run in terror because you hear a missile screaming toward your bedroom. I guess that’s why so many choose to dwell in an almost-constant state of ignorance—because they desire an almost-constant state of bliss.
Then there are people like me. With gifts of empathy, perspective, and discernment, I’ve noticed many details of my surroundings (and been concerned about the world around me) since as young as I can remember. My aunt used to take me to the lunchroom at the old JC Penny’s where she worked. Though only about 5 years old, on one lunch visit, I offered to share my meal with an employee sitting across from us who wasn’t eating. I was too young to consider why he wasn’t eating, but I couldn’t help being concerned that he might be hungry, so sharing seemed the natural response to that.
For the most part, I have never been able to look at a perceived need in someone’s life without it affecting me emotionally. It’s why I’m desperate to try and fix things even when they’re not my responsibility. It’s a way to deal with the pain of the brokenness I see and feel around me—and within me because of my deep empathetic emotions. That is quite the opposite of ignorance, and it is often the opposite of bliss. It is so opposite that I once asked God to make me less sensitive, so I wouldn’t feel so much hurt, but God made me aware of the total cost for that request. It would require me to be less sensitive to good emotions as well. I chose to endure the pain of sensitivity in order to keep the blessings.
I’ve learned that sensitivity is one of God’s gifts to me, and I cherish it even when it makes me feel worse than I would like. I found a description of how I felt in an article originally published at Squidoo, now owned by Hub Pages. It’s still there and titled The Empath Within — Are You a Highly Sensitive Person? Though it hasn’t been updated since 2013 and has a lot more ads now, it’s a great read even though not written from a Christian perspective. And it cleared up so much of what concerned me that generated the prayer I’d offered. The best part is the list of traits shared by highly sensitive people. Here are a few of them:
The empathic person:
Is emotionally sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others.
Is rarely concerned with their own achievements, a quiet leader.Has little trouble discussing emotional issues.
Is uncomfortable around disharmonious or emotionally intense people.
It’s a long list, and if you think you may fall into this category, it’s worth reading all the characteristics. The author concludes with a warning to protect your emotions by being careful who you spend time with since some people can exhaust you from a constant stream of negativity. And that’s where the beautiful gift of empathy can begin to feel like it’s not a gift at all. Like Monk (“the defective detective”) used to say, “It’s a gift — and a curse.” I don’t say it’s a curse, but there are people who can drag me down to a point where I think it’s what I’m feeling until I manage to get away from the source and realize it was all coming from them. Thankfully though, there are also people who can lift me up and energize me just from a few minutes with them. God knows how to give us balance.
I’ll close with a note about one of the first books I made an effort to write from a short story I’d written. It was called “The Blind Man’s Desire” and it was about a girl who rode a city bus with a blind man every day. She told him she wished she was blind like him, so she wouldn’t have to see all the awful things in the world. By the time he explained all the good things he missed and wished he could see, she changed her desires and found a lot of good to describe for him to see through her eyes. I guess God was teaching me that lesson long before that prayer.
1 Peter 3:8 BSB
[8] Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1pe.3.8.BSB
Romans 12:15 BSB
[15] Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/rom.12.15.BSB
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Prompt Response: Faith is the Answer
How do you handle fear and self-doubt?
I’m not sure where I learned the two acronyms in the image above, but I know they weren’t together when I learned them. The idea of the first part is to see fear as nothing to fear. But, in truth, sometimes it really is something that can harm us or those we love, and being in fear is the normal response we need to activate our “fight or flight” response.
Whether it’s a real, worthy of fighting or evasive maneuvers, fear, or the weight of tossing our troubles around in our minds until they harm us whether they come to fruition or not, FAITH is still an answer. Faith may give you the wisdom you need for a proper fight or the direction to run for a good getaway. Or, faith may just tell you to stand your ground and be still because the battle belongs to The Lord. The hardest and easiest part is when faith tells you that nothing will change but that nothing changing also means God is still on His throne taking care of what we can’t control and of our eternity.
On that last part, I can tell you honestly that the idea of losing anyone I love and care for from this Earth is hard. Thinking of my own passage into eternity is hard. And I need statements like the one above to remind me that God’s got it all in His hands.
Still, it’s totally human to fear and doubt. In Psalm 56:3, King David didn’t say he would not fear but rather …
Psalm 56:3 BSB
[3] When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.56.3.BSB
Though, once he acknowledged that he could be afraid, he strengthened himself in The Lord and went on in verse 4 to say …
Psalm 56:4 BSB
[4] In God, whose word I praise — in God I trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.56.4.BSB
When the roots of our fears and doubts are of our own making, they can harm us at least as much as real dangers. Recently, I spent an entire night with my lessons, blog, and sleep all negatively affected because I feared an unknown scenario where I’d received a subpoena. Not being a person who likes to defend myself even when I know I’m innocent, that postal note on a certified letter let my mind wander to many possible scenarios. The next day, I thought of better possibilities (like an old family parcel with water rights finally becoming worth something), but oh how the wandering mind can torture us until we know the truth. And at the end, not one thing I imagined matched the real reason for the letter.
So, did I put those weights of the world on a tray and hand them over to The Lord? Unfortunately, not. And He might have been extending His arms, ready to take over, the whole time. As many times as I’ve written about fear and shared miraculous testimonies, wouldn’t you think I’d know better by now? But alas, I am human and have a lot of experience that has set me up for fear and doubt—probably like everyone who reads this post.
I hope that sharing this helps someone to get through a fearful event or time a little more easily, even if it’s because you now know you’re not alone in being a person who loves and trusts God but still gives in to your fears at times. And I hope creating a visual of someone passing the weight of the world to the waiting hands of God will stay with me (and you) for the next time fear becomes a battle.
I wrote the poem below for my sister in 2015 as we both maneuvered life after losing our mom. You can find it to download in its largest size on my Flickr page at https://flic.kr/p/ybqdqj where I’ve listed a regular copyright but am happy to let people use it for personal and non-commercial purposes. Since I’ve placed it on items for sale at Zazzle, I must protect my copyright to make sure no one comes and says I took it from them, but I’m a big believer in freely I have received, so freely I will give.
(Both the image and words are by Crystal A Murray © 2015)
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🎵 Not Comfortless
![A digital image of a parchment scroll nailed to wooden planks as created by Wombo Dream AI. On the scroll are the following Bible verses: John 14:16, 18, 23 BSB
[16] And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever —
[18] I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
[23] Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
With a link to the Bible website at... https://bible.com/bible/3034/jhn.14.16-23.BSB I have listed this image as Creative Commons Zero (CC0) so people can share it freely since the Bible version used is also public domain.](https://crystal-writes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/image_editor_output_image-1423944457-177961460619373770593684482955.jpg?w=900)
Creation by Crystal A Murray (CC0 Use Freely)
Because we are in the midst of Shavuot (Pentecost following The Feast of Weeks), I wanted to unpack this major promise from YahShua about not leaving His disciples as comfortless orphans. When read all together, these 3 verses from John 14 say so much about who YahShua actually is, and how He revealed Himself to the disciples (and to us through the Word we have now).
I don’t know that I could ever give the amount and quality of information they have at the Hebrew for Christians website, so I’ll refer you to them for all the details on the Feast of Pentecost that happened 50 days after the Passover. I learned while studying for this that Shavuot in Judaism is kept to remember when Moses was given the Torah (Law) on Mt. Sinai. One site suggested the sound of rushing mighty wind in Acts 2:2 would’ve been like the roaring and thunder they heard on the mountain while Moses was up there, so those gathered in the upper room and Jerusalem that day may have understood the deeper meaning in it.
Acts 2:2 BSB
[2] Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/act.2.2.BSB
Whatever that sound meant to those gathered for the festival, we know what it meant to the 120 believers gathered in the Upper Room that day. It was the fulfillment of the John 14 promises, and it gave them the boldness they needed to proclaim the Gospel of Messiah YahShua from that point forward. Peter himself went from one who denied Christ in front of a few people to one who stood and boldly proclaimed His salvation to many thousands all at once. That’s what real comfort can do.
YahShua (Jesus) told the disciples that if two or three gathered in His name, He would be in the midst of them. Most of us who have followed Him for any amount of time can point to at least one instance where a gathering, small or large, included moments much like the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:32 where our hearts “burned within us” and we knew the Presence of The Lord was there. In those moments, we did not see a body with us, so that confirms the Spirit of Christ who said He would not leave us comfortless but that HE would come to us. The fullness of The Godhead dwelt in the human body of YahShua…
Colossians 2:9 BSB
[9] For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/col.2.9.BSB
… AND, the fullness of that One Spirit (from John 14:23) shows unity with The Holy Spirit even though YahShua said of Himself and The Father, “We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (Emphasis mine.)
Ephesians 4:4-6 BSB
[4] There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; [5] one Lord, one faith, one baptism; [6] one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/eph.4.4-6.BSB
See, we do not have a God or High Priest that is “somewhere out there” and unable to be touched by our needs. We have a very real Savior who longs to be real to us and not just a mystery we cannot know, even though exactly how He does it may be a mystery like it says in 1 Timothy 3:16, which I really like from The Complete Jewish Bible…
1 Timothy (1 Ti) 3:16 CJB
[16] Great beyond all question is the formerly hidden truth underlying our faith: He was manifested physically and proved righteous spiritually, seen by angels and proclaimed among the nations, trusted throughout the world and raised up in glory to heaven.
https://bible.com/bible/1275/1ti.3.16.CJB
Hebrews 4:15 BSB
[15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.4.15.BSB
But one day, when every knee bows and confesses that Jesus (YahShua) is Lord (Adonai is the actual word translated to Lord here), we will be able to say, “He did not leave us comfortless, but He kept His promises to come to us whenever we called on Him.”
Philippians (Php) 2:10-11 CJB
[10] that in honor of the name given Yeshua, every knee will bow — in heaven, on earth and under the earth — [11] and every tongue will acknowledge that Yeshua the Messiah is Adonai — to the glory of God the Father.
https://bible.com/bible/1275/php.2.10-11.CJB
I’ll close with this very upbeat song from way back when I was learning to follow Him as a new believer…
And one more video of a song I’ve never heard before, but I really like it, and I like the images they used …
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🎵Rededicate 250 — Thoughts
I’m not one of those who follows every event dubbed as “Christian” or a follower of everyone who says they are Christian, but some moments are worth supporting in my own prayer life. I do not have to like or agree with every person invited to speak or pray at the May 17th event to be supportive of the goal for the event: Rededicate the United States of America back to the godly roots of prayer from our establishment.
You can do a search for “Rededicate 250” to learn more about it. The link I’ve provided is a Copilot search with a list of speakers and links to other info about the day. There’s a lot of stuff out there, and a lot of complaints about evangelicals getting involved in DC, but from the perspective of one who values my current freedom to worship God, I’m not interested in kowtowing to those who only serve themselves instead of The Lord. I am, however, interested in setting the right example to those unbelievers, so their complaints can only be with God and His Word and not how I represent Him or His Word.
So I had AI make an image of people praying at The White House to make sure there was no highlight on specific or favored individuals if I grabbed images from online. To truly rededicate ourselves means that our only source is Yahveh Almighty Himself, and our only purpose is being the most obedient to His Word and Spirit we can be no matter what anyone else is doing or saying. It’s not about our opinions or thoughts about God’s direction in our lives, but rather it’s about having a heart that says He is worthy of our total trust even when we may not understand.
The longer I’ve lived, the more I’ve experienced things I did not get the “whys” of, and things I couldn’t figure out how God took care of. They both taught me that God is totally sovereign and trustworthy, and He walks with us through those places where things aren’t going according to our perfect plans. But He walks there when He is invited. Sometimes, His overflowing mercy and grace puts Him places before being invited, but He still waits for that true desire of whosoever will to fully move in a life.
And that’s what rededication is really all about; making sure The Lord is invited into our country and our hearts to pour out His love in and on both. If you’ve never invited Him, please consider it. Even if you only want to test the waters, don’t test them by taking a 4-wheel-drive over smooth residential streets. Give Him your whole heart, mind, body, and soul. Trust Him with everything you’ve got. Act as if you plan to serve Him for eternity even if you are still wondering a little. When I got saved, I told Him I would try my best but couldn’t promise what I’d do if “church people” hurt me again. Fortunately, He moved in so fully that when I did encounter hurts, I didn’t reject Him for it anymore. It’s truly worth giving it all completely to His will and ways. And if you have tried serving Him but never did much beyond “the sinner’s prayer” or baptism, take these days with so much prayer in the air to totally surrender and rededicate yourself more completely than ever before. Invite Him today!
Isaiah 1:18 BSB
[18] “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.1.18.BSB
James 4:7-8 BSB
[7] Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jas.4.7-8.BSB
Be washed in your heart and mind and then wash the outside in baptism to proclaim it.
And if you’ve been washed but feel like you need a new cleansing, this song about rededication is a perfect anthem.
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Prompt Response: More Input
How do you stay motivated when learning something new?
Being motivated to learn has never really been my issue. I’m very much like Johnny 5 (the later Short Circuit movies) in always wanting more input. I am far more interested in learning a variety of information than in perfecting any one avenue, so that’s where my motivation might fall off somewhat.
I started learning Spanish as a means of brain growth, but lack of having anyone to practice speaking to, and wrestling with technical changes they keep making at Duolingo, made it hard to want to keep trying. But, I keep going back to keep my streak (1425+ days now), so they know what works there. But they can’t seem to give me conversations with Lily (the AI that does “phone calls” with students) where the topics are simple enough and the speech is slow enough. And they want me to gain my quest points with those calls, so I switched to learning Esperanto. And, actually, that’s a fun language to study if for no other reason than the word for doing is fartas. Lol 😂 (”How are you doing’?” is “Kiel vi fartas?” in Esperanto.)
Of course, they also have music 🎶 and math ➗ and other languages I won’t likely need (like Klingon). But I did add Hebrew because I thought it might help with Bible study. The motivation is tough on that one for a few reasons, including not being biblical Hebrew (with some light slang even) and not spelling things out phonetically until I can retain them. For me, it is harder to stay motivated when the learning has too many hurdles. That made me download some other programs/apps like Memrise, Drops, and FluentU. I’ll probably switch mostly to that last one instead of renewing Duo because of the integration into YouTube. While anyone can switch their closed-captions to Spanish to help with language, FluentU allows me to click on words as they are displayed and add them to my library of words to study.
At the same time, I’m always trying to learn new tech stuff. And learning to work with AI through Gemini and Copilot helps me learn more things and then save them to notebooks to review later. With Gemini, I learned how to program a smart thermostat and got recipes for homemade mayo (using an immersion blender) and homemade gazpacho (using a regular blender). But I’ve yet to try the recipes. Still, I’m truly motivated to learn more than I actually have time in a day to do. I’m thankful for all I have been able to learn about kidney diets and dialysis for my hubby, though, so sometimes the drive for more input isn’t such a bad thing.
Truly, I could stay on this subject for days and tell you all what I learned when I was an actress for a few months, a model as a teenager, and a plug-board telephone operator (answering service) for years. But I’d likely wear most readers out with my small bits of knowledge on a vast amount of subjects. This may never have proved to be great for a career path, but in retirement, it’s good for being a writer, and it’s great for finding common ground with many people, so I can meaningfully share the gospel in ways they can understand.
Before I wrote all this, I would have said I needed to let go of some of the less important learning paths and get motivated to push to the end of a few major subjects. But now, I’m thinking this variety in my brain might be exactly what I need. Now if I could just pull the thread that would let me get writer’s meeting plans and announcements done in a more timely manner, I’d feel even better about all I learn to share with others. Until then, I will seek to apply more of the input God has graciously allowed me to retain, and I will work on being like The Apostle Paul in these verses…
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 BSB
[19] Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. [20] To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law. [21] To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law. [22] To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. [23] I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1co.9.19-23.BSB
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Prompt Response: That Printer of Udell’s by Harold Bell Wright
What’s a book that completely surprised you?
The 1902 Novel That Totally Surprised Me (…And Ronald Reagan)
It’s a book written over a century ago, in 1902, by Harold Bell Wright called “That Printer of Udell’s,” but don’t let its age dissuade you from giving it a chance.
I wasn’t actually looking for the book, or any book, when I came across this. I was in the “World’s Largest Toy Museum” in Branson, Missouri, and a part of it includes the “Harold Bell Wright Museum.” I’d never even heard of the man or any of his books, but I quickly found out that The Shepherd of The Hills references in that area were based on one of Bell’s books by the same name. I left with a few books, including That Printer of Udell’s (this links to the free online download at “Project Gutenberg”) recommended by the store proprietor.
Going into it, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Beyond occasionally trying to comprehend some of the thick, old-fashioned “hillbilly” dialects of the region used at the beginning of the book, I was hooked within a couple of chapters. And I was amazed by how deeply this story resonated with me.
What’s it about, you ask? The story is set in the busy, sometimes harsh Midwestern town of Boyd City. It follows the main character Dick Falkner, a young man who has survived a brutal childhood; complete with an alcoholic father, wild yet motherly “madams” for the boy’s babysitters and landlords, and extreme poverty. Dick travels to the city in search of a fresh start, only to face starvation and unemployment no matter how hard he’s willing to work. Worse, the cold indifference of the local church congregations is hard on his spirit as well as his body.
Just as he’s ready to give up, he is hired by George Udell, a kind-hearted printer who’s willing to give him a chance as an apprentice. Through this turning point, Dick encounters real Christianity—not the hypocritical kind he saw from afar, but a faith lived out through kindness, love, and public service. Dick’s later transformation ripples through the entire community.
What surprised me most about this book was its spiritual depth and how it could apply just as well in 2026 and beyond. It beautifully demonstrates the fantastic life changes that happen when a person shifts from mere self-reliance and survivorship to allowing God to set the moral compass and direction of their life. Dick goes from a man just trying to endure day-to-day to a man with an unshakeable purpose driven by The Lord. It’s a powerful reminder that we weren’t meant to carry the weight of the world only on our own shoulders.
As it turns out, I’m not the only one who was deeply impacted by this book. A young boy in Illinois read That Printer of Udell’s at just 11 years of age, and it altered the course of his entire life. That boy was Ronald Reagan.
In the museum, they have the letter where Reagan later stated that the book left an indelible impression on him, shaping his own faith and his view of human nature. He even said that Dick Falkner became a role model for him, inspiring him to become a person who fights for what is right. If a turn-of-the-century novel could help shape a future president, you know there is something powerful in the story.
If you are looking for a story that is inspiring and historically fascinating, and one that will challenge your own Christian walk in the best way possible, I highly encourage you to click the link above to download a free copy in your favorite format. Project Gutenberg offers many options, including Kindle. But you can also check Amazon or other bookstores for print copies. Either way, I highly recommend the read. Push past the dated dialect at the beginning, and I promise you will find a timeless message of grace and the power of a changed life. It will challenge how you see both “sinners” and “saints” in your life.
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🎵Savage Grace — Now With Lyrics📜
That busy day today kept me out very late & set me up for more busyness tomorrow, so I ran by my brother’s Facebook music page and found that he’d created a new video with cool scenes that match his lyrics. He’s also added a unique slideshow of lyrics that pop, fade, and spin in with the lyrics.
Though he got over 4000 streams in the first month of release, the message in the song is still needed to let people know that God is still reaching out and rescuing all who call on Him. As I said in my original post on my X, “God Himself is not a savage, but to plunge a strong arm into the miry clay to dig us out of our sin, it can take a #SavageGrace.”
Please follow Shayne (Shayne Savage Music) on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/share/18VxsPZUSE/ and find his newsletter link to sign up for more frequent updates than I give here. Check his main website at https://www.shaynesavage.com/ for cool merch and his “Liner Notes” blog posts. And tell him that his big sister sent you. 😁
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Creativity Day
I had a bit of a stressful day today, and I have a really busy day planned for tomorrow, so I decided that tonight was a great night to just do some picture playing while my phones charged before sleep. No deep words of wisdom other than to remind you (and myself) that God’s Word promises us that He will work everything for the good for those who love Him and are the called according to His purposes. To be able to work everything to the good means He is with us in those everything moments. So this is me trying to release any and all fears, anxieties, and issues with my battles with low self-esteem (though I know God sees me better than I see myself, so that helps), into His hands. I’m sure my readers have had their hard days and battles as well, so as I pray for those who visit my writings, I’m also grateful for those who take me to the throne when I’m not as strong as I’d like to be. Thank you with my whole heart. 🙏
Romans 8:28 BSB
[28] And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/rom.8.28.BSB
Philippians 4:6 BSB
[6] Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/php.4.6.BSB
Proverbs 19:21 BSB
[21] Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the Lord will prevail.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.19.21.BSB
And now, more pictures…
Good night and Shalom! 🕊️
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A Non-Traditional Mom
Most people have an idea in their minds about what it means to be a mom or a mother (or a mum in much of the world). And those ideas are mostly based on our personal experiences either having a mom or being a mom. Some, though, are like me; not having or being a traditional mom. And in those cases, the ideas might be a little skewed. Or so I thought.
While searching for a poem from my teen years, written to the child I knew I’d never give birth to, I found a different poem I had written to a friend for the day she became the mother of a bride. It may be from TV and books and time with friends, or maybe my short time getting to raise 4 of my nephews for awhile, but it seems I have a fair understanding of at least some parts of motherhood. In this poem, despite not having my own children, I think I captured their mother/daughter moments pretty well. So, I’ve decided to share that with you all for this Mother’s Day post. Feel free to download it or tweak it for someone you know if it has a sentiment worth sharing.
HER NEW WORLD
Her first steps you remember walking toward you,
And you were just so proud.
Then she began to grow, suddenly yet slow,
Toward life's ever-changing crowd.
First, it was just a game she would play,
"Catch me if you can."
She'd giggle and squeal, looking back to see you,
While away from you she ran.
Next were the neighbors' and friends' yards and homes,
"Momma, can I go play?"
Though a little bit worried, you smiled with delight
Watching her and her friends skip away.
Then hot chocolate, pj's, and sleepover parties,
To the movies and malls with friends...
As you watched the apron strings pull ever tighter,
Getting stretched oh-so-dangerously thin.
Finally, one bright day, she noticed this boy,
To her, he's the world trimmed in gold.
And though you're happy for her, a teardrop falls,
As the apron strings now lose their hold.
Now she walks toward you in her bridal dress,
On this bitter-sweet wedding day,
Soon you'll watch her run, hand-in-hand and in love,
And you'll weep as they drive away.
And you know if you could, you'd have it both ways...
Her a woman, and yet your little girl.
But you can't, so you pray, "God, take care of my child,
As she walks into this, her new world."
By Crystal A. Murray (2002)
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🎵No Fear Invited
Well, this one is turning out to be a much bigger presentation and study than I planned, so I’m not going to do the whole thing just yet. But let the Scripture above (placed on a real Indiana sunset) be an encouragement for you.
1 John 2:24, 27 BSB
[24] As for you, let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If it does, you will also remain in the Son and in the Father.
[27] And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1jn.2.24-27.BSB
Remember what you have been taught from God’s Word. Search your heart for those truths God Himself has hidden there by His Spirit. Do not be misled, either in knowledge or emotion, by fearful words being shared in the name of Christ. Ask for, and practice, discernment. Paul reminds us that practicing discernment makes us better at it.
Hebrews 5:14 BSB
[14] But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.5.14.BSB
If you’ve begun to hear the fearful whispers about UFO/UAP “secrets” being revealed that will challenge your beliefs in God, plan now to not be overwhelmed by the news. Do not invite the fear to dwell in your heart. Know that God is The Creator of the WHOLE universe, so that includes any and all entities that may be outside our visual realm here on Earth. Trust The Lord and do not doubt that He has everything in His hands and in His control. He has already been to the future and nothing takes Him by surprise. No matter how anointed someone says they are or seems to be, they do not have more knowledge (gnosticism) than God or His Word, so keep your heart in The Lord, and send fear on down the road.
There is much more to say on this subject, but I want my presentations to be accurate and truthful, so I will add to this when I have spent more time in prayer and Bible study. But I wanted to get the introduction to you as I’ve been seeing more and more talk of these things, and Christians need to be prepared to carry the banner of God’s Word in comfort and strength to those who do not yet follow our Savior and may be overcome with fear. Keep yourselves in The Word and Spirit, so you will have truthful answers for any who might ask your thoughts on these teachings when they are dispensed to the masses.
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Haiku Scripture — Genesis 2
And with some busy days behind and ahead, it seems like a good time to bring in the second chapter of Genesis haiku. Read with expectation to see these verses in a new light by reading them in a new form.
Chapter 2
2:1
Heavens and earth done!
With all creation finished —
God enters His rest.
2:3
Now this seventh day...
Is set apart and holy.
Yahveh has blessed it.
2:4-8
Here is history —
Yahveh has created man,
To till His new Earth.
2:7
Adam, the first man,
Breathes in the breath of his God —
Now he is alive!
2:8
After He makes man,
Adonai plants a garden.
It is in "Eden."
2:8-9 + 15
Adam is placed there...
To care for all that God grows.
It is for his food.
2:16-17
Man may eat of all,
Including the "Tree of Life."
Yet one he eats not.
2:17
The "Tree of Knowledge"...
Cannot be for Adam's food —
It would bring his death.
2:18
Adam is alone.
Yahveh says, “This is not good.
He needs a help-mate.“
2:19-20
Created from earth,
God brings animals to man —
Adam then names them.
2:20
But for Adam's needs,
The beasts are not suitable —
They are not his kind.
2:21-23
Adam sleeps; God works.
New life taken from man's side.
She's bone of his bones.
2:23
She is called “woman,”
Since she is taken from man —
Now she will help him.
2:24
The two are one flesh.
Thus, men must leave their parents...
And cleave to their wives.
2:25
Adam and his wife...
Do not know they are naked —
They are not ashamed.
End of Chapter Two
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🎵CTRL+Z Super Power (Day One Prompt Response)
What super power do you wish you had and why?
I might like to be “The Great Undoer” in life. Imagine if you could go back to any decisions you’ve found out (presumably the hard way) were not good decisions. And then you call on The Great Undoer, who has access to super-powered CTRL + Z buttons to undo anything that might otherwise create a lifetime of regret. Those last harsh words you spoke that you wish you could take back? Just undo them. That phone call you didn’t make because you were busy and then found you’d never get the chance again? Rewind to that moment, click undo, and make that phone call. Yep, with The Great Undoer by your side, you can put the toothpaste back in the tube.
I guess this is the answer to the statement that “hindsight is 20/20.” How often do we wish we had known something, or acted on something, before it was too late to change things? And that’s when regret reared its ugly head and threatened to leave us feeling guilty forever. How nice it would have been to just go back in time and undo the moment like Bill Murray learned to do in the movie “Groundhog Day.”
But, truthfully, what I’m asking for here is a way to perfect life according to my own human idea of perfection. But it’s not truly perfect. No bad decisions means no hard lessons, and no hard lessons leads to not caring what we do because we can just “undo” it. (And my heart breaks at this thought because of all the babies lost to abortion since people so often believe the lie that it will undo pregnancy.)
Sadly, this is what so many have tried to do with the grace and mercy of The Lord. They are so sure that everything will be washed away at the touch of the CTRL+Z prayer, they stop thinking before they act, and they stop asking questions like, “What does the Word of God say about this?” In a non religious program, this issue was actually handled well by an episode of a show I think I saw once before I got saved. It was called “Tales from the Darkside” and the episode was called “It All Comes Out in the Wash.” I wrote about it when I was doing the year of Torah studies in a post called, “When it Won’t Come Out in the Wash.”
As I sit here tonight waiting for a phone call from an ICU 2000 miles away, I battle with that thought of, “Why didn’t I call last Sunday?” I planned on it, and I know that at 84 years old, my stepfather’s last breath is far closer than his first breath. But distractions showed up, and I didn’t make the call like I planned. And now, I don’t know if he’s coming back from this one. I do know we had a great conversation the last time we spoke, but it’s been over a month since then. So, if I had my undo button, maybe I would make sure I made that call on Sunday. Thankfully, he’s got a great friend and caregiver who not only let me know as soon as the ambulance left his house, but also called me from the hospital to let me speak to him in case he can hear even in a comatose state. But I know there are many who’ve missed final chances and never got even a small message to the person. I feel for them because this isn’t my first time of wishing I had that Super CTRL Z option.
I’d like to say I’ve learned perfectly from the moments I could not undo, and that I’ve never made the same mistakes twice after learning a thing the hard way, but alas, my humanness has won out more than I like to admit. But the blood of YahShua does wash and cleanse us from eternal guilt even when God lets us stew a bit here on Earth, so if you’ve never let Him put your regrets under the cleansing fountain, please do so soon. If you have questions about salvation, please leave me a comment, and I’ll do my best to lead you toward your next steps.
Ephesians 1:7 BSB
[7] In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
https://bible.com/bible/3034/eph.1.7.BSB
Isaiah 1:18 BSB
[18] “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.1.18.BSB
Romans 5:9 BSB
[9] Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him!
https://bible.com/bible/3034/rom.5.9.BSB
1 John 1:7 BSB
[7] But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1jn.1.7.BSB
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Haiku Scripture—Torah Intro
I’m going to spend some time this month sharing some haiku I wrote way back in 2014. My intention was to write the whole Bible in haiku, but that’s not realistic anymore, so I’m only going to do the Torah. That’s Genesis through Deuteronomy. When you focus on the syllables of a haiku verse, it makes you think more succinctly, and sometimes, you even catch something you miss in regular writing.
Notes: Haiku does not actually have a specified number of syllables required on any line, but that Haiku which is traditionally American is usually in a format of 3 lines, with the syllables in those lines being 5, 7, and 5 respectively. Also, a Haiku, which brings the same topic into more than one stanza, is actually called a “Renga”, but since many are not familiar with these details, I’m just calling it all haiku.
Today will not have any Bible verses, but will just be an introduction to the idea of Torah and how it plays out in haiku. I hope people enjoy these readings as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.
Anointed Scriptures,
Written for us to learn from –
God teaches with love.
Open your heart now.
Follow as I have written…
Scripture in “Haiku”.
Intro To Torah… What Is Torah?
God speaks to Moses.
The books of law are written…
They are called “Torah”.
“OR” in Hebrew words
Is translated meaning “Light”…
See it in “TORAH”?
“Torah” means “The Word”.
Within it, man will find Light—
Law is light and life.
YaH-Shua is Light,
And He is The Spoken Word—
The “Living Torah”!
So, from Genesis,
Through all Deuteronomy…
History preserved!
Have a blessed week, and come back tomorrow for Genesis One.
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A Circle of Secrets (Telephone Part 2)
Yesterday, I talked about the dangers of misunderstood communication (with the game of Telephone as an example). And I promised I’d share how that can influence and change the church. For example, the Bible doesn’t say “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” anywhere in Scripture. I’ve heard that it is actually in the Jewish books of wisdom, though. But it made it into regular church vernacular enough that many of us grew up thinking it was in the Bible.
Also, it never says there were 3 wise men, or that the wise men were kings, and yet we sing about it every Christmas. Oh, but wait, it doesn’t say a thing about Christmas either, but we can be relatively certain that December isn’t the correct season for the miraculous birth of Messiah. Yet, we create full programs and times of devotion around the season. And we surround our manger scenes with “angels” wearing halos not knowing that the word “halo” comes from the Greek word “Hélios” meaning “sun” and from the practice of sun worship.
The Bible does say to study to show yourself approved, and it warns that the ignorant may twist words (in the case of the Scripture reference, Paul’s words) to their own destruction.
2 Timothy 2:15 NLT
[15] Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.
https://bible.com/bible/116/2ti.2.15.NLT
2 Peter 3:16 CSB
[16] He speaks about these things in all his letters. There are some things hard to understand in them. The untaught and unstable will twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.
https://bible.com/bible/1713/2pe.3.16.CSB
I’m not saying these things in fault-finding accusations or demanding that people stop celebrating Christmas or singing We Three Kings, but rather I’m sharing as a wakeup call to understand how quickly and easily truth can be distorted until it looks totally different. There’s a great article about 8 things many believe after having been taught incorrectly at Christian Publishing House and it even included one I was taught and believed, but nope, there is no archeological or historical evidence of a gate in Jerusalem called “The Eye of the Needle” where camels must be unloaded before they can pass through. Of course, there are way more than 8, but this should stir Christians to seek truth and not just take what they’ve been taught to hear without first using research and prayer to confirm it.
One of my personal issues is found in the statements of faith for almost every church and religion. It’s the oft-repeated phrase “God in three persons,” also used in the song “Holy, Holy, Holy,” which is unsupported by Scripture many times, but especially in Colossians 2:9 where it says…
Colossians 2:9 CSB
[9] For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ,
https://bible.com/bible/1713/col.2.9.CSB
God does reveal Himself in a triune nature, but only one body (person), and the three are One…
1 John 5:7 KJV
[7] For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
https://bible.com/bible/1/1jn.5.7.KJV
But we would never say “God in three spirits” or “God in three fathers” so why do we say “God in three persons”? And it does matter because there’s a huge difference in “these three are One” and “this One is three.” The latter supports multitheism and can cause those raised in monotheistic religions to refuse to seek the grace and mercy of Christ that Christianity teaches. These three are One being (and in only one human person) does not deny the Tri-Unity/Trinity, but rather defines it according to Scripture. And it makes it even more clear how we are made In His Image since we also have one body, one soul, and one spirit that all dwell fully as one being inside one body. And it clarifies the juxtaposition of the two verses in John 14:16 and John 14:18 where YahShua says He will ask the Father to send The Comforter and then says “I will come to you.”…
John 14:16, 18 KJV
[16] And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
(VERSUS)
[18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
https://bible.com/bible/1/jhn.14.16-18.KJV
But somewhere along the line, the spiritual game of Telephone created these and many other mistaken understandings. Too many people are okay to start rumors, like whoever started all the ones about atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair wanting to take religious programming off radio and TV. They later added that Dr. Dobson requested signed petitions to prevent it. And that hoax became so widely circulated that the FCC had to create a special phone number just to deal with calls on that subject. The hoax said they needed 1 million petitions to the FCC, and the FCC said they quit counting when it reached 25 million. That was in 1994. While it’s good that so many Christians are passionate about our religious freedom, this also shows how prominent a lie can become. It was one I also believed many years ago as a new Christian.
Too many are content to believe things at face value when they come from a trusted source. I’ve mentioned in other posts that I believed the Neiman Marcus cookie hoax because I heard it at a Tupperware meeting where I trusted the leadership sources. But every one of us needs to seek truth and guard it when we find it. With AI growing, it’s getting harder to tell real stuff from deep fakes, so all of us must be careful both inside and outside the spiritual realm. I’m beginning to understand how spiritual changes have taken place for so many years, even centuries back when Israelites believed untruths presented by someone with a loud voice or high position. Will you join me in becoming a truth seeker no matter how many waves it creates?
And just to end on a lighter note, I found an article with all kinds of ideas for the Telephone game (also called Chinese Whispers) at https://k12loop.com/hilarious-broken-telephone-game-phrases-prompts/ and that makes me want to play the game again.
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🎵An Ear in the Clouds
I’m keeping this post simple and focused. With the divisions and issues in the world right now, my heart has gone back to a prayer I wrote up for a group of praying friends back in 2013. It has never left me, and it’s even more urgent now.
MY PRAYER
If you had only one prayer to ask of Yahveh Almighty, what would it be? I asked myself this question and here's what I chose for my prayer...
Abba Yahveh (Father God), please make Yourself known to every living being. Become so evident and real to all men that there will be no denying who You are or what You desire. Let there be no more gray, no shadows, no wondering, and no confusion. Open up the eyes of every man that no one can have an excuse of ignorance, be they believers or anti-Christ. If they seek to serve You, may they know Who they serve, and if they stand against You, may they know exactly Who they are rejecting. May all who have even an inkling of desire to know You find You in Your fullness and awesome wonder. Be made known to all the earth this very day.
In the Holy Name of Yahshua HaMashiach (Jesus The Messiah), Amen!
Psalm 5:2-3 BSB
[2] Attend to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to You I pray. [3] In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; at daybreak I lay my plea before You and wait in expectation.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.5.2-3.BSB
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🎵World (Help A) Penguin Day🐧
My Bible study today was in Luke 30, and when I read about the good Samaritan, it occurred to me that YahShua didn’t mention this being a parable. I’m not saying it isn’t, but I’m really pondering whether it is, so I invite you, my dear reader, to wonder along with me. Here’s the whole passage, and the link will take you to words in red.
Luke 10:30-36 WEBUS
[30] Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. [31] By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. [32] In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. [33] But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, [34] came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. [35] On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’ [36] Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
https://bible.com/bible/206/luk.10.30-36.WEBUS
So what if this story was not a parable, but rather a true story? What if the people whom God saw from the heavens just happened to be standing around in the crowd that day? Maybe more than one of them were there. The priest may have felt a twinge of conviction but drove it away with his anger at this man proclaiming to be The Messiah. But even he couldn’t help but wonder how YahShua knew about his passing by on the other side of the road on that day. And maybe one of the others who passed by actually repented and began to follow The Lord. If it was not a parable, who knows how many people might have been in that story and had to examine their lives once they realized they had been seen.
I believe God reaches into the miry clay with a rejected hand and repairs wounds every day. And whether you fit in the story as the rejector, the rejected, or the wounded, He is willing to bring you out of your current place and set your feet on The Rock.
Psalms 40:2-3 WEBUS
[2] He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand. [3] He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Yahweh.
https://bible.com/bible/206/psa.40.2-3.WEBUS
And the reason you see penguins instead of people in the image above is simply to honor World Penguin Day. Well, and because they’re cute. And I’ll close with a beautiful rendition of “You Raise Me Up” by Selah.
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🎵On Account of my Walk (Prompt Post)
Describe a risk you took that you do not regret.
It didn’t start out as much of a risk. Right in the middle of a grocery store, a big drawing box that said, “Win a FREE 16 x 20 Portrait!” My trailer did not have a lot of wall space, but the word free was enticing, so in my name and number went.
I got the call a few days later. “You didn’t win the 16 x 20, but you won a free 8 x 10.” Wow, I thought, I actually won something. Having done telemarketing for a photo studio as a teenager, I should’ve known it was just a marketing technique, but I decided to set the appointment and have my portrait done. Still no real risk.
Proof day was the first risk. How much money could a truck stop cashier really afford to spend on pictures, no matter how pretty they came out? I decided on the Christmas cards and the free 8 x 10. The sales lady was good and she could see I wanted more but couldn’t afford them. So, she offered me a job. No, that was not how I expected that day to go, but it was a day that would change my life in multiple ways. But, yes, it was a huge risk.
I didn’t have a car that could travel all over the US, so the company said it would take care of all my flights and buses for the first 6 weeks while I was training, and then I’d pay half of my transportation costs myself. I just had to be willing to give notice at my current job and be willing to leave everything I knew, including all the family that lived in the same town, and head to my first training location in Utah within 10 days. I can still feel the butterflies that were there in my stomach as I pondered the decision to make such a huge life change. But I do not regret it at all.
Because of Parkway Studios, I got to travel a large part of the US. I saw landmarks and circuses and dinosaurs in Utah. I learned how cold Wisconsin can get during an Arctic cold front, and I learned how to pronounce Oconomowoc Wisconsin from a local who said to just remember, “On account of my walk.” (Phonetically, it’s pronounced oh-KAH-nuh-muh-wok.) I traveled to a town in Ohio that allowed me to meet my grandmother on my dad’s side for the first time, and a town in Kansas that let me see my father again after many years. And, eventually, I met the friend who put me on the phone with the man I’ve loved and been married to for over 35 years now.
There have been so many experiences since making the decision to accept that job offer that I could write a book. (I’m working on one for real.) I mean, without meeting my husband, I wouldn’t have some of the great friendships I’ve grown here, like those within my writer’s group, and I wouldn’t have gotten my gift of the DNA test that got me my brother. (He’s had a great response to his first single, by the way, so check the post called “Release Day” if you want to stream his amazing song, Savage Grace.) And so very much more than I can put into words because of the deep value of things like finding someone who loves to sing old hymns. So, no, I definitely do not regret that huge risk so many years ago.
Hebrews 11:8-10 BSB
[8] By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going. [9] By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. [10] For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.11.8-10.BSB
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🎵 Holy, Pure, and Undefiled (Full Song)🎶
It’s done, and I’m excited to share it with my readers. This is the finished song with 3 verses added to the chorus I shared on the post April 18th. I’m not sure what was harder, writing the lyrics, getting a sound I like from Gemini (Lyria model), or getting this uploaded to YouTube so I could embed it here. Though difficult and time-consuming, I actually enjoyed the process, and now I’m excited to try a bunch more of my poetry set to music. What a fun way to write for the joy of The Lord, and then to make a joyful noise.
1 John 1:4 BSB
[4] We write these things so that our joy may be complete.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/1jn.1.4.BSB
Psalm 100:1-2 BSB
[1] A Psalm of thanksgiving. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. [2] Serve the Lord with gladness; come into His presence with joyful songs.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.100.1-2.BSB
I won’t bore you with a ton of details, but there have been some great lessons learned. Part of the learning felt like being in the music studio redoing tracks until they didn’t have any more hiccups. I heard Elvis was famous for doing that hundreds of times. And Marty Robbins was able to go into the studio and sing a song to perfection at the first take. (I’m sure you know who Elvis was, but if you’re not familiar with Marty, look up his album called Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs for some you might find familiar like “El Paso” and “Cool Water.” Or you might remember him for “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation.”)
And that was a fun rabbit trail. Lol 🤣 Anyway, to get the recording with which I was finally happy, it took coming back after I ran out of credits, and it took using multiple AI models. The Pro model didn’t want to help once it saw religious lyrics (I’m sad for that part), but the fast model that helps with a lot of Bible queries from me said it’s just how it’s trained. So, I let the fast model create the prompt with all the right spaces and breaks and punctuation to tell the Lyria model how to sing my words. AI knows AI, so the understanding was finally there to get my song, complete with ending tags (though it could’ve done a little better on that part), and a big orchestra & choir sound. The more I’ve played it, the more I’ve liked it.
And the last piece to the puzzle was finding out that Adobe Express would listen to the video and create captions in time with the music. I had to change some font sizes and boldness within the parameters of not having Adobe premium, but I was able to get them done in a way that should help y’all sing along. So, here for its debut blog performance, please enjoy Holy, Pure, and Undefiled with Lyrics by me and all the rest by Gemini and Lyria…
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🎵 Whisper A Prayer
Recently, I did a Bible study that had a devotion for each day, and part of that devotion was a daily breath prayer. At first, I was a little concerned about the possibility of mysticism or that it was some new age idea. So, I did some research. Apparently, the idea of breath prayers goes back to at least the 1300s, and it is a way to uphold the Scripture that says to “pray without ceasing.” These prayers are short words that can be spoken with an inhale and an exhale, or in your mind in the same amount of time.
Psalms 150:6 WEBUS
[6] Let everything that has breath praise Yah! Praise Yah!
https://bible.com/bible/206/psa.150.6.WEBUS
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 WEBUS
[16] Always rejoice. [17] Pray without ceasing.
https://bible.com/bible/206/1th.5.16-17.WEBUS
There’s a great article explaining “breath prayers” with history and examples at Christianity dot com written by Mary Oelerich-Meyer. She mentions in her article that the English word inspiration comes from the Latin word ”inspirare” which means “to breathe into.” That makes the verse that says “All Scripture is God-breathed,” have a much deeper and more powerful meaning.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 WEBUS
[16] Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, [17] that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
https://bible.com/bible/206/2ti.3.16-17.WEBUS
It’s easiest to remember breath prayers by praying Scriptures or songs. For example, inhale saying, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” and exhale with, “I shall not want.” Or, inhale with, “Thank You, Lord,” and exhale saying, “for saving my soul.” Anything that helps you whisper (breathe) a prayer in the morning, at noon, and in the evening like it says in the old hymn Whisper A Prayer. The song (one of my childhood favorites) reminds us that we can pray all the time, and God will answer all the time to “keep your heart in tune.” And we want to keep our hearts in tune because we know that Jesus may come in the morning, at noon, or in the evening.
So, I wanted a good way to remember some breath prayers for myself, and after trying different memory tricks, I decided to use the letters in my own first name as an acronym. I liked creating them so much that I wrote a bunch of prayers for others as well and now call them Breath Prayer Acronyms. And then I started putting them on pretty backgrounds to send to others who might need “inspiration.” For example, for the friend with cancer I’ve asked readers to pray for and his caregiving wife. The images I made for them are at the bottom after the video. There’s also an image I made using the letters for our writer’s group.
But first, here are the prayers for my own name without using an image background. And if you comment that you’d like me to write a breath prayer acronym for your name, I’ll gladly try. If I don’t know you, I’m not certain how it will come out since personalities and needs have ended up in all the acronyms I’ve written so far, but God could inspire me to write exactly what works for you without knowing anything about you. He does that sometimes. 🙂 Anyway, here’s mine…
C: Inhale: Create in me …
Exhale: A clean heart, Lord.
R: Inhale: Rose of Sharon, …
Exhale: May Your beauty flow through my soul.
Y: inhale: You are worthy, Lord, …
Exhale: Of all my praise.
S: Inhale: Save me, oh God, …
Exhale: For your Divine purpose.
T: Inhale: Teach me Your ways, …
Exhale: Your words and Your will.
A: Inhale: All of me, Jesus, …
Exhale: Wrap in all of You.
L: Inhale: Love is greatest …
Exhale: In who You are.
And here’s a video of Whisper A Prayer…
And here are the promised images…
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🎵The Artist and The Artisan
Have you ever wondered the difference in these two words? (Artist and Artisan?) When I did a search for the differences, I expected simple definitions, but apparently, there are a lot of people who think about this, so there were lots of sites and answers out there.
My query followed some Bible study from a Torah portion in the book of Exodus and chapter 35. It’s all about the creation and building of the wilderness tabernacle, and this portion details the gifted creators who contributed to both the beauty and the function of this place of worship. Here are a few verses from The Complete Jewish Bible...
Sh'mot (Exo) 35:31-33 CJB
[31] He has filled him with the Spirit of God — with wisdom, understanding and knowledge concerning every kind of artisanry. [32] He is a master of design in gold, silver, bronze, [33] cutting precious stones to be set, woodcarving and every other craft.
https://bible.com/bible/1275/exo.35.31-33.CJB
The basic difference is in the use of the objects designed by either artist or artisan. I am far more artist than artisan because I create for viewing enjoyment rather than utilitarian purposes. One site says an artist is a creative soul who uses both skill and imagination, and an artisan is a professional craftsman who uses their expertise to create functional objects. Another site gave a good example by comparing a cake decorator with a cake baker. So neither artist nor artisan is better, and function works well with presentation if the two work together.
For the picture above, I asked Wombo to show two children playing with blocks and have one painting and the other carving. I like how it added the intricately carved blocks for the child painter, and both of them are having fun in their individual pursuits. And I wonder if the environment around the tabernacle was like the two kiddos. God gave different people gifts based on what they should contribute to the building, and one of them was skilled at almost everything. Another one, God gave the ability to teach skills to others. All of them together created a wonderful place to meet with, and worship, The Holy Creator and Lord. What a great, and still utilitarian, purpose for creativity and wisdom.
As an FYI for you, if you read all about this building, you’ll get to those descriptions about tanned ram skins and fine leather. I haven’t done the research myself, but I once heard a message about those skins and the leather not looking very good, especially when compared to the purple, blue, scarlet, and gold on the inside of the tabernacle. The message was called “The Beauty of The Ugly” and it was all about how our greatest beauty is on the inside where the presence of God dwells. The preacher said that if people came up from the outside, they’d see these red skins and smell the burning hair and flesh from the altar, and it wouldn’t have attracted them much. Oh, but if they stayed until they could pull the flaps back and look inside… Gold and beauty like you’ve never seen!
Our Creator is both artist and artisan. He has designed beautiful things that have yet to even enter into the imaginations of mankind. If we see hard things in this life that make living on Earth, or serving The Creator, seem like that view from outside the tabernacle, we just have to wait for Him to pull back the flap to show us what’s inside. What a wonderful hope and thought to know He has so much prepared beyond anything we can even conceive—no matter how much of an artist or artisan we are. 🎨
1 Corinthians 2:9 CSB
[9] But as it is written, What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived — God has prepared these things for those who love him.
https://bible.com/bible/1713/1co.2.9.CSB
And this seems to be the perfect time to use the song “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me.
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🎵 Computerized Music Studio 🎶
Can a computer really create its own music? I somehow qualified for a trial of Gemini Pro, and I’ve just learned that I can plug in some lyrics and have it create a music track and vocals. Now it’s not like in the old days of AI origins (just a couple years ago, lol 😂) where all image requests were totally distorted, but it does get a few things wrong on the vocals, and sometimes it has technical glitches. I guess it’s all part of my cyber journey. But I had some good experience and fun while working on these, and I even felt a little like I was in the studio with a band trying to get a track just right. While I’ve never truly enjoyed being on stage, I’ve always loved the studio experience.
So, back in 2013, I wrote a chorus that was part of a prayer. I wrote how I longed for God to see me as pure, holy, and undefiled. I’ve sung it to God many times because it’s where I desire to be, and where I desire to come back to when the cares of this life have distracted me. Here are the lyrics to the chorus…
Holy, pure, and undefiled,
Let my heart and my mind be...
Holy, pure and undefiled,
Lord may I be more like Thee.
The AI cannot use the tune I created myself, but since I’m more of a lyricist than a musician, I decided to let it choose the tunes for me. Now I guess I have to learn my own song. Lol 😆 Here are two 30-second videos with the lyrics set to different music tunes and styles…
When I asked Gemini (Google’s AI) to add some music for me, it wanted to know a style. I started with an anthem sound, and I love what it created.
And then I asked for the same chorus with a country sound and a male vocalist. I liked this one a lot as well.
Finally, I decided to write some verses to go with the chorus, but there were things that didn’t work in every video until I ran past my limit on generations of new songs. I guess it’s about 50 of the short ones and only 10 of the long (3-minute) ones, so I’ll have to wait until it fully resets to try it again. When it does, I’ll create a new post, and then I’ll put a link here for anyone who follows this one. I’d love to hear your thoughts, though.
Psalm 98:4 BSB
[4] Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth — let your cry ring out, and sing praises!
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.98.4.BSB
Find the complete song with 3 verses and new music and vocals on my post from April 22nd titled Holy, Pure, and Undefiled.
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🎵I Am The Door
I will keep this short, but I’m so happy with this image of a gentle and caring shepherd keeping watch while the sheep rest. The idea of The Shepherd being the door of the sheepfold is in Scripture in John 10. For this, I want to share from the PEV (Plain English Version) because it’s written as a missionary tool, so it adds simple explanations.
John 10:7-11 PEV
[7] so he said, “I will tell you something else. Listen to this, it’s true. I am like a gate in a sheep yard. [8-11] You know, the gate is the way for the sheep to go into the yard. Well, I am the way for people to come to God. If anybody comes to me, they will come into God’s family, and he will save them. And you know that sheep have to use the gate to go out and get grass to eat. Well just like that, people have to come to me to get whatever they need to live for God. And remember the shepherd in that picture story. Well, I am like that good shepherd that looks after his sheep properly. Some other men came before me, and they reckoned they were like shepherds, but they were liars. They were bad men, and my people didn’t listen to them, just like sheep only listen to their shepherd. Those bad people only want to steal the sheep, and kill them, and finish them up. But I am not like that. I came here to give people real life, so they can live with God for ever. You know, a good shepherd looks after his sheep properly, even if he has to die for them. Well, I am like that, I am ready to die to save my people.
https://bible.com/bible/2530/jhn.10.7-11.PEV
Though PEV, along with other translations, uses the word gate, the HCSB and Young’s Literal use door. I’m sharing that because the idea for the picture actually came from a book I read a long time ago and want to read again called “Jesus in The Present Tense: The I AM Statements of Christ” by Warren W Wiersbe. In this book, the author puts it this way…
“The sheepfold was an enclosure surrounded by a wall of rocks that was too high for the sheep to jump over. The shepherds sometimes put thorny branches on the tops of the walls to deter thieves from trying to climb over. An opening in the wall allowed the sheep to enter and exit; and at night, the shepherd lay across that opening and became the door of the sheepfold. To get into the fold, the sheep had to pass over the shepherd’s body, and to get out of the fold, they had to do the same thing. If a predator or a thief tried to enter, he had to deal with the shepherd first.”
I love this! Both for the idea that an unbeliever must encounter the true Shepherd to truly enter the sheepfold, and also for the protection the sheep are given as they live in the sheepfold. Wiersbe states it in more detail, and it’s exceptionally powerful to listen to it in audio and imagine the quiet field of rest with a strong shepherd guarding the gateway. His Presence is the security, the guidance, and the love we need as we walk through the uncertainties of this life. And if we need a Gentle Shepherd’s lap to crawl up into, He’s there for that as well.
I highly recommend the book, including the audio if you get the electronic version. And I hope the image gives you a picture of yourself as a sheep with a protective and loving Shepherd, that strong tower where you can run and be safe. And since we’re talking about a Gentle Shepherd, I will share a song I sometimes hear from my husband’s playlist called “Tender Shepherd” by Sounds Like Reign.” Even if it’s written as a lullaby, we can all use that type of peace now and then.
Tender Shepherd by Sounds Like Reign (with lyrics)
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Grace by DNA Story–About Shayne
It all started one Valentine’s Day in 2018. A life-changing blessing with a journey that still continues.
Back in the early 2000s, hubby found a company that did DNA to look for genealogical connections. I was happy when he found a few cousins and wanted the same experience. But they didn’t do women’s DNA. Fast forward to Ancestry DNA, and they did. So my gift was the test kit, though I was really hesitant to spit in that tube. That hesitancy pushed me to the middle of the year, but I think the timing was perfect.
Shortly after my results came in, hubby was viewing the site since we had it in his name, and he told me, “You’ve got a message on Ancestry that I think you’re gonna want to see.” And there was this beautiful message from someone Ancestry said could be a very close cousin or grandchild. What? I’m thinking, wait I’ve already seen how the numbers look for my first cousins, and these numbers are way higher. I did some quick research to see how the stats work on DNA, and ours were more likely to be half-siblings. I’d met my other half-siblings, so this new connection was both confusing and exciting.
I wrote back right away and told this new relative that I thought he was likely my brother, and I’d be so excited to get to know him better. Then I called my half-sister in Texas and told her I thought we had another brother. There’d been a bit of distance between my dad and I for a few years (that’s a whole ‘nother story), so she called him to ask if we had another brother. At first, he said we didn’t, so I checked with his brother, my uncle, and he said he wasn’t even in Arizona during that year. Now this called for prayer. In the meantime, we spoke on the phone, and I learned that he’d been adopted as an infant and had never met anyone to whom he was blood related.
Fast forward to May of 2019, and Shayne, with his wife Heather, were on their way from Canada to the US for our first meeting. That’s the first image above, but the airport background wasn’t pretty, so I replaced it. Hubby made them the welcome sign they’re holding and has been a huge support as God has expanded this territory in my life. It would take too many words to tell you all we discovered about each other, but it was so neat every time Heather would notice similarities and state, “Oh, you guys are definitely brother and sister!” Though he’s a bit bolder as you can see by his fishtank antics. 😁
We met again in October of 2019 in Nashville, and shortly after that, I was able to fix things with my dad enough to get a phone call from him and then plan a visit to see him and his wife. During those calls and visits, I was able to tell him all he was missing by not acknowledging this son of his, and I quoted him a Bible verse to dissuade some of the guilt he may have been fighting about not having been there all his life. Of course, he was excused because of not knowing about Shayne, but I still wanted him to feel like God showed favor to him because of children he had fathered–not necessarily children he had always raised. That verse is…
Psalm 127:4-5 BSB
[4] Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are children born in one’s youth. [5] Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts the enemies at the gate.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.127.4-5.BSB
Now forward to November when Hubby and I were able to get a stay in Branson, Missouri, for ourselves and my sister and brother-in-law. She’s the one with whom I share both parents, and we were raised together for most of our growing up time. We all went together to the small Missouri town where our dad lived with his bride of 10 years, Cheryl. We had a wonderful visit with both of them, and we left with encouragement for our dad to contact Shayne. On Christmas Day of 2019, my brother heard his father’s voice for the very first time. (happy tears)
All the wheels were put in motion for Shayne to meet his (our) father after the winter weather let go in Canada, but that was 2020, so you know what happened there. Borders couldn’t have been shut any tighter. And again, we all went to prayer. In the meantime, I lost a very dear aunt in Arizona who was like a mom to me and my sister. That was just before the lockdown, and it filled the year with chaos and stress. Meanwhile, a good friend was watching her mom struggle with Alzheimer’s, and I was trying to be supportive of her. A crazy year but God’s presence sustained all of us.
Sometime in the late summer of 2020, my brother was able to find a way to get him and his wife Heather across the Canadian border. And they drove down to meet Dad. I was getting the play-by-play and so excited for both of them. Almost a week later, I got a call from the friend whose mom was struggling offering to take me to Missouri to see my brother and my dad. I will never be able to pay that gift back, and I’m forever grateful for the moments she gave our family before Dad left this world. And the miracle of timing for my brother to meet his father and our father to meet his son. (melt)
Again, there’s so much more to tell (which is why I want to write the Grace by DNA book), including the fact that I got another sister out of the deal because Heather and I also shared a lot of similarities–especially about spiritual things. So I’ll close this here by telling you why I chose to share all of this today. It’s because tomorrow’s blog will be all about a big event for my brother, and I’m super proud of him. He is releasing his first single from what will be his first album. I’ll share his website and teaser for tonight, and all the release stuff, including why he chose his particular performer name, tomorrow.
This YouTube page has links to Shayne’s website (where you can sign up for his newsletter), Facebook, Spotify, and Instagram…
https://youtube.com/@shaynesavagemusic?si=j2u8FhzTK-7x8PjG
And here’s the teaser from his Insta post…
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🎵Resurrection Redemption Revealed
On this Resurrection Day, celebrated as “Easter” by most Christian churches, we focus on a Risen Savior who endured suffering on our behalf. The final and perfect Passover Lamb has said, “It is finished.” Between the crucifixion and the resurrection, The Lamb was not silent. He was using that blood offering to purchase the keys of hell and death to free anyone who truly wants what He offers. And now, He is risen!
A couple people guessed that yesterday I was talking about Barabbas. Did you figure it out, dear reader? Maybe, like me, you once learned that his name means “son of the father.” The father in this word is not an earthly parent, but someone in a position of master or teacher, like a rabbi. So, Barabbas was likely a preacher’s kid. If you’ve raised your children right, but they don’t want to serve the God you taught them about, don’t give up even if they’ve been tried, convicted, and sentenced. God sees them.
As I studied and talked about Barabbas, a few more things came to light. For example, we don’t actually know the kind of person he was. Was he a notorious criminal because he committed multiple crimes with a bad and uncaring attitude? Or did they just take note of him because he was the son of a rabbi, and it gave them pleasure to take down one of God’s people? We’ve seen it in our modern media, so it’s not a stretch to think that could be possible. I even wondered if maybe the insurrection against the Romans was a religious one because Roman law was fundamentally changing the Torah practices within Israel. Like state laws that tried to prevent people from gathering to worship during the 2020 lockdowns, it’s possible that new Roman laws were hindering old biblical laws. And just maybe, Barabbas had read enough of the sacred writings of the law and prophets that he was trying to imitate them by taking out the “enemies” in that insurrection before they could put his people back into bondage again. And then someone got killed.
We don’t know what drove him to the behaviors that landed him in jail and headed for the death penalty. But, we do know that God didn’t change his identity, and his name was even more important than the rich man in hell whose name was never given. And we know, as Gemini pointed out to me, that Barabbas is the only person in history who could say in a literal physical sense, “Jesus Christ died for me.”
I’m sure I’m not alone in always seeing Barabbas as just a ”villain” in the Passion Story. But what if he’s more? What if this is another one of those things that are small to us but significant to God? Planned. Ordained. And with deeper meaning than most of us realize. Regardless of his crimes, his name Bar-Abba was a constant reminder of his identity and where he came from. Now, he was being given a second chance. What would he do with it? Here’s my hopeful view…
While others followed Messiah YahShua because of His miracles and His teachings, Barabbas found the disciples later and joined them because he was driven to show thanks for the grace (unmerited favor) he’d been given. He knew Messiah paid a debt He didn’t owe, and he owed a debt he could never fully pay. His freedom wasn’t just a reset button that would allow him to go on as if none of his past had ever happened. The people knew. The relatives of the person who died at his hands knew. He knew. And that weight inside him could only be lightened if he did something of value with his freedom. So he would testify to others who felt hopeless. He would tell parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles to never stop praying because mercy creates miracles. He would follow the Man who died for him for the rest of his life.
This 1707 hymn ”At the Cross” has lyrics Barabbas himself could have sung: Was it for crimes that I had done, He groaned upon that tree? And then the final verse:
But drops of grief can ne'er repay
The debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
'Tis all that I can do.
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Proverbs 31: Not a Trophy Wife, Just a Trophy
How many of my female readers dread this chapter of Proverbs because it feels like the world demands we strive for the perfections we see here? And how many of my male readers get depressed because they don’t have a Proverbs 31 woman? Well, it’s not quite as bad as any of you might think. And it’s more about the character of King Lemuel than it is about some “perfect” woman anyway.
In verse 1, in the Complete Jewish Bible, we read…
Mishlei (Pro) 31:1 CJB
[1] The words of King L’mu’el, the prophecy with which his mother disciplined him:
https://bible.com/bible/1275/pro.31.1.CJB
See, this mama wanted her son to be a valiant king, worthy of the blessings she is getting ready to give him. She begins with telling him what not to do. In verses 2-7, she warns him not to sacrifice his strength to women, and tells him to stay away from anything that can destroy kings. She also warns him to avoid strong liquor because it isn’t meant for kings and could make them forget even the decrees they made as laws. In verses 8 and 9, the Queen Mama goes from don’t’s to do’s as she tells him to speak for those who can’t, be an advocate and righteous judge, and to defend the poor and needy.
So what has this mama created in her son? She’s created, in Hebrew, a chayil or “valiant warrior.” This word (Strong’s H2428) is used for Boaz in Ruth 2:1…
Ruth 2:1 BSB
[1] Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a prominent man of noble character from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/rut.2.1.BSB
The same word is used to describe Ruth in chapter 3, verse 11…
Ruth 3:11 BSB
[11] And now do not be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you request, since all my fellow townspeople know that you are a woman of noble character.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/rut.3.11.BSB
Note the noble character description for both. And here is the meat of Proverbs Chapter 31. Verses 10-31 are an acrostic poem of the letters in the Hebrew aleph-bet (alphabet). (The chapter link is for the KJV because it shows the acrostic letters.) Basically, it’s a kingly mnemonic to help Lemuel remember these necessary virtues for the type of the woman who should sit by his side and be his queen. This woman will be his crown as is mentioned in Proverbs 12:4a: ”A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown.” And by using the whole aleph-bet (aleph to tav), the mother is giving her son a behavior roadmap for his whole marriage and his whole life.
And verse 10 begins with that word chayil (actually eshet chayil for the woman) again…
Proverbs 31:10 BSB
[10] A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.31.10.BSB
Here, I have to share from the word study of chayil at Bible Hub:
Moral Excellence and Noble Character
The Book of Ruth elevates the term beyond the battlefield: Boaz calls Ruth “a woman of noble character” (Ruth 3:11). Proverbs 31:10-31 culminates in the praise of “a wife of noble character” whose industrious life blesses family and community. Here chayil accents virtue, diligence, generosity and God-fearing devotion. Strength is measured not by force but by steadfast righteousness.
This not a list of things to do, or even things to be, it’s a character list of traits that will radiate from a heart that is right with God. Though God also knows our human form and that even a virtuous woman needs support and strength from a virtuous man to be at her best. Lemuel’s mom taught him to be that. We know from reading that this type of man trusts his wife and notices those virtues in her. He gives her praise to her face and speaks highly of her to others at the gate. He is the perfect husbandman who cares for his “vine” and helps her to blossom. He enables her to be in business for herself (she sells a field), be creative (she works the spindle), and gives her the servants she needs to take care of her home and family. He does not look only at her appearance as he would a “trophy wife” who’s used more for display than intrinsic value. To him, and to the dreams of his mama, she is truly a trophy.
Sometimes, especially in this world of disobedience to The Lord and His ways, it may seem impossible for either husbands or wives to be of noble character. Maybe we haven’t been raised that way. Maybe we’ve lived our lives as survivors and don’t even know where to begin. Maybe we’ve been married to someone who didn’t bring out the best in us–or maybe even crushed our best. Or maybe someone reading this is single and doesn’t have someone in their life to bring anything out for.
Wherever you are in this, I have hope for you. We all have a virtuous and valiant character for our ishi (husband) because the Bible says in Isaiah 54: 5,10…
Isaiah 54:5, 10 BSB
[5] For your husband is your Maker — the Lord of Hosts is His name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
[10] Though the mountains may be removed and the hills may be shaken, My loving devotion will not depart from you, and My covenant of peace will not be broken,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/isa.54.5-10.BSB
May you see Yahveh Almighty as one worthy of being a trophy for. And if you are an unmarried man, may you learn to imitate God’s valiant and noble behaviors to attract your own trophy. If you’re an unmarried woman, may you be that trophy for God, and may He send you the noble man He has chosen to bring out the Proverbs 31 woman in you.
One final note: I’ve learned tonight that it is a Jewish tradition after the lighting of Sabbath candles for the man to sing “Eshet Chayil” (singing Proverbs 31:10-31) to his wife. He is not singing it as a checklist of chores but rather a praise at the end of the week for his warrior partner. I found a version of it in English with lyrics…
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🎵Proverbs 29: No End in Sight
Imagine if you will, a runner. He came to win the race. He’s practiced, he’s ready, and he’s dressed to run. But when he gets to the track, er tracks(?), no direction is clear. Instead of the track knowing and showing the finish line, it just keeps asking, “Finished?”
Proverbs Chapter 29 includes the well-known verse…
Proverbs 29:18 KJV
[18] Where there is no vision, the people perish: But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.29.18.KJV
Various translations render the word vision as things like revelation, prophecy, divine guidance, or prophetic vision. And the word perish is replaced with “cast off restraint,” “run wild,” or “lose self-control.” I like the way it reads in The Message Bible: “They stumble all over themselves.” Because without God’s help and guidance, and the finish lines He has laid out in His Word, you’ll get lost in chaos and confusion. With no end in sight, how can you even know what direction to run?
It works the same in all of life. We start, when kids are little, asking “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And we don’t ask that because we think they really know or have their college path already decided. We ask because we want to know what excites them, so we can steer them toward a finish they will be happy with.
Human races, on the track or otherwise, often involve competition and include winners and losers. But there are some of us in this world that don’t like competition. For me, even winning at something is difficult because I feel bad for anyone who doesn’t win. That’s why I like God’s race where everyone who crosses the finish line gets the prize. Paul the Apostle states it this way…
Philippians 3:14 WEBUS
[14] I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
https://bible.com/bible/206/php.3.14.WEBUS
1 Corinthians 9:25-26 WEBUS
[25] Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. [26] I therefore run like that, not aimlessly. I fight like that, not beating the air,
https://bible.com/bible/206/1co.9.25-26.WEBUS
2 Timothy 4:7 WEBUS
[7] I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.
https://bible.com/bible/206/2ti.4.7.WEBUS
In case you have never read it, there’s a great poem about winning races called “The Race” and it even has its own website at https://theracepoem.com/ plus a lot of other places online. It’s a poem filled with heartache and victory, and it’s absolutely worth reading.
And this is the perfect place to end with a song I once thought I’d sing on an album. It’s called “This Race I Have Begun,” and it’s written and sung by Bobbie Shoemake…
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🎵Proverbs 27: Promise of Provision
It was a cold January day on the 27th of the month. I started the year doing the daily Proverbs study, and until that day, I didn’t know how valuable it would become to me. On weekdays, I read it at the bus stop on the way home from work. Other than the crisp breeze from the ocean in the early evenings, my study time was a little escape from the bustle of busy Santa Monica streets and people.
Proverbs Chapter 27 was the day’s reading, and it started with a fitting verse…
Proverbs 27:1 WEBUS
[1] Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.27.1.WEBUS
And I sure did not know I would lose my job that day just because I did my job as instructed. I loved my job as a law office receptionist and only had problems with one person there. She got upset when I wouldn’t lie and tell a caller she wasn’t there unless she went down the stairs and out the door. But that didn’t cause me to lose my job. It was an event the day before my firing that did that. The attorneys and paralegals were prepping for a major trial, and I was told that absolutely no one could disturb them unless it was a medical emergency. Well, one long-time and very rich client decided those rules did not apply to her. What’s an obedient Christian girl supposed to do?
I told her over and over that I was told I couldn’t even buzz the back office to see if they’d take a call. They never told me this one woman would’ve been an exception, so in trying to keep her business, they put the blame on me. Her solution was to tell them to either fire me or lose her as a client. Guess what they chose. The hiring manager told me I had done nothing wrong, so he was paying me through the end of the week. Apparently, he’d had to let others go for the same reason, so he decided I was the last one he’d hire for them, and he promised to give me a glowing review. But that didn’t change the fact that I needed a new job and a paycheck to pay the rent. And quickly.
As I sat at the bus stop reading that chapter, most of it felt just like meaningless words until I got to the end. In verse 27, I read…
Proverbs 27:27 WEBUS
[27] There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.27.27.WEBUS
Even though I didn’t have servant girls, or understand the verses that came before about being a good steward of flocks, I grabbed this verse as a promise of God’s provision. Though still hurting from the unfairness of my experience, I believed God would make up for it and fix things. And boy did He!
That was a Tuesday. I went job hunting on Wednesday and Thursday with no success. I learned at one job that I was perfect for them, but they had already met their quota of non-Affirmative-Action hires, so they couldn’t hire me. I had one more paid day to get a job without losing money. And a storm was brewing that night that threatened to send me on my job interviews looking like a drowned rat because of the bus being my only transportation. I’ll never forget Friday morning in the kitchen where my roommate had a tiny television on the counter (I didn’t watch TV at all in those days), and it was on the weather report. The broadcasters talked of their surprise at how this storm made a big circle around the valley and was leaving us untouched and dry for the day. And I wondered if God would do something like that just for me.
I had an interview at an office to do collections for outstanding phone bills. They hired me on the spot and told me to start Monday morning. Not even one day without a paycheck! It’s one of those testimonies that God brings back when I’m struggling–and every time I read Proverbs 27.
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Proverbs 26: Fools, Slackers, Meddlers, Gossips, and Liars
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
We often see the quote, “Hurt people hurt people,” but I’ve never fully agreed with that. From my own experiences, and what I’ve seen in others who experienced hurt, hurt people often become extremely empathetic to the pain of others. They would never cause it intentionally. But a fool doesn’t function that way.
In Psalm 14:1, we read…
Psalms 14:1a WEBUS
[1] The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
https://bible.com/bible/206/psa.14.1.WEBUS
Today’s reading in Proverbs Chapter 26 deals a lot with fools in addition to other types of people who tend to regularly hurt other people. The chapter begins with a sort of what’s wrong with this picture statement…
Proverbs 26:1 WEBUS
[1] Like snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.26.1.WEBUS
Though the little kids immediately run to play under the snowing tree in the summertime, the adults are likely confused by this oddity. Snow is a winter thing with maybe a few surprise downpours at the end of fall and beginning of spring. But by the time summer and lemonade show up, it’s definitely not right to have snow–even over only one tree. And it’s not right to give honor and preference to a foolish person, especially with what is likely in their hearts. Verse 8 even tells us what we are like if we’re the one who offers honor to a fool…
Proverbs 26:8 WEBUS
[8] As one who binds a stone in a sling, so is he who gives honor to a fool.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.26.8.WEBUS
It makes sense. What good would a rock tied into a sling do when you need to throw it. Like those old, dangerous toys called “Klick-Klacks” or “Clackers,” (there’s an interesting article about that toy at A Woman’s World magazine online) it’s a recipe for disaster. And it would certainly not help you with hunting–or killing giant Philistines. We must not assign improper honor based on our feelings. Like saying, “God bless you” to a person who would only dig deeper into their sins if they only had blessings and no struggles to make them stop and look at their conditions. It’s not loving to honor and uplift someone who’s stuck in foolishness and needs a jolt of reality to repent and be set free.
Verses 3-12 have so much more to say about fools than I can put here. It’s almost a blog post already created for April 1st. 😁 Verse 11 is the saddest one as it says that a fool never learns…
Proverbs 26:11 WEBUS
[11] As a dog that returns to his vomit, so is a fool who repeats his folly.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.26.11.WEBUS
Verses 13-16 switch subjects and talk about slackers, or sluggards in the World English Bible. And since verse 16 says the slacker is wise in his own eyes, I’m guessing the teacher is showing the slacker is just another type of fool. He then switches subjects again and begins talking about meddlers who (again foolishly) meddle in others’ business and how it’s like grabbing a dog by the ears. We know what happens there. I’m not sure if the joker in verses 18-19 is the same meddler from verse 17, but saying he was only joking doesn’t fix his offenses either way.
As the chapter finishes out with verses 20-28, the subject turns to gossip. It seems this gossip is a contentious liar who hates those he makes into his victims. He is somehow able to convince people to listen (silver-covered lips speaking dainty morsels in verses 22-23), but when things turn on the listener, that one will become even more of a victim because the hateful gossip will convince him it’s all his fault. I see this manipulation as the gossip being yet another type of fool: an arrogant one. But back in verse 20, we get the wisdom that if we just don’t allow the words of the gossip to spread, the quarrels will die like a fire with no fuel.
So this chapter didn’t have a lot of happy blessings to hand out unless you consider warnings that protect you from being victimized as its own type of blessing. I do. And I’m thankful for wisdom that works hand-in-hand with discernment to protect us. Sadly, we often let our feelings get in the way of both discernment and wisdom, but that’s where walking with God helps us get through the hard places in this life, even if we brought them on ourselves. But, there is one huge piece of good news in this chapter, so I’ll end with what it says in verse 2…
Proverbs 26:2 WEBUS
[2] Like a fluttering sparrow, like a darting swallow, so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.26.2.WEBUS
It seems out of place in this chapter, but it’s a statement of faith to undo the lies and harms of the subjects in all the other verses. Resist even the accusations of foolish ramblings and know their manipulative curses will not be able to stand against you and rest in your life.
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Proverbs 25: Apples of Gold
This is another of those chapters where I’ve added all sorts of colorful highlights in my Bible app. Proverbs Chapter 25 is still a collection of wisdom from Solomon and copied for publishing by the men of Hezekiah, King of Judah. The chapter starts with the verse about God hiding things and giving kings the glory to search them out. Sort of like an Easter egg hunt but with far more valuable treasure.
I find this chapter to have a more conversational tone. Rather than a list of “these types of people get these types of rewards,” it sounds like the writers are reasoning with the readers. For…
Proverbs 25:6-7 WEBUS
[6] Don’t exalt yourself in the presence of the king, or claim a place among great men; [7] for it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,” than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.25.6-7.WEBUS
It has sensible directions like where it tells people to be careful about taking their neighbor to court if the neighbor has dirt on them he can bring to the judge and leave the accuser embarrassed. And then it becomes a bit poetic with the verse that inspired today’s image…
Proverbs 25:11 WEBUS
[11] A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.25.11.WEBUS
I had too much fun creating the image. Most versions say “settings of silver” and one says ”pictures” while another says “baskets.” I went with both the setting (bowl) and the frame (with the picture of a bowl). And then had the AI place it in something like my idea of a dream kitchen. I love the yellow gingham curtains. On a personal note, I came home from a trip one year to find that hubby had painted my kitchen walls with 2 shades of lemon yellow. The top part is more of a chiffon while the bottom is summer lemon, and I’m totally blessed by that loving gesture.
But I digress. The point of the beauty in that image is about how fitting the right words at the right time can be. The unspoken message here is to be a good listener, so you will know what words are needed most and exactly when to speak them. Since home decor means enough to people that examples of it fill magazines and TV shows, we could say the right words are like a beautiful kitchen, or whatever room means the most to us. And though I rarely read those types of magazines or watch the shows, I’ve certainly lingered on pictures of rooms with dreamy decor on sites that sell home improvement products.
And that actually leads me to a book I’ve enjoyed reading (though haven’t finished yet) called “Bold and Broken.” It’s written by identical twin brothers from a former home improvement TV series, and it’s filled with testimonies of words spoken in just the right scenarios. Again, I’ll use my Amazon link for tracking, and if you read it yourself, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
The full title is “Bold and Broken: Becoming the Bridge Between Heaven and Earth” by David and Jason Benham. Find it at Amazon at https://amzn.to/40V00GA and I recommend at least viewing the page to see some of the great encouragements in the book’s description. It does say there’s an updated version as of 2025 which might be why I couldn’t find a Kindle version on this page, but I feel better giving the link to the one I’ve actually read.
The rest of the chapter is loaded with great advice, like using patience to convince a ruler because speaking softly can break him down. Or the admonition to not stay too long in your neighbor’s house and end up with an enemy. And then we get this…
Proverbs 25:21-22 WEBUS
[21] If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink; [22] for you will heap coals of fire on his head, and Yahweh will reward you.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.25.21-22.WEBUS
I always thought those coals of fire were a painful thing, but apparently they are a warm thing. This is literally saying to do good for the needs of your enemy, and God Himself will reward you. This is not always easy, but it’s a good word anyway. And it’s a good place to wrap this up.
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Proverbs 24: A Little Slumber
There’s a lot of wisdom in Proverbs Chapter 24. As I’ve gone through this month, I realize that in all the years of reading daily Proverbs, what has worked in my days has been only one, or maybe 2-3, verses. That’s why it’s a bit difficult to try and do a post about a whole chapter. I’ve ended up focusing on sections of verses, but I was feeling a little guilty for not doing a complete chapter study until today. Having listened to someone else’s summary and seeing how it’s kinda disjointed to try and cover it all, it made me realize that it’s okay. Especially since I’ve linked to the entire chapter in each post, and I recommend a full reading in case what stands out to you is different than what mattered to me for the day
So, today, the final 11 “sayings of the wise” run through verse 22. When you click the Bible Hub link to read in the Berean Standard Bible, the sayings are clearly marked, and it makes for some nice study. I don’t post as much from there to avoid copyright issues. Anyway, the remaining verses are considered more sayings to the wise and I want to focus on the final 5 verses. In The World English Bible (public domain, copyright free) it reads…
Proverbs 24:30-34 WEBUS
[30] I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding.
[31] Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.
[32] Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction:
[33] a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep,
[34] so your poverty will come as a robber and your want as an armed man.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.24.30-34.WEBUS
Yes, it’s common sense to know that neglected fields and homes will be taken over by weeds and will fall apart. So why is this considered wisdom? I’m thinking it’s because the message is to consider the not-so-tangible items in our lives that need to be maintained. If you don’t work on relationships, you may one day find miles between you and wonder how it happened. And if you don’t cultivate a relationship with The Lord, you may one day wake up like King David did once and felt like the heavens were brassed over.
As a teenager, I had some serious surgeries that required long recovery times in the hospital. That may not be the same now as they’ve changed how quickly they want people to get moving, but back then, I had one stay of 8 days in the bed. During that time I was on a clear liquid diet, and I’m not sure they even gave me nutrition by IV. But I really didn’t know what I was missing because I wasn’t having to be physically active or upright. On the 8th day, when it was time to remove stitches, I learned what I’d been missing. I felt fine sitting on the edge of the bed. I felt strong standing at the side of it. But when I took the first step forward, I passed out immediately. They caught me and revived me, but I was shocked that I felt strong but truly was not.
Later, after becoming a follower of YahShua (Jesus Christ), I read these verses and connected them to my teenage experience. Just because you feel fine, and maybe even strong, if you’re not keeping yourself nourished in God’s Word and with His Holy Spirit, you may not know how weak you are until you need to move forward. King David says, “Taste and see that The Lord is good,” and YahShua said to pray for Daily Bread. In another proverb, there’s a verse about the slacker who won’t even put a spoon in his bowl and bring it to his mouth.
Let’s fall in love with the meat and gravy of God’s precious words and earnestly dig into that dish for taste and nourishment. Let’s not end up feeling like the thorns and thistles trapped us in bondage while we made everything else more important than God’s wisdom. God provides what we need to be strong if we seek and search with all our hearts. He will fill us up when we receive from His hand.
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Proverbs 23: Buying Truth
This reading is filled with familiar wisdom, like “money sprouts wings and flies away,” and “spare the rod, spoil the child,” and that whole story from verse 29 to verse 35 about the drunk who ends up on top of a ship’s mast wondering how he got there. And then he starts wondering when he can do it again just because he survived. I’m not sure if the dad here knew a real person this happened to, but he’s certainly making sure to add the right amount of drama to dissuade him. Read all of Proverbs Chapter 23 if you want to know all this father’s advice.
If you’ve been reading in the Berean Standard Bible that I’ve been giving links to, you’ve seen how they subtitled the 30 wise sayings promised in Proverbs 22. Today, you’ll read sayings 7 through 19. I want to focus on saying number 17, which includes verses 22-25 with my emphasis on verse 23…
Proverbs 23:22-25 WEBUS
[22] Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old. [23] Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding. [24] The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him. [25] Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.23.22-25.WEBUS
So the dad starts out telling the child not to labor to be rich since it flies away, and he describes the inner thoughts of a greedy rich man who invites someone to eat heartily but then worries about the cost. And then he tells his son to buy stuff and not sell it. Well, if he’s not actively trying to make money, how is he supposed to buy anything? And I think that’s the point. While the value of truth, discipline, and understanding are greater than gold or silver, the cost cannot be measured in monetary value. Their intrinsic value costs something from your heart, which is why selling it after you’ve purchased it would be a bad idea.
There’s a New Testament Bible story where Peter and John are walking by the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and one of the beggars asks for money. Peter says…
Acts 3:6-7 KJV
[6] Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. [7] And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
https://bible.com/bible/1/act.3.6-7.KJV
(And what happened next is a direct result of Peter buying the truth and then giving it away as needed.)
Acts 3:8-10 KJV
[8] And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. [9] And all the people saw him walking and praising God: [10] and they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.
https://bible.com/bible/1/act.3.8-10.KJV
It was great advice in Proverbs and in the New Testament, and it’s still great advice now. Though ”the world” (people living without God or His Word) tries to silence truth to avoid a painful conscience, those of us who know God’s truth need to keep sharing it. Like bright light that may hurt the eyes for a moment when they’ve been in the dark, the momentary pain is small compared to the blessings of light and truth.
🎶 And I’ll close with a couple of videos on the silver and gold topic. The first, by George Beverly Shea is called “I’d Rather Have Jesus” and it puts to music the idea of having The Truth (since Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life), than silver or gold. The second is the song called “Silver and Gold” by Dolly Parton, and I found it with lyrics. I searched for hours for the Acts 3 song by Michael Card, and I never found it. If any of my readers find it, please comment with a link. Thanks.
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🎶Proverbs 20: Fruit of the Wisdom Tree
Many years ago, my first foray into the World Wide Web was via a little device called WebTV. It hooked up to a television in ways similar to what boxes like Roku and Fire TV do now. It was super slow (as were most web interfaces back then) because of using a dial-up connection, but I learned so much from using it that I can truly say it changed my life.
One of the things I learned was how to subscribe to newsletters, and eventually how to write my own. A favorite series was by a woman in Georgia who went by the name “GA Girl” and who taught perspectives in biblical understanding that I still carry with me. (I tried to see if there was any hint of her still being online, but couldn’t find anything.)
So, with all the good fruit of wisdom I’m finding in Proverbs Chapter 20 today, my mind goes back to one of GA Girl’s lessons; the fruit of The Spirit. It was from her that I learned about the power of the word fruit being singular. I’d always thought of those sweet things like love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, gentleness, meekness, self-control, and kindness as being individual fruits you may or may not display. Maybe someone was very gentle but not very meek. Maybe someone overflowing with goodness didn’t have much self-control. Each fruit could stand on its own and be either abundant or lacking, right?
So, with nine different traits, why is it listed as the fruit (singular) of The Spirit? What I learned from that old lesson was that it’s about One God with one single personality. He is the tree, and He bears the fruit that represents that personality. If we are filled with His Holy Spirit, every aspect of that fruit will flow from Him and through us. So we can all be loving, and joyful, and gentle, and good, and meek, etc. We can all be long-suffering when we must, and we can all exercise self-control with the help and wisdom of The Lord. Those traits are all fruit of His Spirit, so they should all be fruit of our lives when we yield to His Spirit. And I find that truly exciting, especially for the fruit that doesn’t change so easily to me in my own fleshly behaviors. It’s amazing that God knows our forms yet chooses to pour His form through our lives anyway.
This chapter had some great examples of what it looks like to have that fruit of God active, both in The Lord and in human lives. Here are some of the verses that jumped out at me as examples. My notes are in parentheses following the verses…
Proverbs 20:5, 7-8, 10-11, 15, 27, 29 WEBUS
[5] Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. (Fruit of understanding.)
[7] A righteous man walks in integrity. Blessed are his children after him. (Fruit of integrity, natural morals.)
[8] A king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes. (Fruit of righteous judgment in leadership.)
[10] Differing weights and differing measures, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh. (Here is a lack of the fruit of honesty and integrity.)
[11] Even a child makes himself known by his doings, whether his work is pure, and whether it is right. (This shows that we can know people by their fruit.)
[15] There is gold and abundance of rubies, but the lips of knowledge are a rare jewel. (Fruit of wisdom.)
[27] The spirit of man is Yahweh’s lamp, searching all his innermost parts. (Fruit of meekness will allow us to be humble and let God search and heal us. )
[29] The glory of young men is their strength. The splendor of old men is their gray hair. (Fruit of long life and strength as given by God.)
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.20.5-29.WEBUS
I pray this little nugget informs and blesses you all as it did me when I learned it. If so, to forth and bear good fruit from the wisdom tree.
And now an update for the future of this blog. I’ve just spent many unplanned hours trying to find old stuff from my newsletter and the GA Girl website at the Way Back Machine (archive.org) only to find out that some links there can lead outside the archive to old domains that may or may not be safe. If you look anything up there, just be careful. To prevent causing my readers any issues, I’m going to create some PDF documents direct from the archives but with all links and scripts stripped away. It’s perfect into for My Cyberspace Journey but that’s not for this post because I’m way past my bedtime now. So Shabbat Shalom (Sabbath Peace) to all, and goodnight.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of this until after the fact, but here’s a video of I Shall Not Be Moved to go with the tree image…
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Proverbs 18: Finding Good “God” Things
(©All Rights Reserved)
You can see Proverbs Chapter 18 right in the picture, so it seemed like the perfect image for this post. And, yes, I know hubby doesn’t exactly have a “Wow, I’ve really found something good” look, but in the original image, it’s obvious he’s in a lot of pain. So, the skin softening and background decor make it a little better. I tried the facial expression changer, and a fake smile definitely did not work for him. Lol 😆.
Anyway, the verse you see on this wonderful gift of shirts hubby got for us on our last anniversary is from 18:22 and reads…
Proverbs 18:22 WEBUS
[22] Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of Yahweh.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.18.22.WEBUS
As I opened my Bible app to read today’s chapter, I was shocked at how colorful it was from highlights I’d left with previous readings. I read in multiple versions, and most had a variety of colorful highlights already. A few examples of my highlights (which I will quote from the WEBUS version because it’s copyright-free and a bit easier to understand than King James Version but I’ve linked to both of them) are:
Blue highlights for verses that make me sad like…
Proverbs 18:2 WEBUS
[2] A fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own opinion.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.18.2.WEBUS
That makes me sad because I’m a natural teacher, so a person who doesn’t have any desire to understand is also one who rejects teaching. Plus, I know what they’re missing out on by not having any willingness to at least investigate for themselves, especially with God’s Word.
I highlight in green for the verses I see as urging me or others to go forward and do something. Like these 2 verses that instruct how to hide and seek…
Proverbs 18:10 WEBUS
[10] Yahweh’s name is a strong tower: the righteous run to him, and are safe.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.18.10.WEBUS
And
Proverbs 18:15 WEBUS
[15] The heart of the discerning gets knowledge. The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.18.15.WEBUS
I use red highlights for warnings…
Proverbs 18:3 WEBUS
[3] When wickedness comes, contempt also comes, and with shame comes disgrace.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.18.3.WEBUS
Proverbs 18:21 WEBUS
[21] Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.18.21.WEBUS
And I do a lot of turquoise highlights for encouraging Scriptures. That’s a little harder with so many verses in Proverbs including both the good results of good behavior and the bad consequences of bad behaviors all in the same verses. But here are a few…
Proverbs 18:4 WEBUS
[4] The words of a man’s mouth are like deep waters. The fountain of wisdom is like a flowing brook.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.18.4.WEBUS
Proverbs 18:16 WEBUS
[16] A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.18.16.WEBUS
Proverbs 18:20 WEBUS
[20] A man’s stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth. With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.18.20.WEBUS
And then I have a variety of yellow and orange and tan to remind me to study more or focus on certain verses. In The Bible App by YouVersion, when you highlight verses, they share to your community stream (if you allow that in settings), so it’s a great way to share what has affected you in your current studies. I often end up highlighting a verse I see highlighted by a friend because it may be in a version I haven’t read or they combined the verse with one that makes me consider it differently. I love that living aspect of God’s Word and highly recommend reading it for yourself to see how God speaks “good” to you from His love letter of the ages.
I’ll close with a video of a song I’ve never heard before called “Happy the Home When God is There” from 1846. This singer says, “Happy our home” and I liked it best for voices and the key on lyric videos.
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Proverbs 17: What Does John 3:17 Have to do With St. Patrick? Finding the Refiner’s Fire in the Mud of Slemish Mountain
For six years on Slemish Mountain, Patrick was a slave in isolation from his home and family after being kidnapped at only 16 years of age. His journey didn’t begin in a cathedral but rather in a pit; in the furnace of refinement. Proverbs 17:3 describes it this way…
Proverbs 17:3 WEBUS
[3] The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but Yahweh tests the hearts.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.17.3.WEBUS
From a Pit of Mud to the Reflection of Christ
In Patrick’s Confessio, the raw Latin he uses to describe himself says, “Ego eram sicut lapis qui iacet in luto profundo.” The literal translation reads, “I was just like a stone which lies in mud deep.” But it was from that stone in the mud that The Refiner (who Patrick referred to as “Qui potens est” or “Who powerful is” in English) began His work.
The image I asked Gemini to create is of a silversmith carefully watching the refining process going on inside a kiln on an Irish hillside. There is a story about a woman going to a silversmith to learn about the process and better understand the Scriptures about these crucible moments we must sometimes walk through in this life. The author is unknown, but it’s a powerful story…
“The Refiner’s Fire
There was once a group of women studying the book of Malachi in the Old Testament. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three, which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This verse puzzled the women, and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.
That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ (Malachi 3:3)
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’ He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’”
I love what this woman learns from the silversmith. She sees the loving personality of a Master Creator who doesn’t put us through the fire without a purpose and doesn’t leave us in the fire without a plan. Without even realizing it, she sees Exodus 12:42 in action. In Hebrew, it reads… “Leil shimurim hu l’Adonai” with the literal translation: “Night of vigils/safekeeping it [is] unto-the-Lord.” Like a silversmith, God never looked away but rather He kept a vigil throughout the night, never leaving His people unwatched, so He could bring them out safely. In the Complete Jewish Bible, it says ..
Sh'mot (Exo) 12:42 CJB
[42] This was a night when Adonai kept vigil to bring them out of the land of Egypt, and this same night continues to be a night when Adonai keeps vigil for all the people of Isra’el through all their generations.
https://bible.com/bible/1275/exo.12.42.CJB
For Patrick, the “heat” of refinement while he lived in slavery wasn’t a punishment. It was the necessary environment to burn away the dross of his sin and reveal the “silver” of his soul when touched by salvation. As I put this post together, I realized the date of 3/17 and how St Patrick’s life and these Scriptures about the refiner’s fire line up with John 3:17.
John 3:17 CSB
[17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
https://bible.com/bible/1713/jhn.3.17.CSB
While The Refiner sits by the forge, watching the surface of the metal, ensuring the heat is perfect—enough to purify, but never to destroy, we know the kiln is not a place of condemnation. The Silversmith doesn’t put the metal in the fire because He hates the silver; He does it because He loves the silver and hates the dross that hides what it is meant to be. He will know the work is finished when He can see His own image in us and our behaviors.
Whether you are in the forge, or you are still stuck in the mud and mire, remember that The Watchman is still keeping vigil over His chosen and called people. It may seem difficult to get loose from our bondage and sin, but once we have tasted the grace of salvation and been set free, it will all be worth it. As it says in the lyrics of the old hymn, when nothing else could help, love lifted me. Then, we may even feel like Patrick (and so many apostles after him); we must spread the good news.
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Proverbs 16: There is a Fountain
Figuring out how to distill the many wonderful teachings in the Proverbs is proving a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. It’s one thing to read them everyday and let them speak to wherever you are in your season of life. But it’s totally different to try and share the whole point when so many points are being made. So, start with reading Proverbs Chapter 16 in full at Bible Hub or your favorite Bible website or app. What jumps out to you that seems perfectly timed to what you might be going through at this moment.
For me, I kept focusing on the values of wisdom and humility being worth more than silver or gold. And then, I grabbed verse 22 and a big promise because it works multiple ways, and makes a nice visual. It says…
Proverbs 16:22a WEBUS
[22a] Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.16.22.WEBUS
Our own understanding can spring up into life. And, God’s understanding of our weaknesses and need of salvation springs up into eternal life. He desires life for every person He created, but He desires our best life. So by seeking His wisdom, we can receive more than silver or gold will ever be able to buy.
This chapter also includes the oft quoted (and often misquoted) verse about “pride going before a fall.” You’ll see that it’s actually arrogance that goes before a fall and pride leading to destruction. You can get up from a fall. You might be battered and bruised, but you can get up. But if you suffer destruction, there is very little hope of recovery without a total rebuild. Of course, God specializes in mercy that allows for total rebuilds, so a little hope is still hope.
Proverbs 16:18 WEBUS
[18] Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.16.18.WEBUS
I guess the big lesson in all of today’s proverbial statements is to stay humble before God and let Him be the one to pour out His choice of blessings on you. With all of creation and salvation being His idea, it’s a more likely scenario that He can come up with blessings greater than you or I could even think to ask for. Here’s one promise on that ..
Proverbs 16:20 WEBUS
[20] He who heeds the Word finds prosperity. Whoever trusts in Yahweh is blessed.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.16.20.WEBUS
And now for some music by one of my the favorite worship bands, Selah.
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Proverbs 13: You Are What Your Soul Eats
How do you feed a hungry soul? (Hah, you thought I was gonna say “man” there, didn’t you? 😁 And now you’re humming the TV dinner tune, right? 🎶 Okay, maybe that’s just me.)
But, seriously, for all we’ve talked about hungering and thirsting for The Lord, we haven’t really discussed the care and feeding of that hunger and thirst. Solomon got it in a few verses of Proverbs Chapter 13. Like…
Proverbs 13:2-3, 19, 25 WEBUS
[2] By the fruit of his lips, a man enjoys good things, but the unfaithful crave violence.
[3] He who guards his mouth guards his soul. One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
[19] Longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.
[25] The righteous one eats to the satisfying of his soul, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.13.2-25.WEBUS
But there’s so much more depth to it, especially when you learn the meaning of the word soul in Scripture. The Bible Project guys do an amazing teaching on this subject. Watch the video from YouTube here on the blog, or go to their site where you can find all 6 videos in the Shema series plus read the transcripts or download them in PDF. The site is at https://bibleproject.com/videos/nephesh-soul/ and here’s the video…
Once you’ve learned the meaning of the word soul (Hebrew nephesh), go back to those four verses above and read them again. Spoiler: the word represents the complete essence of life in its fullest form. So when you read Psalm 42:1-2, you’ll see it as something like, As the desperately thirsty deer pants for the water, my whole life longs for You, Lord God. It desperately thirsts to be satisfied by The Living God. When can I come before Your Holy Presence again? And when you seek with that kind of longing and get filled up by The Lord Himself, you will wonder how you ever wanted anything less than that. And you will have just an inkling of how God feels and why He pursues us. The Got Questions site has a great article on the question “Does God Pursue Us?”
And now, enjoy this video of the song As the Deer…
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Proverbs 12: Life on Planet Earth
I didn’t ask Wombo to create an actual working maze, so if you can solve it, I’d be surprised, but go ahead and try if you like. I did ask for a few portals that could get folks through dead-end walls, though.
So why a maze? Because it’s a great representation of life with how we navigate through it, run into walls, find good and bad along the way, and sometimes feel like there’s nowhere else to go. Plus, Proverbs Chapter 12 begins with the statement that, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge.” And what could take more discipline than a maze?
I always laugh when I read the second half of verse 1 in the modern translations. While the King James Version (KJV) calls the person who hates discipline “brutish,” many of the more recent texts say the person who hates correction is “stupid.” That wasn’t something I was supposed to call people according to my raising, so seeing it in a Bible totally shocked me the first time. I like the way the New Living Translation (NLT) says it better. Verse 1 reads…
Proverbs 12:1 NLT
[1] To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.12.1.NLT
This chapter has another set of comparisons in all facets of life on Earth. Each one could prove the two points made in verse one. For example, the disciplined people who have learned and gained knowledge would be more apt to be good or godly. That means they’ll be approved by God, and they’ll have deep roots. The opposite personalities will plan wickedness that never brings stability and is not approved by God. The list continues with the godly using words that save lives, winning admiration, making just plans, and having strong family ties. The wicked give treacherous advice, use murderous words, and have a warped mind that is despised.
Like the maze, life is filled with common sense choices and foolish choices. We will make (or should make) the ones that get us to where we want to go. It won’t always be perfect even with wise choices, and foolish choices are not always the impossible-to-escape ends of the roads we walk. Without God, there would be no hope for those who make foolish choices, but because of His grace, we are given ways to escape and, often, start over. Verse 20 says that deceit fills the hearts of those who plan evil, but joy fills the hearts of those planning peace. I consider that joy one of those sparkling portals along with words of encouragement mentioned in verse 25.
And sometimes, no matter what decisions we make, we get tumbled by something as simple as a common cold. I asked myself if I’m dealing with this now because of the lack of sleep from doing these late-night blogs, or because I went somewhere and got exposed but didn’t clean my nose well enough when I got home, or just what. But maybe it wasn’t anything I did or did not do, and it’s just my body being human. Hubby had it for almost 2 weeks, so I know I could’ve gotten it from him even with being careful. I’ll be pulling out all the stops (vitamins, Oscillococcinum, Zicam, copper, sunshine, coconut oil coating my nose, and Day/Night cold relief) and trying to get through it. I’ll gladly take prayer, and I’ll hold on to the hope in the last verse of this chapter…
Proverbs 12:28 WEBUS
[28] In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.12.28.WEBUS
And now an old Sunday School favorite about wise and foolish builders…
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Proverbs 11: But It’s Not Fair
What’s wrong with this picture? Shouldn’t the gray rocks be heavier? Maybe it’s the mix of worthless rocks within the colored gems that has them weighing more. Whatever the cause, scales out of balance are something most of us know go against justice. The seller whose wares are not paid for honestly, or the buyer who pays and finds later he’s been a victim of lies, can both shout, “But it’s not fair!”
But God loves balance and justice. He gave Solomon wisdom that supports balance and justice, so Solomon begins Proverbs Chapter 11 with the statement that God hates dishonest scales but takes delight in accurate weights. He then goes on to describe more either/or statements that show the fruit of being in balance vs out of balance.
This chapter has enough in it to break it down for as many studies as there are verses (31), so I know I’ll be marking it to go back and study more. For tonight, though, I’m going to leave you with the Bible Project site to read, and I’m posting another video from Bryce Crawford because of his verse by verse breakdown. Plus I love his comments on verse 14 about preachers needing preachers and mentors needing mentors because of the safety in multitudes of counselors. He mentions that if you only surround yourself with those who look up to you, you won’t have caring people to hold you accountable and protect you from falling. Here’s that video…
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Proverbs 10: Either, Or…
The conjunction of choice and consequence is a connection far too many people ignore these days. Everyone wants the freedom to choose, but they want to be able to choose without consequences. That’s impossible since the word “consequence” means “with sequence” or “with what follows.” All of Earth demonstrates the concept of reaping (harvesting) what we plant, and it doesn’t take the wisdom of Solomon to understand the basics of getting back what we put in.
But Solomon does give us perspective here in Proverbs Chapter 10 by contrasting the consequences of choices made for or against God’s ways. He shows by example that people can either walk the wise path or the otherwise path with its potholes and crookedness. One will leave you weary, and one will leave you energized because the finish line brings joy and peace. Click the link above to read the full chapter at the Bible Project website where you can also find podcasts and great animated videos with simple Bible teaching.
Wisdom is Solomon’s stock in trade, and he tells you in verses 8 & 9 why it’s so important for him to share that wisdom.
Proverbs 10:8-9 WEBUS
[8] The wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall. [9] He who walks blamelessly walks surely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.10.8-9.WEBUS
When you read the chapter for yourself, mentally arrange the items in 2 columns. Either you choose the crooked road or you choose the straight path. Either you choose the curses, or you choose the blessings. Read the results you desire first, and then look at the steps to take to get those results. If you’re already living with results you don’t want, now you’ve got a roadmap of steps to change that. Your goal is verse 22…
Proverbs 10:22 WEBUS
[22] Yahweh’s blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.10.22.WEBUS
And writing this brought my mind back to an old song about people who are sick and tired of the cost of the crooked road, and they want to live with love forever. All they have to do is say, “I do.”
For further study, I was really impressed with the grasp this young man has on Scripture and his presentation, so I want to share his verse by verse study of Proverbs Chapter 10. His name is Bryce Crawford and his ministry is called “Jesus in the Street.”
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Proverbs 9: Folly’s Fatal Feast vs Wisdom’s Wonderful Welcome
When you’re hungry, even the bitter may taste sweet, so it’s the perfect opportunity for the enemy of your soul to show up with what looks like a tasty feast but is instead poisonous. Use discernment and not just eyesight to examine what you allow your mind and soul (and body) to consume.
Lady Wisdom is here for another visit in Proverbs Chapter 9. This time, in verses 1-6, we see her building a strong house and then preparing a tasty and nourishing feast. She invites whosoever will to join her for a meal. There is so much to offer that she’s sent others out with invitations, and even those who are simple-minded and lacking judgment are welcome to attend. Beyond sustenance, those who feast with her can leave their folly behind to live and walk in understanding.
In verses 7-9, Solomon breaks into a short lesson (maybe a quick rant) about the troubles you’ll have if you try to correct a mocker. Instead, he says, look for wise and righteous people to teach if you don’t want the stress of being hated for your message. While it is true we can see more pleasant fruit by looking for wise and open personalities to instruct in yet more wisdom, this was also written before the shed blood of Christ who told His disciples they would be hated by all for the message. We don’t want to strive with those who have made up their minds to resist God no matter what, but keeping the feast available may still change a life.
Verses 10-12 speak again about walking in the (proper) fear of The Lord and knowledge of The Holy One. While it gives promises, it also says the main benefits are to you alone. But, hey, an advantage is an advantage, right? And if we each get our own benefits, then those we teach do, too.
Finally, in verses 13-19, we are introduced to the woman named Folly. Like the brazen seductress in previous chapters, she’s looking for victims. She shows up in the high places (which could even represent the church) with her own “feast” and begins calling out to those walking straight paths. See, she wants to destroy what is right. From there, she also calls out to those who lack judgment, but instead of promising deliverance, she starts spinning webs of lies. She tells them her stolen water is sweeter, and she neglects to tell them the truth about her guests who died from eating her poisons. And the chapter ends there.
Now, before I end this, I have to share one of the cute images I ended up with when I used the same prompts as for the picture above, but chose the “knitting” filter instead. It’s just fun and cute.
And, now, here’s a song about the feast prepared for us by Jesus, the one guaranteed to satisfy us.
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Proverbs 8: Choosing Life Over Death
If there were ever a secular song that echoed the message of Lady Wisdom in the Proverbs, I’d say it was I Want You to Want Me by Cheap Trick (1977). The lyrics talk about the singer’s desire to be wanted, needed, and loved. They go on to describe the desperate situation of the object of their desire and how that person was lonely and crying but the singer wants to make all that better for them.
Listen to a similar cry from Lady Wisdom in Proverbs Chapter 8…
Proverbs 8:1-2, 4, 10, 14, 17-19, 21, 32-35 WEBUS
[1] Doesn’t wisdom cry out? Doesn’t understanding raise her voice?
[2] On the top of high places by the way, where the paths meet, she stands.
[4] “I call to you men! I send my voice to the sons of mankind.
[10] Receive my instruction rather than silver, knowledge rather than choice gold.
[14] Counsel and sound knowledge are mine. I have understanding and power.
[17] I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me.
[18] With me are riches, honor, enduring wealth, and prosperity.
[19] My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, my yield than choice silver.
[21] that I may give wealth to those who love me. I fill their treasuries.
[32] “Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, for blessed are those who keep my ways.
[33] Hear instruction, and be wise. Don’t refuse it! (Emphasis mine.)
[34] Blessed is the man who hears me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my door posts.
[35] For whoever finds me finds life, and will obtain favor from Yahweh.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.8.1-35.WEBUS
Today, our seeker is standing at another crossroads like yesterday. The darkness isn’t hiding its final end, and with the door to the house of light open, the man can clearly see his two choices. I’m thinking he’s walked away from the temptress of chapter 7 and is now at least willing to listen to the possibilities of another way. Maybe he’s where some of us have been in our lives, standing at the end of a church service while the music team plays and sings the invitation song, Just As I Am. Our heart squeezes in our chest while stress turns our hands cold and clammy. We want so desperately to take that first step toward the altar, but fear and pride seem to paralyze us. We might be thinking: “What if God won’t accept me as I am? What if these people condemn me? What if all that happiness I’m seeing on these people’s faces isn’t real?”
Yes, most Christians began their walk with moments just like that. Even the song of invitation, written back in 1835, includes a lyric line that says, “Many a conflict, many a doubt. Fightings and fears within — without.” (The story behind the hymn is fascinating and has similar testimonies.) But we overcame those conflicts, doubts, and fears because something (or, more accurately, Someone) was calling us to trust God and give Him a chance to prove Himself. And when we finally took that first step out from our seat, the rest of the steps became almost a running pace to a place of sorrow and repentance. Then the fruit of that moment took us face to face with a flood of love and peace greater than we ever thought possible. Now, on the other side of that decision, most will tell you they are still glad they made it to the altar.
Proverbs 8 ends with the promise from Lady Wisdom in verse 35 followed by her strong warning in verse 36. Together, they read…
Proverbs 8:35-36 CSB
[35] “For the one who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord,
[36] but the one who misses me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”
https://bible.com/bible/1713/pro.8.35-36.CSB
And here is a beautiful rendition of Just As I Am by “Sounds Like Reign” and recorded in a farm silo…
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Proverbs 7: Signs At the Crossroads of Temptation
You’d think it would be an easy decision to choose the correct door, right? I mean, dark and stormy versus light and sunny seems like a clear choice even without the warning signs. Read the warnings and story of caution from Solomon to his children in Proverbs 7, then ask yourself whether you would be wiser than the young man lacking judgment in the story. I hope we all would be stronger, but as I read about the way the woman works to deceive him, I can see the abundance of those deceits and lies in our present world. Sadly, the signs are usually more like what the AI had on them before I edited, a bunch of gibberish that’s almost impossible to comprehend. (The guy in the picture has it really easy now that I used my Photo Studio Pro app to give him the right signs. 😁) But we have The Holy Spirit to give us signs now. We’re promised that we will all find Him and know Him if we seek Him with our whole heart.
Jeremiah 31:34 BSB
[34] No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/jer.31.34.BSB
Hebrews 8:11 BSB
[11] No longer will each one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/heb.8.11.BSB
Solomon knows the decision is not easy no matter who you are or how much wisdom you have access to. It’s the wisdom you commit to and hide in your heart that will help the most. So Solomon begs his children to grab the wisdom he’s making available to them and hold on for dear life. He tells them a cautionary tale of a young man who refused to listen to wisdom and walked into a death trap.
It’s an old story, you know. As old as the garden in creation. Temptation snags the one who’s not prepared or paying attention. And usually those things are lacking because of one of three things: The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life. Those 3 are the foundational traps that caught Eve at the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil” not paying attention (to the right things) and unprepared. (See Genesis 3:1-6.) Examining the tree for what it might bring her made her forget the warnings from her husband and her God. She saw its beauty, she desired to taste it, and she wanted it to make her wise. And we know how all those desires ended.
But here’s the good thing: the enemy (ha satan) tried the same three temptations on YahShua (Jesus). But even after 40 days of fasting, The Lord was fully aware of the deceit and lies, and He did not give in. Instead, He had an answer for each of the temptations thrown at Him. He kept the victory by using Scripture, and so can we. He was tempted in EVERY WAY we can be tempted and walked away victorious, so we could face the same things and find the strength we need in Him.
For the lust of the flesh, use...
Deuteronomy 8:3 BSB (or Matthew 4:4 or Luke 4:4)
[3] He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/deu.8.3.BSB
For the lust of the eyes, use...
Deuteronomy 6:13 CSB (or Luke 4:8)
[13] Fear the Lord your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name.
https://bible.com/bible/1713/deu.6.13.CSB
And, for the pride of life, use...
Luke 4:12 BSB (or Deut 6:16)
[12] But Jesus answered, “It also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/luk.4.12.BSB
Finally, the Apostle Paul gives us great advice when he tells us the right things on which to focus our minds…
Philippians 4:8 WEBUS
[8] Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
https://bible.com/bible/206/php.4.8.WEBUS
And that’s a good place to end with a video I found with the help of Google’s Gemini AI. I’ve never heard it before, but the a capella harmonies, the lyrics, and the visuals are all beautiful. It’s called The Wayside Cross by C. L. St. John…
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Proverbs 6: The Fable We Forget to Remember
Most of us know the Aesop’s fable about The Grasshopper and The Ant. (If you don’t, you can click the title to read it at the US Library of Congress website.) I’m guessing Aesop got his fable from the wisdom of Proverbs 6. And it makes as much sense now as during either of those eras.
We begin as infants to exert at least some control in our lives. A baby learns the exact cries to get what it needs, be it food, a diaper change, or just some affection. The small child pulls away with a declaration of “I can do it myself,” and the teen shouts accusations about parents who don’t know anything before they slam the door to be alone in their room. And, though every behavior we use may not be the best way to get the control we desire, the desire is built in by God. When governed by His Holy Spirit, it’s part of the fruit we grow in Him.
Without God, though, the demand for self control may come out as a petulant tantrum or some other form of manipulation. The grasshoppers in the picture above use their decision-making skills to play while others work, and they refuse to look at the big picture that includes the coming season and how that play won’t prepare them at all. That’s why the father in this chapter is directing his children to pay attention to the ant, and he even points out how the ant is in control because it’s doing the right thing even without a boss (commander or overseer).
We all want control, but we often forget to remember the responsibility that comes with that control. And we forget to remember what happened to the grasshopper when winter arrived. It’s well-said in “Spider Man” with the quote: “With great power comes great responsibility.” (And FYI, as I looked up the origin of the quote, I found an article with its roots back to the original comics in case you want to read it.)
A great hymn about working like the ant is To The Work, To The Work (Toiling On) by Fannie J Crosby…
And a hymn that inspires the work and also focuses on the short time to do it is called “Work for the Night is Coming” by Anna Louisa Walker Coghill…
Now the father turns the children’s attention to The Creator and how even God doesn’t just put up with foolishness. We don’t like to think of God as being a hater, but in context, we see there is a time for love and a time for hate. The wise father gives the children a list of 6 things The Lord hates and a 7th that is totally detestable to Him. Here are verses 17-19 from The Amplified Bible…
17 A proud look [the attitude that makes one overestimate oneself and discount others],
a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that creates wicked plans,
Feet that run swiftly to evil,
19 A false witness who breathes out lies [even half-truths],
And one who spreads discord (rumors) among brothers.
He ends his message with another plea for the kids to listen and hold on to his wisdom, and this time he adds that they should listen to their mother as well. He says the commands are lamps and lights for them. All of God’s wisdom is a lamp and light for His children today, too.
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Proverbs 5: All About Spam, Scams, and Clickbait
What do spam, scams, and clickbait have in common? They are all shiny wrappers around hidden nastiness that will lead to unwanted ends. They are all lures on a fisherman’s hook trying to catch something to fillet for dinner. And the fish rarely realize it until it’s too late. The woman in Proverbs 5 is one of those fishermen.
Read Proverbs 5 at Bible Hub at https://biblehub.com/proverbs/5.htm.
Have you ever wondered how they know all the viruses and scams out there so they can protect us? There are actually people who make themselves vulnerable to attack, so they can write protections for the rest of us who are not knowledgeable of what’s out there. We can be thankful that even in the free antivirus software, people are taking time to seek out what might bring harm to the rest of us to protect not only us but everyone else we connect to. And so goes the story of the father in Proverbs who desperately wants to protect his sons from becoming victims of the enemy of their souls.
I have ADHD but I prefer to call it OLS for “Oh look, SHINY!” Boy can I get distracted by shiny, pretty, sparkly, and otherwise noticeable things. They take away my time, my ability to focus, and even my moments that could be spent with people who matter more than the distractions. Sometimes, the guilt and regret of making bad decisions can hang on me for a long time after there’s no turning back and something important got lost in the chaos. Maybe it was a friend I forgot to call back. Maybe just a bill I forgot to pay that resulted in a late fee or a mark on my credit. Whatever it was, the promise for something that seemed sweet (like the honey and oil from the forbidden woman in verse 3) or shiny turned bitter and ugly in the end.
Whether you click on the bait that never satisfies, or the virus-laden page or email, or you fall for the seductions of the enemy, the price is always one of loss you didn’t intend. Verse 12 blames it on the person hating to be disciplined and not listening to teachers or mentors. And verse 11 talks about the groaning at the end of a wasted life. These things are written about adultery, so the lyrics from the song Careless Whisper are perfect for seeing the sadness that results from listening to one whisper of bad advice. Of course, that song ends in hopelessness with the singer in the outro trying to talk himself out of being responsible for the hurt that drove the rejected person away, so I’m not going to link to the video, but you can click the title to read the lyrics at Genius where there seemed to be fewer pop-ups than some other lyric sites.
Now, if you’ll indulge my wondering mind for a moment, I want to share something that came to me as I worked on this. I realized that Solomon, the father giving all this advice here, was himself the son of an illicit affair. Whether his mother seduced the king like the scenario in this chapter of Proverbs isn’t certain, but from the context in ll Samuel 11:4, it would appear that she was a law keeper who was purifying herself according to the law of Moses, and King David is the one at fault. Had he been with his men in battle (maybe even with Bathsheba’s husband Uriah since he was one of the King’s “Mighty Men”), he may not have been there to see her bathing. Plus, he could’ve turned away, and he could’ve left her alone since he knew she belonged to someone else.
But whomever was at fault, it doesn’t change the dynamic that Solomon likely grew up with. Behind castle walls, a dysfunctional family, scarred by deceit and death, fought their private battles. And the kids saw it all. Solomon may have witnessed his mother crying over her losses. Being taken by David did not change Bathsheba’s status as a widow. He may also have been bullied by his jealous brothers when the infighting over who would be king was brutally active. Solomon was a victim of adults making decisions he wasn’t there for and couldn’t fix, so I think what he saw in all that dysfunction drove him to vehemently warn his children away from the same costly behaviors.
Solomon had all the reason in the world to just give up and play the victim card. After all, he spent his whole life in a place where “the sword would never depart” (as prophesied by Nathan the prophet). In today’s overtly sensitive society, it wouldn’t be a stretch to give him a blanket, a teddy bear, and some hot chocolate and then excuse him from all his responsibilities so he could process his pain. But back then, being a victim was like being a bleeding chicken where the rest of the flock pecks the weak bird to death. So Solomon reframed the situation and decided to learn from it and teach others from his experiences. He could write a book on how childhood trauma can create the greatest wisdom. Well, I guess he did write it. (Grin.)
Next time you read anything written by or about Solomon, think of him in terms of a survivor of a dysfunctional family and childhood. Note how that changes how you see and share his wisdom, especially if you have any experience as a survivor yourself. We can comfort each other in our pain, but we need balance to keep from being buried in that pain and paralyzed by it. As you think on these things, go to the comments and put one trial and one bit of wisdom that came from it for you. Like, “Life gave me lemons, so I reframed that and made lemonade.” I want to hear your thoughts on this. In the meantime, this song is the ultimate reframe from Christ where He reframed His death as a sacrifice, and you get to reframe your sin into salvation if you accept it. It’s called He Paid a Debt.
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Proverbs 4: A Straight Path in a Crooked World
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Choosing the Father’s Way in the Midst of Chaos
Proverbs Chapter 4 is a full message from a dad and a little bit of a message from a grandfather. The dad is telling his sons how he was once in their place, a child loved by his parents who cared enough to teach him. Now he’s passing that teaching to the children he loves.
I love how AI created this image with all those roads and people on them. Though there are more people on the straight road than is probably reality, it perfectly illustrates the culture we live in now, one defined by choice paralysis. I just learned that term while studying this chapter, and it truly bridges the gap from simple biblical advice to the cacophony of answers we must slog through in our current world. Every day, we are bombarded with “new ways” to be healthy, get smarter, and spend our time so as not to get bored. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of directions we could take, all with their own marketing hype to create–or play on–our FOMO (fear of missing out) issues.
This chapter has great advice about walking in wisdom and its promise of a long life. Verse 13 reminds these children (and us) to hold on to these instructions and not let go, and to guard them because they bring life. It’s as if good instruction and wisdom are a life raft in a raging sea. (Spoiler: They are.) Verses 14-17 are filled with strong warning about avoiding the paths of evil because of who they’ll meet on it. Verses 18 and 19 directly compare the path of the righteous with the way of the wicked, and I love the description for the righteous path in the Berean Study Bible.
Proverbs 4:18-19 BSB
[18] The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday. [19] But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.4.18-19.BSB
Finally, Proverbs 4:26-27 offers simple clarity. Instead of urging us to explore every road until we find what makes us comfortable; it tells us to “Carefully consider the path of your feet.” Just as the father in the picture points toward the one straight road, God’s Word directs us to walk straight forward without turning to the right or left so we can keep our feet away from evil. That’s discernment, and it’s even more necessary today when media and makeup can distort the truth to make evil look good, and good look evil. Thankfully, good and evil are not defined by behaviors so much as by whether God is the focus or not. The word “evil” actually means “minus God,” and that explains how in the days of Noah, men’s thoughts were continuously evil (or continuously not on God). It didn’t have to mean everyone had a criminal mind, just that they all had minds focused on everything but God. And that’s why it even got into the church–both then and now.
As I read this chapter, I was reminded of an old song by Charley Pride called “This Highway Leads to Glory.” I like it best by Wilma Burgess but couldn’t find either with lyrics, so enjoy this one by a youth group in Hong Kong…
Let’s Consider These Things Together:
Ephesians 4:14 CSB says
[14] Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.
https://bible.com/bible/1713/eph.4.14.CSB
What is one road you can see being laid out today to distract people (including in the church) from God’s truth? Drop me a comment below—let’s encourage each other to keep our feet on the straight path!
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Proverbs 3: Leaning on The Lord
This chapter of Proverbs sends me in so many different directions. It’s amazing wisdom that has me ever more convinced how much better the world would be if everyone would read and adhere to its moral compass. Read the full chapter in the Berean Standard Bible at Bible Hub… https://biblehub.com/bsb/proverbs/3.htm
The verses represented by the image are my favorite from this chapter, verses 5 and 6. They read…
Proverbs 3:5-6 BSB
[5] Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; [6] in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/pro.3.5-6.BSB
Leaning is an action word (verb) that visually shows the best way to be quiet in God’s Presence and wisdom. It’s those moments of pure trust that can strengthen us for the tasks we must face in this life. A Sabbath-type rest in the arms of our Abba Father and Creator. This behavior reminds me of a beautiful hymn called “Sheltered in the Arms of God.”
Of course, this Scripture isn’t only about leaning into God, it’s about trusting Him so much that we feel safe to stop leaning on our own thoughts and ways. We are able to stand still and see the salvation of The Lord as He either fights for us or strengthens us for a battle ahead.
So, I’ll admit that I’m not always good at trusting and waiting for God. As a first-born child, I am a natural fixer. PTSD from childhood traumatic events also pushes me to control things for self-preservation and trying to protect myself and/or others from possible troubles ahead. Those types of thoughts and behaviors actually cause me to lean away from Yahveh like a child trying to prove they can do a thing on their own. But the anxiety is not worth it. It’s far better just letting God lead me on straight paths.
And here, I must pause for a little comic relief. One of my top 10 favorite movies of all time is While You Were Sleeping with Sandra Bullock. In it, there’s a very funny scene all about leaning. Maybe it’s not about leaning on The Lord, but the description of leaning here is applicable, and plus, it should make you laugh.
I’ll end this with just those 2 verses in a bit of haiku, and then a video of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.
Verse 5
Trust God completely!
Never lean on your own thoughts…
Or understanding.
Verse 6
In all of your ways,
Know God and lean on His ways.
He will guide your paths.
P.S. Save this month’s blogs for a revisit in future months, so you can read the chapters and devotions at the beginning of the correct days. I tend to write late at night, so the day is passed by the time the post is seen. Because there are 31 chapters in Proverbs, they make great reading for every month of the year. In those months with only 30 days, I generally read both chapters 30 and 31. Either way, you’ll be amazed how often the wisdom from the chapter matching the date you’re reading will end up being exactly what you needed to see or know for that day.
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