Soul Sister 3:16

  IN LIKE A LION/OUT LIKE A LAMB There is a saying people often quote when talking about the month of March, it's :   “In like a lion and out like a lamb”. That strikes me as funny because in the Bible Jesus is often referred to as both a lion and a lamb, and today I wanted to explore that thought a little. In Revelation 5:5 we read, “Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”   The lion this passage refers to is a conquering, victorious king who descended from Judah’s (one of Jacob’s twelve sons) lineage.   We know this verse at the end of the Bible is referring to Jesus, and it is the fulfillment of a prophecy issued way back at the beginning of the Bible in the words found in Genesis 49:8-12. I suspect that a LION is exactly what the Jews had hoped for when they were looking to Jesus as the Messiah.   They wanted Him to b...

  Thirsty Thursday! My son is a college student and he tells me not much has changed since I went to school.   Thursdays are still “thirsty Thursdays.” That thought reminded me of the story of Jesus’ first miracle, recounted in John 2:1-11.   Jesus, his mother, and some of his disciples had gone to the wedding of a friend.   In those days, weddings lasted for days, and at this one apparently the people were drinking a LOT because the wine ran out.   Jesus’ mother implored him to help, and told the servants to “do whatever He tells you.” The story says there were six stone water jugs (of about 18 – 27 gallons each).   Jesus told the servants to fill each of the jugs with water, and then take some of the wine to the headwaiter.   The waiter tasted it, and then said to the groom, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the guests are drunk, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine til now” (John 2:10) Wow – wate...

Dracula and Demons I remember seeing Tod Browning’s Dracula as a young girl.   Bela Lugosi terrified me.   The thought of something that on the outside looked dashing and mysterious (but on the inside was pure evil), waiting to take hold of my soul, was one that caused me to make sure my windows were tightly locked at night! Today though I had an interesting thought… Satan is a lot like a vampire. He cannot enter a home (or your heart) without an invitation.   James 4:7 reminds us to “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. He fears the sunlight (or Son light).  “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed” – John 3:20 The attack will often come when we are “sleeping.”  1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 says, “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day.   We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.   So then, let us not be like...

The God of Second Chances  “The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” – Genesis 17:8 Today, while reading in the book of Joshua, I was struck by something I’d never noticed before…the stories in Exodus and Joshua, where Israel is on the verge of going into the land God has promised, have some interesting similarities: In both cases: ·          The Israelites celebrate a Passover meal – In Exodus it was the first Passover, in Joshua it was a celebration of God’s faithfulness. ·          God parts a body of water – in Exodus it was the Red Sea, in Joshua it was the Jordan river. ·          Spies are sent into the land first In Exodus, 10 of the 12 spies sent into Canaan report back that even though the land does indeed flow with milk and honey,...

Mustard Seed Faith Around my neck I wear a chain that has a tiny mustard seed, and a small silver cross. In Matthew 17:20 we hear Jesus say, “Truly I tell you if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there,’ and it will move.   Nothing will be impossible for you.” What an incredible thought! If you asked me I’d say, “yes, of course I have faith!”, and yet I find that more often than not I am like the man who wanted Jesus to heal his demon-possessed son.   When Jesus told him everything was possible for one who believes, the father replied, “I believe, help my unbelief!” So what does genuine mustard seed faith look like – well, A few weeks ago, Jim and I watched a movie titled, “Little Boy.”   The movie is set during World War II, and it is a story about a young, eight-year old boy who boy hears the parable of the mustard seed at church.   He then goes about trying to get the faith needed to end the war so ...

  Jeremy Bearimy In a television show called “The Good Place,” a show about the afterlife, I remember an episode where Michael (Ted Danson) explained to the newly dead how time worked in heaven.   He said that while humans experience time in a linear fashion, time in the afterlife “moves in a Jeremy Bearimy;” doubling back and looping around until it looked a little like the name Jeremy Bearimy written in cursive. For me, that silly little sitcom episode seemed to answer a question I’d been asking for a long time… I have often heard things like, “God knows the end,” or, “the end is already written,” but I wondered how that could be possible.   However, if a heavenly timeline were to move in a “Jeremy Bearimy,” – that would make a little more sense. There have been times in my life where if I look back, things that happened in my past perfectly prepared me for things in my future…conversations, acquisition of skills, people I’ve met, etc.   If the end is kno...

  The Present This morning I am in Alpena, Michigan, visiting friends, Jill and Wayne.   It is soon supposed to start snowing, and the prediction is that we will get up to 8”!   It has also been more than 6 weeks since that old groundhog, Punxsutawney Phi, saw his shadow, so at this point I’m getting tired of snow, and am instead wishing for Spring. And that brings me to the point of today’s devotional. I think a lot of time we spend our days wishing them away, focused on something that we hope will occur in the days to come, rather than enjoying the moments we are living RIGHT NOW. Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” I once heard something that said, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift…that’s why they call it the present.” .   None of us knows what tomorrow will bring, or even if we will HAVE a tomorrow; so spending too much time focused on that uncertain future...

Before my divorce, if you had asked me about the number of friends I had, I would have given you a number somewhere between 30-50.  That's because my husband and I regularly invited "friends" over for cocktails and dinner, or threw big parties attended by lots and lots of people... However, as I was going through my divorce, and was floundering because things were really difficult and I didn't yet have a relationship with God, I realized a lot of those people I had thought were friends had just been being friendly.   These so-called "friends" were not interested in being there when I needed them most, and in fact they were only interested in me when I could feed them, keep their cups full, or entertain. In yesterday's YOUVERSION Bible App, the verse of the day was Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." The verse implies that it is impossible for the one piece of iron to become sharper without the presence of anothe...

  Tick Tock Once, at church, one of our pastors gave each of us an 8’ (or 96”) measuring tape.   He pointed out that the average male lives about 70 years, and the average female about 75.   He asked us to consider that, then rip the measuring tape at the age we felt we would most likely “meet our maker”.   I think I ripped mine at about 92. Then, he told us to put a mark at the number on the tape that represented our current age. It was a stunningly sobering visual. Looking at that tape I realized so much of my life was already gone – and yet what had I done with it. Sure, I had a good job, with a large salary.   I had a big house, filled with lots of beautiful and expensive things.   I wore nice clothes, never had to look at my credit card statements, and paid all my bills on time.   But what of that mattered in an eternal sort of way? A sentence in James says this, “ What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and t...

  Sticks and Stones Do you remember the old saying, “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me?" I do. I remember my mother teaching it to me after some kids had called me a name, and I remember later using it as a retort, finishing with a “stick-my-tongue-out” flourish to make my point. However, the older I get the more I realize there is NO TRUTH in that little proverb, and a better one is this – “The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit.” – Proverbs 18:21 In confronting some of the religious leaders of His day, ones who were constantly berating and criticizing Him, Jesus said that the mouth will speak what the heart is full of (whether good or evil), and at the day of judgement, we will be judged by the words we have spoken (see Matthew 12:34-37). That makes me anxious…because while I KNOW that heaven awaits me when I die, I also know my words are not always loving, forgiving, grace-filled, or kind. ...

  Three People Who Have Never Been In My Kitchen On the show Cheers, Cliff Claven, resident know-it-all, goes on Jeopardy and is stumped by the clue, “Archibald Leach, Bernard Schwartz, and Lucille LeSueur.”   Instead of the correct answer, “what were the real names of Cary Grant, Tony Curtis and Joan Crawford”, Cliff answers, “Who are three people who’ve never been in my kitchen”. I think of that answer when I hear the names Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The old saying goes, “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”, and while these three have never been in MY kitchen, they have known “the heat.”   You see they were the guys who stood up to King Nebuhadnezar and refused to worship the golden image he had made of himself. In the story told in Daniel 3, old Neb gets quite angry when he’s told that the three men he’s put in charge of Babylon are unwilling to worship the golden image he has erected of himself.   He summons the men and tells them th...

  Angels in the Outfield When I was 31, a movie titled “Angels in the Outfield” was playing in the movie theatres.   Critics hated it, and if you check out “Rotten Tomatoes” you’ll see it didn’t fare too well with audiences either.   However, I loved it. Maybe I’m a sucker for a schmaltzy sports movie, but the story of the foster kid Roger – who loves the Anaheim Angels despite their no-win streak, and who begs for help from on high for his flagging team, always made me smile. The Bible tells us that angels exist and that God uses them in many ways.   They: ·          Relay messages from Him (Genesis 22:11-22) ·          Praise and worship Him (Isaiah 6:2-3) ·          Provide protection for His people (Psalm 91:11-12) The Bible also tells us they walk among us.   What an incredible thought! My husband Jim is convinced he has en...

  It Is Well with My Soul In the late 1800s, a man named Horatio Spafford was a successful lawyer and businessman living in Chicago.   He and his wife Anna had five children which they adored, they were active in their church, and they were always welcoming visitors.   Sadly, i n 1870, Horatio and Anna’s four-year-old son died of scarlet fever.   A year later the great fire swept through their city and many of the properties Horatio and his wife owned were destroyed.   Their wealth was decimated. In 1873 Horatio decided the family should go on holiday to England.   However, b ecause he still had a bit of work to do, he sent his wife and four daughters ahead.   T he steamship they were on sank, and the four daughters (aged 11, 9, 5 and 2) also died. Amazingly, upon hearing the news, Horatio wrote the song “It Is Well with My Soul”. I am astounded by this man’s faith and courage in the face of so much tragedy – but I am reminded of stories my s...

  Within Reach Have you ever seen one of those disaster films where two astronauts are out in space – tethered to their ship, and the line on one of the astronauts breaks?   Invariably at this point the music swells and there are desperate moments of tension while the audience waits for the script to play out.   Will the remaining astronaut be able to reach out a hand and save the one floating away, or will the untethered astronaut float away into the dark, cold space? As I was thinking about our relationship with God today, that picture came to mind.   Who is beyond God’s reach?   ·          Adulterers? ·          Murderers? ·          Liars? ·          Drunkards? ·          Thieves? No, the Bible shows us that despite our flaws – God still love...

  Fish on Friday If you are Catholic, your meal this evening will probably be fish.   As one who spent 25 years in the Catholic church I can tell you that I never understood why.  If you ask the question at uscatholic.org , it says the tradition suggests a number of reasons, and they cite: ·          Foregoing meat was forgoing a luxury ·          Since Friday was the day that Christ died, abstaining from the shedding (and consuming) of blood seems appropriate. ·          Friday, the sixth day, was also the day that God created animals, so abstaining from meat is a symbolic “stay of execution” for cows, pigs, and sheep—just as the cross saves us from eternal death. And finally, the website says, ·          Hebrew scriptures also tell of Leviathan, a gigantic primordial sea-creature that represents dea...

  Life’s Little Instruction Book In 1992 a man named H. Jackson Brown Jr. wrote something called “Life’s Little Instruction Book as a gift for his son who was leaving for college. The book was full of little pieces of advice like, “Overtip breakfast waitresses”, “Be the first to say ‘hello’”, and “Learn to make great chili”.   I LOVED IT, because up until that point I’d thought life NEEDED an instruction book. That’s before I opened my first Bible. You see the Bible is the greatest instruction book ever, and God gave it to us as a gift.   2 Timothy 3:16-17 says , All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Feeling worried and anxious, try Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.” In an argument, Proverbs 15:1...

Beware the Ides of March The tale I remember from my history classes in school (thank you Mr. Rutz), is that Plutarch, a Greek philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist and priest at the Temple of Apollo, warned Julius Caesar to "beware the Ides of March". I wonder how things might have been different if Caesar had taken this counsel to heart. We often ignore the warning signs that are right in front of us, and my friends - the Bible is full of them, but particularly what things might look like when we get close to Jesus' return. Mark 13:7-8, and Luke 21:9-11 both tell us that the days before Jesus' return will be ones where there are wars and rumors of wars, and nations will rise against nation.  There will be earthquakes and famines and terrors and "great signs from heaven."  Yes, the Bible tells us it is going to be a bumpy ride, so it is good for us to heed the warnings and know the signs. The good news though, is that the end of the story has already...

Love Your Neighbor This St. Patrick’s Day is also “Match Day”.  It is a day when med school students about to graduate get “matched” with a hospital for their residency.  It is a complicated process with a big algorithm and it will affect the lives of my niece and her husband as they are both about to be “matched”. My sister is planning a dinner to either celebrate or commiserate and my son and I were invited, but my husband was not.  My sister said it was because she wants to be sure her daughter is surrounded by the people she loves and has a long term relationship with.  I know my niece and husband have different views on a lot of things and their interactions haven’t always been fun for my niece (though if you asked my husband he thinks they were just having a debate…).   In any case, while I understand Mindy’s rationale, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. In Mark 12:31 Jesus tells us to “love our neighbor”, but the truth is there are people in ou...