lions

The Deep Dish into Life. Our Kings Favor over Raging Lion Roars

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Too excited not to write it in gratitude… Oh, the crumbs of my leftover pizza are like the crumbs of my thoughts dropping everywhere… (PS I highly recommend an air fryer for re-crisping pizza!) I am happy to write about how GOD IS GOOD and we savor His Blessings…

Between last week and this week, I had wildly different experiences at concerts, both FABULOUS. Last Friday night 80’s music, I knew every song, and oh fun night of dancing singing along with my friends, plus 1000 others, everyone could record it, no one stopped them. A free-flowing fun… Then tonight was an elegant singer of Broadway fame. Oh fabulous and you could hear a pin drop as we waited on every note… no photos or recordings mind you, no standing nor dancing, a much fancier-dressed crowd. Elegant… ELEGANT!!!

Both concerts fantastic, both in the same venue, and remarkably I had the same seat, pretty much. Both were the cheap seats, but the riches of experience for me IS in this deep dish of experience of life that was and is palpable and palatable. 

And speaking of DEEP DISH, I just finished my airfryer reheated lunch leftovers of a detroit-style deep dish pizza, made excellently and scrumptious. And like the concerts last week and this week, wildly different, it was 2 types of wildly different deep dish pizza at lunch, in contrasting savory flavors. The first pizza like eighties pop with spicy sauce, mini pepperoni and a big eighties’ hair-sized piped-dollop of smooth ricotta cheese. Glad I ate that one first. Then the second deep dish pizza was smooth cheese, mushrooms and arugula with balsamic drizzle, it was ELEGANT pizza… MMMM… So yes from a POP concert then to an ELEGANT concert,  I bracketed that inside my fun perky pizza to elegant taste in pizzas. Yes, it was a life palooza of pizza and performance. 

For friends it was a good girls night out to dance 80’s, and leapt at the really in expensive tickets months ago before it sold out, but contrast, for this Mandy Patinkin concert I thought to go alone right after work, not even knowing if I would go. But nothing impeded me, nothing popped up in interference, so after extra time at the office, traffic zipped there on my way home, and I got a cheap seat (there are no bad seats in that theatre) from the way way back, in my own row practically, just enough solitude to absorb my own pin drop thoughts as I sat there and soaked in the sounds of meticulous life music…   After a fun lunch with the girls from work, and more work work, this was the ELEGANCE of alone time which is never alone, of thanking the Lord for the time, means, venues, the deep dish of life…

The best “LION scripture for March” (and it was LION March weather last night with the crisp cold) – that I can relate our “deep-dish life” experiences to is a Proverb 19:12: “A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass...” and I have to say that God’s favor in our ability to love life and live life is that dew on the grass – gentle and generous... Any favor – any rest – and sweetness of laughter of friends, and blessed aloneness of thought, is that dew on the grass – that deep generous dollop of life – that favor…  AND aren’t we all living in favor for the generosity of our Lord and King? Not material items or trips or pizza – but living IN His mercy and grace – that is our dew blessing on our lives and even on our graves when we step into glory – there is no King’s rage anymore in that sense – there is only dew of LIFE and favor of LOVE. We should savor this all knowing God is in control. “The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.”

Another proverb: “The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.” – it is with understanding of the blessings of the Lord that we can sit in a deep dish of life and savor dew on the grass of His Blessings…

May you have deep-dish plans to prevail today – may you soak in the dew of the blessings of the King.

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

Amen

Lion around in Wait – for God is Great, Psalm 104

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Oh MY – LIONS and LIONS and Scriptures to Bear!

It is not like the fear of Dorothy going to Oz – “Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!” – but an awe exclamation of the number of inclusions of LIONS in the bible – which is enough to bring us each day to the middle of March when I plan to switch over to include daily scriptures about LAMBS…  What a great theme of Lions to Lambs – weather wise and in life. The Lord uses both magnificently in scripture and we are in awe, like David writing his psalms songs of praise: How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures” AND “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.”

And the Lord uses the wind – David would also sing in Psalm 104: “He makes winds his messengers“.  And weather-wise the early March wind has been HOWLING all afternoon night and then again this morning – WOW! I ain’t Lying about the LION of March’s weather roaring in. I shuddered at the sounds but we were safe and sound in the shuttered house, falling asleep counting blessings. I even remembered and praised that the big tree that used to scare us in the wind was taken down a couple years ago. I awoke to sunshine and hope in a new day (and TGIF!!!!)

And wow to know the LIONS of scripture! Of course there are many, and so I did look them up on a bible study tool engine online – which allows the finding all scriptures for a particular word. I LOVE PSALM 104!!!  Psalm 104 brings the best of praise for the Lord’s ability to create and take care of His creations – growing and feeding – protecting and directing – including us –  including the LIONS: “The Lions Roar for their prey and seek their food from God.“

There is SO much strength to be had in the bible verses to keep us going (and out of the Lion’s mouth).  How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Scriptures are waiting for us to pick them up! Scriptures are worth knowing! YES – Let us be hungry like Lions and seek our good food for thought from the Lord! Let us be Lion around in Wait – for God is Great!

Amen

(and please be pleased with a Psalm 104 read.)

Psalm 104 – Praise the Lord, my soul.
Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 

The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.

He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.

He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate – bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. The trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the junipers. The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.

He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. Then people go out to their work, to their labor until evening.

How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number -living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works – he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord. But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more.

Praise the Lord, my soul. 

Praise the Lord.

March Lions are BOLD, Proverbs 28

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“The righteous are as bold as a lion.” Solomon’s observation in Proverbs 28:1b

(I am keeping with my theme of March Lions and Lambs for this stretch of writing…)

I watched the Oscars as mindless meaty media and had many munchies as it was as marathon-like as any movie, but longer. I didn’t see any movie except “Wicked” which was so good, and like life, the deep understanding of the characters and their history in that movie is necessary to gauge their wickedness or goodness, or simply their human-ness gone astray. The Broadway musical score, of course, is grandeur and catchy at its best. The performance and every musical score were crowd pleasers on the show.

I don’t see many movies – but I’ve liked comedian Conan O’Brien, the Oscars host, for years, so made sure to tune in… and I appreciated the witty humor, gags, the speeches even, the glamor yes, and that the people liked doing their craft of making movies to inspire, teach, and entertain. Politics and faith, war and peace, fashion and firefighting, it all fit in the show. 

Some folks play both good and evil characters, but mostly human ones who can make mistakes. THANK GOD, GOD LOOKS AT AND WEIGHS THE HEART (more wisdom from Solomon in Proverbs 21). Like the movies, people get type cast, but God is the one who leads the better plots. Follow Him.

And watching the Oscars was good for an “evening in” on a roar of chilly weather, on an early March night. Sunday is when my weekend brain is full, just decompression of a weekend and “time for myself”.

And yet this weekend was also a good time for me and the Lord, because click click click, I forced myself to sit down and I organized 2 whole chapters of my writing for print and pdf. It seems a process, but it’s my purpose and my pursuit of God’s Heart holds me in alignment of both writing and curating. Most of my writing is captured brain waves that flash then disappear from memory, maybe someone reads or needs it, but like last year’s Oscar’s and star-winners and movies, it’s gone from memory that quick. But SCRIPTURE remains – the wisdom and the freshness of it refreshed.

SO, the Lions in scripture roar the righteousness right into place. The Proverbs seem to be Lion roars of observation and wisdom from King Solomon both good yet flawed. King Solomon saw A LOT, ruled a long time, wrote extensively in God’s name and in his own processing. Human and wise, King Solomon would have seen the righteous and the wicked, both, and known how to use a Lion as symbol for each:

1) The Righteous are as bold as a Lion.

…

2) Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.

…

It is up to us to be aware of the difference between good, righteous and evil, wicked. It is like a movie in some ways to discover and discern the characters of life, but behind the scenes and in front too, we are to know God weighs the heart. We need to be a March Lion of righteousness “righted” by God and “Marching” in His Way. We need to be wary of wicked lions chasing us. We need to remember that we can be bold IN God – and let Him score our lives.

Amen 

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Proverbs 21:1-3, 29-31

In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.
A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.
To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

…

The wicked put up a bold front, but the upright give thought to their ways.
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.
The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.

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Proverbs 28 NIV

The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a ruler with discernment and knowledge maintains order.

A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.

Those who forsake instruction praise the wicked, but those who heed it resist them.

Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.

Better the poor whose walk is blameless than the rich whose ways are perverse.

A discerning son heeds instruction, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.

Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor.

If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.

Whoever leads the upright along an evil path will fall into their own trap, but the blameless will receive a good inheritance.

The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is poor and discerning sees how deluded they are.

When the righteous triumph, there is great elation; but when the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding.

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.

Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.

A tyrannical ruler practices extortion, but one who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy a long reign.

Anyone tormented by the guilt of murder will seek refuge in the grave; let no one hold them back.

The one whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but the one whose ways are perverse will fall into the pit.

Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.

A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

To show partiality is not good – yet a person will do wrong for a piece of bread.

The stingy are eager to get rich and are unaware that poverty awaits them.

Whoever rebukes a person will in the end gain favor rather than one who has a flattering tongue.

Whoever robs their father or mother and says, “It’s not wrong,” is partner to one who destroys.

The greedy stir up conflict, but those who trust in the Lord will prosper.

Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.

Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.

When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding; but when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive.

Praising even from the Pit, Daniel 6

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“He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders, in Heaven and on earth…”

The most praise we can give the Lord is to praise Him in the unknown, when in the pits (or perceiving ourselves in the pits but maybe we aren’t but feel like it), and when we know the world is stacked against us.  Like God in the fire with us, protecting us, God is ready to lift us from the pits, even the worldliness that holds onto us. Just hold on, take time to praise, knees to bow then raise and keep walking, keep believing, keep keepin’ on.

Daniel’s story with the PIT with the LIONS is tremendous, and so is the moments just before, when he knew the trouble and praised God anyway. 

Daniel lived in exile in a prescribed time away from Jerusalem, where the Israelites were to be captives. Yet Daniel was able to get into the palace, serving multiple kings, having the spirit of God on him, able to interpret dreams and God-written reality. Now the new king had it in for him, and a scheme devised to trap him in his own faith. They could not find any fault so they made a law that no one could worship any god except worship the king. [This being repeated in history over and over, causing Christians to go underground, as many are today. They say there are more Christians secretly worshipping then there are Christians who are openly worshipping in churches…] Well, Daniel went to his room as usual and praised in prayer to God Almighty. Daniel GAVE THANKS!

We must not let attacks keep us from doubting God, we must draw closer to Him, as He is always with us.

The king who made the decree didn’t realize and he was feeling HORRIBLE and wanted to deliver Daniel from this punishment but the advisers insisted… the king Darius even said directly to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” Then the king himself stayed up all night, ran to the pit the next morning… “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”

AMAZING.

The king then made a decree “that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.”

AMAZING to see Daniel’s faith.

Super AMAZING to see God’s Protection and deliverance. 

Daniel didn’t need a decree to AGREE, God is a Living God.

We can depend upon Him.

Amen!

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Daniel 6

New King James Version

The Plot Against Daniel

It pleased Darius [king after Belshazzar after Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon] to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps [local governors], to be over the whole kingdom; and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”

So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him: “King Darius, live forever! All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.” Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.

Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?”

The king answered and said, “The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.”

So they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”

So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.

Daniel Saved from the Lions

Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians were brought before him. Also his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”

Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.

Darius Honors God

And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.

Then King Darius wrote:

‘To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, And His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, And He works signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.‘

So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.