Walking with God

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

Lights along the path…..


“You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.” Colossians 1:21-23 The Message

We are Christ’s messengers of Good News. Like lights along the pathway of life, we are to bring light to those around us. We have the best news that was ever given to mankind. Pastor Will gave a great analogy yesterday. I am paraphrasing here, “We call all of our neighbors and friends when we hear that Chick-fil-A is giving away free sandwiches, but when it comes to sharing the Good News of salvation to a lost and dying world we keep silent.”

The other day my co-worker was talking excitedly about a documentary he watched the night before. It was all about how nature works together to provide just the right balance for sustaining life. It was all very evolutionary and scientific. I listened for a moment, nodding in agreement. Then I said, “Yes, it is amazing how everything is perfectly in balance, I believe that God knew exactly what it would take to sustain life and that is how He created it.” He was good natured about it, being open to different views. I couldn’t stay silent.

Then I think, would the Apostle Paul have stopped there? The Acts church was adding to their numbers daily There is someone who may be waiting for you or me to tell them what they most need to hear. They are sitting in darkness waiting for someone to show them the light of Christ. How can we show someone the light when they don’t even know they are sitting in the dark? And how can we show someone the light unless we have come out of the darkness ourselves?

“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[d]eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Acts 8:26-31 Read the rest of the account here.

Where would I be today if someone had not shared with me? I can’t even think of it. Grateful today for a God who has withheld nothing…..eternal life, His Son, the joy of creation, knowing who set the stars in the sky, peace in turbulence, knowing He will never leave me, He knows my heart, my name, every hair on my head, he holds me in His palm…..#392 and counting. Happy Birthday Dad! Thank you for being my light then and now!
holy experience

Our debt to Christ


Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent his life to express it. The greatest inspiration in Paul’s life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor. Do I feel that same sense of indebtedness to Christ regarding every unsaved soul? As a saint, my life’s spiritual honor and duty is to fulfill my debt to Christ in relation to these lost souls. Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ. Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His redemption into evident reality in the lives of others? I will only be able to do this as the Spirit of God works into me this sense of indebtedness. Oswald Chambers

It strikes me that one of the best ways we can do this is simply by being a friend. Looking into someone’s eyes instead of through them. Letting people know in small ways that they matter, that they count. We aren’t all called to be preachers or teachers, but we can all evangelize by living our lives with a simple beauty that shines the light of Christ. In doing so we let our immense gratitude for Him spill out into the world to others. Then be prepared when they ask you the reason for this joy and hope within you…..”But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,” 1 Peter 3:15

You never know who is watching. The highest compliment I can ever receive is when someone says, “I know you were a believer,” without me ever saying a word.

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. 1 Thessalonians 4:11,12

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

A living prayer

Photo from Google images

Our confidence lies in the fact that God hears the whispers we pray when there is no time for anything else. Whispers in the dark when all is silent and the heart slows down in the calm of lights out.

We throw arrows up and He catches them and puts them safely in His quiver….He knows when there is no practical time to pray but yet our heart is praying without ceasing and our soul is on its knees.

Prayer is the soul catching its breath

Somehow we rise up with wings as eagles and soar with the Spirit…somehow we get everything done, our bodies going through the motions and His Spirit carrying us through. We become a living prayer.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” Romans 8:26

Singing to the Lord

It’s good to sing for the Lord, and for anyone else who will listen too! I sang all the way to work today because it was raining. Rain in Arizona is worth singing about! Music was a big part of my childhood. No family gathering was complete without some form of group singing. My Mom always sang in choirs, with bands, wherever she could sing, she sang. So many times growing up I would walk up to the driveway and hear her beautiful voice through the window.

God loves our singing, no matter how it sounds, it is a sound of beauty to Him. I hope I get to sound like Sarah Brightman in heaven. I think when God hears our voice it somehow transforms into an ethereal sound once it breaks the barriers of the celestial wall.

Once I heard the most beautiful sound walking down the street in Carmel, California. Both my friend and I looked at each other and we knew we had to find the source of that beautiful voice. Our steps us up the steps to a large hall, and right up to a closed bathroom door where an opera singer was practicing. We never forgot that sound!

The Psalms tell us over and over to Sing to the Lord! “Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.” Psalms 33:2

Even God sings……can you imagine that sound?

“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

Animals sing too…..Once a wolf begins howling, other pack members often show a strong tendency to approach that animal and join in. Lois Crisler has said, “Like a community sing, a howl is a happy occasion. Wolves love to howl. When it is started, they instantly seek contact with one another, troop together, fur to fur. Some wolves will run from any distance, panting and bright-eyed, to join in, uttering, as they near, fervent little wows, jaws wide, hardly able to wait to sing.”littlewows, jaws wide, hardly able to wait to sing.” Lisa Matthews / Wolf Song of Alaska Volunteer

Kids love it when we sing too, even though they look at us like we are crazy!

Aging well


Douglas MacArthur evaluated his life on his 75th birthday, saying: “Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul. In the central place of every heart, there is a recording chamber; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, and courage, so long are you young. When the wires are all down and your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then, and then only, are you grown old.

I have found that young people really do like to be around the elderly, provided they are fun, positive and most importantly have not forgotten how to laugh. Let’s face it, aging can be humorous!

I think a healthy culture values its elderly population. After all, God greatly values the elderly. He gave them their biggest jobs after they had reached the age where many Americans are living in retirement villages playing golf and bingo!

My folks have done a great job of aging well, I only hope I can do it half as successfully as they have. Here are some of the reasons I believe they have continued to stay young at 81 and 82!

Staying in the Word
Staying positive
Laughing at themselves and the world around them
An extremely active lifestyle
Loving God and each other
Reaching out to others
Giving generously
Staying current with world events
Taking care of their health

I pray for those elderly today who are not well. For those who are alone, and who feel left behind and left out. Who feel they have nothing to contribute. May they find a friend and comfort in You God, and help me to be a friend to the elderly in my own life. Amen

Isaiah 46:4 “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Meeting God in a garden


“Kiss of the sun for pardon. Song of the birds for mirth. You’re closer to God’s heart in a garden than any place else on earth.” — Dorothy Frances Gurney

It is good to be able to find a quiet corner of the yard in the mornings. I used to do this when I had a garden and I miss it. I would go and the outdoor stray cat would follow me, her white patches turning blissfully brown as she gleefully rolled in the freshly tilled earth. She was happy to share her territory with me.

Sometimes I felt I could actually hear the plants grow, reaching for the sun. If I got very close, at eye level with the plants I was aware of a whole new universe. I would see the dew drops, and the small bugs crawling in their world, unaware of me and the bigger world surrounding them.

God placed us here lovingly and called it good long ago….

I keenly felt a closeness with my Grandparents there, I have heard all their stories, them trying to scratch out a living from the hard North Dakota soil. How they came home one day to a flash flood, my Grandma desperately gathering chicks up in her apron and bringing them in to try and save them. Tunnels from the house to the barn in the bitter cold of winter so that my Grandpa and Aunt could milk the cows….And saying goodbye to all their animals, each one named, when they left for a better life in California.

They left behind a little grave holding their child Annie, fatally shot by a foster child at aged two. The boy ran away and they never found him. I can’t imagine their sorrow. They made it out West, not without difficulty. They started over, pressed on and made a very good life. And their gardens always flourished

They have been reunited with their Annie for many years now, but I remember by being here with them in my quiet moments, I honor their memory and press on…..

“Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.” Genesis 2:8

One Thing…..


This was on the Daily Devotional yesterday and I had to share it. In very few words he puts everything in perspective. Nothing to add here…..
Making the Right Choice
By Max Lucado

“Everyone must die once and be judged.” Hebrews 9:27

Eternity is to be taken seriously. A judgement is coming.

Our task on earth is singular—to choose our eternal home. You can afford many wrong choices in life. You can choose the wrong career and survive, the wrong city and survive, the wrong house and survive. You can even choose the wrong mate and survive. But there is one choice that must be made correctly and that is your eternal destiny.