Bible

Faith like Noah

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.” Genesis 6:11-12

I am celebrating rain today. We finally had the kind of rain that people in the desert dream of. Sideways, torrential rain. All this rain puts me in mind of Noah. I am trying to imagine the kind of faith it would take to keep on building an Ark for anywhere between 55 to 75 years. (This figure was developed by a very smart Biblical research guy, not me.) I also could not find anywhere in the Bible where it says that the people taunted Noah while he was building it, but given the cultural climate I would say it is a strong possibility they did. The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. Genesis 6:5

Ever had someone say to you, “You really believe all that stuff?” Referring to the events in the Bible. They look at you with a bemused mixture of disbelief and bewilderment, and sometimes downright anger depending on who you are talking to. You may as well have just told then that aliens had kidnapped you from your bed and then flown you back to earth in time for work.

All the while Noah just kept hammering away, mixing up more pitch and sawing up more cypress. And watching the sky….It must have been very hard for he and his family. Lets face it, if we are to be honest, even if a 8 foot tall heavenly messenger came complete with thundering voice and glowing countenance, sooner or later they go away and you are left with insulting crowds and a clear sky with no rain in sight.

He just kept building. Just like we keep on believing. We belong to the family of Noah after all. When we really start to count up the ways we exercise our faith on a daily basis, we realize we have quite a bit in common with Noah after all. We pray to a God we can’t see and we believe He answers and we look to the sky just like Noah did.

“Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.” Genesis 7:6-9

I wish I could have seen it. All the animals walking peaceably side by side, leopards, elephants, goats, crocodiles, as Noah stood by the door with his staff….Thank you God for Noah’s great faith, and for the rain.

Humorous Bible Verses

At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” I Kings 18:27

If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom. Job 13:5

Sticks and stones…
From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. “Go on up, you baldhead!” they said. “Go on up, you baldhead!” 2 Kings 2:23 NIV

Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish. Proverbs 31:6 NIV (I didn’t know they had beer back then?)

He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.”
Genesis 25:30 Holman Christian Standard Bible

“Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is a flat cake not turned over.” Hosea 7:8 NIV

Road Rage even back then:
“The lookout reported, “He has reached them, but he isn’t coming back either. The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a madman.” 2 Kings 9:20 NIV

Have a Blessed and Humorous Weekend!

My walk in the woods


July in the desert and everyone is dreaming of the cool breezes that left in early May….heat is everywhere and there is no escaping it. I go out to pray and my mind tells me 6:00 should be bearable, but its not.

My mind wanders, I pace inside like a caged animal.
I go to the secret place where He resides, My own Living water that springs eternal.

Lord, I ache for green, and air that carries the scent of pine, and the spray of surf pounding on the shore. Be my walk in the woods, the little stream that I long to sit by and write, my thoughts and the ones you give me….

Be that porch that I dream of, the one with three steps up…..surrounded by hydrangeas of violet and blue, and the wind chimes gently revealing Your wind, Your voice.

I am in another garden today, the one that resides in the Spring of His Word. I am there watching green leaves toss against a canopy of blue from a hammock that swings in the playful air.

My heart is greatly refreshed.

A bird calls and another answers across the yard and I am filled with the peace that passes understanding.
Help me remember God, that You are always more than enough. Help me to remember, like Paul to be grateful for chains, and help me to remember also that my small chains of inconvenience are nothing compared to the chains that bind others.

None of them are any match for Your strength!

Thank You for being more than I can ever ask or think.

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12,13

God loves happy endings


Growing up we spent a couple Thanksgivings at the home of my cousin’s cousins. The home of my Uncle Bruce’s brother and his family. It was an older home in Berkeley California, and I was charmed by it at first sight. It had a Hollywood driveway, the kind with the strip of lawn going up the middle and a big screened in porch just made for curling up with a good book. One of the most enchanting things about it though was the little bookshelf at the top of the narrow staircase. It was magic to me and I couldn’t wait to go up and explore the titles. Jackie was a librarian so she must have recognized a kindred spirit in me, a fellow book lover. I was invited to take any book I wanted. I knelt in front of it while everyone else was out playing, lost in my own universe.

In school I always gave a sigh of relief when they asked us to write a book report instead of solving a math problem. I love long books and I hate for a good book to end. But the great thing about reading is there is always another on the horizon. I am so glad there are those who just can’t stop writing! That, and reading is free.

God loves books too. He wrote a best seller. It is still selling like hotcakes. He is waiting for a happy ending. God is the eternal optimist! “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

The Bible is the one book with no ending, and we are all part of the story. God must not like for things to end either. He never meant for endings at all, only life ever after with Him. Open God’s book today. It will speak to you in the silence.

Everywhere I have sought rest and not found it,
except sitting in a corner by myself with a little book.
~ Thomas ã Kempis

Praying the Scripture

Papyrus scroll of Isiah 33,1-24
“But in coming to the Lord by means of “praying the Scripture,” you do not read quickly; you read very slowly. You do not move from one passage to another, not until you have sensed the very heart of what you have read. You may then want to take that portion of Scripture that has touched you and turn it into prayer.” Madame Guyon (1648-1717) From, Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ

I am a fast reader, and in a way that’s good because I know I have to forcibly slow myself down in order to get what God wants me to get from reading His Word. It helps greatly to start with prayer, prayer for God to open my heart and mind to what I may have missed before. Ever missed something totally in a verse that you know you have read many times before? It happened to me this morning.

It was in the portion of Scripture where Mary pours the expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and then Judas complains that it was a waste of money and they should have sold it and given the money to the poor. Yeah, right. He was skimming from the till, that’s why he was concerned! But as I read the whole Chapter, I thought how the whole scene was so surreal. Here was Jesus at the home of Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead not too long before.

And then I read what I had missed all the other times……”Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well,for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.” John 12:9,10

I don’t know about you but I can’t imagine what Lazarus was thinking. No doubt he was still in a state of incredulity at being alive again after hopping out of a dark tomb bound hand and foot. Now here he was enjoying fellowship and a good dinner with friends only to have his very life threatened. They wanted to kill what Jesus had brought to life!

I thought of how sometimes I want to bring to life what Jesus wants to kill in my life….worry, fear, stress, anxiety or maybe mistakes that I have made I want to remind Him of.

What in your life are you trying to resurrect today that Jesus has already taken to the Cross? He has already forgotten it!….having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:14

Multitude Mondays


Lifting my Gratitude today for what the Word does in my life!

#291 When I lose my way, it brings me back to the right road: Proverbs 3:6……#292 It gives me clarity of mind, important for someone like me who tends to over-analyze things to death: 2 Timothy 1:7….#293 It draws me close to the Lord because I know those are His living words: Hebrews 4:12….#294 It brings peace when my soul can’t seem to rest: Psalm 119:165….. #295 It gives me strength and assurance that He is with me at all times: Hebrews 13:5…..#296 It causes me to grow and makes me better able to handle stressful situations: Romans 10:13-17….#297 It keeps my eyes focused on eternity and it exposes my inability to do what it says on my own: John 15:26….#298, for without Him it would be impossible: Matthew 19:26 #299 It exposes things in my life that ordinarily I would not see a need to change: 2 Timothy 3:16….#300 I am blessed when I read it! Revelations 1:3

It is set apart from every other book on earth and it does what no other book can do because it is alive, filled with the very breath of God!

When I try to live without it, I sink fast!

Keeping the gratitude alive, along with Ann and many others….
holy experience

Good advice


“Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you . . . remember that the lives of others are not your business. They are their business. They are God’s business . . . even your own life is not your business. It also is God’s business. Leave it to God. It is an astonishing thought. It can become a life-transforming thought . . . unclench the fists of your spirit and take it easy . . . What deadens us most to God’s presence within us, I think, is the inner dialogue that we are continuously engaged in with ourselves, the endless chatter of human thought. I suspect that there is nothing more crucial to true spiritual comfort . . . than being able from time to time to stop that chatter . . . ”
— Frederick Buechner (Telling Secrets)

This is good advice and the closest I will come to making any kind of a New Year’s resolution. I know better. No sooner do I put pressure on myself to do what I should already be doing that I fail miserably within a few weeks. The best thing I can come up with for 2010 is to keep doing the same things I did in 2009 but lean on God even more and myself even less. The best way to keep myself honest is to keep the Word close at hand. It shows my utter failure to do anything at all of eternal value in my own power. And it also shows that the giants of the faith had the same stuggles that I have. That makes me feel a bit better.

So today, and hopefully tomorrow I will get up and start all over again with a spirit of thanksgiving regardless of what is going on in my life, knowing that each day, each breath, is a precious gift from You, God. Thank you for the compass of Your Word and ones you have placed in my life to straighten me out when I need a bump on the head.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25

A light unto my path….


“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105

I have allowed things to crowd You out Lord, the voice of Your Spirit has become dimmed, so this morning I run to Your Word. I cling to it as a drowning man clings to floating driftwood, knowing that it is my only hope of survival.

Like the lamp that lights the way to Narnia, Your Word is my gateway to communion with You. I hear the familiar Words and draw comfort. I begin to feel your Spirit’s stir once again in my soul here in the quiet, and I am restored.

Thank You Lord, once again You greet me with Your Presence. Your grace covers me like a cloak. Words leap from pages as if they are meant just for me! Thank You for being patient with me again and again. I take one step toward Your Word and I am blessed beyond measure.

I hug it to my chest, panic subsiding, I drift. I reach Your golden shore.

“A voice is calling, clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for Our God.” Isaiah 40:3
“The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.” Isaiah 40: 7,8

You gotta read this book


“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” – Deuteronomy 6:6-9

The Bible is not just another good book. It is God breathed, God inspired, and God’s love letter to His people. But why then is it so easy to pick up a novel, and sometimes so difficult to find time for devotions? Even for a book addict like me, who can always find time to read, I feel a small battle being waged within me when it comes to sit down with the Word. That fact alone tips me off that there is power behind the Word that the enemy wants to keep me from tapping into.

When we read God’s book something very powerful and miraculous happens….We actually breathe in the BREATH OF GOD. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)

It is our sustanance, Jesus referred to it as food, food that we cannot live without, that means we must ingest it, let it fill us up!

And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'” (Matthew 4:3-4)

It is our compass, our guide, our light in the darkness for when all other lights go out. Try going somewhere you’ve never been before without a map or GPS! Every day brings new challenges, new territories and we need God’s word to face these situations in the clear light of Scripture.

Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105)

With all the other voices clamoring for attention in our world today, we need to hear the voice of God to counteract them. We need this reminder again and again, because the other competing voices around us are never silent! We forget it if we don’t hear it often enough. Even more important that “hearing it” is “doing what it says.” That is the challenge!

“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.” James 1:23

It actually performs a work in us, it works on us from the inside out!

“When you received from us the word of God”s message [literally, “the word of hearing of God”], you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13

And also, it is not the word of man, but the Word of God….This is important, so many times I have heard that the Bible is “open to an individual’s interpretation” It says what it means and it means what it says. What part of “Thou shalt not,” “Flee from,” and “Do this,” do we not understand?

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation (2 Peter 1:20)

Last but not least, God has the last word, always!

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8)

A great idea is buying one on CD.I finally did this a few years ago. Commuting 40 minutes twice a day, I go though whole books in no time at all. So many times I have heard a verse and went back to look it up later. I also don’t get quite as mad at other drivers!

It also comes with a guarantee; (and you won’t find this kind of promise in the self-help section of Barnes and Noble); if you do what it says, you will live forever!

See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—even eternal life. (1 John 2:24,25)