Aesop’s Fables Month: The Cat Maiden 🐈👰🏼
Recently, there’s been a commercial running that includes a woman making videos as a “mom-fluencer” even though she has no children. The idea that people so trust what is on the outside to influence them is truly sad because it means we’re living in a shallow society that has a seared collective conscience. We are just as apt to believe a lie as the truth when we become focused on the outward appearance as our primary means of judgment. The following fable deals with the idea of change being only on the surface rather than inside and out.
The Classic Fable Retold: The Cat-Maiden (Perry 50)
A sleek, beautiful cat lived in the home of a young man, and over time, she fell hopelessly, desperately in love with him. She spent her days watching him with adoration, wishing with all her heart that she could walk by his side as a companion rather than a pet.
Hearing her persistent cries, the goddess Venus took pity on the creature. With a flash of magic, she transformed the feline into a stunning, elegant young woman.
The young man was utterly captivated. He saw her grace, her beauty, and her fine gown, and within a short time, they were married.
On their wedding night, as they retired to their bedchamber, Venus decided to test whether the bride’s nature had truly changed along with her shape. She released a tiny, scurrying mouse right onto the floorboards near the bed.
Forgetting her bridal veil, her vows, her fine linen, and her human dignity in an instant, the bride dropped straight down onto all fours on the Persian rug. With wide, wild eyes and bared claws, she scrambled across the room in a fierce feline crouch to corner the mouse.
Disgusted by this utter lack of true change, Venus raised her hand. With a billowing cloud of magical smoke, the human bride vanished—replaced instantly by the original white cat, pouncing triumphantly over the mouse while the bewildered groom stood frozen in the doorway in absolute shock.
Walking in Newness of Life vs. Wearing a Costume
You can change a person’s clothes, put them on a pedestal or in front of a camera, or give them a brand-new title. But a costume change does not change a heart. Just like the cat-maiden, people can put on a brilliant performance for the public square, but when the unexpected “mouse” of life startles them—when pressure hits or temptation creeps in—their true instinct takes over.
We see this in spiritual spaces, too. It is dangerously easy to adopt the vocabulary, the aesthetics, and the surface behaviors of faith without experiencing an actual transformation of the soul. But God is not fooled by a costume change.
Scripture reminds us that true faith is never about slapping a new exterior onto an old nature:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come!”
— 2 Corinthians 5:17 (B.S.B.)
God doesn’t just hand us a bridal veil and hope we can fake our way through life. Instead, He offers a complete heart transplant. As Paul writes when describing our spiritual birth and transformation:
“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.”
— Romans 6:4 (B.S.B.)
And through the prophet Ezekiel, God contrasted surface religion with His ultimate heart-renewal:
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
— Ezekiel 36:26 (B.S.B.)
The Real Deal
Today, let’s look past the curated “mom-fluencers,” the social media filters, and the polished performances of this world. Let’s ask the Lord to examine our own hearts.
May we never settle for a superficial costume change or a religious disguise. Instead, let’s embrace the deep, authentic work of the Holy Spirit, daily walking in the true, lasting newness of life!
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Aesop’s Fables Month: The Swallow and the Other Birds 🐦🐦⬛🪤
by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Have you ever spent a week flat on your back in a hospital bed? Years ago, after eight days of nothing but clear liquids and almost zero movement, the nurses decided it was time to get me on my feet, so they could remove my stitches. First, they had me sit on the edge of the bed for a while to let my equilibrium find its balance. Then, they had me stand by the bedside until I felt stable and confident. In my mind, I was totally fine. I hadn’t been doing anything strenuous, no harm seemed to have come to me, and I felt ready to walk and get back to being a (mostly) normal teenager.
Then I took a step.
The next thing I knew, I was waking up as they were carrying me into an ice cold room to bring me around. You think you’re completely fine when you’re just resting and doing nothing to keep the blood flowing to your brain. But the second you face the need to physically act, you realize with sudden shock exactly how much simple ability you’ve lost.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Spiritual deconditioning works the exact same way. Lying still, ignoring subtle warning signs, and coasting along in comfortable ease feels harmless in the moment—right up until life demands that you stand, and you discover you’ve quietly allowed yourself to be caught flat-footed.
The Classic Fable Retold—In 3 Parts
Cataloged as Perry Index No. 39, this ancient woodland tale reveals the danger of mocking wise counsel in favor of comfortable ease.
Part 1: The Sown Seed
As autumn arrived, a wise swallow watched a husbandman walking through a freshly plowed field, scattering hemp seeds into the open furrows. Knowing that men harvest hemp fibers to cord ropes and weave fowlers’ nets, the swallow flew urgently to the woodland flock perched along the fence line. “Fly down and pick up those seeds before they take root!” the swallow urged. “For if they sprout, they will grow into the very twine that snares us all.”
Part 2: The Careless Rest
The flock simply laughed. It was a lovely, warm afternoon, and they had plenty of food and sunshine to enjoy without digging through dirt to chase tiny seeds. As the days passed and the green hemp shoots pushed through the soil, the swallow warned them again: “Pull them up while they are tender!” But the birds preferred lounging lazily on the branches, scoffing at the swallow as an anxious alarmist who took life far too seriously.
Part 3: Trapped!
The hemp matured into tall, sturdy stalks. The farmer harvested the crop, spun the fibers into cords, and wove strong mesh nets. Setting his traps right where the birds had spent their carefree days, the fowler sprang his net over the ground. Panicked and fluttering in sheer terror, the careless birds found themselves hopelessly bound, realizing too late that the seeds they had ignored in their ease had become their own ruin—while the watchful swallow perched safely out of reach.
Darting Into the Snare
“...until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird flitting into a snare, not knowing that it will cost him his life.”
— Proverbs 7:23
The tragedy of the woodland flock wasn’t a lack of knowledge or warning; it was carelessness and indifference. When the swallow pointed out the danger taking root in the farmer’s soil, the other birds simply didn’t want their comfort disturbed. The tiny seeds looked far too harmless to cause any trouble, so they turned a deaf ear and soaked in the sunshine.
Solomon uses that exact picture in Proverbs to describe the quiet deception of temptation. A bird doesn’t dart into a net intending to ruin itself—it flits into it; distracted, carefree, and completely ignorant of the danger that lies beneath the scattered grain.
Temptation rarely shows up with a warning tag, and compromise rarely arrives looking like a deadly trap. But often, they both start out as an innocent-looking seed we are too lazy or comfortable to root out. Just like my body quietly losing its strength while lying motionless in that hospital bed, letting our spiritual guard down feels peaceful right up until the moment of testing.
Matthew 24 talks about a kind of vigilance that is more important than any other kind…
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come...
44 For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.”
— Matthew 24:42, 44
Most of us can look around and see signs that times are changing. Maybe they saw signs before Mt. Vesuvius erupted. Maybe there were warnings before Hitler began his campaign against the Jewish people in Germany. Maybe we could all do better at listening to the swallows before finding a dead canary in a coal mine.
But all the signs in the world mean nothing if we aren’t being vigilant and watching or listening for real warnings amidst the cacophony of false alarms that oversaturate our senses until we become immune to both the real and the fake. This is where prayer and attending to our spiritual hearts make all the difference. Rest is a gift, but spiritual vigilance is what keeps that rest safe. Let’s not rest our hearts until they cease—physically or spiritually. May we stay watchful, heed wise counsel, and pull up small compromises before they take root and weave a netted trap around our feet.
23 “Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”
— Proverbs 4:23
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Aesop’s Fables Month: The Crow and the Pitcher
If you know anything about me as a writer, you know I have a lot of dream projects—and a lot of words—waiting in the wings. I WANT to write them all at once, but that is simply not possible, so I’m forced to create one (often slow) word at a time. And like the crow in the story, it will be my thirst for success that keeps me writing even when staring at the sheer volume of unfinished drafts can feel paralyzing. I love how this ancient wisdom offers a quiet, enduring reminder of how seemingly impossible tasks can be conquered with a lot of determination and a little ingenuity.
The Classic Fable Retold
Parched and exhausted from a long dry spell, a solitary crow flew over scorched fields in search of water. Spotting a tall clay pitcher resting on the ground, he landed eagerly on the rim. Peering down, his heart sank. A small pool of cool water rested at the very bottom, but the narrow neck of the jug was far too slender for his head to reach.
He pecked stubbornly at the clay, but it would not crack. He threw his small weight against the side, but the heavy vessel did not budge. Desperation whispered that relief was right in front of him yet utterly out of reach. Then the crow paused. Scattered across the dry ground were small, smooth pebbles. Gathering one in his beak, he dropped it into the dark depths of the jar. A tiny splash answered, and the water shifted upward by a fraction of an inch.
He retrieved another stone, and then another. Flight by flight, drop by drop, he repeated the steady labor. He did not flood the vessel in a single sudden miracle; he simply refused to abandon the process. Slowly, the water climbed the narrow neck until it reached the brim, and the crow drank his fill.
Nature Proves the Legend
For generations, readers assumed most of Aesop’s tales were pure allegorical folklore. Modern science, however, proved that, in this fable, the ancient storyteller had captured real-world genius. In a famous laboratory study, animal behaviorists tested rooks—members of the corvid family alongside crows and ravens—with tall tubes of water containing floating treats just beyond their reach.
Without coaching, the birds immediately began selecting heavy stones and dropping them into the cylinders. They understood water displacement, deliberately choosing larger pebbles over smaller ones to raise the water level faster. What seemed like a charming fable turned out to be nature’s own blueprint for deliberate, calculated persistence when brute force fails.
Five Smooth Stones
Scripture records some famous moments of determination and ingenuity that brought powerful victory to God’s kingdom. We have the amazing craftsmen Bezalel and then Oholiab who God gifted with every ability they would need to create the wilderness tabernacle. We have the obedient and determined carpenter Noah who continued to build the ark despite many attacks and a very long timeline. (Beyond the Bible, the attraction in Williamstown, Kentucky, The Ark Encounter, is a great place to learn about everything that went into this feat of ingenuity.)
And then there’s the battle where small, smooth stones were prepared for an immovable barrier. When young David stepped into the Valley of Elah to face Goliath, King Saul tried to weigh him down with heavy armor and an oversized sword. David rejected the clumsy tools of conventional might. Instead, he knelt by the brook and carefully chose five smooth stones for his shepherd’s pouch.
I’ve heard many theories about why he chose five stones, including that Goliath had 4 brothers, but whatever his reasoning, David only needed one stone. With a thirst to see God honored and the disrespectful giant of Gath silenced, David stepped forward with a trust and a declaration of God’s might. It took only one well-aimed stone from his sling to bring Goliath crashing into the dirt.
One Word at a Time
Overcoming life’s towering giants demands unyielding faith, deliberate preparation, and the tenacity to follow through to the very end—even if we only fly with one stone at a time. And sometimes, it simply comes down to applying the fable’s classic moral: that our wits can accomplish what brute force never could, proving once again that “necessity truly is the mother of invention.”
When I sit down at my laptop, the blank page with its flashing cursor can loom like that narrow-necked pitcher. Impatience tells me that unless thousands of words pour out effortlessly in an afternoon, I am failing the call. But books are rarely written in a single sweep of lightning. They are built stone by stone, line by line, one steady sentence at a time.
Each quiet session at the keyboard is a pebble dropped into the jar. Every disciplined paragraph raises the waterline. When we silence the frantic urge to finish everything today and instead stay faithful to the single stone in front of us, the impossible barrier inevitably yields.
I’d love to hear how you can apply this task to your own life or spiritual walk. What are some dreams that seem impossible to reach, and what stones can you carry to raise the waterline?
Here are a few Bible verses that fit today’s theme of getting over those obstacles:
2 Corinthians 4:17 BSB
[17] For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.
James 1:3-4 BSB
[3] because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
[4] Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Sometimes, it’s just some well-thought, spoken words that turn the tide on the seemingly impossible:
Matthew 15:27-28 BSB
[27] “Yes, Lord,” she said, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
[28] “O woman,” Jesus answered, “your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
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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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🎵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: 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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🎵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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Ideas from Heaven
Where do ideas come from? And just because they formed in our minds, does that mean they belong to us? Well, yes and no. I mean, without being made in the image of our Creator, we would not likely have creative minds that generate ideas. That’s why the image is showing ideas from the heavens finding their way to the minds of men.
April 26th is National Intellectual Property Day, and it commemorates the pursuit of each person maintaining ownership rights for intangible ideas and creations. Thoughts and ideas often lead to tangible creations and/or processes that have huge effects on people’s lives—sometimes even life changing. For example, a sound therapy that can stop a seizure would be a life-changing invention. And it’s not only the sound creators or device constructors that make it possible, because it wouldn’t be possible without an idea that was followed, researched, tested, etc. (I don’t even know if that sort of thing exists, but there are lots of sound therapies, and a seizure seemed like the most visual idea I could point to.)
If you create anything, you have made use of intellectual property. The site linked above (National Day Today) gave a good description, so I’ll cite some of their intellectual property to share with you…
What Is Intellectual Property and Why Does It Matter?
Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind, including inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. The primary categories of IP include:
Patents – Protection for inventions and technological innovations
Copyrights – Rights for literary, artistic, and musical works
Trademarks – Protection for brand names, logos, and slogans
Industrial Designs – Safeguarding the visual design of objects
And, yes, this topic seems a little boring, but I couldn’t remember my idea for tonight’s blog post, so I looked up the day, and decided that this was the one celebration I could “write what you know” about. Though it is also “Jason Day” and “Gabriel Day.” I have a brother named Jason, but I don’t know that he wants me to blog about him. And the only Gabriel I know is not someone I know but is a pretty funny comedian also known as Fluffy.
Back to the idea thing, though, I used to have business cards that listed me as a “Writer and Creative Mind.” I may have mentioned that before because of my desire to have a gathering of creative Christians sharing ideas and creating together. I believe it is being made in God’s image that enabled our creative abilities. Because of the sin when the enemy bit the heel of mankind and inserted his darkness into human DNA, some folks misuse their creativity to produce terrible ideas and products. But the idea of being creative is still rooted in our Creator, and I think that’s something to celebrate and lean into. Please share some of your creative thoughts and ideas in the comments.
There’s a great Bible study on the Bible app by YouVersion called “Created to be Creative” by Marian Parsons. It’s only 5 days long, and each day has creative exercises at the end. Find the study at http://bible.com/r/12I and let me know what you think when you finish. She begins the study from the verse in Psalm 19:1,so I think that’s a great place to end this post…
Psalm 19:1 BSB
[1] For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.19.1.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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🎵 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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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 22: Self-Pottering Much?
I’m keeping this one short to allow readers to just enjoy the many wacky images in the collage. You can read all of Proverbs Chapter 22 at Bible Hub in the Berean Standard Bible (or change to a different version once you’re there) by clicking on the highlighted words.
My focus is on verse 2…
Proverbs 22:2 WEBUS
[2] The rich and the poor have this in common: Yahweh is the maker of them all.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.22.2.WEBUS
And I want to add the verse from Isaiah 64:8…
Isaiah 64:8 WEBUS
[8] But now, Yahweh, you are our Father. We are the clay and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.
https://bible.com/bible/206/isa.64.8.WEBUS
I chose these to follow up on the Potter topic from yesterday about letting God remake our hearts. And the reason He can remake them is because He knows the original mold and how it was intended to come out. So when we see Him as our Creator, Maker, Father, etc., we can trust that we are, indeed, fearfully and wonderfully made as He designed.
But so often, we think we know best. Like a teenager who thinks they know everything about life, and parents know nothing, we all have our moments where we are certain our own way is better. An abundance of the Proverbs were written to warn people to avoid that kind of thinking.
Back in 2024, I wanted to see what Wombo would do with a prompt about a clay vessel trying to create itself. That’s where I came up with the term self-pottering to describe the effort of trying to make our lives perfect on our own and without God’s assistance or guidance. The crazy results in the collage, and especially the facial expressions, show the failure well. And for that reason, we want to pray for God’s perfect will above all else. That goes perfectly with the song Have Thine Own Way, Lord…
Pray with me for my desire to avoid self-pottering (and the anxieties that come with it) and keep the final verse active in my life:
Have Thine own way Lord
Have Thine own way
Hold over my being absolute sway
Filled with Thy spirit till all can see
Christ only always living in me
Christ only always, living in me! May it be your prayer, too.
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🎵Proverbs 21: When God Weighs Hearts
Do you suppose that most people who misbehave think they are doing anything wrong? It seems to me that even those who know they are doing something evil (like taking revenge on someone) only do so because they somehow feel justified. Proverbs Chapter 21 begins with talking about the King’s heart being in God’s hands and following His direction. Then it goes to other men and says…
Proverbs 21:2 WEBUS
[2] Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but Yahweh weighs the hearts.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.21.2.WEBUS
The juxtaposition of the two types makes sense because the wise king who’s writing most of these proverbial instructions is trying to lead people by God’s direction. Even if he later fails and begins his own ways of doing right in his eyes instead of God’s, it doesn’t change the wisdom that real leadership works best when it’s in God’s hands. And it doesn’t change the wisdom that God weighs the heart and motives underlying the thoughts and behaviors.
But because of Calvary, we now know that God doesn’t stop with weighing hearts. He doesn’t see a pain-hardened heart with a jagged rock in the middle of it and just give up and throw it away. Instead, He offers the one suffering from a heavy heart an opportunity to let Him remake it into a tender heart of flesh.
Until putting this post together, I’d been reading all those verses showing the differences between righteous people and fools with a bit of judgment toward those who make foolish decisions and then pay foolish prices. It may be how it’s written, but I want to take this moment to look at every one of those differently; followed by a but it doesn’t have to stay this way thought process. Because, with the mercy and grace found in the holy blood of Jesus Christ shed at Calvary for you and me, we are no longer destined to be stuck in unrighteousness. We don’t have to be a king to put our hearts in the capable hands of The King of Kings and let Him direct us like He directs the rivers and oceans.
Verse 7 tells us…
Proverbs 21:7 WEBUS
[7] The violence of the wicked will drive them away, because they refuse to do what is right.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.21.7.WEBUS
So we know they refuse to do right because they already think they are doing right. And when being driven away causes the pain of rejection, the stone in the heart gets a little harder and sharper, and the person makes even more wrong decisions that bring even more rejection. It becomes a cycle that threatens to trap the heart in heaviness forever. But God looks deeper than others can see, or we can see about ourselves. We may feel burdened by the idea of God weighing our hearts when He may just be checking what needs to be done to fix things. Using the pottery metaphor, He’s finding out how much water to add to make the clay pliable again and soften it enough to pull the rock away like in the image above.
The Psalmist says…
Psalms 51:10 WEBUS
[10] Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
https://bible.com/bible/206/psa.51.10.WEBUS
And we can sing with the Maranatha singers, Change My Heart, Oh God and know that He will do it.
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