Soul Sister 3:16

Hi there - today is my 400th post and I am wrestling a bit... so I'm asking for your prayers. I started this blog o ver a year ago, convinced it was something God wanted me to do.  It was way out of my comfort zone, and certainly not something I’d have done 10 years before, but  I had hoped that i n some way, it might help people get closer to Him. I knew that once I had finally given my life to God, EVERYTHING in my life changed, and  I desperately wanted people to experience the same JOY and PEACE I have felt since making that decision.   As they say, “I was like a poor beggar telling others where they could find food”. For months, the posts flowed easily and I would feel the Holy Spirit's inspiration…the words on the page practically writing themselves.  However, I'm not sure that is still the case.  Sometimes I feel as if I am struggling to hear His voice, and I honestly don't want to be writing MY thoughts - I want to be sharing HIS. So, I'm going to t...

" He is Risen! -  He is Risen, Indeed!"... The cries of Easter. Regardless of your faith - Historians all agree - THE TOMB WAS EMPTY! Now, some say the disciples came in the middle of the night - did something to the guards (or sneaked up while they were sleeping), broke the Roman seal on the tomb, rolled away the rock that blocked the entrance, and stole the body of Jesus... But there is another option.  Option #2, the Biblical account - the one which says that when the women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body and prepare it for death (because rules had forbidden them to do so on the Sabbath), they found the guards gone, the stone rolled away from the tomb, and the tomb empty! And the women saw two men who "gleamed like lightning" who said, "why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen!  Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ' The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners,...

Imagine having spent the last three years of your life following around a man you believed was the Messiah.  A man who, just as Moses did with Pharaoh, would deliver your people once again from the oppressive rule of the government - in this case, the Romans... Imagine seeing this deliverer, this Messiah, bloodied and beaten, stripped, and nailed to a cross... Imagine watching him DIE.  No angels to save him.  No miraculous "bursting forth with righteous anger" to do what you thought he would do. No.   His death was the death of a criminal.  A traitor. Imagine knowing the lengths the religious leaders of the day were willing to go to stop what they believed was an insurrection and blasphemy against the teachings of Moses... Imagine your fear - knowing everyone had seen you WITH Jesus.  Following Him.  Being one of his disciples? What do you feel? Frightened?  Betrayed?  Foolish?   Despondent  Hunted?  John 20;19 says "On t...

The dictionary defines g race as "Unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification. A virtue coming from God.  Approval.  Favor." And today, as I think about the crucifixion of Jesus - the word GRACE is certainly one that comes to mind. Of course I think about God's grace for the human race - offering an innocent sacrifice, a Paschal lamb as it were - without stain of sin, to pay the ultimate price for the sake of humanity - but there is more. Think about Peter, Jesus' friend and apostle, who - just as Jesus had predicted, denied knowing Jesus three times - out of fear for his own safety and life.  Peter, who then - after hearing the cock crow, remembered Jesus' prediction and then wept bitterly.  Peter, who - after Jesus was crucified, returned to Galilee.  When he and is friend John were fishing - they saw a man on the shore who said, "'Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.' When th...

  All throughout Jerusalem, Jewish pilgrims had gathered to celebrate the Passover - that time where the final plague was delivered to the Egyptians before Pharaoh let the Israelites go. God had heard the cries of his people as they toiled for 400 years under the harsh rule of the Egyptians.  He called Moses (a man who had once lived in the home and under the protection of Pharaoh himself) to be the Israelites deliverer. Nine different times, God sent plagues upon the Egyptians - blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, pestilence, boils, fiery hail, locusts and darkness - but still Pharaoh would NOT relent and let the people go.  So, God sent a final plague - one in which the first born of every household, of every animal - would be killed.   However, before he sent the plague he told Moses that in the homes of the Israelites - they should slaughter a lamb, then use its blood to cover the doorframe of their houses.  God told Moses that as the angel of death would...

In the city of Jerusalem stands a church called  The Church of the Holy Sepulcher.   It has been proposed as the place of both the death and resurrection of Jesus, and it has been a place for pilgrimages since the 4th century. Considered holy, the site is cared for by no less than six denominations including Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Roman Catholic, Coptic, Ethiopian and Syriac Orthodox.  As such, it has been carefully parsed out into sections.  And sadly, arguments and violent clashes are not uncommon. Jim visited the church once on a trip with Northridge and told me about "The Immovable Ladder".  Apparently the ladder is a " bizzare outcome of religious stubbornness pushed to extremes. " For " Sometime in the first half of the 18th century, someone placed a ladder up against the wall of the church. No one is sure who he was, or more importantly, to which sect he belonged.  The ladder remains there to this day.  No one dares touch it, l...

Today’s Holy Week post has me thinking about the 12 disciples. ONLY JESUS Can you name Jesus' 12 disciples?  If you've been watching The Chosen or reading your Bible regularly, you might be able to.  However - there are some, who - at least for me, are a bit in the shadows. Sure I know Simon/Peter, and his brother Andrew .  And then there was James and John, the sons of Thunder (or Zebedee to be exact).  There was Matthew, and Thomas, and Judas Iscariot.  And there was Simon the Zealot, and another James...but...but...a nd here is where my mind isn't as good at remembering.   So I Googled it. There was also Philip - a Jewish man from Bethsaida who apparently was the one to tell Nathaniel (another lesser known disciple) that "The One" Moses and the prophets had foretold in the Old Testament, was here.  Following Jesus' death Philip became a missionary in Greece and for his outspoken faith proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God - Philip was stoned and...

Swayed -  Yesterday was Palm Sunday - a day I used to love as a little girl. I loved the fact that each person got one long palm frond as they walked into the service.  I loved waving my frond around (admittedly sometimes instead of paying attention to the service).  I loved the thought of Jesus riding into town on the back of a donkey (I can still remember the “Little Gray Donkey” song I sang as part of the children’s choir).  And I loved making my palm into a little cross on the car ride home.  However, I did NOT love the readings. For in them, the crowd quickly went from one which lined the streets to welcome Jesus, shouting “ Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matthew 21:9), to one standing below Pilate, demanding the release of Barabbas while shouting “Cruicify Him!”  (Matthew 27:22, Mark 15:13, Luke 23:21) when asked what to do with Jesus. I think it speaks t...

Good morning and Happy Sunday! As we begin this final week before Easter, God is pressing on my heart to dig into Jesus in a series of posts.  The first one I want to tackle is on WORSHIP. DO NOT COUNT THE COST -  About a month ago, Jim and I had an opportunity to watch Season 4 of The Chosen in the theatre, and one of the stories that made me smile was the one about the woman who anointed Jesus' feet. (I must pause here - for the gospels differ a bit in their telling of this story <see Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, Luke 7:36-50, and John 12:1-8> and  The Chosen  based their retelling of the on the version found in John). In a memorable episode, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  By then, we'd spent a bit of time getting to know the characters of that story.  Lazarus was Jesus' childhood friend.  Martha, the oldest sister was hard working - spending much of her days working hard to serve those who were guests in the family household.  Then...

Yesterday was an extremely lazy day for me.   The snow was falling, the sky was gray, it was cold outside - and I honestly didn't do a whole lot.  I DID however, binge watch a show that came out last year called TRAITORS. Like so many others, this one was reality TV where folks agreed to go to Scotland and spend time in a castle playing a game where they were pitted against one another for the chance to win a portion of $250,000.   The premise was simple.  On the first night of the game they were chosen by the producers to either be one of the "faithful", or a "traitor".  Each night, those labeled traitors had the opportunity to "murder" someone - causing that person to have to leave the game.  And each night everyone (traitors and faithful) banded together so they could attempt to "banish" one of the traitors by voting them out.  At the end - those banished revealed whether they were part of the faithful or one of the traitors. Finally, at t...

When kids are learning to drive, they are taught about blind spots - these spaces in their peripheral vision that mirrors won't pick up on.   And young drivers are warned to check their blind spots, for that is where a car that might cause great damage - could be lurking. I have heard it said that people have blind spots too.  Little areas that keep the flaws in our character hidden from ourselves, allowing us to be the "hero in our own stories", even when that "hero" might be offensive to someone else.  When we look in the mirror - we can't see these things - however i t might be an interesting exercise to ask the people who know you best, what "blind spots" they see that we could work on.  Because even if we can't see the things lurking in our blind spots, people close to us can, and God certainly does! In Psalm 139:23-24 David prays this: "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offe...

Wednesdays are Bible Study night and last night was my last day of studying with the D.A. Carson guide - " The God Who is There ". For me, the book has been hard with Carson going down lots of rabbit holes, seemingly only to elevate the number of pages in the book - BUT last night's talk was on the last two chapters, " The God Who is Very Angry ", and " The God Who Triumphs " First, let me start with the simple and undeniable truth that God LOVES people and doesn't want anyone to perish... But PERISH THEY WILL if they choose a life without Him, without understanding and resting on the sacrifice of Jesus - the one who suffered and died FOR US.  Who took OUR punishment on the cross, and sanctified us with His death. For "the wages of sin is death". And if God doesn't follow through on that promise, He would be unjust. But listen to this description of Hell and what will happen to those who choose NOT to believe, who have "drunk the...

March is Women's History Month and since I know a whole lot of wonderful women, I figure before the whole month gets by me, I’d better write something. In Biblical times, women were considered property.  They were "chattel", merely "things" to remain in the background, and whose purpose was only to procreate and serve man. But that wasn't the way God intended it. From the very moment God created Adam and Eve He gave them equal but distinct roles.  They were to be "partners", BOTH created in the imagine of God,  Made to be helpmates to one another women were to men a sort of yin and yang of complimentary skills, talents and abilities. And I do not believe that it is coincidental that God, whose words and character are shown through the Bible, includes stories that focus on women. Take for instance the book of Esther - a lowly Jewish girl who is elevated to Queen so that she may save the entire Jewish nation from slaughter. Or Abigail - a humble woma...

Genesis 18 and 19 tells the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, two towns whose citizens turned away from God. Because of their wickedness, God sent two angels to investigate the "cries against the cities", and to destroy the towns and all of their inhabitants, save for one man, Lot, and his family. After seeing for their own the depravity that was present in the towns, the angels told Lot to leave in order to save his family.   But when Lot told his sons-in-law they did not believe him, and thought he was joking , so they stayed back.  And "with the coming of the dawn the angels urged Lot, saying, 'Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished...Flee for your lives!  Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain!  Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!'" Genesis 19:12,17 (NIV) "But Lot's wife looked back longingly, and she became a pillar of salt." - Genesis ...

This past weekend I got the picture above from a wonderful poet, author, and artist friend - Jen Gurney.   Jen and I have known each other since middle school and still keep in touch.  She is the kind of person friends gather to meet with when she visits from Colorado, because she embraces life with a most beautiful soul. When she sent the picture she said, "s aw this today and instantly thought of your blog... made me think of my Mom's reaction...and your Dad's.  Made me so happy! " It made me happy too! The band, Mercy Me wrote a song titled, " I Can Only Imagine ".  Its lyrics go like this: Surrounded by Your glory What will my heart feel? Will I dance for You Jesus Or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in Your presence Or to my knees, will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine Jesus said this - "Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God, believe also in me.  My father's house has many...

WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?!?! At the end of the 1600's, John Milton wrote a long poem called Paradise Lost .  "The poem is a retelling of the story of Adam and Eve from the biblical book of Genesis which describes the creation of Heaven and Earth and of Adam and Eve.  It fleshes out the story and imagines the couples reactions to the events that led to them being expelled from the Garden of Eden (Paradise)". (Loughborough University) I woke up in a bit of a panic this morning. I thought, if we could reject paradise on Earth, why couldn't we do the same in Heaven?  Is there a chance that when we get there, we could once again choose to go our own way and leave God?  Satan did… And heck, the ENTIRE Bible is story after story about God working to gather His people to redeem them, only for them to rebel and go their own way... He gave us FREE WILL, and it is that freedom which causes us (over and over again) to search for other gods, or to make OURSELVES our own god. So how...

...and foolish! The end is coming.   “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows." - Mark 13.32 But the Bible says there WILL be signs, and the book of Revelation is FULL of end time prophesy.  So if we've spent time reading and studying it we may see the clues as they are occurring all around us. Take, for example, Revelation 16:12 - "The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East." In a February 8th, 2024 article in the the online magazine Discover - the title of one of the articles reads " Is the Euphrates River Drying Up? "  Their conclusion was, "YES". And what about Revelation 13:16-17, which says the beast "forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads so that they ...

If you get a chance today - look up the name Mary Johnson-Roy. Mary is a woman who - in a mind-blowing act of grace, forgave her son's killer.  She’s not the only person who has done something like this… In February of 1993, Mary's 20-year-old son was shot dead by 16-year-old boy named Oshea Israel after a dispute at a party. Following the shooting, Mary says she was "angry and hated this boy.  Hated his mother."  She said she "wanted him to be caged up like the animal he was." To help her get past the loss, Mary started a support group for other mothers whose children had been killed.  But as time passed, she felt an urge to meet Israel face-to-face, and to practice the forgiveness her faith in Jesus taught her. May went to the prison where Oshea Israel was being held, and asked to meet with him.   At first, Oshea was caught off-guard and refused to meet with his victim's mother.  However, after nine-months of persistent requests, he agreed. ...

Before I went to Rome on my honeymoon I told Jim I did NOT want to spend a bunch of time in churches while we were there.   As someone who, at the time, felt a little jaded by “religion” I thought we had MUCH better things to do. However, just outside of our hotel - only steps away, stood the Basillica of Sant'Andrea della Valle .  The building - which began construction in 1591, was completed in 1622 - some 31 years later. When I stepped into the church - my jaw dropped! Built without cranes or modern equipment - this church is STUNNING.  From its frescoed ceilings right down to its ornately tiled floors, the whole thing is incredibly beautiful.  And after seeing it, I wanted to visit EVERY church in Rome. You see - this is what went through my head ... Four hundred years before I stood in that church, mouth open, eyes wide - admiring its beauty, people spent their entire adult lives building it.  FOUR HUNDRED YEARS!!!!    They worked at it because th...

They say the book of Ephesians was written by the apostle Paul during his first imprisonment in Rome sometime around 60 A.D. (that's about 27 years after Jesus died on the cross). That means Paul was around 56 or so when he wrote the book. Now I've been to Rome and I've seen the Mamertine prison where he was most likely held. The cell is below ground and is dark and damp and cold.  There is a hole in the ceiling, presumably from which food is thrown down.  It is a horrible, small, foreboding place and certainly one in which MY thoughts would most likely be focused on my misery. However, it is here that Paul writes to the early church in Ephesus, urging them not to allow division, or to prioritize their status as either Gentile or Jew.  Instead, he says, it is their shared commitment to the cause of Christ and their belief in His divinity that should unite them. In Ephesians 4 he writes, "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling ...

“Any last words?” Is often something we hear in movies as a question that is asked just before someone is executed. And while the Gospels of both Matthew and Mark proclaim that Jesus “cried out” one more time after saying, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me”, only Luke records Jesus’ last words.   They were, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” - Luke 23:46.  But did you know that once again Jesus was quoting from the book of Psalms?   Psalm 31:5 to be exact, a Psalm of David, which says, ”Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.“ ‭That Psalm, the one Jesus decided to quote as His last words before he died on the cross for our sins, is poignant because this is how it ends: “Love the Lord, all his faithful people! The Lord preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.“ - Psalm 31:23-24 You see Jesus knew with certainty that his death was not th...

Robert Frost once wrote the words, "The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.  And miles to go before I sleep." The concept of traveling "miles" before "sleeping" would not have surprised the Apostle Paul.  Paul.  The man who wrote most of the New Testament was once called Saul.  As Saul he was born a Roman citizen.  Jewish, he was learned in the Scriptures and felt that "The Way", this growing group of people who claimed Jesus had risen from the dead and truly was the Son of God, was heresy. He felt it his DUTY to squelch the movement, to wipe it off the face of the map, before it grew too strong.  Saul was there when Stephen was stoned to death. And when Saul learned that the town of Damascus had become a center for the early Christians, he asked permission to travel there, and bring those practicing Christianity back to face trial. But on the road to Damascus he had an encounter with Jesus...

The other day I saw the following on a friend's Facebook page: A pastor asked an older farmer to say grace for the morning prayer breakfast they were having at the Church. "Lord, I hate buttermilk," began the farmer.   The visiting pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wondered where this was going. The farmer then loudly proclaimed, "And Lord, I hate lard." Now the pastor was growing concerned... Without missing a beat, the farmer continued, "And Lord, you know I don't care much for raw white flour."   The pastor opened both eyes now and looked about the room to see he wasn't the only one who was feeling uncomfortable. Then the farmer added, "But Lord, when you mix those things all together and bake them, I sure do love the fresh, warm biscuits that result.  So Lord, when things come up that we don't like, when life gets hard, and when we don't understand what you're saying to us, help us to just relax and wait unt...