The Super Bowl commercial which had me roaring in laughter was so funny to a level that my son, sitting next to me, did not understand. People handing M&Ms bags to others, specifically the scene in the Catholic church, visualize a great old wooden confessional box and a man re-opening the door at the end and handing a bag of M&Ms inside, saying: “I wish you didn’t have to hear all that.”

I laughed from a deep spot of surprise and understanding. It was too long a discussion to explain to my son. I just laughed. I’m still laughing.

Lately, I’ve been watching MASH reruns, and it’s one of the rare TV shows which included discussions of God including a tremendous portrayal by William Christopher as Father Mulcahy. Real discussions as well as jocularity. Intense moments of comfort and prayers shown plus reflection for many characters made possible just by the presence of a man of God. (Sometimes our faith helps others just by seeing our steps). We also see Father Mulchahy’s own wrestling of his faith in war. What any military minister experiences in war must be a challenge. This 1981 episode “Identity Crisis” has an injured soldier in a grave sin. Literally, as he switched dog tags with his dead friend who had orders for discharge, with intentions to to fake his way back to the states as a dead man rather than risk his own skin again. Grave sin in a dead man’s skin. Because of the info on the stolen dog tags, they gave him the wrong blood type; his friend’s dog tags which also had him notated as Jewish. The doctor noticed the symptoms of switching blood; the priest noticed the symptoms of confusion over him saying “yeah I’m orthodox” but not knowing much of Judaism. But when he did finally confess up, in confessional, there was no confusion about the steps to absolution of his sin. Father Mulcahy, in the middle of the private moment said so plainly: I can’t grant absolution when there’s no repentance. How can I?… He needed this young man to level up on his own. He presented encouragement to own up, reading him letters from the dead man’s own blood relatives. 

Confess UP. Level UP. It’s both to give UP the truth and acknowledge that the Truth is UP.

Confessional forgiveness only comes from acknowledging your own sinful skin needs saving… and Christ forgiveness comes from Him, and we need to acknowledge that our own sin needs repentance. It is not just worldly sin we make, it’s our broken inheritance of original sin, our default of being lost, blind, and in the mud. We climb UP from the mud, but we need to seek the washing clean up from Jesus. We need to empty our sin and our skin of our ways and fill up with Him. Jesus took our skin and our sin and replaced it because He is our Kin.

Forgiveness only comes from UP, meaning from our Heavenly Father UP above our world, by allowing Jesus who gave UP His worldly skin for our worldly sins. Jesus put His Godliness into a tight space of one human form, but His Power over death was and is uncontainable. His death was ripping open the direct path to God. Our death is just part of passing through His ripped body as our confessional. No M&Ms needed, not even the wrapper of your earthly body enters thru, UP into His glory. 

Jesus hearing our confessional AND knowing repentance won’t need M&Ms to sooth His ears. He already knows your rap better than the crinkling of your wrapper. 

Asking somebody like a fellow person for forgiveness might seem like you are putting them through a rough spot, but asking Jesus? He helps us feel that JOY in spirit now – He already went thru the roughest of death – we need to confess we can never understand how rough it was for Him. Jesus takes us UP away from sin – ours and everyone’s who sheds their skin to Him. Let that sink into your skin.

Praise Him. Raise Him. Confess UP to Him. 

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great JOY — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen” Jude 1:24-25.

AMEN 

The icicles have been growing, every day I can watch them lengthen in my window. If there wasn’t plastic sealing on this window, I would have already grabbed one for fun. This is a real winter for a change, with real snow and real treasures. Isn’t that one of those great childhood joys of winter? Playing in the snow, giant icicles, hitting them with snowballs and sticks. And how long could they grow? Feet long at my parent’s house. How fun to hold one that long without breaking it. My Aunt told me that on the back porch of the farmhouse she has some many feet in length from gutter to ground – I can see them in my mind.

Endless memories of fun formed by the sun. Cycles of heat, sun, cold, making the melting into more.

Isn’t that like thinking about God’s Endless love.  Watching it grow longer and stronger and more than more. It’s forevermore. We can realize His Endless Love is Love in the present, not just the past or future. Love has not ever been anything but Timeless. 

How does God look at us with adoring Love? Adoring Love is unfailing Love even when we are not ourselves unfailing.

Because His Love is from Him, it is Endless and Unbroken like Him. His Love does not depend on us. And because His Love existed for us always, not as love for the world, but love for the workers in the world, it is adoring Love because it is as specific as it is wide. The length of His days are as long as they are short. It is God doing the looking at us in Love so wide, so forever, so deeply from the depths of His Heart. He has memories of our spirit before we are even born. He remembers our youth like yesterday. He longs for us to be home with Him forever. He watches us with love and longing. He is a generous God as much as He is a jealous God. He is God loving not in cycles but forever.

We can watch and reflect on the progress of our life, but God watches the progress of our LOVE. 

Amen Lord, You are Endless Love, Faithful Love, Forever Love.

You are Love.

—-

Song: You Are My Strength  – a favorite we sang in praise band

https://www.worshiptogether.com/songs/you-are-my-strength-hillsong-worship/

You are my strength

Strength like no other

Strength like no other

Reaches to me

You are my hope

Hope like no other

Hope like no other

Reaches to me

In the fullness of Your grace 

In the power of Your Name

You lift me up

You lift me up

Unfailing love

Stronger than mountains

Deeper than oceans

Reaches to me

Your love O Lord

Reaches to the heavens

Your faithfulness

 Reaches to the sky

I don’t take much downtime – but this slowdown and these really cold winter nights plus semi-isolation time and the fact that my one child is off at college, well I take more downtime… The weekends have never been more open. Work is busy but downtime is not – you can only clean this house so many times before you realize it will never get in order.   Instead, a movie was in order – Netflix and the sleeping cat next to me – imagine that…  The story in the movie “Fatima” (actually I googled most of the plot as I watched) is a classic, always watched the old film at Easter time and this version was well done.  Deep complex characters, hitting the same the classic themes: faith needs no data and unbelief can NOT be bridged by anything but faith… Unbelief builds upon itself just as much as faith builds upon itself… Also seemingly hypocrisy feeds itself and unbelief sometimes pushes the thought that belief is only looking for obvious miracles as well as should bring miracles to that person – as if there is a magic of perfect living, of instant answers, and of “plain as day” revelations. But we know that life with faith doesn’t depend upon perfection, our timing or on our sight. We as people should not pigeonhole God and His Godly Ways to fit our boxes. Life with FAITH depends on HOPE, TRUTH, KNOWING, LISTENING, BEING, and of course LOVE. Faith is ours to grab, hold onto, and appreciate. Blindness is not boldness.

Probably the best movie moments (fictitious or not) in this movie rendition are the conversations back and forth of the unbeliever journalist and older Sister Lucia (who lived until her 90’s). He had tough questions that she answered in a stare down of truth. If she didn’t pick at his shell of unbelief, she wouldn’t find or know of his soft spots. We don’t know from the movie if she made any progress on him, but we should all be poking at the artificial shields and praying for unbelievers so that God can make some good soft spots in their hearts towards Him. Work the soil of the non-believers and perhaps something will grow.

There’s interesting intrigue in this story too, yes, SECRETS, things that even the lady didn’t want revealed until the proper time… Predictions of deaths and hell, assassination and war. It’s been said by later interpretations of Lucia’s own words that nothing predicted was unexpected and Lucia only was giving her testimony as plainly as she experienced… As for apocalyptic visions, regardless of timing or placement, if you have read the book of Revelation, you know that it’s NOT gonna be pretty. Enough said.

I have read so little about this story but these people in 1917 knew wartime AND a flu epidemic. They knew suffering. The visions that Lucia recounted didn’t promise a lack of suffering. A favorite movie line is sadly true: people will still not believe even if they look at the face of God. Yet so many faithful do HOPE, they and we believe in hope, however bad a circumstance is. Hope is stronger than any storm. We who suffer little in comparison to those who suffer(ed) much still must believe that faith is the foundation for everything that brings HOPE. Faith keeps us moving, not faith in our own faith, as we are so fallible, but our faith in God’s ability. God still moves regardless of our faith. He doesn’t need our approval or attention, does He? Let’s give it anyway, in faith.

I have faith that all will be revealed at the proper hour. Jesus said, speaking first to his disciples: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” Luke 12:1-3

Therefore, I have no intent to discuss validity or not of any of the Fatima predictions (but I would love to travel there in Portugal as well as Lourdes in France) – I present these theories of the testimonies because they are interesting, with a link to the description of “the secrets”, but really I include the below link and text because I appreciated at least three (and more) statements by Pope Benedict (who stepped down but is actually still alive) describing Fatima’s Lucia: 1) you have to check EVERYTHING against scripture – YES; 2) he spoke of “data” – God coming to man naturally produces the data which allows man to come to God – YES! God knew I needed data for my brain so that my brain then would both stop getting in the way AND participate in the Way. Jesus sees the heart flares rising and comes a calling! and 3) Jesus as God Himself ‘took on a human heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word.’

We worship best by placing love first, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30).  Let us let God have the Last Word, because He certainly had the First.

Amen  

—-

from https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html

2 excerpts:

“It is called a Revelation because in it God gradually made himself known to men, to the point of becoming man himself, in order to draw to himself the whole world and unite it with himself through his Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. It is not a matter therefore of intellectual communication, but of a life-giving process in which God comes to meet man. At the same time this process naturally produces data pertaining to the mind and to the understanding of the mystery of God. It is a process which involves man in his entirety and therefore reason as well, but not reason alone. Because God is one, history, which he shares with humanity, is also one.”

—-

“The Heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the history of the world, because it brought the Saviour into the world because, thanks to her Yes, God could become man in our world and remains so for all time. The Evil One has power in this world, as we see and experience continually; he has power because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God. But since God himself took a human heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word. From that time forth, the word that prevails is this: In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world (Jn 16:33). The message of Fatima invites us to trust in this promise.”

Took an older post, very early post, and made it into a rhyme…posted on my other blog site where I am revamping the earliest posts from 6 years ago – I promised the Lord and myself that I would do this – finally starting again!

https://learningtoflyasadaugtherofgod.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/jesus-our-hero/

JESUS – OUR HERO

Snow, real and deep, is not a show.

Sound-dampening air-pocket filled piles of big beautiful fluffy flakes covering the muddy-ucky ground – preventing hustle and bustle – World Peace mimicked just from SNOW.

Snow = no driving, no school, no work, no fuss, the world takes a rest, you know.

World peace is a wish. Perhaps you might hear God say “Be Still and Know”.

Perhaps you might remember that God makes the SNOW.

Accepting Jesus – He is always wanting us to GROW.

But like waiting for snow, you have to wait until God tells you so.

I thought I would wait years but instead God said “Come-on, GO!”

Naaman not only dipped himself into the river – he had to get out of his own way – he had to 100% completely LET GO.

Allowing God to baptize him – and us – we have to BELIEVE 100% – to become purer than Ivory SNOW.

We have to share our stories – it is incremental – sometimes it feels fast and sometimes deliberately SLOW.

I had a dream of Jesus – asking me to drink from His cup – oh those many years AGO.

And now – I just so appreciate that He is in me and I just want Him to FLOW.

Christianity is a journey – ongoing – forever a trek – no promises for easy walks – sometimes high and sometimes LOW.

Follow Jesus – He is the Way – He is the ultimate in promises fulfilled – He IS our RAINBOW.

Jesus, You ARE our rescue HERO.

YEAH, I am going to enjoy this new Zoom Bible study – there are 4 of us ladies, 3 from the west coast and me on the east… it is nice to be just a few of us so we don’t talk over each other, LOL…

The book “Be Mature” is about the scriptures in James and how James (Jesus’ brother) is teaching spiritual maturity. We are doing one chapter per week – pre-reading and then sharing the reading during the session. But how did I connect with another church a coast away? I got on a mailing list, well they invited anyone to a zoom bible study for the book of James and I happened to have been reading the book of James when that email came thru…. God does not make mistakes, and God can cross the country, why not??!!!…

The moderator explained that she too attends/is affiliated with multiple churches and wanted to put that out there in case people were confused or taken aback. I chuckled as I feel SO BLESSED to be “attending” 2, and catching up with a couple more services later in the week… yeah, God is Criss-Crossing us all in a stronger support network… Let the Lord strengthen and enrich the network of His net! Spiritual maturity means we eat solid foods rather than just spiritual milk, therefore why wouldn’t the church become a hardy strong intertwine of strong branches, and not just sapling trees all competing for the light… the weaving of a basket, enriching the net, vining the garden to bear fruit, making a stronger ONE church…    Cool…

(from the great Monty Python movie, with a few “adaptations” https://youtu.be/-ea_y8zpzqU )

“There it is, the Bridge of Death. Oh, great. Look, there’s the old man from scene 24, What is he doing here? He is the keeper of the Bridge of Death. He asks each traveler five questions. Three questions. Three questions may cross in safety. What if you get a question wrong? Then you are cast into the Gorge of Eternal Peril…    “…just answer the five questions. Three questions. Three questions as best you can and we shall watch and pray… I understand, my liege. Good luck, brave Sir…., God be with you.

“Stop, who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ‘ere the other side he see.   Ask me the questions bridge keeper, I’m not afraid.

What is your name?

My name is ….

What is your quest?

To seek Spiritual Maturity

What is your favorite color?

Blue.

Right, off you go.

Oh, thank you, thank you very much.

That’s easy.

…

Stop, what is your name?

It is Arthur, King of the Britons

What is your quest?

To seek Spiritual Maturity

What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

What do you mean? An African or European swallow?

What? I, I don’t know that!

Aaaaaaaaaa.

“How do know so much about swallows?  Well, you have to know these things when you’re a king, you know”….

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (plus some, LOL)   https://youtu.be/-ea_y8zpzqU

…….

What REALLY is our quest?

Saved and accepting Jesus or traversing and being pulled towards that free “grace space”? In all, we are to desire SPIRITUAL MATURITY, moving forward from spiritual milk to solid food to our Daily Bread.

How easy or tough is it to be on a quest for SPIRITUAL MATURITY? Is it really as easy as answering a question about your favorite color and moving on? Perhaps it is just taking life, one question at a time, and answering with truth and NOT be wishy washy (“blue? no yellow! aaaaarrrgggghhh” like in the movie the traveler is tossed into the chasm). Spiritual maturity is just something your Spirit has been wanting your whole life. It means continued daily walking with the Lord and emulating Jesus. Accepting, then doing, living, and maturing.

Is it first necessary that you WANT spiritual maturity? Well sometimes it is thrust upon you like a school of hard knocks, learning to trust the Lord when you especially DIDN’T.  Tis much better to walk along your quest. Tis much better to follow the Leader, Jesus, and answer the questions (“FIVE, no THREE“), just be like He… And actually it’s best to let Jesus answer any question FOR THEE.

“How do know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you’re a king, you know.” Yes, Jesus knows all the answers better than King Arthur or any earthly king (make believe or not). God knows the swallows and the birds – and God cares for them. Jesus tells us how much MORE we ae cared for.

How do we approach growing? Read? Write? Walk? GROW. We should live to grow. Keep asking “now what?” Better to read ahead in our bibles and walk our faith, ask for direction before we have to ask because we are lost.

My mother recently said simply, when I mentioned my writing was not forced but I just had to do it: “Well, if you can make pies, you make pies. If you write, you write.” She really said that. Yeah. She’s really is a great apple pie maker… How to make a good crust, well that’s from lots of practice and not overworking the dough. She’s an excellent bread maker too. Over work the dough, or underbake it, switch to inferior ingredients, these things will all make a pie crust or bread worse. I guess I have a different task than pie making, and my quest is not necessarily the writing, is BETTER WALKING – it is actually better reading scripture and reading life in the light of scripture… Incorporating and walking WITH the Lord, not anything else. Learn from the Smart Kid. Walk in His path, like sure steps in deep snow.

How similar to the making of pies, to the meat of it. For the writing or reading scriptures, and being walked further into spiritual maturity, is the same: overwork it, under think it, switch to inferior thoughts, these will all make a less desirable impact in you.

Spiritual Maturity? Why do we want it? I think that Life would be overworked, overwrought and have you overstepping your daily bread to overstressing your life into toast. Don’t become toast. Life would be underbaked, raw and less palatable without continued LEARNING and WALKING WITH THE LORD. Don’t stop short of God’s plan for you.  Life would be inferior and made from scraps or fluff or something other than what the Lord feeds us on, HIS WORD. Don’t get distracted by false prophets or worldly things or sugary pie fillings. Life would not be Life to the level of Life without Life IN the Lord… We should all want to work the Word and have the Word work thru us. Jesus IS the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE.

To keep maturing and wanting spiritual maturity – that IS our quest.

What about our daily bread? Isn’t that much more sustenance than food? Bread of life IN the Lord, of the Lord, brings a daily direction and sustenance to our steps: don’t overthink it, under prep it, or look elsewhere. Daily bread is only enough for today, new manna for each man every day, not too much or too little. Don’t save daily bread for tomorrow as it will grow stale, moldy, and NOT a treasure on earth to keep.  Daily bread for TODAY and not for tomorrow’s worries. Tomorrow will take care of itself. As the Lord WILL take your burdens today for today, let Him lead, and then tomorrow He will be there too.

Keep QUESTING the Spiritual Way, not questioning.

Keep the faith not falling behind in our walk.

Keep the Walk WITH Jesus, because HE KNOWS THE WAY.

Cross the bridges of everything in life by KNOWING the Lord.

Knowing the Lord growing IN us, IS OUR QUEST.

AMEN

—-

Proverbs 11

The Lord detests dishonest scales,

    but accurate weights find favor with him.

2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace,

    but with humility comes wisdom.

3 The integrity of the upright guides them,

    but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

4 Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,

    but righteousness delivers from death.

5 The righteousness of the blameless makes their paths straight,

    but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.

6 The righteousness of the upright delivers them,

    but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.

7 Hopes placed in mortals die with them;

    all the promise of their power comes to nothing.

8 The righteous person is rescued from trouble,

    and it falls on the wicked instead.

9 With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors,

    but through knowledge the righteous escape.

10 When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices;

    when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

11 Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,

    but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.

12 Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense,

    but the one who has understanding holds their tongue.

13 A gossip betrays a confidence,

    but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.

14 For lack of guidance a nation falls,

    but victory is won through many advisers.

15 Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer,

    but whoever refuses to shake hands in pledge is safe.

16 A kindhearted woman gains honor,

    but ruthless men gain only wealth.

17 Those who are kind benefit themselves,

    but the cruel bring ruin on themselves.

18 A wicked person earns deceptive wages,

    but the one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.

19 Truly the righteous attain life,

    but whoever pursues evil finds death.

20 The Lord detests those whose hearts are perverse,

    but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.

21 Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished,

    but those who are righteous will go free.

22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout

    is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.

23 The desire of the righteous ends only in good,

    but the hope of the wicked only in wrath.

24 One person gives freely, yet gains even more;

    another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

25 A generous person will prosper;

    whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

26 People curse the one who hoards grain,

    but they pray God’s blessing on the one who is willing to sell.

27 Whoever seeks good finds favor,

    but evil comes to one who searches for it.

28 Those who trust in their riches will fall,

    but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

29 Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind,

    and the fool will be servant to the wise.

30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

    and the one who is wise saves lives.

31 If the righteous receive their due on earth,

    how much more the ungodly and the sinner!

I don’t knock the snow or complain “too much” if it snows – God knows why He needs that snow – think of all the things that He could use to get our attention or stop us in our tracks for His purposes… Snow is one of them…  and often we DO see it coming. How can we complain if we know the game.

ICE? well, that is another question – and we seem to get more ice than snow lately, LIKE TODAY, where I sit on the classic ice/snow corridor- but why wouldn’t God use any and all circumstances to His advantage? Ice is even more halting, more stopping power than snow. Ice is nice if you want to skate on it, not brake on it.

I love snow as you all know – but with folks worrying about the snow, I have to share these important blogs to me that were early on in my awakening, where the snow and the ice were CRUCIAL to my awakening… So, I don’t knock the snow, God is IN THE KNOW!!! Your inconvenience may be someone else’s awakening, like mine…

GOD SENDS SNOWFLAKES AT HIS RIGHT TIME. SNOWFLAKES timing may be divine.

Don’t Knock the Snow, God is in the Know!

Snow is divine! Just ask Job if he knows!

—————-

blogs where I KNEW God was pushing me more mature in my faith

https://debbieupper.blog/2015/12/23/god-decorated-my-christmas-tree-27jan-42/

#42 God Decorated my Christmas Tree, 27JAN 2015

Oh crud (not the word I used)…I just realized that this is nor’EASTER snow…not Christmas snow but Easter snow….guess Easter’s roller coaster is here for me to start my ride…  😉

I see God decorated my Christmas tree even more beautifully then I could have ever done…. Countless tiny decorations…Not the snow amounts I expected, but the snow I needed, and it’s still coming…and I thank God for SNOW and Christmas…

—-

https://debbieupper.blog/2016/01/30/sheds-snow-be-still-and-know-that-i-am-god-20mar-101/

#101

Sheds, Snow, Be Still and Know that I AM GOD, 20Mar 2015

“Be still and know that I am God.”    I think about that scripture a lot… and yet I’ve always thought that doesn’t mean I have to be idle. I was thinking so much about God, about me, about the church, and about bringing people back into the church… and about the conference I’m going to tomorrow about why people leave church.

Maybe we should ask why people stay in church rather than why they leave church. Maybe people are not being fed with spiritual wholesomeness, maybe they just don’t have time for light church activities, maybe they stay when they really feel connected.

If I hadn’t reached out with my faith questions I wonder how long it would have taken for someone to ask me (in love): “Hey there, Debbie, where are you with your faith?”  You know, I think people really had already asked me that, perhaps I really didn’t hear them talking to me!  An early person to whom I told about my faith questioning said something like: “Oh, you are a church leader… we really are not doing a good job of tending to our own are were?”. But well, it’s OK – no one knew – I know that everybody’s busy… it’s not really anyone’s fault…it’s no one’s fault that we are so busy… there’s so many people to attend to….  If I felt the time in the place to question to vocalize my struggles years before, I wonder if I would have done it. It took me awhile to get over this embarrassment of my faith questions. So, who knows where I’d be now…. it was God’s timing – not mine and certainly not anyone elses…. It’s always God’s timing… God took the corrective action on me now, after I was already well established in my church community, so maybe I’m the one that is supposed to now ask you people, you friends, “Where are you in your faith?”

People say read your Bible everyday, I didn’t… I did certainly talk to God everyday and I had just said to myself:  ’well I get devotions emailed to me everyday… I see God everyday… the bible scriptures seem to come to me while I am moving asking on this life… do I really need to pause to read??? I really am only idle when I write…. “… Well it was JUST then, immediately, that God ANSWERED my question. See, I’ve been cleaning out the shed and talking to God….you know idle hands do the Devils work, right? and for me moving hands frees my brain to think, and to talk with myself, and to talk with God. I had just finished getting the shed ready for somebody who is currently homeless and we are going to store some of his stuff. It’s okay we have some room. But that’s NOT why God blessed me in His attentiveness. That’s not why you are blessed. It is not the good works that cause God to give us Grace… We have it already. God made us human to get work done – He gave us two hands, two feet, a brain and He certainly gave us a mouth.   Sometimes we are to use our mouths to comfort and sometimes to keep quiet….when we know that we could say something, but the fact that we don’t speaks more volumes… Maybe we are to ask somebody everyday “where are you in your faith?”  and then shut up and listen..  I had just finished these GOD thoughts when I walking back to the house… it starts SNOWING! I stopped – cold – dead in my tracks. God, I really stopped, I was truly shaken to a stop… for two maybe three minutes looking at the small precious unique snowflakes.

Stopped IDLE in my tracks… looked up in tears and said:  “Thank you God, for the snow….Thank you God, for listening to me… Why did you choose me to witness your glory? Thank you God… for making me still and know that YOU ARE GOD.

Be STILL and KNOW that I AM GOD.

—–

More snow blogs:

In my last few days of awakening and not being at 100% yet with Jesus – I was an emotional softening heart… God knew me to place me with the right people, who knew His heart but didn’t know what was going on with me… here’s a crucial one:

https://debbieupper.blog/2015/12/23/and-god-sent-ice-18jan-32/

#32 (connected  to #31 before this)

This is an important follow up to last night’s post… It is not lost on me that while hot tea would be appropriate to drink here on the cozy couch by the Christmas tree (I wrote this after the Ice storm) that instead the extra drink from my kids’ happy meal is (yes) ICE tea…I am drinking ICE tea…

And God Sent ICE, 18Jan2015

After my fails at belaying and trusting during rock climbing, I couldn’t wait to get back this morning to try again. Luckily we stayed overnight; I had good therapy of silly moms until 1am, a good solid five hours sleep. We had 2 hours to climb in the morning. but I knew I had to leave an hour early to get to church class… and because of Girl Scout falling ill with fever, I was leaving even earlier – which meant only half an hour of climbing for my daughter… she was not happy at the least because rock climbing appears to be her life calling now…

But then God sent ICE. Icy freezing rain covering everything… Church  at 8 o’clock cancelled 9 o’clock canceled… I zip through social media , phone calls, texts … will my 10 o’clock class be cancelled too?.. prayerfully hoping (not that we should have left anyway because the roads were the worst…  shut down, many car pileups)…ICE…terrible to say, but the JOY as I knew they would cancel, and they did…I could tell my daughter that she could climb the whole two hours…and climb she did, wow she is amazing!

After the flurry of texting etc about church canceled, I turned my attention to myself…it was time to retrain, refocus, retest …it was time to belay again, this time I was so determined, practiced and said I will belay my own daughter…I will never take my eye off of her…I would give my whole hand to keep her from falling…not worry about a possible pinch like I got last night. Well, she was too exhausted, I asked for a volunteer…guess what?  The daughter of my friend who I left hanging last night when I pinched my hand…she is the one who volunteered…yes I would give my hand for this daughter too…

With steady, even-keeled serious Keith our trainer, by my side, we started the test…she climbed, I belayed, I gave her advice for foot holds…I had good technique Keith assured me…I didn’t take my eye off her… She was to randomly fall four times in my test…she did, I found the right position for my hands…I didn’t drop her or forget about her…I saw her safely back to the wall…and safely down when we were done. I passed. No, I didn’t make a fuss…quiet victory, humbled achievement.

Now that I am certified, and my daughter will be wanting to go to the climbing gym, I know there will be more pain and pinches ahead…but I have better technique, better focus…it is not just rock climbing I am taking about…it’s counseling, it’s reaching out to people, it’s LIFE. Focus on your technique, never lose sight of the climber, keep the faith, and pray for God’s guidance.

The ice gave me extra time to climb my personal mountain, made us slow down and not be over confident on our drive home… And on my ride home, one of my teenage passengers was named Grace. I drove home with Grace, the free and unmerited favor from God.

Thank God for the Ice and the Grace.

——

And more with snow

https://debbieupper.blog/2015/12/23/rain-a-floating-rain-18jan-34/

so close to Feb 1st – God was softening my last ice blocks to 100% – I felt the ice jam ready to go…

https://debbieupper.blog/2015/12/23/weird-dreams-snow-and-jesus-26jan-41/

I woke up in the edges of a dream where I saw dangling letters, chunky cartoon-like letters in upper and lowercases, hung on strings, blowing in the breeze hanging from the roof of my mind (wow what a cave!)… I guess these letters dancing will remind me to finish this writing of how the Word’s word “genuineness” looked like “gentleness” to me in my reading:

It’s not unusual for me to multitask, not just with my hands, but in my brain I might have 3 conversations at the same time. Yup. That’s why music that fills 2/3 of my brain possibly keeps that part busy and allows that last third of my brain to get work done.

I read this passage as my brain was mulling over what I could say to my family members (really anyone) about their belief in an afterlife, about knowing and acknowledging Jesus. Many of us wonder how to share and see someone’s commitment to Christ within our family and friends. Really, except for the obvious oblivious, it is unknown to use whether some people are saved or not, we can’t measure their mustard seed of faith, as Jesus does the judging,  we just do the nudging… and in my triple tasking mind, one third sleepy, one third talking to myself, it was in the third third that God morphed an important word: “genuineness” appeared as “gentleness”. YES, as it is the Spirit directing me to continue sharing faith, the Spirit is also reminding of nudging in GENTLENESS (as well as GENUINENESS)… Maybe my eyes morphed and SAW “Gentleness” in the softness of my heart, but I know in my soul that the Word which does NOT change, and the Word brings clarity.

Gentleness is what happens when genuineness in faith gets you thru the trials of life. Peter’s 1st letter (ch1 v6-8) is where my morphing eyes probably got the other letters from these dangling in the breeze thru my swiss cheese mind:

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven GENUINENESS of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”

Faith by fire is almost a guaranteed position we are placed in… but either you are IN the fire (ouch) or near it’s warming warmth (ahhhh…). So genuine gentleness, AND real witness of saving grace, will demonstrate that your faith IS more valuable to you than gold… and gold is VERY valuable as a solid rock of interest. Well, our rock of faith is unseen but joy-filling. Our rock IS Jesus the Christ. Our lives sometimes inside a rock tumbler, but our faith is what is shined, genuine-ed and refined…

Another rock reference: Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ … and, ‘A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’   They stumble because they disobey the message – which is also what they were destined for.  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1st Peter 2

I love how God uses real tangible things like rocks to describe Himself and His plan… ESPECIALLY since He doesn’t want us to listen to the rumblings of loose rocks in our head but feel the FIRM Rock of Faith in our souls, the Rock which makes us stumble when we don’t listen or obey, the Rock who rocks our perceived notions of God, and the Rock of which we are to build our faith upon. The Rock of Jesus…

Jesus is genuine gentle God.

Jesus is the rock that stumbles and saves.

Gentleness is not catching more flies with honey, gentleness is about being yourself (and gentleness in my family is treasured) – so gentleness is genuine for me. We are also to hear the rattling of the reminders that the unsaved are running out of time, and hear loud authoritative types warning of accepting salvation, saying: “repent or die!”…

I love this cartoon posted recently (attached) which shows a doomsday prophet’s day job with an orange hardhat in a construction crew, his sign says: “The bend is near”. Well, we could look to the end of life or even the next bend in life, the next tumble in the rocks of our life tumbler, OR we could find our Rock of Faith in Jesus, build on it and make straight the path for Him, to Him, with Him… then, you who believe in him and have received His mercy can be “filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”

We can be the gentleness of HIS genuineness – and warm (and warn):

THAT THE END IS NEAR BUT THE SAVIOR IS HERE.

Amen

I have come across Psalm 139 like 3 times in the last couple days…  I think it is one of the best psalms since it really hammers home the message that we are God’s and He will find us. He loves us so much to hunt us down. He knows everything… and David prays what we all should pray: if there is anything offensive in me, set me straight, lead me to everlasting.

What makes this psalm more real to me is when I am singing it (verses 7-10). I would raise my right hand to grab His so strongly – He will never let us go, but I still think it is SO important to hold on tight.

I appreciate that verse: even the darkness is light to you. We think about times when we are not sure what the next step is, how this life on earth will go down for us, and we wonder sometimes: “what am I missing here?” Well, God knows the words before we speak them, He is watching us react to the Light He unveils for us, He thinks about us endlessly. He also wants us to realize that “all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” This means we will be alright. Remain the Lord.

God’s knowledge of us is from before we are born. He Himself knits us together – no one given to Jesus will fall out of His Hand. We may get scared into Holy Fear if we stray, but Jesus won’t let us go.

Psalm 139.

God knows… Jesus holds… the Spirit flows…   

Amen

——

Psalm 139 For the director of music. Of David.

1 You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you’re there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will [bring me home] hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

The mystery of God becomes so clear when you look behind the curtain: IT’S LOVE. 

When Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz appeared before the “all powerful Oz”, she quickly realized the Oz man was not a god but a man putting up a bluff. “Don’t worry about the man behind the curtain.” He had to separate himself to look powerful. Well, there was no great power or purpose except for the make believe. He may have thought it was because the world of the Emerald City wanted a great and mysterious ruler, but Dorothy quickly found out that there was no power and he couldn’t help her, nor could he even control his hot air balloon. But he helped the others, the tinman, lion, scarecrow, realize that they always had what they desired. Wisdom is a gift to all of us, if we ask for it.

We might see some mysteries, but those blinded by glitz will look for escalating glitz. How defeating it is if the mystery becomes fake. We should desire to see plain truth.

In faith, we can see thru fake. We can and will see real truth when we start walking with opening eyes.  We can especially feel the truth when we let our eyes of the heart lead us, not the eyes on our head. We can see and know the mystery of the Lord includes what we don’t yet know, not what does not exist, but what we have yet to see. We don’t have fake or need to fake anything, we have REAL truth to love, real hope to honor, real Spirit to guide, and real love to share.  The great mystery of all, Paul writes to Ephesians and to us, is “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep IS the love of Christ, and to know THIS LOVE that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God“…. YES, how intense the LOVE IS, how lovely GOD’S LOVE IS. These are mysteries of faith, but as real as real can be. 

And we have direct access, no curtain, no separation.  The temple curtain which separated the people from the innermost chambers of worship was the most thick. It split right thru when Jesus gave up His Spirit and died. There was and is NO barrier to God, no blockages for our travel. There was no mystery behind the curtain that we cannot see, we just haven’t been around long enough to know everything. But there’s NO mystery that behind the mystery of God is LOVE.

“My anchor holds within the veil” – we are to ENTER into the inner chamber, we are to anchor our lives IN that love of God from God. He loved us first. We are to worship in Spirit and Truth because God IS ALL these. Jesus revealed that thru Him, and our acceptance of His invitation, we will NEVER be separated from the LOVE of God.

That’s what’s behind, below, around the curtain: LOVE 

No doubt, real TRUTH is that Jesus is BOTH the “mystery” to those who only could prophesy about His coming but did not live to tell of the actual coming – and that Jesus was and is the mystery IN us, who’ve come to know that His Spirit in dwells in us.

Paul discovered and wrote about this truth – We hold the MYSTERY of faith, Jesus, right inside us. We are the ones who get to learn by living thru Him. 

We learn that with God, it’s ALL LOVE.

Amen

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I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. Paul to the Colossians 

—–

Matthew 27:50-54

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Cake is cake. It’s still cake. 

I had to decide what impromptu birthday treat I would bring to work. Yes, I can bake elaborate or simple cakes, I can buy cakes. A question of time or money or convenience or shelf life (not just flavor). And yes, I am too frugal and want to make a dollar cake over buying a $20 one from a store. BUT, it is covid time and the convenience of single serve cupcakes that they can “trust” seems better. Nowadays in healthier eating, we can skip the cake and carbs but when it’s a birthday, a “token cake”  is the visual sweetness you like to see… and if it surprises someone out of the blue or seems very specially made for us (like from our mom), it is special. OR if it’s not even wanted, any cake for remembering others and being remembered, it is nice. Cake is a personal take.

Doesn’t even matter if you bake or not. Maybe the sight of cake melts our moment.

It doesn’t have to be an elaborate cake, from scratch, the best bakery, the most expensive, or the smallest cutest cupcake. It is the thought counts to the thinker and the receiver. But to the basic birthday, it’s still cake.

It’s still cake.

Ever put a candle on a can of catfood for your cat? It’s still cake for a cat? It’s still cake. 

Remember that you were born and still live well? That’s having your icing on your cake.

Ever think about your faith in Jesus? Does it matter how you come to know Jesus? NO. Coming to Him is the only thing at stake. Childlike faith reborn birthdays make!

Eyes opening to see Him, ears opening to hear Him. Saving Grace is His gift to you on your birth in Him. Know that He already knew you – that is like having cake and eating it too.

Does it matter how brainiac book smart your knowledge of Him is? No. It’s enough to just know and believe. There’s the dividing line: you have to BELIEVE, not just be familiar. You have to have firm faith, not just a fancy for it. You will want to see, hear, and taste of your salvation. Jesus just needs your faith.

It’s still faith. 

It’s faith.

It’s still Jesus. 

It’s Jesus.

Amen to Faith – Amen to Life – Amen to Jesus – He says to rebuild the Kingdom is at stake.

Salvation Makes Rebirth Birthday Cake

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1st letter of Peter 1-9  “…who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

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FAITH.

It doesn’t matter your preparation, your expectation or even if it came as a SURPRISE.

In faith it matters for you to have OPEN EYES.

It matters feeling His Birthday inside you ARISE.

Accepting Jesus is the re-birth PRIZE.

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Your sin is what Jesus takes. 

Don’t let life’s trials take your cake.

Eternal Life is forever yours if you Faith partake.

Jesus our lives we forsake.

Reborn in You Jesus, Salvation Makes.

Jesus Reborn in You, Salvation Makes.

Your sin is what Jesus takes. 

Don’t let life’s trials take your cake.

Eternal Life is forever yours if you Faith partake.

Jesus our lives we forsake.

Rebirth in Jesus Salvation Makes.

FAITH.

It doesn’t matter your preparation, your expectation or even if it came as a SURPRISE.

Rebirth by faith makes you have OPEN EYES.

It matters that His Birthday inside you did ARISE.

Accepting Jesus is the re-birth PRIZE.

You Noah, 02FEB

(Best first spoken to get the rhyme “you knowwa”)

You Noah you are goingna have to WAIT. 

You Noah there’s a big snowstorm out there.

You Noah this snow represents anything you are excited about but takes forever to get here.

You Noah this snow represents anything you dread but can not change. 

You Noah this snow represents anything you have to WAIT OUT.

You Noah it’s all in your attitude. 

You Noah it’s not done snowing. 

You Noah it was coming. 

You Noah it would take a while. 

You Noah that you had to prepare. 

You Noah that you would be stuck in the house. 

You Noah you really could get out but shouldn’t. 

You Noah it’s ONLY snow. 

You Noah you were safe at home.

You Noah you are not supposed to be bored but be blessed. 

You Noah it is weird to be stuck.

You Noah it was a LONG storm. 

You Noah you just had to sit it out.

You Noah that someday it will thaw.

You Noah this too shall pass.

You Noah you used to be more excited about the snow. 

You Noah that you’ve a long way to go. 

You Noah time will pass.

You Noah that God’s got this. 

You Noah you will just be alright 

You Noah, just sit tight.

Noah, be alright. 

Right.

1062

Sunday, yesterday, I went to the 911 Garden of Reflection, knowing the high probability of all being snowed in today Monday FEB 1st, my 6th anniversary of knowing that I was 100% believing in Jesus, February 1st 2015… The same place I visited on that day I knew… I reflected that the Lord had changed me forever over the course of 2 intense months writing, praying, awakening (see writings 1-50, 1000 writings ago).

You could say that IT IS MORE IMPORTANT that I LIVE IN THE PRESENT, but I like to REFLECT on where the Lord has taken me. Reflecting is not looking back as much as looking at the trajectory the Lord has taken me on. Six years, huh? A lifetime with His lifeline…

But I didn’t feel major tears or grand moments at the park, like previous years… it started to snow and my reflection at the word “reflection” made me realize that if you look at any light or object beam as it enters a pool of water, when the pool is calm, it will appear back as a clear beam of REFLECTION. An inflection reflection. A reflection out from what goes in. We are to reflect the Light of the Lord, and if the water is calm, all the better the picture we have of Him beaming in. This is NOT novel an idea, but if I think of the calm nature of a pool as a calming of my seas, I think about His peace, and how these 6 years have passed Him thru me for me, to be more into peace. I have to believe that I am much more calm but I HOPEFULLY am not any less ON FIRE. (And yet, you know that we ALWAYS could become MORE ON FIRE.)  It’s the PEACE of the Lord in our souls that allows us to see Him more clearly AND reflect and beam Him more clearly. The fire intensity will send the beam as far as the Lord takes it. 

My beam angle/direction has changed, the direction has pivoted, but my reflection has stayed strong. It is normal how many reborn people mature, their beam will change in angle, but they are to NOT cloud their view of Him. Our work for the Kingdom often changes direction. Mine includes still writing, but the VBS years, Sunday school years, UMW years and praise band years were angled in my past and they are not my current beams. I will re-beam some of those at some point, I will plan new tracks but TODAY I will be ok to beam just in the angle in which the Lord has me positioned, and beam strong.  And there will be new directions. Pray I hear Him just as clear as He urged Peter: “… Do you love me? Feed my sheep. Strengthen the others”

In looking at the statue I-beam of the Trade Center, placed as a rememberance. Is it angled into the ground or out of the ground? Interesting thought of perspective. Both or neither, or who knows.  Different thought: if the Lord is Light into and onto our path and the Lord DOES NOT CHANGE, then it doesn’t matter if His light is going into you or out from you, it doesn’t matter the angle, it is STILL from Him. Lighting your path to Him or with Him or service outwardly from Him, in one beam angle or another, it’s still a guidance with the same Spirit. He’s working ALL angles. And our reflection of Him should hold as true to Him as possible. 

Before I left the garden, not with grandiose instructions or inspiration, I caught the sight of a bird, a ROBIN, in my view. It’s a snowstorm, it’s January, it’s winter, it’s an early sign of spring? Sure these birds travel less these warm years, not a surprise in my eyes but a prize view to my heart, this bird, me, we are taken care of. Is this bird hungry? What can I feed it? Is that the message in a whisper? I think so. Be still the active bird, taken care of and giving hope, like a robin, for others. I will always look forward to the spring but enjoy the present. I will hope, to see and share paths moving forward in serving Him, and I in the present am alive to serve. The bird, taken care of helps me look to the spring, forward. How could it not be a message that sharing HOPE to those who need it is CRUCIAL, especially this winter. Sharing HOPE still is the future direction the Lord is taking me, taking all of us: HOPE COMES VIA HIS WAY…It’s winter, turn your fire of the heart up.

Yes, HE IS A GOD WHO WHISPERS so that we PAY ATTENTION… Look, lean in to hear Him.

Yes, HE IS A GOD WHO WHISPERS, not screams, so that your peace stays intact, and your reflection pool is calm, and your vision of Him, as well as reflection of Him, stays most CLEAR. Look, lean in to see Him.

Reflect IN the Whisper.

God WILL take care of me/us. 

God needs me/us to give others hope. 

God encourages a true and clear reflection of Him.

God knows we need to go strengthen the others.

Feed My sheep. 

“Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep… Then he said, “Follow me!”

AMEN 

I whisper amen…

I stumbled upon a PUZZLE, Noah’s story is SO interesting and yet we have SO little information and REALLY we have NO IDEA what Noah and his family mentally went through!  How could we know what 100’s of years of life would feel like! What I do know is that while reading further into the story of Noah’s preparations for the flood as directed by Jehovah, the scriptures mention 7 sets, not only 2 pairs, of animals… see the scriptures below… I AM NOT KIDDING…  “seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth.”

RIDDLE ME THIS NOAH, how come no one remembers that!

So 2 by 2 in multiple sets (for the clean animals) is a possible scenario of how we have embedded 2 animals into our mindsets. OH, this might help the math of the geneticists who have always been scratching their heads at diversity by so few starting animals. Perhaps, maybe, I don’t know, the multiple sets allowed for a food source (or maybe they took dried meats with them in the preparations), it turned out to be a year on the ark, maybe they stayed vegetarian as a friend suggests, but if Noah had anything like my son’s eating habits, beef jerky was a staple. But really, we have SO LITTLE UNDERSTANDING of how the Lord keeps this planet spinning let alone how every creature came into being. I believe the Bible is Truth and whatever we believe or don’t understand does NOT diminish how the Lord did it all.  I believe that we will learn what we need to know, when I need to know it – which is NOT necessarily now. Maybe that backstage pass, that I have been asking the Lord for, will appear in Heaven for me, maybe I won’t even worry about it then! What we DO need to know is to NOT pigeonhole the Lord into what WE think is possible… Noah lived to 950 years old, let us pause for a moment and say how CRAZY that is – and Noah was hundreds of years old when he built the ark and building it alone took 100 years!!!!!!!! (I don’t feel as bad about my untouched sewing pile anymore, but Noah probably worked every day on that ship.) So, Noah was not just an anomaly of old age, all those people must have lived so very long, his ancestors certainly did. In the sad drifting of the people away from the Lord, Jehovah started to limit life to ONLY to 120 years. However, Noah stayed committed to the Lord, and thus the Lord was so pleased with this Noah – decided to save him. Then God told Noah about preparing for the flood…. 

God didn’t tell Noah the details of the flood, only how to prepare for it. 

We should listen to this – we won’t know WHAT will go down in the future, but we do know to trust the Lord to carry us thru.

This all being a puzzle – a mystery – let us try not to over worry what we don’t understand – especially since we ONLY have up to 120 years here on earth (likely only 80 or so with my family history).  In this mystery, we will just wonder… In the meantime, let’s think like Noah and just remember that God asks for our faithfulness for a VERY LONG TIME. We are to wait on the Lord, just like Noah, faithful and active all that time. Plus, the Lord gave him resources and direction and preserved him and his family on that unknown boat ride for a whole year to save him. The unknown ON the boat was but a fraction of that 100 years that it took to build the ark. And that one year was only a fraction out of nearly 1000 years that Noah was alive. So, if you were counting the days, which they probably didn’t have time for in the time of Noah, this one year on the ark and the 100 years building were time well spent. 

Therefore, looking at our ordeals and the troubles and the rocky boat rides, we MUST remember they will only last a short number of days in comparison to our Lord’s forever and His forever for us…  Our issues are but to strengthen our resolve that the Lord will solve not the issue but provide for the petitioner…  

Keep praying, Keep reading, Keep the faith!

AMEN

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PS – attaching the email conversation when I had to check my eyes with my biblical professor friend…. Never keep your questions quiet – I believe that we CAN ask and reach for resources, this is how we all learn. i WILL NEVER KNOW ENOUGH BUT THAT IS NOT IMPORTANT – I WANT TO KNOW THE LORD AND HE IS ENOUGH.

AMEN!

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HERE IS SOURCE MATERIAL:

Genesis 6:5-22

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”  But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah and the Flood, 

This is the account of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Genesis 7:1-10

The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”

And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.

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. And after the seven days the floodwaters came.

I have not truly hunkered down but I certainly have nested in more this year and lately… Subtract one kid away at college and I am blessed and bothered by the silence, wow… I am not sad but reminded to make hay in the sunshine (be busy) and just be. After my scripture readings, in the book of James, I just now finished watching a tremendous National Geographic show: walking the whole Grand Canyon, 200 plus miles by river is actually 700 plus miles by foot. Wow. (the show on Disney Plus).  Breathtaking, beautiful, bold landscapes and thought provoking discussions about development and economic growth compared to sacred land and preservation… how blessed to be nestled and on the move. 

Isn’t that bible reading too? Nestled but on the move. “Even angels long to look into these things.” Yes. How could we not?

One documentary hiker, hiking four segments in four times over the course of a year, stated that he learned humility and insignificance of one person, him, and saw mental layers of himself removed, which changed him as a person.  Amazing and awesome… 

I found his insignificant observation significant, because in the all vastness of the Grand Canyon, even we, small as we are, are all part of all the vastness of God. Spiritually, significant importance is that God’s Word is With Us, ALWAYS. So, as we decrease importance of human us in our layers, more and more we can discover that we are His. As we lose layers of our humanness, we expose our deepest core, bare bone, soul of Spirit and Truth. He is in us. He walks with us, but most importantly, He walks us.

I would like to hike, camp, be outside warm. (Snow storm coming tomorrow, “camp me” will stay at base camp… ) Imagine sleeping outside under the ribbon of stars. See it all. Be. But even if I travel, I won’t walk myself any fraction of a distance compared to how far He will walk me.

At base camp, I still sit and be absorbed in the vastness of all, while still on my couch. Where can I go in my quiet self? Walk the Word. Read the Word. Stay in Spirit shape. 

I am reading methodically thru the bible, in James right now as well as 1st Samuel. So, if I read thru the WHOLE bible, even in segments, it’s amazing to know there are vast places where He will take me. This is especially since it is not me reading my bible as much as THE BIBLE IS READING ME. What? Yes. Our bible scriptures are reading us. The Word, OUR WORD, works thru us because the Word wrote us into His love. He knew us first.  Jesus is the Word, walk His Way and He will walk you His Way too. 

Jesus will walk you His Way. Wear good shoes. 

In the Grand Canyon, they would die without water and food sources. We too. We need Spirit Source-water. In the Grand Canyon, the river of water flowed and formed the land. We too. We are cut from His Rock, water etched in His image. In the Grand Canyon, they captured photos and video, images and emotions, imagined life and death. We too. We are imagined into life from His death, reborn into His new life making us whole by way of Heaven. We are the captured ones. We are the Walk of His WORD. 

Where is Jesus taking you? Enjoy His View.

Amen

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1Peter 1:16

If I didn’t know the Lord, I would be super super bored.

If I didn’t know the Lord, I might be driven crazy or overboard.

If I didn’t know the Lord, I probably wouldn’t even write. 

And whether my writing was in rhyme or not, it would lose the point, right?

But we do have the Lord, and the Lord has us. 

So, I write and so I rhyme thus.

If I didn’t know the Lord, I would be a super glum Gus.

If I didn’t know the Lord, I would probably make such a fuss.

But now we DO know the Lord, now our whole living in Him becomes a plus. 

We DO know the Lord, oh my what good from Him we can discuss. 

We DO know the Lord, our hope in Him sets up framework to life, us living in trust.

We DO love the Lord, we can live for Him, for He lives in us.

Amen, Amen for us

I keep thinking how Jesus offers the Way, but many are just ignorant of His Way, or blinded, or going to wait to commit. I don’t fault any of them any more than I fault myself for not knowing that Jesus was calling me. For 45 years, I didn’t stop to answer the phone, perhaps I thought it was a call for someone else. Maybe I listened in like a partyline but didn’t hear my name clear. I heard when He got my number– He ALWAYS had my number – I could see from the caller ID that He was calling for me.

We do worry about those who might hear the callings yet push the HOLD button. I also worry they, like me, are hearing too much SPAM. I was one asking in trying to be understanding faith within the noise: “Where’s the beef?”

Jesus is Legit.

Like the rich man who was asked to give things up to physically follow Jesus, people don’t know how much control to give away. They can’t even know what they are missing if they don’t know what to ask for? Maybe puzzled by missing bits, they need simply to hear more. Actually, they have to hear TRUTH. And totally they have to trade human reasoning for increasing FAITH. And FAITH means trusting the Lord to provide the Way. Jesus is Legit. 

Recently on the news, there were 6 extra vaccine doses in a car stuck in snow that left a mega clinic when they got stuck in a traffic backup, they offered the doses to others stuck in the jam as well, so they wouldn’t go bad. How random would you feel if someone knocked on your window and said: you want this free shot?  How bizarre… Trust them? but perhaps all seemed legit. One lady was stuck in snow making her way TO the appointment and here the shot made it to her. Her blessed lucky day even stuck in the snow. I imagine it all seemed legit. 

Jesus is like that too. You can come to Him, or He will come to you when you are stuck. You will know His voice. He WILL knock on your window. He will ask for your TRUST. Jesus is Legit. If you doubt, He will show you His scars. If you wait, He will wait with you. If You listen, He will speak. 

Jesus says: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.”

Some people, like someone I overheard in the store this week, are WAITING for what they perceive is a BETTER vaccine shot or one they TRUST more, based on their own reasoning. Surely, we must walk into faith with our eyes open, and Jesus asks us to TRUST HIM based on FAITH and NOT our own reasoning.  Some people will take any “messiah” they can get. That’s dangerous if you don’t look clearly for pitfalls or deceivers, backroom money makers, too good to be true deals. The Book of Revelation says watch out for deceivers, watch out for falsehoods.  Well with Jesus, it’s not who you know but if you know your WHO. Jesus is the WHO. And reading scripture and checking everything you hear against scripture is the BEST PLAN to discern HIS VOICE from deceivers (see 2nd Peter). Know Him above the noise.

Some simply just don’t know what to do, for vaccination OR salvation.  Some will wait.  With Jesus, there’s more than enough for everyone. But yes, there IS still an issue of running out of time!

Jesus wants to be known, and we have to search for Him, but He is really easy to find because He was stored directly for us. He is buried in us, not from us but buried in SAFEKEEPING until we awake in Him. He is true Life. Deny ours for His. He must be raised FROM the Word planted as a seed in us. We have to become a tender and willing soil of a soul to allow Him to grow, to let faith take us farther.  Money won’t buy Him but Love WILL find Him. If we reject both the appealing and the revolting aspects of the world’s noise, and listen within, we will find Him. James scripture writes:  humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

I do know that as we continue walking in the world, it will cloud our view.  It’s “anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” James 4. THEREFORE, Listen for the whisper of heaven: “…the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” James 3

Pray to make the best decisions… Accepting Jesus is like that. Accepting His Way over our way, acknowledging He’s trying to get to you so you become integrated into His team to help others. Placing you ready then to help others. People and Christians sometimes forget that Jesus wants us to awaken, NOT as the “end recipients’, but as the conduits. It’s NOT “TO” us as much as “THRU” us. 

We pray to ask God to open ears and eyes, soften hearts, especially ours, for BOTH purposes of individual salvation AND WHOLE KINGDOM WHOLENESS. 

We pray Jesus to be sought after by being studied WITHIN. 

Jesus is Legit. Just ask Him.

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2nd Peter 1:19-21  We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

I took so many road trips when I was a kid. I asked my parents all the time: “ARE WE THERE YET?” 

So NOW we are asking this more and more to our HEAVENLY FATHER, to our BROTHER JESUS traveling with us,  and to the HOLY SPIRIT who buckled us in their car seat and told us to “hold on” for this tremendous road trip until the end of time. It’s “the ride of our lives” for sure. 

Are we there yet? Many people are asking if we are at the time when Jesus will return.  Perhaps if we look out the window and have pre-read our “Triptik” from John’s AAA’s Book of Revelation, we would be able to judge distance.   But unfortunately, I don’t think it’s like playing travel bingo with very obvious signs. The scholars are always looking, so we are also simply asking the Lord: “Are we there yet?” 

What would He say? He would want us to KEEP BUSY, to read a GOOD book, to play nice with our seatmates, and to look out the windows.  He would tell us to look at the license plates on the other cars and realize we are all family with everyone in the world, all traveling, even if we come from different states, different countries.  He would have us realize that we are all traveling at different speeds and not everyone knows where He is taking us. In all, we must be courteous to each other, firmly teaching AND following the rules of the road.

“Are we there yet?” God is surely saying: You will know it when We get there.”

When will we be at the end? Or the beginning of the end? Because the beautiful blue sky and peace of the moment is not fake. How will we know? The book of Revelation certainly was written down so that we can try to discern, surely to prepare and be aware of false prophets, of beasts, of creatures who may be deceivers… And keep on the path… Surely signs of the times are best interpreted by the spirit in us, not us. So buckle on your seatbelts and keep busy.

There is a TREMENDOUS scripture teaching from the local big evangelical church, a recent teaching posted online, speaking about where we are in the process of Jesus coming again.  

Pastor Joe speaks of us being in the time of the “Braxton Hicks” stage, like in a pregnancy, before all breaks loose. For we are awaiting real birth of the beginning of the end… we are in the pre-stages, and what we observe in our time, even with covid, is RESTRAINED compared to the real setting in motion of the Tribulation. I remember the teaching to discern for yourselves by reading this book of Revelation. Just know that we are to keep looking to Jesus. 

Even though I’ve read the book of Revelation and listened to it much, it’s tough to absorb, I still don’t have the whole time structure in my head either.  So this teaching REALLY helps me:

“The Beginning of the End” according to the book of Revelation (these are web links but I listen to these 20 minute bible study teachings from Pastor Joe each morning on the radio at 7am or on my “CC Philly Straight from the Heart” app.)  Part 1:  https://subspla.sh/n8kbh22  and Part 2: https://subspla.sh/9nngbr6

I appreciate that Jesus told John to write this all down, to warn us to NOT be surprised and to KEEP WORKING, sharing the Word. Keep moving forward. Don’t fall asleep at the wheel. Better yet, JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL!                    

Amen 

————

PS

I always remember my writing, early on, about us in the board game perfection – that we are to be working the board and not just sit in our peg seat and wait… we are to be out and WORKING the board and helping the Lord…

https://debbieupper.blog/2016/12/23/perfection-07sept-258/
Perfection, 07Sept 2016 – #258

Ok, so you’ve accepted Jesus, accepted you were loved enough by GOD to be saved thru the bloodshed of Jesus, and yes, you have even been treasured so much that you still have to question: “This was all for us? For me???”

Ok, now what??

Yeah, you aren’t on your death bed, YOU actually pray that you have energy to live out God’s plan picked for you….

Perhaps you feel that you need to accept God’s command to go make disciples?…
Yet perhaps you feel more work needs to be done to clean out every corner of your heart first?…
Perhaps God says DON’T wait….

Yes, God says sing your praises and share His Grace and HE will see you thru each storm as you arrive at it… But God ALSO asks you to work the soil in the lives of the people around you, as well as within your own life….at the same time…

God wants wholeness from society, not piecemeal pockets of salvation…. He wants perfection and HIS game is no game at all, He wants a time where we ALL accept our salvation at His appointed time.

Perfection, one of my favorite games growing up… Fit all the pieces in the spring-loaded puzzle board before that timer is up and POP!… The whole board pops out throwing all the pieces everywhere… Finish the board and the timer is stopped… Perfection for eternity…

Each piece must be fit individually into the unique spaces. Each piece is different from all the rest, some are tricky, they all must be studied (or shape memorized) for uniqueness… and they ALL must get into the board before time is up…

Each SOUL must fit individually into HIS plan. Each soul is different from all the rest, some are tricky, they all must be studied (or shape memorized) for uniqueness… and they ALL must get into the space marked by God’s plan before time is up…

And whenever that is, when time is up, are you going to have your skull and soul “safe” nestled into a space? Done and just pray the board will get finished before time is up? Or perhaps you might consider to be out ON the board, finding space for all the other pieces? Since you know your space is marked out, saved for you, and you know how to hop into it at the last minute… Well perhaps it would behoove you to work on the other pieces, to help God… Especially since time could be short or time could be long…  Be busy and help God work on their souls by sharing your unique tool set to support them. Help set as many of these pieces of God’s plan upright so it’s easier for all of us to prepare for eternity… It is God who will grab them to fit them all in before time is up… Before we all pray…

Shareholders, we are ALL shareholders in HIS plan, we all have a stake… We can work for the company or wait gathering dust while we slowly turn into dust. We can find use for our lives by being out there, working to increase the return on the investment of God’s capital… We can’t finish the job unless we are working in the job…

Who wants to help God?
I DO…   DO YOU?

It’s the plan for us ALL to be in God’s plan.
I want to work the plan…   DO YOU?

When you donate Power Red blood in a church, it’s great to be reminded WHO gave HIS BLOOD for ALL… BLESSED by the blood of JESUS! THERE’S POWER IN THE BLOOD !!!!

After I donated power reds, I noticed the banner behind me that said: “The blood of Jesus will never lose its power”. AMEN!!! 

(And I passed my iron screening as well, 13.3!!!! Woohoo!!! Took iron supplements for the last week before today, and steak last night!!! Now I’m set for another 16 weeks, power reds take double cells but give back your fluids plus some, I HIGHLY recommend it over regular donations. There were very few people at the place, so I felt covid safe…. And I got mini oreos… yum)

So true, God wants us to do what the Word says, as scripture urges. God desires this sacrifice of praise, and that’s a good idea as well as a command because it keeps our words HOLY… What comes from our mouths should be praise, only praise, so that it becomes our spoken sacrificial offering. Speaking of God is a good and is an apt sacrifice of our time. Our words for praise and sacrifice don’t mirror the old time sacrifices of animals because it is offerings OF words to move THE WORD, which IS Jesus, which is needed. Jesus completed God’s mission for Him on earth… Jesus was the sacrifice that saved the people for God’s cause, for our Father’s sake so that He would have us all free from sin and able to come Home. But was that sufficient to save everyone? ONLY IF THEY KNOW ABOUT IT AND AGREE! Our sacrifice of living in praise helps to bring Heaven on earth to those ears that have not yet heard… We are to speak OF GOD and speak in support of God. 

“Sacrifice of Praise” lyrics is in a favorite praise song of mine, quoted from Paul out of Hebrews 13:15-16, and described in Hebrews 10 (see 23JAN writing “Once For All”). We are able to speak in sacrificial words as well as work in sacrificial acts. Jesus was and is BOTH. Jesus spoke of God and Jesus lived as God. Jesus was and is ALL. Jesus praised God and Jesus sacrificed for God. Jesus sacrificed for us, God sacrificed for us, we can sacrifice our time and lives for Him. These are all trades of sacrifice of earthly freedom FOR ultimate freedom. That is what we praise, that we can do the same.

Our HOPE is found in our praise. Our re-imagining of ourselves to be more like Jesus, IS a choice,  we are to speak in praise and acknowledgement of God: “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.“

Because this is a choice, that is what makes a sacrifice of our own desires necessary.  And yet any praise we can give is both worth our time and our lives, as that praise IS a fruit of the Spirit maturing, because the Word is planted, grows, fruits, nourishes sweetly. James commands us in a similar thought thread: “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 someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.” 

Therefore as Paul writes the Ephesians, let us: “follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.“

Let us therefore instead of making a sacrifice of other things, let us make as sacrifice of us, and we be the offering, the fragrant offering of Christ in our walks. Let us be a SACRIFICE OF PRAISE. (It’s well worth our time, and His.)

TO YOU LORD!!

AMEN 

Well, I caught up to the scriptures God had placed me in. No wonder God waits for us to read His Word.

Sounds weird but the phrase “by faith” which I mentioned previously (as in “we will do things, by faith, if the Lord allows”) has now shown up now in Hebrews 11-12 LIKE CRAZY… Plus there is so much history referred to that I had to go back to read in Genesis about these people, and wow they lived lives 600 700 800 900 years – well, if they didn’t live “by faith” then they would not have survived that long. God limited our lifespans to 120 years (wow) but yet we must still live “by faith” – how could we NOT? – or we won’t know where we are going or supposed to go. The “ancients” “BY FAITH” meant they were looking ahead to heavenly destinations, not the places they came from. Our “by Faith“, explained in Hebrews 11 verse 1, is: “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” That is the same as my favorite movie’s most famous line: “Faith is believing in something when common sense tells you not to.” Well, my common sense tells me that by faith I have to believe in Our Lord because Our Lord, Our amazing Lord, is not something or someone common. By faith we believe because it is FAITH that is gifted to us to live BY. Live in, not Live next to, but Live by. God WILL commend us if we live BY FAITH. 

I don’t understand the logistics and the workings of “the ancients”, of the creation of the world, the heavens and the earth, the stars and the sand particles, but BY FAITH I believe that I can NOT and will NOT force my God into my limited brain power. BY FAITH, I know that OUR FAITH has to go wider and deeper and longer than our brain power. Even Abraham, especially Abraham, believed God could raise people from the dead, who was he to doubt the Lord.

BY FAITH I know that this journey for the Lord creating the World for His pleasure only to have people scattered could not and must not have been easy. Human vulnerability to evil influences, including jealousy and rage, are tops on my list of pain for the Peacemaker. His Heart was “deeply troubled” (Genesis 6). My God I can NOT even imagine the fraction of the magnitude of Your pain. Ugh the distancing of Adam and Eve, Oh the death of Abel at Cain’s hands, where a shepherd Abel was taken from life by Cain, a worker of the earth (Genesis 4:1-12). And isn’t this is SO foretelling of Jesus the Shepherd being crucified by human hands influenced by their worldly wants. 

AND IT IS JESUS – He was the One that we know and yet they “the ancients” had to WAIT for – they lived “by faith” because they never got to THE PROMISE in their lifetimes… God found favor with Noah and many because of their living “by faith“. So we now know and are told that it is by Jesus, Who is God’s Promise, that “the ancients” and we now will be reunified into His perfect future.  By the death and resurrection of Jesus, “God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

It is these “ancients” that Paul demonstrates are a “great cloud of witnesses” surrounding us so that we too can “run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

BY FAITH, We consider Jesus so that we do not grow weary and lose heat. We witness God’s awesomeness and love His lovingness. BY FAITH, we will wait upon the Lord for His calling. BY FAITH, we will know in advance where we are going: HOME. That is the Promised Land PROMISE.

Amen, Keep Walking (and please read the “by faith” examples below)

Amen Keep Running with Perseverance BY FAITH.

Amen

——–

Paul to the Hebrews chapters 11, 12 v1-3

Faith in Action

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what “the ancients” were commended for.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.

By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider JESUS who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  

We have had many moods during our year-long pandemic.   I have been thinking about the moods that I have had and would have when at home, which I rarely am therefore I MOSTLY have had much relief to be home, like opportunities to be stuck in a snow day that I was able to prepare for and that I know won’t last. But over the course of a year, we all can have so many emotions… to realize being in the same place can change based on your attitude. Above all, we can care about the way we take on every day. 

Are you stuck at home OR blessed at home OR just home…

If you were home, would you feel glad, sad or mad? If you were home (stuck, blessed, just) would you be fearful, sheltered, careful or actually forgetful of the pandemic? If you were isolating would it be from exposure caution or contemplation? Careful consideration of other people or closet closure away from society for yourself? Hiding or Healing? It’s the same house, how could you have so many different feelings for being home? It is the same place, so WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? OUR MOODS. 

I think that’s our Christian mindsets as well. Our mood and our mode. Are we aware, are we grateful or are we just there? Our mode: are we going anywhere or nowhere. Are we being a disciple to the Lord or dis-placed rather than placed in His service. Are sitting at His feet or not?  It depends on our mood.

If we think of the discipline we sometimes get from the Lord, are we grumpy or grateful for it? It depends on our mood. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13

If we think of how much forgiveness, mercy and grace we get from the Lord, are we feeling embarrassed or feel embraced and enlightened?  It depends on our mood. Either way it’s the same forgiveness, for any and all sin weighted equal. Hebrews 12;5-15 gives words of encouragement: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 

James writes (ch 2): “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you KNOW that the testing of your faith produces PERSEVERANCE. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. “

I am wondering, this year of covid, if we made it a good year or not. If we paid attention to His leading or led ourselves down our own sorrow or ignorance of the opportunities. I would think that so many of us took the opportunities that the Lord placed in front of us – knowing you all, I know you would and you did. THERE IS STILL TIME TO START. We may take CAUTION in our lives. We should CARE for other’s lives. And ALL IN ALL, we MUST acknowledge that we are COMMISSIONED by Jesus to follow Jesus and share Jesus.

No matter what our mood is, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

We can care about the way we take on every day.  Let us take HIS WAY today.    Amen

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.   Hebrews 12:14-15

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.   Hebrews 13:8

Well I am floored, Lord.

I can say Lord that lately: I’ve NOT been bored.

I never knew what You had in stored.

There’s plenty of opportunities I have not yet even explored.

And so many blessings that are not by my own accord.

It’s Your Spirit in my brain that has roared.

It’s Your Spirit in my life that has soared.

Piercing my heart and soul, Your Word like a sword.

Into my mind, Your thoughts You have poured.

My pleas have never gone ignored.

You calm me in stormy seas, I welcome You all aboard.

Your Word in me, Lord You have struck such a Spirit chord.

Writing and rhyming, almost like lyrics that You have scored.

Your presence strong like strands intertwined into my cord.

You have given me peace when I felt so out of my gourd.

Directed me endlessly and yet never made me feel chored.

Sharing You Lord is purposeful, for You I could NEVER hoard.

For the rest of my life, Lord, I pray to You Whom I walk toward.

You have given me an ultimate feeling of wonderfully adored.

Lord, You raise me up, I’m forever floored.

Floored.

Be BOLD. 

The temperature says it’s COLD. 

Your breath you certainly HOLD.

However the sunshine feels like GOLD. 

Don’t let enjoyment of life be STOLED.

Life is watching what God will UNFOLD. 

God’s LOVE needs to be TOLD.

HIS LOVE was FORETOLD.

HIS LOVE does not SCOLD.

HIS LOVE never gets OLD.

Lord, You are LIFE and LOVE to BEHOLD.

LIFE from You LORD, I’m SOLD.

You LOVE me into being BOLD.

BOLD. 

The Holy Spirit is amazing, God is amazing, Jesus is amazing. How can we wrap our heads around the amazement? We can’t, because we are not around “it”, instead “it” surrounds us, we are surrounded by “it”, ACTUALLY we are all a part of “it”…

In old testament times, they sacrificed animals and plants to the Lord. Fragrant and smoky, these sacrifices carried through the air. Then it was time for God to reveal the New Convent, one that the Lord had always intended to make with His people, FOR we ARE His people. The Lord sacrificed a phase of earthly life, took Himself into a transition that did not change His God-ness but did change Him into Human-ness, for He came to earth to burn off the sins that were hindering all of us from reaching Heaven. Jesus became a Fragrant Sacrifice of our sins. Jesus was “ONCE FOR ALL” offered by Our Father, which Jesus offered of Himself. Once and done. That’s “it”. Love for all, in all, from giving all.  In one act, Jesus made a huge sacrifice of LOVE, in LOVE, because LOVE is so integral to the Lord. A sacrifice made because of the sin of one man, Adam, which cascaded sin to the world, broke a system that the Lord KNEW would need fixing. We are whom God wants in His Kingdom before we are born.

Paul writes to the Hebrews about Christ being the sacrifice above all sacrifices… In their history back thru old testament 1000’s of years, year after year, the priests made sacrifices. Paul said the sacrifices will never “make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.“

Paul continues speaking of Jesus as the blessing we partake in: “Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’”

I love how Paul doubled back to repeat and explain Jesus’s sacrifice and that we are the ones made holy from His offering: “First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then He said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL.”

“Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [JESUS] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”     THAT’S US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.”

THAT’S FORGIVENESS: sins sacrificed and burnt to a crisp. That’s why Paul, writing Ephesians separately, said: “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

FOLLOW HIS FUMES USING HIS HOLY SPIRITED-FUEL.

Paul writes Corinthians that IF WE DON’T FORGIVE,  SATAN WILL USE THAT TO EAT AWAY AT OUR PEACE: “Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” 

FORGIVENESS IS WHAT SETS US APART FROM THE WORLD. 

Paul continues: “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.  For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” 

See Paul, in his letters to Hebrews, Ephesians, Corinthians, writes about the love we ALL experience. The fragrance of faith is just that: Jesus burning up sin ONE FOR ALL. Not needing us to annually remember our sins but forever remember His Love. Then walk freed, walking on sunshine maybe, walking on air not exactly, walking still – walking IN faith IN the newness of “IT” – in the fragrance of His sacrifice.

“A SACRIFICE OF PRAISE” – I never fully understood this lyric to a favorite praise band song, are we praising that we can sacrifice for the Lord and for His mission? We sacrifice our time and serve? Only partially, as HIS SACRED SACRIFICE is PRAISE that we need to share with others. And His sacrifice is fully worthy of praise and we ARE to continue to be that sacrifice, that aroma of Christ, the giving up of ourselves to carry on His Work, to serve ‘YOU LORD” – “A Sacrifice of Praise to You, to You Lord”

Paul closes this letter to the Hebrews section with a call for us all to Persevere in Faith: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the HOPE we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Amen