Perplexed in Advent

    

   What would it have been like, 9 months pregnant, bouncing on the back of a donkey for days, only to find there was nowhere to lay your head, not to mention give birth? Or for Joseph, charged with protecting the Savior of the World, as well as His human mother, and yet at a total loss for how to do so? We know the rest of the story. They didn’t. “No worries, Joseph,” we say. “Help is on the way!” [“What are you afraid of, Moses? That sea is going to stand up and separate any second now!”] But they could only stand still, trusting and waiting for deliverance. And that is precisely what they awaited….in fact what we all awaited in this birth.

   You and I may at this very moment have worries, disappointments, griefs, fears, or frustrations swirling through our heads. Yet It never ceases to stop me short in Advent…..never ceases to put circumstances, disappointments, joys, longings, thanksgivings, mistakes, and concerns of all kinds in the perspective of eternity. Not just ‘the sweet by and by’ of someday in heaven, but now’s eternity. That is where our true Shalom lies………entrusted to the Trustworthy One, the one and only Three-in-One. Knowing He knows the end of every story and has already prepared an Abigail for us. Wise men are already heading our way with provision. Seas are ready to stand up at His command.. He’s about to give angelic direction for our protection. All we need do is listen, receive, and obey.. Though we may be clueless about how things will play out, our ABBA is not. Trusting Him goes hand-in-hand with doing what we best understand of His will for us at the moment. Our ‘faith of a child’ warms His heart.

   I am fond of the following passage from one of my favorite Max Lucado books, In the Grip of Grace: 

“Stepping from the throne, he removed his robe of light and wrapped himself in skin: pigmented, human skin. The light of the universe entered a dark, wet womb. He whom angels worship nestled himself in the placenta of a peasant, was birthed into a cold night, and then slept on cow’s hay.

Mary didn’t know whether to give him milk or give him praise, but she gave him both since he was, as near as she could figure, hungry and holy. Joseph didn’t know whether to call him Junior or Father. But in the end he called him Jesus, since that’s what the angel had said and since he didn’t have the faintest idea what to name a God he could cradle in his arms . .” .

*****

“For only a God could create a plan this mad. Only a Creator beyond the fence of logic could offer such a gift of love. What man can’t do, God does. So, when it comes to goodies and candy, cherub cheeks and red noses, go to the North Pole. But when it comes to eternity, forgiveness, purpose, and truth, go to the manger. Kneel with the shepherds. Worship the God who dared to do what man dared not dream. “

——-And the Angels Were Silent, Max Lucado

 ***

“This isn’t the way I planned it, God. Not at all. My child being born in a stable? This isn’t the way I thought it would be. A cave with sheep and donkeys, hay and straw? My wife giving birth with only the stars to hear her pain? This isn’t at all what I imagined. No, I imagined family. I imagined grandmothers. I imagined neighbors clustered outside the door and friends standing at my side. I imagined the house erupting with the first cry of the infant. Slaps on the back. Loud laughter. Jubilation. That’s how I thought it would be. The midwife would hand me my child, and all the people would applaud. Mary would rest and we would celebrate. All of Nazareth would celebrate. But now. Now look. Nazareth is five days’ journey away. And here we are in a . . . in a sheep pasture. Who will celebrate with us? The sheep? The shepherds? The stars? This doesn’t seem right. What kind of husband am I? I provide no midwife to aid my wife. No bed to rest her back. Her pillow is a blanket from my donkey. My house for her is a shed of hay and straw. The smell is bad, the animals are loud. Why, I even smell like a shepherd myself. Did I miss something? Did I, God?     

—Max Lucado, Cure for the Common Life and He Still Moves Stones  

***

“I could not comprehend God’s plan, but my understanding was not essential. My obedience was.” —-Gabriel, from An Angel’s Story; Max Lucado

***

“…why would you say, “Yahweh isn’t paying attention to my situation. He has lost all interest in what happens to me.?” Isaiah 40: 27

“…Yahweh….is never puzzled over what to do! He empowers the feeble and infuses the powerless with increasing strength” Ibid  29

***

May the rest of your Advent season be a tender, obedient, and trusting one.

Julie

Breath of Heaven:  

https://youtu.be/TOQRtYYERGo?si=wUd_DdOS3PGth-On

Mary, Did You Know?   https://youtu.be/trW_lD9sBt0?si=JpDYwYHdpEF6jABg

Abba’s Advent Calendar

   

 

   After Christmas last year, I found a half-price wooden Advent calendar with drawers our grandchildren could open each day in December to discover assorted treats.  I then purchased a Scriptural cardboard one to accompany it, so its true meaning wouldn’t be lost. When I gave it to them yesterday on Thanksgiving, my granddaughter asked me if the paper one also had candy inside the doors (as it had one year). I asked her, “What is better than discovering the Word of God each day?” She enthusiastically responded, “You know what I think is better, Nuni*? The Word AND chocolate!”

   This morning in my devotional time, I was thanking the Lord as “the Giver of every good and perfect gift”** when that conversation came to mind. How often I want His God and….   As the loving Parent He is, He does delight in giving us good gifts. His lifetime Calendar of drawers is chock full of blessings which He loves watching us open, His eyes sparkling, His face wreathed in a broad smile when we delight in and appreciate the treasures He has hidden inside. Treasures extending from tiny to life-changing. Divine appointments waiting to be met.

   He knows us so well that He never gives peanuts to those allergic or Mounds Bars to those who dislike coconut. Rollos surprise the caramel lovers, and coins are tucked inside for those whose piggy banks are running low. The specially-chosen peppermint that flavors the M’nMs, causes the child in some of us to say, “Lord, You remembered!” But of course He does. He knows us down to the roots of our (sometimes grey) hair, not to mention reading the longings of our hearts. To Him, we are forever young, forever His children, forever the ones in whom He delights. The ones whom He enjoys surprising with good gifts, even if we sometimes don’t recognize them as such.

   Let’s respond by flinging our arms around Hs neck in affectionate abandon. Let’s recapture our wonder, opening each drawer of our days in excitement and anticipation of what our ABBA has carefully deposited inside, tailor-made for each of us, His beloved children. 

   And while we’re at it this Advent season, let’s 

   “Fling wide the portals of your heart, Make it a temple set apart for earthly use and heaven’s employ, adorned with prayer and love and joy” —Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates, George Weissel, 1642

+++++++++++++++

*My grandmother name

**”Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change. —James 1: 17 TPT

***”Look with wonder at the depth of the Father’s marvelous love that he has lavished on us! He has called us and made us his very own beloved children.” —1 John 3: 1 

**** It is said that ‘gratitude unlocks blessing.’ I know that ABBA often blesses before gratitude, as well. Let’s imitate our Dad and be lavish in giving our thanksgiving back to Him. Let’s also be lavish in sharing what He has provided. Because we can’t outdo Him, this in turn unlocks bigger drawers stuffed to overflowing….’over and above what we can ask or imagine’.

Overboard: Is it fear or wisdom?

   

  A friend recently shared her dream with me. (I am deliberately keeping any identities vague.) She and a loved one were on a cruise, but the ship was traveling not in a warm climate but in a colder one, with waves fomenting around them. Somehow (as one can in dreams) they were high on the ship above these waters, almost as if in a crow’s nest of a sailing ship.  Her loved one was wearing a backpack 🎒 chocked full, which she suddenly removed from her shoulders and hurled into the churning sea. In the dream, my friend was at first totally aghast, because the backpack’s contents had included a large number of provisions. However, she then began to wonder….

   As soon as she described the dream, I knew the hurling of the backpack was a good thing, despite the provisions it carried. I knew that backpacks often represent burdens weighing us down. But provisions? How do they fit in the picture?

   Obvious candidates for burdens include: unforgiveness, hurts, offenses, financial worries, concerns about our families, health issues, anxieties about the future, unshakable guilt, old mistakes and outright sins. We could all generate a list of more backpack items which need to be thrown overboard to free us from their weight. We know the Lord does not want us carrying these things wherever we go, especially since He suffered so to deliver us from them. 

   But back to my question: why “provisions”? Aren’t they good? Doesn’t God promise to provide for us? Doesn’t He declare Himself our Yahweh Yireh?* Yes, indeed! However, suddenly it hit me that we don’t carry His provision around on our backs. He is our ongoing  Provider. Are the provisions we’re lugging around on our own shoulders jammed in there out of fear that He won’t provide? Is the rock of anxiety in our packs, for example, our reason for trying to supply our own protection from loss? Ouch, Lord. Do we ‘hedge our bets’ just in case You don’t come through? Like Sarah+, do we try with our own human solutions to make Your Word come to pass? Help You along a bit since things might not take place as You said? 

  I know He wants us to be good stewards of what He has given us++, to ‘be wise as serpents and innocent as doves’, to plan ahead and not to be spendthrifts, to refrain from wasting what He is providing for us. He wants us to work hard ‘as unto Him’ in our jobs. Yet we are to do these things not out of fear but out of heeding His Scriptural truth for us, out of our thankfulness and duty to be responsible in using His gifts. 

   When we truly examine our hearts, what motivates us to carry around our own provision on our backs, whether comprised of our own solutions, our own ‘bootstraps,’ our own righteousness, our own wealth, the filling of our own barns+++? 

   Is it fear that God will disappoint us, that His Word (Logos or Rhema) is not reliable, that it might indeed ‘come back void,’? That He may love others that way but us, not so much? Do we in our heart of hearts trust more in the non-Biblical adage that ‘God helps those who help themselves’ than we do in Jesus’ promises regarding the lilies and the sparrows or the loaves and fishes? Yes, we offer our little fishes and some paltry loaves of bread, and He does not sneer at them.. He’s delighted with our offering. But we both know it is He that feeds us, body and soul.

   Let’s ask Him to show us if we have in our packs things of which we may be unaware, things which need to be not just tossed but hurled overboard. These may even be  as subtle as our backup provisions, cleverly disguised as proverbial wisdom. 

   Go ahead and hurl that thing, Feel the lightness on your shoulders and the wind in your hair!

******************

+Genesis 16

++Matthew 25

+++Luke 12

++++Matthew 6

*Genesis 22:4 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

*Colossians 3: 23-24Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Rendered

 

   Recently, in response to one of my prayers, the Lord said the following: “I will continue to prompt you, never fear. I will also transmit, transport, and render. Tenderly render.

   “What do you mean?” I asked Him. (Not an infrequent question on my part). He responded by telling me to look it up. (LOL God never stops being a parent.) I knew the words render and rendering as related to making a model or depiction of a design, as well aa its meaning of ‘giving to.’ (“Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”+). Beyond that, i had no idea how many other meanings there were for the word. Here is what I found for render (verb):

• To make; to cause to be or become
• To do, perform
• To furnish, provide……afford, contribute, supply, give
• To exhibit or show….including obedience, attention
• To present for consideration, approval, payment, action
• To return, to make a payment, as by a tenant to a superior
• To pay as due (tax, tribute)
• To deliver formally or officially; to hand down
• To translate into another language
• To represent, to depict, as in a painting

   Immediately, the thought occurred to me: “Lord, if You are ‘tenderly rendering’ so much to and for me (and to all those who put their trust in You), what am I tenderly rendering back to You?” Am I ‘showing obedience and attention’? Am I ‘representing’ You well?

   “Explain more about what You meant by tenderly rendering me and then how I can better render what will make. you happy in return? I look at the dictionary list and  realize the distinction between formally giving you Your ‘just due,’ out of obligation, versus tenderly desiring to respond in love to what You are creating out of my life. 

   I see Your Artist’s hands at work, molding the lumpy, awkward parts of my personality, my actions, my disappointments, and my failures. Massaging them in with the happier more joyful, fruit-bearing parts.. Tenderly sculpting, scraping off bits here and there which need to be removed, smoothing out the rough places. Lovingly turning my aging struggles and my lifetime of experiences into someone who can tenderly partner with You according to Your plans in rendering others. Others who will render unto You the love and fruitfulness You deserve and who desire to see more of Your form and beauty manifested in their lives. Are there relationships for me to form, mentoring to humbly provide, mothering to do, targeted, surgical prayers to offer, unconditional love and encouragement to lavish?

  I looked again at the definitions:

Meaning 1: “To make, to cause to be or become.” 

Meaning 2: “To do, to perform.” 

Meaning 3: To supply, furnish, provide.”

   You, Lord, are the Renderer. You do the work. You provide and cause and perform. Our part is to be willing, to be surrendered. All the while You continue the sometimes painful process in us, the beauty of others is being enhanced. If we’re operating in the fruit and gifts of Your Holy Spirit, no one else knows but You. Despite how we may  sometimes feel about our lack of usefulness (including some of us in our senior years), You are never at a loss. You say, “I can work with this!” You don’t set us aside, broken. Even when we make mistakes, are too lazy to obey You, or temporarily grieve You, Your creative juices still flowto create ‘beauty from ashes.’+ You rub Your hands together with glee and declare, “My child, there is so much more to come! Give yourself to me every day for continual rendering, that I may sculpt and paint your life, as more and more of Who I Am is manifested through you: My light, My Shalom, My creativity, My joy, My forgiveness,, My Agape love.. Until one day I take My  unique rendering of you Home with Me, where your fuller, more beautiful life will truly begin. And while you’re at it, let your continually rendered self encourage as many others as possible along the way, that they will one day rejoice with you There.

**********

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. — Ephesians 2:10

+Matthew 22:21

+Isaiah 61:3

If you missed my two “No Greater” posts, you might want to go back and read those: February 14 (No greater love…) and February 19 (No greater creativity…”.)

 *To find earlier posts: If you’re on a phone, click ‘see Web version’ at the bottom of the post, or open my blog on a computer or tablet. All posts since 2015 are listed on the right at Tennyandi.blogspot.com)

An ‘oldie but a goodie’ from the very early days of contemporary worship:

https://youtu.be/MneanjtBRns?si=DlrrKrtKQXd2Ev1U

 

When it’s never TMI

  

       I am continuing to slowly work my way through “The Names of God” book* by Ann Spangler. I arrived today at Philos, “Friend” or “Relative.” It never fails to astound me that Yeshua calls those who believe, obey, and trust in Him, friends. He is after all Creator and King of the Cosmos. I know He loves us deeply, but friends? This condescension+ is almost too great for me to grasp, yet I rejoice in it. 

   This morning I began a list of what a relationship with a close friend is like. (Jesus is not just an ‘acquaintance’.) As I did, I compared each aspect to my current interactions with Him. Yes, He is my trusted Savior and Lord, but in what ways, if any, is He truly my closest friend? Here is what I came up with so far as characteristic of a close friendship:

• I share my foibles
• I share funny stories, mostly at my own expense
• I share my deepest hopes and fears (the kind I wouldn’t tell others)
• I share my disappointments, without explaining that I know I shouldn’t feel the way I do
• I don’t keep things back from sheer embarrassment or TMI
• I share my true self without fear of judgment, criticism or rejection
• I ask for prayer, for guidance, for discernment 
• I ask my friend about what she is going through and how I can pray for her. I listen to her hopes, fears, and funny stories. I reciprocate all of the above.
• It is not a one-sided relationship, with her doing all the listening, all the caring, all the carrying of my burdens.
• I want to know what is on her heart, not just have her listen to mine. (I have experienced ‘friendships’ like the latter.)

   As I ran the lyrics to the hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus through my mind, I began to ponder if the song accurately described a close friendship. Are there aspects missing in this wonderful hymn?

1. 
   
2. What a friend we have in Jesus,
   All our sins and griefs to bear!
   What a privilege to carry
   Everything to God in prayer!
   Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
   Oh, what needless pain we bear,
   All because we do not carry
   Everything to God in prayer!
3. Have we trials and temptations?
   Is there trouble anywhere?
   We should never be discouraged—
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
   Can we find a friend so faithful,
   Who will all our sorrows share?
   Jesus knows our every weakness;
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
4. Are we weak and heavy-laden,
   Cumbered with a load of care?
   Precious Savior, still our refuge—
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
   Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
   Take it to the Lord in prayer!
   In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
   Thou wilt find a solace there.
5. Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised
   Thou wilt all our burdens bear;
   May we ever, Lord, be bringing
   All to Thee in earnest prayer.
   Soon in glory bright, unclouded,
   There will be no need for prayer—
   Rapture, praise, and endless worship
   Will be our sweet portion there.
6. —lyrics, Joseph Scriven; tune: Charles Converse
7.   Beautiful, right? True, right? But Is our friendship with Yeshua (in fact, with the whole of the Trinity) reciprocal? Do we ask Him what is on His heart, what He wants us to pray for, declare, and decree? Are we truly partnering with Him for His will to be done? Do we pray for those He loves, listening for His prompts? (Obeying His prompts even when we don’t want to) Do we do so in the same way in which we pray for those on the hearts of our close human friends? Do our hearts hurt and celebrate when His does? Do we mourn when He mourns and rejoice when He rejoices?** Reach out to help someone for whom He is concerned? Or is our ‘friendship’ with Him more one-sided? Do we share our needs, give him our burdens, and then turn and walk on with our own lives and agendas, checking back in from time to see if our prayers have been properly addressed?
8.    I know I am guilty of this sometimes. But I don’t want to be that kind of ‘friend’. I want to be a close friend ‘who sticks closer than a brother.’ One who is willing to lay down her life for her Friend. One who is as concerned for what is on His heart as for what is on hers. Maybe more.
9.    I love sharing all the funny things with Yeshua, as well as the heart-wrenching ones…and the ones that would be TMI for anyone else. He knows it all anyway, but we laugh and cry together about them. I know He holds my tears in a bottle***,  as well as giving me the kind of belly laughs that ‘do good like medicine.’ I want it all with Him. I want Him to say when I see Him in person, “Truly, you have been My close friend. Welcome Home and know Me even better.”
10. **************
11. *See post “When it’s ok to be gluttonous” from April 15, 2025
12. + condescension’s original meaning: to “voluntarily waive ceremony or dignity proper to one's superior position or rank and willingly assume equality with inferiors”….”make gracious allowance for human frailty”
13. ** “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. —Romans 12:15
14. 
    8 ***”You number my wanderings;
    Put my tears into Your bottle;
    Are they not in Your book?”  —Psalm 56:8
15. “It is almost unimaginable that the Creator of the entire universe, Almighty God HIMSELF, invites and even encourages us to come and commune ans communicate with Him.” —Bobby Corner 
16. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” —John 15:13-15
17. “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” —Proverbs 18:24
18. “Perfume and incense make the heart glad, but the sweetness of a friend is a fragrant forest.” —Proverbs 27:9
19. “Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house.” —Job 29:4
    “Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” —Proverbs 17:9
    
    22 “ A happy heart is good medicine,
        but low spirits sap one’s strength —Proverbs 17:22
    From Ann Spangler, author of The Names of God : “Confess any complacency toward those who are lost. Ask Jesus to assign your heart with His purposes.”
20. Related words: to Philos: Phileo: “to love”; Philema: “to kiss” 
21. Jadon Lavik singing What a Friend We Have in Jesus:
22. https://youtu.be/5XsXYTWVdGE?si=
23. 
    
24. 
    

When it’s good to be the thief

  

    I know we have moved past Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter and are now heading for the celebration of Jesus’s ascension. Alleluia! However, this morning I was reading in Deuteronomy 25 about the punishment of flogging and its maximum of 40 strikes (later limited to 39 in practice because it could cause a person’s death). A sentence was to follow a just decision regarding a person's innocence or guilt, as well as the extent of his wickedness. We believers know that Jesus was entirely innocent yet received OUR maximum sentence out of His incomprehensibly great love for us, ‘while we were yet sinners.”*

   What struck me this morning, however, (no pun intended) as I was visualizing all aspects of the horror Jesus endured for me, beginning even before his maximum flogging with metal attached to cords, was what was said to him by one of the two thieves hung next to him. I’ve known this dialogue since I was a young child and through the years have focused on Jesus’ words, “Today” you shall be with me in paradise.”** This morning, however, flashing before me were the words, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom,” I suddenly wondered, “How did the thief know Jesus was King of a kingdom not of this world?” NO one else truly seemed to. Even Peter, who had declared Him the Messiah, didn’t really get it. The disciples were hiding in grief and fear, not expecting Him to appear to them at any moment. Mary of Magdala and the other women were focused on caring for His precious body, which they assumed was still in the tomb or somewhere nearby. Who but the man known only as the thief truly believed Jesus would arise after His death as King over the Cosmos? Seeing Jesus in anguish and torment just as he was, this man still believed Yeshua was Lord of heaven and earth. Even if he perhaps did not grasp the full implication of that truth, he knew Jesus had the power, despite how things appeared, to save him after his body succumbed to death (something for which I’m sure he, in his own agony, then longed). 

   Everyone else at the scene (or hiding from it) seemed without hope, all their expectations dashed, with only images of a slow, agonizing death still before their eyes. Many who had waved palm branches before Him as Messiah, now thought, “I guess he wasn’t the one after all.” They were not visualizing a victorious kingdom much greater than any earthly one. They were seeing^ suffering, loss, disappointment, dejection, and devastating sorrow. Or in the case of those who wanted Jesus dead, a sense of satisfaction and success in the deed finally being accomplished. 

   Accomplished it was, but not as they thought. It was the King’s Gambit***, with ADONAI declaring to them (and, more importantly, to Satan):   “Checkmate, you lose!!”

  Maybe I am just very slow on the uptake, but I found the sudden realization astounding that only the thief appeared to truly get this. Ahhh….ADONAI, when You say that we become New Creations when we put our whole trust in Your grace and love, it is not just a metaphor of hope. It is a manifested reality for those who believe that You are the one and only Savior God of forgiveness and second chances. You Are the Resurrection and the Life for those of us who grasp our total dependence on Your Goodness and Mercy. When we repent and trust in You, we are no longer stuck in Groundhog Days of repeated sin and consequent sentences of flogging and Second Death. Nor are we sentenced to misery in this life. We are freed to live the abundant shalom-filled life You desire for us. We are no longer named The Thief. We have a new appellation, “Beloved,” as well as one uniquely given to us by The Father.****

   Although we have the advantage of hindsight, unlike the man who called out to Yeshua that day in faith, we believe though we haven’t seen Him, and we are blessed.*****

   We are The Thief. He has caught the hand we reached out to Him, drawn us into His outstretched arms, and declared, “Welcome Home, Beloved!” 

*******************

* But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.— Romans 5:8 

**Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”—-Luke 23:43

*** In effect a bold, long range trap which causes one’s opponent to have confidence he is winning, only to suddenly discover he has lost

**** “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.” Revelation 2:17

***** “Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  —John 20:29

^”He will not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear.” —Isaiah 11: 3

Birthday bicycle

     

   Imagine your dad giving you a beautiful bicycle for your birthday. Its shiny splendor thrilled you. You couldn’t wait to take it for a spin around the neighborhood. But then a boy who lived around the corner spied you riding it, and rather than appearing awestruck, he was rather condescending about it. He told you about an even more beautiful bike available to you and implied your dad was really holding out on you when he gave you this one. All you had to do, he said, was to give him yours, and he promised you a much fancier one in trade. You began to question why Dad hadn’t given you the nicer one in the first place. Yeah, why hadn’t Dad given you a nicer bike? Well, what was there to lose? Such a deal to be had, if only you were willing to relinquish your father’s birthday gift for something better. After all, your dad was probably just being a bit stingy, right?

   Does something ring a bell here? The snake’s best strategy for Adam and Eve to eat forbidden fruit was to raise doubt in their minds about the goodness of God, to question His true character. It wasn’t just the yummy-looking fruit that tempted them.

   We think to ourselves, “I would never have eaten that fruit! The Father very clearly said not to eat it! Nor would I have been like those grumbling Israelites in the desert who, after being miraculously delivered at the Red Sea, complained that God must have drawn them out in the desert to let them die there. And I most certainly wouldn’t have been one of those who cried ‘Crucify Him!’ after waving palm branches and heralding Yeshua as the Messiah a few days before. I would never have questioned God’s goodness or motivation or inherent nature like that. What were those people thinking?”

   Ahhh, but maybe…. Have we ever questioned the goodness of God when things didn’t go our way? When someone we loved wasn’t healed, a baby didn’t come to bless us, a marriage did not come to pass, finances were not forthcoming, a ‘deserved’ promotion wasn’t offered, or our ungodly neighbors were able to purchase the very home we wanted and needed, while we remained crammed into our little starter home?   

   Maybe we are not so unlike those we have mentally condemned. Every past good gift and bit of lovingkindess from God sometimes fades in the wake of disappointment and deferred hope. We begin to question if God really does want the best for us. If His directions are really to protect and provide for us or just to keep us from having some fun in our lives. Does He REALLY want life abundant for us or is He just withholding something good which He is perfectly capable of providing? Does he love others more than He does us? Does He ‘love the world,’ but we are chopped liver to Him?

   Maybe we should take things into our own hands, like Sarah, and help God along with His promises.  After all, “God helps those who help themselves,” right? [Not in the Bible, in case you are unsure.] It would take many blogposts to innumerate the many times this strategy went awry in Scripture. (Think Adam and Eve, Sarah, Saul, Judas, and a host of kings, among others.) Not to mention testimonies from our modern lives.

   Let’s always believe, think, speak, and act from the solid rock of faith in the truth that God loves us deeply individually, and profoundly, that He is by nature Absolutely Good, that He  wants the best for us, that His will is for us to experience His total shalom of body, soul, and spirit …even suffering torture and death for us to have it). From that Rock, we can explore why we don’t always receive what He wants us to have at any given time. But let us never believe ‘the boy down the street’ (who by the way just wants our bicycle for himself) over our loving Father Who sacrificed to give it to us in the first place. (Just wait til to experience all its bells and whistles!)

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Part two of this post is coming next, in which we will explore what it took for our Father to get our bicycle back for us from that lying trickster, as well as how we can learn to tap into that vehicle’s innate power. 

   Julie

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Take a flying leap!

    

   When I say Good Morning each day to Abba, Yeshua, and Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit), I picture myself hugging or embracing each part of the Trinity in various ways. i try to let Holy Spirit inspire the images in my mind. Most importantly, I want to express how much I love my ADONAI and how thankful I am that He not only allows me to come to Him each morning, but that He delights in it. 

   This morning a picture of me running to the Father and jumping into His arms came to me. It made me think of how my granddaughters run and jump into their father’s and grandfather’s arms, laughing with delight. I’m not sure who enjoys this ritual more, but I suspect it is the former. Pondering this caused me to remember the Lord’s words:  “Unless you turn and come to Me as little children, you shall not enter the Kingdom.” [Matthew 18: 3].

   In the past I have pictured myself reaching up to my Abba, but not running and jumping into His outstretched arms. The problem for many of us is that our earthly fathers weren’t the best representations of our Heavenly Father. We can’t conceive of ever running and jumping into our father’s arms. From distant to downright cruel, some earthly fathers were a source of emotional and even physical pain, rather than joy. Others of us were blessed with loving, if imperfect, dads. Mine was a wonderful man. However, he was raised by German parents to not express emotion, despite his internal tenderness of heart.  For example, when he fell out of a tree and broke his nose, his father told him “he had better not cry or he would give him something to cry about.” Hugging, for example was not our family way until much later in our lives. Thankfully, we knew he loved us, and he himself was much respected and even beloved to others. However, his earthly father, who died in his 50’s, did not represent our Heavenly Father well when it came to the extravagantly loving aspect of His character.  

   ADONAI Elohim is a prodigal (extravagant) Father, Who loves His children beyond their comprehension. [Luke 15: 11-32] Like my sons, son-in-law, and husband, He takes absolute delight in our taking a running leap into His arms. Give it a try, if you haven’t already done so. You will not only experience abounding joy but also deep healing. Yeshua has paid the cosmic price of Reconciliation* for us. Our sin no longer keeps us out of the Father’s Holy Presence.** Greet Him gratefully each day, knowing He is Absolutely Good. Let go of all your preconceived images of Him keeping His distance from you. But back up a few steps, as my granddaughter does, so you can get some good speed as you take the leap. You won’t be disappointed…and neither will He.

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*Romans 5:10: For if we were reconciled with God through His Son’s death when we were enemies, how much more will we be delivered by His life now that we are reconciled!

**Romans 8: 15: For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to bring you back again into fear; on the contrary, you received the Spirit, who makes us sons and by whose power we cry out, “Abba!” (that is, “Dear Father!”).

Yahweh is near to those whose hearts are humble. He saves those whose spirits are crushed. —Psalm 34:18

No greater love…no greater desire to express it

   

 Valentine’s Day 2025 

   As I was pondering the true story of St. Valentine’s martyrdom for his faith in God’s Greatest Gift, it filled me with a desire to express the true heart (pun intended) for this day. I wanted to pour out not only my love and thankfulness to the Father, to Yeshua, and to Holy Spirit, but also to the precious family and friends with whom He has blessed my life.

  I began thinking of little gifts of love to share, tiny mementos symbolizing something so much bigger than I could express in either words or packages of any size.🎁 Knowing each family member so personally, I was filled with joy in scouring my home for tiny finds that would delight them, from small presents I had been storing up for the right occasion to little treats discovered in our pantry. 

   The Lord then spoke to my heart: “You see now how my Nature in you is to pour out Love…to enjoy giving little gifts as well as big ones…to take delight in the choosing of even the smallest. If you carry a tiny fraction of that desire in your heart, think how much I carry…for you, for your family, for My whole family…and even for those outside of it. I long for them to come within My Family circle, ‘under the feathers of My wings’* where I can bless them with the large and the small.”

   Don’t think that the Lord can’t be bothered with ‘the smaller things’. He gets a kick out of delighting His children, just as we do. Take time to notice His little gifts, as well as the more obvious ones. They are not products of ‘luck’ or ‘coincidence’ or ‘fate’ or ‘the universe.’ Recognize them for what they are: personalized expressions of love from your Father’s heart, just for you. There is no one else on the planet, or even in Heaven, just like you. You are a unique treasure to Him, and He wants you to know it.

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*Matthew 23:37; Psalm 91:4

   

Insights on staffs and stones

   

  Some of us are blessed to have a spiritual inheritance of faithful ancestors, even if this only applies to one generation before us. Others of us are the first to begin anew... Many of us also have powerful testimonies of God’s Goodness in our lives.. (Everyone has received from His Goodness, although they may not be aware.) Certainly, we all have a history of God’s blessings on our nation, through our covenant roots with Him. Although our nation has wandered far from Him, we have seen a turning back to those roots by hundreds of thousands, along with those of us who never left them. Our efforts have produced much fruit!

   This morning I was rereading a post from Dutch Sheets’ first Give Him 15 devotional (Day 24). He delved into the original meanings behind words used detailing David’s experience fighting Goliath. We have certainly been fighting Goliaths in our time. Many of us, though greatly distressed, have felt insignificant and powerless against them. However, it has been modern day apostles and prophets who have helped many of us to rise up believing, and take a stand against them, both in our outward actions and, most importantly, through spiritual warfare, We have repented of our inaction and also rehearsed God’s past and present faithfulness, declaring and decreeing His will for us and for our nation. We have repented of modern idolatries and poured ourselves into rededicating ourselves and our country to Him, praying that His ‘Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven’, with very specific petitions and decrees concerning what we are facing.

   I found Dutch’s unpacking of particular words in this account very eye opening and encouraging. You’ll remember that  David gave his testimony of faithfulness before he took action against Goliath. According to the Hebrew meaning of testimony, it is more than just remembering. It literally means to repeat an action or do it again, releasing the same power into the present. [I will add that the same idea is communicated by Jesus when He said of what we now call Communion:  Do this in remembrance of Me.]  Neither involve simply ‘remembering’ that something happened, as we use it today.. It means to ‘re-member or put back together in the present. Our testimonies are full of power, affecting the present, building faith and effecting change. 

   Another insight from Dutch was the fact that David’s use of a stone to kill Goliath was symbolically tied to his tribe of Judah, as were both his drawing those from a brook and carrying his staff as he approached him.. In that time, staffs were often carved with symbols of personal history (a sort of testimony, like the killing of a lion and a bear). David also declared the testimony of God’s faithfulness, prior to his attack. Additionally, for the Hebrews a brook symbolized inheritance.. David drew the stones from his inheritance. 

   Finally, Dutch unwraps even more related to David’s tribe of Judah::

     And yet, there is still one more connection to David’s history which played a part in this battle with the giant: his Judah nature, his DNA. Most Christians believe Judah means “praise.” That, however, is a derived meaning. In this pictorial language, the Hebrew word pictures the extending of the hand. It is because of this that it is a word used for “praise,” since raising the hands is a form of praise. However, because Judah means to extend the hand, it also means “one who throws a stone.” In his history, David was from “the tribe that throws stones!”*

   So many nuggets to discover when we dig deeper into God’s unending wealth and layers of understanding. Understanding which informs our prayers, decrees, and declarations for our own families and for our nation. God is speaking through His modern-day prophets that He has more than we can imagine in store for us in 2025 and beyond.. However, He wants to partner with us to see it manifested. Let’s grab our staffs and our stones, drawing from the brook of our spiritual inheritance**, and courageously fight the giants of today, knowing that God wants us free to experience the abundant life*** he has for us, for our nation and for the world.. 

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**Give Him 15; an Appeal to Heaven Devotional, VOLUME 1 by Dutch Sheets

Other guidance in petitions, declarations, and decrees can be found through people like Tim Sheets (Oasis Church), Andrew Whalen, and many others (eg see ElijahStreams.com)

** Ephesians 1: 5: 1 John 2: 27; Romans 8: 17; Ephesians 2: 10; Isaiah 54: 17 (and so many more!) 

***John 10: 10

Is this seat saved?

    

We used to joke around sometimes when someone asked if the seat next to us was saved. We would say,

“I’m not sure,” shake the chair, and ask, “Are you saved?” 

The humor was based in a time when people might well have asked you, or any stranger, if you had truly received salvation.

Last Sunday I had an empty seat next to me in a thankfully very full church, where late arrivals were searching for a spot. (I wish all our Bible-believing churches were that full for 4 services.) The one empty seat made me think of our old joke. It also prompted me to think who should have been in it. Who was God calling to take his or her place there? 

The pastor spoke of Lazarus and the fact that Jesus was not the one to actually roll away the stone or even unwrap his grave-cloths. He asked the others to do it. “Unbind him and set him free!” (Luke 11). The pastor’s message had to do with our role in ‘unbinding’ others and the power we have to do so, even though Jesus is the One Who brings the actual resurrection.

He spoke of people ‘being dead to one another.’ Of the binding cloths of unforgiveness and judgment. Of the lonely ones, the hurt ones, to whom we could be reaching out and drawing into our life circle. He spoke especially about the ones who have severely wounded us or continually taken wrong paths until we have finally given up on them. The ones of whom people say, “He’ll never change!” [Never speak a prophetic word that opposes God’s will!] Even those whose prickly personalities cause us to avoid contact with them whenever possible. The ones who often need ‘unbinding’ much more than those vulnerable-seeming, humble ones who are much easier to love.

Whom have we written off?

Whom have we ignored and left in the cold, while cozy in our own warm circles?

Whom do we intensely (or even moderately) dislike and avoid reaching out to, whose presence in our friendship groups could sabotage our comfort levels and pleasant interactions? (Martha: “but Lord, there’ll be an odor!” Luke 11:44)

Whose reserved seat may be empty because we ourselves have fallen short of doing the hard thing? 

Or perhaps we’re the stone-removing forgiver or renouncer of condemning prophecies. (Speak ‘crop failure’ to those spoken words!) Yet God then plans to call someone else to draw that person to his saved seat?  All we need to do is be obedient to our part. 

It seems unfair that we should be considered responsible, especially when we have been the recipient of someone’s unkind, disrespectful, neglectful, or even abusive treatment. It may be a jolt to our self-righteousness that we are even seen by our Lord as having the ‘job’ or the capability of helping to bring that change about. We’re ‘only human,’ right? 

We absolutely need to set boundaries in cases of potentially harmful relationships. However, that is not what I’m referring to above. It’s the large stones blocking the tomb, the boulders of refusal to forgive, the walls of a back turned against another, and even the pebbles of rejection due to our discomfort with those annoying personalities, that make it challenging to reach out to another, whether stranger, acquaintance, or even family member.. 

So many reasons for a seat sacrificially saved by our Savior to remain empty. Sometimes it’s self-loathing masquerading as arrogance. Sometimes it’s straight-forward intellectual arrogance. Sometimes it’s a spirit of rejection that whispers to a mind, “You’re unwanted, unsuccessful, unworthy, unknowledgeable, unloved, unforgiveable.” 

If you find yourself, like me, putting your hands over your ears and saying to the Lord, “I can’t hear You!”…you’re in good company. Hence, so many empty ‘saved’ seats. Let’s determine that the next time there is an empty seat next to us at church, we take our hands off our ears and ask Him for whom it’s reserved….and what He might want us to do to help fill it. We might be one of several on a team or in a series, whom our Father is asking. Yet if no one else answers His call to roll away the stone, let it not be we who refuse.

Fireworks with two-fold significance

I saw fireworks before my eyes and believe I heard:

1) revelations, confessions, and exposures will come so fast that one will still be happening as the next begins. They will be seen far and wide. 

2) We, His faithful remnant, will be celebrating the manifestation of His Victory for us, using them to rejoice around the world.

Two pictures to warm your soul (to be remembered in the days ahead)

It is often when we are just drifting off to sleep or just waking up that we are especially open to Holy Spirit’s messages for us.  Last night as I lay under the covers, He gave me these comforting images, especially delightful to me in the midst of America’s evilly-engendered turmoil:

The Father tucks us (His believing, beloved children) into bed, pulling the covers up to our chins. We turn to the side, snuggling in. He brushes His hand tenderly over our hair, full of love for us, and tells us to sleep well. We hear noises outside the window, but He says not to be afraid...it is just the wind. There is a scratching at the front door, but He tells us again not to be fearful because He is our Protector and Guard, and His arm is strong. “Rest well, My precious ones. ABBA is near.”

We are surrounded by a circle of vicious enemies who are agitated and threatening us in various ways, but the Father is just chuckling. He even has His back to them as He goes about preparing a magnificent table for us, with an array of luscious-looking foods. The wine stands ready at each end, and the bread is fresh from the oven. “Eat! Enjoy!” He says. “Don’t be concerned about them. They cannot touch you.” As I pull the 🥖 apart, steam rises from it, and I lather yellow Irish butter across the end. A soft light is shining on our table, creating a lovely ambience for our celebratory feast...the Feast He has personally and lavishly laid for us, under His Tabernacle Tent.