The Turtle "defense"

This young lady has a problem.  The turtle is going "defense mode" and hiding in its shell, so she can't see it no matter how hard she tries.  A lot of things in life are like that; no matter what you do, you fail, period.  Some things can (and should) be corrected, however.  Here is one such example from the old testament book of Haggai...

Haggai 1:1-13 (WEB)

1) In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,

2) “This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’”

3) Then the Word of Yahweh came by Haggai, the prophet, saying,

4) “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies waste?

5) Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways.

6) You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.”

7) This is what Yahweh of Armies says: “Consider your ways.

8) Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,” says Yahweh.

9) “You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says Yahweh of Armies, “Because of my house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house.

10) Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.

11) I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground brings forth, on men, on livestock, and on all the labor of the hands.”

12) Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Yahweh, their God, and the words of Haggai, the prophet, as Yahweh, their God, had sent him; and the people feared Yahweh.

13) Then Haggai, Yahweh’s messenger, spoke Yahweh’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you,” says Yahweh.

They initially failed because they neglected God.  They failed to do HIS WILL and put themselves FIRST.  Sound familiar?  What is happening in this country?  God is being put on the sidelines; in public and in private.  And many wonder why we have the problems we do.  Every one of us who claims a relationship with the Almighty should act like our status with God would have us to do.  It is not enough to stumble blindly through life, ignoring the degradation of our country, we need to do something about it!!!   What, depends on who and where you are and what God has given you to work with.  We are not islands unto ourselves, we can't stick our heads in the sand or retract them into our  turtle "shell" of retreat.  We need to stick our neck out for God and do something, anything.  Pray about it; God will send you a message one way or another, although it won't be the prophet Haggai in person.  Who knows, perhaps this passage from the book that bears his name just might be enough to change things.  After all, that's why its there!!!

I wonder...

Everyone knows Albert Einstein.  This man went from being an unknown clerk in a patent office in Switzerland to a Nobel prize winner.  To many he is the father of modern Physics.  The man was genius personified, but a down to Earth person as this quote from Wikipedia shows: 

"In his lecture at Einstein's memorial, nuclear physicist Robert Oppenheimer summarized his impression of him as a person: "He was almost wholly without sophistication and wholly without worldliness . . . There was always with him a wonderful purity at once childlike and profoundly stubborn." 

Einstein was a very great man to say the least.  I have known many extremely intelligent chemists, but the vast majority of them were not down-to-Earth people, so I think I would have liked Einstein.  Not only for his personality, but for his view of imagination quoted in the above picture.  Obviously, he was a unique person; one who was blessed by God in a very special way.  This reminded me of another individual from the Old Testament who was blessed by God...

1 Chronicles 28:2-10 (WEB)
2) Then David the king stood up on his feet, and said, “Hear me, my brothers, and my people! As for me, it was in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and for the footstool of our God; and I had prepared for the building.
3) But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for my name, because you are a man of war, and have shed blood.’
4) However Yahweh, the God of Israel, chose me out of all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever. For he has chosen Judah to be prince; and in the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel.
5) Of all my sons (for Yahweh has given me many sons), he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of Yahweh’s kingdom over Israel.
6) He said to me, ‘Solomon, your son, shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.
7) I will establish his kingdom forever, if he continues to do my commandments and my ordinances, as at this day.’
8) Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of Yahweh, and in the audience of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of Yahweh your God; that you may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.
9) You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
10) Take heed now; for Yahweh has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong, and do it.”

1 Kings 3:5-14 (WEB)
5) In Gibeon Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”
6) Solomon said, “You have shown to your servant David my father great loving kindness, according as he walked before you in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you. You have kept for him this great loving kindness, that you have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
7) Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. I am but a little child. I don’t know how to go out or come in.
8) Your servant is in the midst of your people which you have chosen, a great people, that can’t be numbered nor counted for multitude.
9) Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this your great people?”
10) The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11) God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, neither have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice;
12) behold, I have done according to your word. Behold, I have given you a wise and an understanding heart; so that there has been none like you before you, neither after you shall any arise like you.
13) I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like you, all your days.
14) If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

As much as I think I would have liked Einstein, I think I would have liked Solomon more.  His attitude towards God and those under his control revealed a very caring heart; something to be admired.  The wisdom of Solomon is legendary as are his judgments.  I can not pretend to even remotely understand either of these two people, let alone their imaginations.  But God does.  And he knows everything about us as well.  I wonder what HE would say about the imaginations of our hearts; whether we are blessed with profound intellect or not? 

How to read a book...

Yesterday I went to Facebook as I usually do and I saw a picture that a friend of mine named Dawn had posted and here it is.  A clever picture, but one that does not HAVE TO BE TRUE.  Why?  Because it is all in the details of who is asking you to read.  Consider, God is in heaven and teaches you what you need to know.  It comes from heaven and down to you.  Now, read the picture from the top down.  Next, Realize picture Satan in HELL and looking up.  His message to you is designed to be the exact OPPOSITE of what God has said.  Read the message from the bottom UP.  This reminds me of something that was discussed in the Bible class last night.  When someone is baptized, Satan enters the picture and tries to turn the situation around.  This is what happened...

Matthew 3:13-17 (WEB)

13) Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.

14) But John would have hindered him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?”

15) But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.

16) Jesus, when he was baptized, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him.

17) Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 4:1-11 (WEB)

1) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2) When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward.

3) The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

4) But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

5) Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple,

6) and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”

7) Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”

8) Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.

9) He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”

10) Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”

11) Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.

Satan will look for the best moment to try to twist your thinking; when you are the most vulnerable and therefore the most susceptible to flawed reasoning.  He looked at Jesus' situation and saw danger, hunger and helplessness and attacked on all three fronts.  Satan knows that communication between married couples can be quite a problem and as a result attempts to twist the way God wants our lives to read.  Do your marriage a favor, listen to God.  You won't be sorry; on the contrary, you may wind up happily married for many decades.  Now, that's a book that I want to read!!!

Stay awake

I was tired and went to bed early.  I had some things to pray about and when I finished, I assumed I would go right to sleep; didn't happen.  Something in me was keeping me up, so I thought I would at least be productive and do the blog early in the morning.  I find that once in awhile this is a good thing, as just the act of writing makes me tired enough to sleep.  However, I need to be attentive long enough to complete what I started.  Which reminds me of this Bible passage...

1 Thessalonians 5:1-10 (WEB)
1) But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you.
2) For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
3) For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.
4) But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief.
5) You are all children of light, and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness,
6) so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober.
7) For those who sleep, sleep in the night, and those who are drunk are drunk in the night.
8) But let us, since we belong to the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
9) For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10) who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

Preparation, attitude and diligence are the stuff of faithfulness.  Along with consistency forged from a true love for the creator, these things will go a long way in helping us remember who we are and what we must do to get to heaven.  Oh, yes, the most important thing; always remember Jesus and what he has done for ME.  I really would like to write more, but my eyes are watering and I am so tired that I can't even read the above picture anymore.  Goodnight everyone!!!

Point of Reference

The Mona Lisa is a marvelous work of art.  It conveys a beauty though its subtlety and understatement. She seems to have a hint of a smile and you just know that she is thinking about "something"; but what could it be?  She seems almost "alive"!  I wonder, I wonder, Does art imitate life or does life imitate art?  What really is reality?  Since we are created beings and art is created, at what perspective do we understand the point of reference to be?  Today, I read that "performance art" is going to new "heights": a woman is actually going to have her baby in a public exhibition of "art".  Pretty messy performance!  Conceiving (no pun intended here) of art like this can lead to absurdity.  What's next, a hemorrhoidectomy at your local library?  Now, apply these things to the concept of religion and you come to this chapter of the book of Colossians.

Colossians 2:1-23 (WEB)
1) For I desire to have you know how greatly I struggle for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
2) that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,
3) in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden.
4) Now this I say that no one may delude you with persuasiveness of speech.
5) For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
6) As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him,
7) rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving.
8) Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.
9) For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,
10) and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power;
11) in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
12) having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13) You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14) wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;
15) having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
16) Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day,
17) which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.
18) Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19) and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth.
20) If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances,
21) “Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch”
22) (all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men?
23) Which things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.

How do you balance what you do to serve God, how you feel about HIM and what you think about him?  People come up with all sorts of standards of behavior and make that the overriding feature.  Others say that the mind is everything and even the pain of something like the pain you experience with a broken leg is all imaginary.  A different group looks to the emotions we experience and place an emphasis on "speaking in tongues".  The correct balance is found in the example of Jesus.  Read Matthew chapters 5 to 7 commonly referred to as the "Sermon on the Mount" and you will see a logical progression of thought interlaced with both real life feelings and expected actions.  First the thought, second the feeling and lastly the action.  We are thinking, feeling, real life people.  God designed us this way.  Remember, Jesus told someone to Love God and your neighbor.  Both involve thought first and a decision (both mental and emotional) and then an action to be complete.  Jesus just didn't think about loving us, He taught us how to by his own example.  We are made in the image of God, so why not act like him?  What is reality and what is religion?  There is no difference.  What?  Think that doesn't make sense?  Look at Jesus, HE had a practical understanding of concept, feeling and action; and so should we.  People will come up with all sorts of Philosophies and ideas of how to please God (religion), but I say... listen to Jesus.... remember this:

Matthew 17:1-5 (WEB)
1) After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves.
2) He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light.
3) Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.
4) Peter answered, and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let’s make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
5) While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

Point of Reference is Jesus; listen, learn, do.  Enough said.

Frogs, dinosaurs and the power of love

For some reason, which I do not fully understand, I always wanted a son.  So, when we were expecting, I had a name ready if it were a boy (Jason).  We also had backup names as well, JUST IN CASE IT WAS A GIRL.  God smiled on us and we had three very beautiful daughters, who have turned into adults I can be proud of.  Yet, I always wanted a boy... UNTIL I SAW MY GRANDSONS.  They are not bad kids, do not understand, they are just boys.  The old saying "boys will be boys" really does apply!!!  Like the boy in the picture, they do dumb things; things that make me wonder what could possibly be going on between their ears.  But, there is good news; that will change.  I know from personal experience (believe it or not, I WAS ACTUALLY YOUNG ONCE) and from the Bible.  Here is something to ponder...

1 Corinthians 13:11-13 (WEB)
11) When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things.
12) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
13) But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.

If I had to determine when I really started to "grow up", I guess it would be when I became enamoured with my Linda.  Prior to loving her I had my mind on things like baseball, gym class and Tom Swift.  She changed my life completely and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Love has a way of really changing things; I guess that is why Jesus did what HE had to do.  And I wouldn't have that any other way either.  Just one more thing for my granddaughter Elizabeth.... NO, I WAS NOT ALIVE WHEN THE DINOSAURS LIVED... AND NO, I DIDN'T PUT A FROG IN MY MOUTH EITHER!!!!!

Seeing, but not seeing...

Can you read the sign?  If you can, you probably saw "A BIRD IN THE BUSH".  But it doesn't say that, instead, it says:  "A BIRD IN THE THE BUSH".  We read right over the second "THE" and ignore it.  Odd, but its way the mind works.  The human mind is strange in many ways, learning not only by rote, but by the oddest of associations and coming to logical conclusions that sometimes leap over what appears to be the next step in reasoning to one that is several steps ahead.  Genius, pure genius.  Yet, as human beings we have frailties; physical infirmities arise over time, and some of us even lose intellectual capacity later in life.  Eventually, we die.  But, along the way, we may have the opportunity to do good for others, to change the world for the better.  And some will do the reverse.  Here is an example of how a good thing can go terribly wrong....

1 Corinthians 1:10-23 (WEB)
10) Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11) For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
12) Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” and, “I follow Christ.”
13) Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?
14) I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius,
15) so that no one should say that I had baptized you into my own name.
16) (I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any other.)
17) For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News—not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void.
18) For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.
19) For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”
20) Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21) For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.
22) For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom,
23) but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks,

Have you ever known anyone who was too smart for their own good?  The kind of person who always knew every answer and even anticipated the next question before it was asked.  I have; not pretty.  After awhile, pride set in and it was unpleasant to be around them for any time at all.  And then there were the Corinthian Christians.  Brothers in Christ who had to analyze everything, who thought of Christianity as just another "school of thought" and naturally broke down into opposing viewpoints.  Sometimes its not good to be "smart".  The truly intelligent person has a tendency to over-think everything and that leads to trouble.  No matter how smart you are, someone else in this world is smarter.  And no matter WHO they are, GOD is better, and not just a little bit; HE is better on another whole order.  But, its really not about intelligence, rather its about sin and the remedy for it.  Which is something human beings can't solve, no matter how hard they try.  Only Jesus has conquered that one.  Like the Corinthian Christians, we need to get over ourselves and what we know and who we are and look to Jesus for forgiveness.  And remember that we are all brethren and love one another.  Now, THAT IS SMART!!!