What Was That Forbidden Fruit, Anyways?

 

Recently, at a women’s conference, the speaker read scripture from the book of Genesis. While tempting Eve with the forbidden fruit, Satan challenged what God had told her, stating that “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” – Genesis 3:4-5 (NLT)

While that wasn’t the focus of her message, it spoke volumes to me about the love of our heavenly Father.

When you have children and grandchildren – really, any child that you love, you want to protect them. Ideally, we wish that they never had to know evil at all. How wonderful would their lives be if they never even heard about, let alone experienced, all the evils in the world? It’s our sincerest hope and wish to protect them from all that’s evil. Oh, that they would never know about pain, insult, assault, rape, kidnapping, torture, murder, greed, heartbreak and so much more!

Alas, we know that they will be exposed to all those things through media and some of those things through their own experiences.

What if there was something we could do to protect them from it?

What if we could prevent them from opening the doorway to the evils of the world?

What if they could only know…..good?

In His love, mercy, compassion and goodness, God only had one rule for His children in the Garden of Eden: Don’t open this door – this door will lead to pain and sorrow and destruction, even death.

Yet through the subtle deception of the enemy, the door looked tempting, as Satan attempted (successfully) to make it look to Eve – and Adam there with her, like God was keeping something good from them. He wanted to make them believe that knowing good AND evil would make them like God.

But God didn’t want His family to know the torment of evil. He didn’t want us to know good AND evil – He only wanted us to know good, forever.

In wanting the best for His children, He sought to protect them with a simple rule. He’d already provided every good thing for them – and forbid the bad from destroying their lives by containing it in a single tree.

“You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” – Genesis 3:4-5 (NLT)

Knowing what we know now, they’d never have eaten from the forbidden tree. But – they didn’t yet know evil. They didn’t even know what evil was.

Sometimes, as in this case, rules are for our own protection. God didn’t want us to know evil – only good!

Because that fruit was eaten, we now need to be redeemed. In His great love for us, God provided for our redemption by sending His own Son to make the sacrifice necessary to bring us back into harmony with Him.

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”  – Romans 5:8-9 ESV

Yet, like Eve – and Adam, so many of us think we know better than God.

 

Standing on the Edge of Revelation

 

(picture from wallpapercave.com)

To me, intimacy is a big deal. I want intimacy with the people in my life.

I’ve noticed, though, that so many people in my life would rather keep to themselves. They don’t seem to want intimacy with their friends and family members. It’s not that they seem to have some big, deep, dark secrets in their lives that they’re hiding from people. Maybe it’s just that in a society that affords us so little privacy, they’re trying to create a private place. Maybe it’s just a matter of boundaries, of which I have too few.

The other night, in the middle of an emotional prayer… I may have gained a little insight on intimacy - or the fear of it. 

With great excitement, I prayed -

Heavenly Father, I love You. I adore You. I worship You! Help me to revel in You, to delight in You, to walk in Your presence and breathe my every breath in You, to bring my every thought to You.

Help me to see you with my spiritual eyes. I know that You see all of me. Allow me to see inside of You, allow me to look into Your heart. I need to see what You see, to feel what You feel.

Then, suddenly, I was afraid to see.
I looked away. My excitement went from a rolling boil to the simmering of a desperate plea.

Father, draw me close. Draw me closer and closer until I'm nestled in Your arms and can feel Your breath against my face and our hearts beat together as one. You created me and know my inner most thoughts, fears and longings, You know my desire to be completely immersed in You.

Don't let me go.
Hold me tight.
I need You.

Knowing intimacy is shared, fear wrapped her boney fingers around my tongue.

Now my prayer was filled with weeping.

Your love will be too great! Your pain will be too deep.
I feel as though I'll sink into the vast pool of Your love and the depth will overwhelm me.
If I drown in Your love, though I'm so terribly afraid of drowning, yet, let me abide there. Saturate me.
I long to explore the untouched places in Your heart.

Still afraid, but reassurance begins to creep in.

Your Word so often reminds me to fear not...
Your mercy exposes Your patience with me.
Your grace displays Your compassion for me.

I want to run completely into You. No looking back. No hesitation.
You didn’t give me a spirit of fear or timidity! You gave me Your Spirit of power, and of love and of a sound mind.

 

Questioning and reasoning peek into the conversation.

 

What will it take to step forward and leave my fear behind? What am I afraid to commit?
You are my Lord, my Savior, my God and my King. Surely my heart will explode with Your love. That’s a good thing! That’s the goal!

 

Submission falls over me with refreshing peace.

 

Father, replace any fear in me with Your holy boldness.
Have mercy on me, Lord. Snatch me up into Your arms of grace. Rescue me.
Again.

Again, I fell asleep as God continued to work on entwining my heart with His.

(from thommiodem.com)

What Does He Want From Me?

(centralportland.org)

"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26)
With these questions Jesus asks, he is saying, 'if you are going to be my disciple, I want something.' What is it he's asking of you?"
- Uncommon Questions from an Extraordinary Savior, Christopher Bozung

I routinely ask myself, when the subject comes to mind, ‘What does Jesus ask of me? What does He want from me?’

Flippantly, I can say, He wants my life. That’s the correct answer, right? He wants all of me! He wants me to trust Him with, put into His hands, my health, my relationships, my finances, my future, my successes and my failures, my children, my grandchildren, my siblings and my mom – my friends.

But, what does that really look like?

When reading the questions Jesus asked, I can smugly say, ‘I haven’t gained the whole world, so I’m not in any danger of forfeiting my soul.’

But, on a lazy day – would I forfeit my soul (would I risk doing the will of God) for…… a nap? Or for quiet time with a good book? Even the GOOD BOOK?

(quotes.land)

I don’t want to sound like the voice of condemnation, because I’m not. My God serves up fresh grace by the second when we need it (all the time).

But, in essence, am I putting my nap, or reading time or TV time or game time - before what God’s asked me to do?

I guess that depends on what God’s asked me to do in the moment. If I’m spending time with Him in His Word, surely, He must be pleased. But, if He’s asked me to go over and check on my neighbor and I brush it off, saying – after some quiet time reading the Bible, or after a quick nap, or after I mop the floor…. He knows I’m blowing Him off.

Ouch!

Is He mad at me? No. I don’t believe so.

Is He disappointed with me? No. I don’t believe so. How can we be disappointed when we already know the outcome of something? He knew if I’d respond to Him with selfishness or obedience.

(pinterest.com)

“For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” – 1 John 3:20-21 (KJV)

The real question here is – why do I ever respond to Him with selfishness?

As humans, most of us want to give up when someone fails us time after time after time. We just stop relying on them. We don’t stop loving them, but we stop asking much, of them.

Do you ever feel like God’s not “using” you anymore? Hmmmm…. 

Are we giving Him reason not to rely on us?

Great news! His patience FAR outweighs ours. He has faith in us, even when we don’t have faith in ourselves.

New assignments? New opportunities to put God’s will first! New opportunities to obey Him; to pick up our cross and follow Him!

(loveumentary.com)

When I Don't Know How to Pray

(meveda.com)

As my friends sometimes do, one sent me a scripture this morning. Two verses that made me take note – and ponder.

When someone asks how they can pray for me, I often stumble for a response. 

Of course, my loved ones are first on my mind.

They’re suffering.

Yet, God is in control; nothing is happening that He hasn’t already seen, none of this has taken Him by surprise. To pray for their deliverance seems trite, because He’s already working on that. To pray for their salvation; He’s got that covered, too. To pray their eyes be opened and that He reveals Himself to them in ways they will understand and receive – yes, He’s already doing it.

(1ms.net)

 To pray that I trust Him with them, yes, I trust Him completely.

There’s no thought of my loved ones He hasn’t already heard, no cry He hasn’t already considered. How do I identify how to pray over what God is already seeing through to glory? Tearfully and sometimes feeling ill-equipped, I pray in faith and through a yielded heart; rejoicing that God prays through me. His Spirit is in me, and He knows exactly how to pray. Always.

Pray that I not get in His way? Ah, that might be even better, as one who loves deeply, my heart wants to jump right to every situation that arises; it can be hard to close my mouth and sit on my hands and watch pain and anguish and fear twist those I love. Especially when pride tells me that appearing to do nothing might convey that I don’t care or understand.

(mnn.com)

Yet, sometimes my own spiritual growth and understanding comes most brilliantly and powerfully through the painful breaths in my own life. Anguish can be a tool. Fear can paralyze or catapult me. Struggles can teach. Nothing we experience is wasted.

And we can’t experience for someone else.

Freedom is treasured more intimately when we’ve fought for it; when we’ve discovered for ourselves how that liberation exhilarates us.

In “wishing” for less turmoil, I dare not hope to remove God’s hand from the lives of the very ones I love more than life itself, or slow His plan, even if I could......

(theguardian.com)

With every request I bring to my Lord, He assures me: “I Am.........” 

My friend sent me a verse from Isaiah.

“Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none else; I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure.” – Isaiah 46:9-10 (KJV)

Here Comes 2015

(photo from whatiflearning.com)

What if?

You can say it any way you’d like. You can tack on anything imaginable.

What will you imagine?

Human nature often begs us to imagine something bad or negative to finish the question with, such as, “What if – something bad happens to me or to my children or my finances, etc…?”

But, what if – it’s something good? What if it’s something great?

(photo from flickr.com)

God’s Word tells us it IS something great! “But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV) The writer is quoting Isaiah 64:4 from the Old Testament.

Our frail, human hearts can’t even begin to image all the good God has for us; good things, good plans, good beyond our finite comprehension. He does go on to say in verse 10, “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”

So, though we can’t imagine it without divine intervention, we can know what God has in store for us. And we can be reassured that it’s all good. A verse that many consider to be their favorite is in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” In the NIV we read, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

I’ve included both versions because I want us to know that God’s thoughts toward us include His plans for us. He didn’t just map out our lives and then walk away, hoping we get it right. He’s here with us every single step of the way, unfolding His plans and loving us, whether we allow ourselves to accept and feel that love or not.

(photo from michelewoodward.com)

Our pastor defines imagination as image-formations; the images we form in our minds. When we allow God to take hold of the images we form there, we can see the good; our minds won’t always impulsively run toward the bad. Instead of what if something bad happens today, we can ask, what if something great happens? Then, we can begin to dwell on the good and form good images. Ah, yes, my favorite scripture instructs us to do that: think on the good things!  (In case you don’t know it yet, that’s Philippians 4:8.)

Even humanists that don’t call on the Name of Jesus chime in with the knowledge that what we think will determine what we are. (“for as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” Proverbs 23:7 NIV)

I count at least seven times in scripture where Jesus asks, “What do you think?” (Mt 17:25, 18:12, 21:28, 22:17, 22:42, Luke 10:36 and 13:4)

How cool is it that He cares about what we think? He cares about it, because He knows the power involved with our thoughts and words.

When we form images in our minds around what could happen today or tomorrow – or this coming year, 2015, what will we allow? Yes, again, I bring up choice. We get to choose what we allow into our minds!

What if – [negative] = worry

What if – [positive] = peace

Which would you rather live in, worry or peace?

(picture from balancedandbarefoot.com)

“…for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” – 2 Timothy 1:12 (KJV)

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21 (KJV)

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultess before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” – Jude 1:24-25 (KJV)

Hard Questions

(photo mine)

Someone I love recently asked me a hard question about something they’d read in the Bible. The things we read in the Bible can bring up a lot of hard questions, there’s just so much we don’t understand. I thank God for the men and women among us that study the Bible (perhaps the way we all should) that have taken the time to learn both Greek and Hebrew, who are schooled in the cultures of biblical times and can expound on what we’re reading. We need to avail ourselves of the books and/or perhaps blogs they’ve written, websites they’ve created and teachings they provide.

Many things in the Bible are hard to digest. We ask, ‘why did God do that?’ – or, ‘why is this even recorded here?’ We ponder and pray, but oftentimes come away with no viable answers. Does that mean we should just throw our hands up in the air and conclude that we weren’t meant to understand?

Now, more than ever, answers are at our fingertips. We pull up an internet browser, type in a question and voila – we have more answers than we know what to do with. Of course, we can’t believe everything we read or hear, we need to pray for discernment and keep our nose in the Word of God ourselves and listen for when God speaks directly to us. He does still do that, you know. But if we’ve convinced ourselves that we’ll never hear from God in a personal way, we may well miss out on that experience.

(photo mine)

When we open our hearts to what God’s sharing with us, our whole world opens up, too. We see things in a new light; we experience things we never knew were possible, we find answers more easily than we find our car keys. We discover a depth to our existence that wasn’t there before. We connect with those around us, and with nature itself on a brand new level. Life holds greater value and physical death takes on deeper meaning. Relationships unfold and purpose is revealed.

Will we ever have all the answers? I’m thinking that won’t happen until we completely let go of this world and take hold of the next. Anticipation mounts when we begin to accept things we can’t see with our eyes or hear with our ears. Lack of tangible evidence shouldn’t limit our imagination or lock us into tiny paradigms with no room to explore. Discovery is the treasure of discovering treasures.

What if God is communicating things to us that we’re refusing to acknowledge? It’s not only our loss, but a loss to ours and future generations.

(insidesales.com)

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” – 1 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for that that love him.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV)

“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” – 2 Corinthians 4:18 (KJV)

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

Dig deeper? Walk a few steps further? Look outside the box you're sitting in? Let go of the ties that bind you? 

Answers come. Freedom happens. 

What Won't I Look At?

(painting by Sarah Boardman)

Various topics can bring feelings of sorrow or sadness, just as some can bring feelings of joy and anticipation. But, what about when you can’t put your finger on what you’re feeling – or what brought those feelings on in the first place?

Today I looked at an internet piece on emotional eating, it was aimed at readers that may be eating for emotional reasons, not simply because they’re hungry.

Let’s face it, we eat for lots of reasons. There’s an old saying that goes: We are Americans; we eat when we’re not hungry, we drink when we’re not thirsty and we spend money we don’t have. It’s not really a saying that we, as Americans want to aspire to, but, too often, true.

Sometimes we eat because we’re sad. Sometimes because we’re celebrating, sometimes simply because the food is in front of us and we mindlessly put it into our mouths.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, most of the time the things we consume are a conglomeration of toxins we poison ourselves with; not really even food at all.

That brings us around to a topic that should make us sad and even angry.

If we stop and ask ourselves right now, knowing no one but God can hear our thoughts and answers: What emotions am I feeling right now? What answers will we list?

Then if ask why we’re feeling this way? How do we explain ourselves?

Some of us don’t resort to eating, we resort to shopping, or overworking ourselves, or we become addicted to working out, or we gamble or get drunk as often as we can. Why? An attempt to avoid facing something about our lives or ourselves that makes us ache?

What could be so bad about us, or about our lives that we can’t face it? In light of the fact that we’re not facing it alone, but with Almighty God – and all the resources of heaven, shouldn’t it be easier to look in the mirror and see our whole selves? If there’s a change we can make, why not make it instead of running from the reality of the need and hiding behind food or other addictions?

Ponder this with me, if you would. Give me your input, offer up some insight that might help us all. I'm looking for your comments and suggestions. I hope one of my next posts will shed some light on the subject with a mixture of your thoughts and mine.

James 1:22-24  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 in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  (NIV)

Disclaimer: Distortions Abound

(photo courtesy of wordoverpixels.com)

Don’t confuse my personality with my God.

I can be withdrawn. I can be rude. I can be oblivious to your problems and concerns.

But don’t allow that to cloud your perception of my God.

I can be cheerful and complimentary. I can be caring and attentive.

Don’t allow that to influence the picture you have of God.

Though I was created to reflect the image of God, I can warp that image tremendously, because He’s given me the freedom to do so.

I can manipulate what you see; I can persuade you to drop your guard.

I can also drive you away or draw your focus to things that appear to be unfair.

As a human being, unconditionally loved by the God that created the universe, I have the advantage of a gifted mind and the good I’ve gleaned from what I’ve gone through in life, but I also have the flaws brought on through human experience and emotional roller coasters.

The bottom line is – I’m not God.

But, I’m not the only example of His love; He’s surrounded you with His beauty and grace and mercy and compassion and forgiveness. Remove your hands from your eyes and your fingers from your ears. Look. Listen.

Surrender.

To surrender to love is not a bad thing. It doesn’t mean you lose, it means you win! When you yield yourself to all the good you’ve ever longed for, you become immersed in God Himself.

I’m not making excuses for my failures; just pointing out that your answers are not found in me or in any other Christian, but in Jesus Christ only.

John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (KJV)

Who Knew There's an Obedience Plant?

Obedience Plant photo from www.pondplantsdirect.com

Obedience won’t always be met with satisfaction or approval from all around us, nor even those our obedience involves.

 

Sometimes the only place it’s confirmed is in our heart.

 

Sometimes no one else even notices.

 

Sometimes others are angered or puzzled by our actions.

 

Whether it looks to us like a huge act of obedience, a demanding sacrifice or a simple word to a stranger, being obedient doesn’t have to be hard. But, there’s nothing that says it will be easy, either.

 

It can be a delightful thing, like buying a cup of coffee for a stranger, in Jesus’ Name.

 

It can be giving up something we want so badly that we’ve worked for it and earned it by the sweat of our brow, or scrambling to win a contest where the prize is phenomenal, only to hear that still small voice prompt you to let the second place person beat you. Or giving your coat to a homeless person, even when it’s your favorite coat…

 

It might be an act we consider embarrassing in some way or that takes us out of our comfort zone, perhaps like striking up a conversation with a stranger that doesn’t “look” like someone we’d normally talk to. I’m pretty safe with that one, because I’ll talk to anyone about just anything. But there are still times it feels uncomfortable when I feel God’s Spirit nudge me to bring Him up in the conversation. Don’t ask me why, I’ve asked myself that question hundreds of times; fear of rejection (they’re not rejecting me, though, they’re rejecting Him!) or not feeling prepared for a question they might ask….

 

Every year at our church on Easter Sunday, we celebrate God giving His best, His Son, with us giving our best offering; our Resurrection Seed. This time, it was more of an act of obedience for my husband and I than ever before, because our “best” offering, was not our biggest offering. Pride wants us to give more each year. But, obedience demands that we do what God shows us to do. Our pastor rehearses it in our ears repeatedly, to seek God for the seed. This year our offering was pitifully small, and an odd amount. We are capable of giving so much more to this offering. But what better seed to sow than that of obedience?

 

It felt terrific, once it left our hands. Up till that moment, however, it felt terribly awkward. Now it feels as though we’re walking in a paradigm shift of some sort.

 

“And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” 2 Samuel 15:22 (KJV)

 

Obedience Plant photo from www.gardenhoard.com
 

More Questioning?

How did we get to where we are?

Do I really get to choose what to believe? Or do life’s circumstances dictate what and whom I trust? Does what I was taught is true hold fast all my life? Do events that occur around me or to me shape what I perceive as truth? Do I get to select the path I’ll take in life? What influences my choices?

Of all the minds in the world – you (questions) have to walk into mine.

For me personally, all of creation resounds with a chorus of, “Yes, Helen – there is a God!” I was taught that God is God and that He is good, all the time. But events and circumstances show up on the path I’ve chosen and beg me to question. I question why God does or allows the things that go on around me. I question how His “on time” sometimes appears to be “too late” or “too little”. I question why I question. It seems like it would be simpler to just believe what we’re told. But to some extent, we all question.

When I told my young son, “The iron is hot, don’t touch it,” something in him compelled him to find out for himself. Nope – mom didn’t lie, or was it that he needed to know for himself what hot was, or how it applied to something that was never in the oven? I don’t believe our questions are shallow at all, but actually have layers and layers of investigative efforts behind them. When I told that same son that Crisco is not frosting, again, he had to taste to believe. (By the way, again I was correct.)

Repetition teaches us. When we experience the same outcome over and over again, we begin to trust that it’s the outcome we will always get… until we experience something different. Then we begin to question the outcomes we had up to that point. And rightfully! We begin to investigate what made this outcome different. A chair that’s faithfully held us at the dinner table until now becomes suspect: did it let me down because it wasn’t built correctly twenty years ago or because over time it’s taken a beating and needs repair, or because I’ve gradually gained fifty pounds? (No, a chair did not really collapse beneath me.) Would it be logical to say that the chair never really did support me?

To question, or not to question – this is my question!

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. –Isaiah 1:18 (KJV emphasis mine.)

How Sharp Are My Questions?

Are we working too hard because our axe is dull? If we have the understanding to sharpen our axe, our work is made easier. That is, of course, our work includes cutting down trees. My axe might be equated with my questions. I learn more and I’m able to apply what I learn, if I’m asking relevant questions.

If a scene plays out before us, but the lens of the camera is zoomed in too close we might see a tough-looking boy shove a pretty little girl down on harsh concrete and cause her to drop her ice cream or teddy bear; skin her knees and dirty her dress, perhaps even break her arm if he falls on top of her.

When we zoom back and see the scene unfold in context, we might see that he wasn’t being mean at all. Rather, he was shoving her out of the way of an oncoming truck she failed to pay attention to. In reality, what could have looked like he was being rough and mean to her, can actually be his attempt to save her life.

Without pulling back on the lens, we might become angry and unfairly accuse the boy of wrong doing or seek to punish him. Our anger or grief might blind us to the possibility that there was something else happening, that what we perceived as reality, though it was real, was not the complete picture.

Do you think perhaps we sometimes accuse God of dealing with us unfairly? Do we sometimes get angry at Him for allowing unnecessary roughness?

1 Corinthians 13:8-12 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

The Key to the Kingdom Part 6

England is a tremendous ocean away from everything I knew. But God’s divine appointments were many, and right away we found ourselves seated in a little missionary church. The congregation was comprised of military families and the local Brits.

So many of the ‘truths’ I’d learned were challenged. Having always been full of questions, I pursued those challenges by asking my questions and searching out the answers. I thought surely the wise women and men of God that were now in my life would grow weary of my questions. But they didn’t. They continued to point me into God’s Word with every question I asked. It was joked that on my tombstone it would say, ‘But wait, I have one more question!’ The most common response to my questions was, ‘Did you check in the Word?’ That frustrated me, because I wanted quick easy answers. But it taught me that every question I have is answered in the Bible.

Within five months after arriving in England, I sat crying in my seat on the back row of the church, asking Jesus to forgive me of my sins and come into my heart to live forever. But that couldn’t have happened until I believed that God truly loved me! That was the truth that the devil used so many lies to hide. That truth is the key to the kingdom of God. God’s Word says that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35, 38-39 KJV

That means nothing can separate us from the love of God. Not the devil’s lies, not his weapons of choice, nothing we think, say or do…. Nothing! Selah, pause and think about that and take a look into God’s Word for yourself!

Five Riddles

Here are the five riddles I promised you yesterday. And yes, I've provided the answers.


1. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three
rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of
assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that
haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him?

2. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over
5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go
out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?

3. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when
you throw it away?

4. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words
Wednesday, Friday or Sunday?

5. This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious as to just how quickly
you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so ordinary
and plain that you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact,
nothing is wrong with it! It is highly unusual though. Study it and
think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work
at it a bit, you might find out. Try to do so without any coaching!




THE ANSWERS TO THE * FIVE RIDDLES * .

1. The third room. Lions that haven't eaten in three years are dead.
That one was easy, right?

2. The woman was a photographer. She shot a picture of her husband,
developed it, and hung it up to dry (shot-held under water-and hung.

3. Charcoal, as it is used in barbecuing.

4. Sure you can name three consecutive days: yesterday, today and
tomorrow!

5. The letter 'e', which is the most common letter used in the English
language, does not appear even once in the paragraph.


That was fun - questions are so good for the mind!

A 'Funny' Break

Since we've been talking about questions I decided to share an email I got the other day... filled with questions. Funny questions! They remind me of an old column about 'things that make you go, hmmmm.....'




Can you cry under water?

Why do you have to 'put your two cents in'... but it's only a 'penny for your thoughts'? Where's that extra penny going to?

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they 'slept like a baby' when babies wake up like every two hours?

If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway...

Why is 'bra' singular and 'panties' plural?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your butt?

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting dead?

Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is not enough money?

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?

If people evolved from apes,why are there still apes?

Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?

In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

Why do they have braille at the bank drive up window?


Tomorrow I'll post five funny riddles (and the answers) for you.

Ezer Part 12

It can be very hard to make sense of the world around us. I was talking with a lovely waitress the other day about tragedies that befall the most innocent among us. After stating that she believes in God, she asked with a pained face, ‘Why? How does a loving God allow this?’ That’s a tough question. The only answers I have aren’t usually enough to soften the face of the one asking. It’s a question we’ve all wrestled with, especially when the tragedy hits close to home.

I can say from experience that God will use our tragedies for our good and His glory. He’s done it in my life time and time again. Knowing this to be true doesn’t always make the next interruption of pain or sorrow any easier though. Maybe it would if we learned everything we needed to learn the first time around. But there’s always more to learn.

I do not for one minute believe that God causes tragedies. But I do believe He allows them to occur, because He’s allowed us all to make choices. Most of the time we won’t understand why or what good could possible come out of any tragedy. Oftentimes it’s not until after healing begins to take place that we can look back and see God’s hand in motion. Even then, or years later, there are things we look back at and still can’t make any sense of them. But still, His mercy is there.
One thing I know is that God is good, all the time. He is merciful and faithful to a merciless and faithless people. He trusts us, even when we don’t trust ourselves. In Jeremiah 29:13 God tells us: And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. In the midst of your heartache and grief, search for Him. He promises that you will find Him.

To be continued…