Socks and Cards

Greeting Cards.

We don’t send or give as many as we used to. 
Especially the handwritten message inside the card kind. 

What brought this on?
A sock drawer. No kidding. Cleaning out a sock drawer.

Tucked away in the sock drawer along with socks, socks, and more socks were cards, cards, and more cards. 
Years of cards. 
Some of those cards or envelopes contained hand-written notes.
Some of those strokes of ink came from people who today do not travel earth’s sod. 

To see words written to us by their own hand — well, it’s pretty special. 

Did we keep every card?
Well, no we didn’t.
But more than a few we did.
As I said to J. we can’t discard hand-written messages. Those who took the time and care to pick up a pen, apply it to paper and send it on its way – that message is meant to be treasured.  At least by us – those who come behind us may find File 13 is completely appropriate. 

My point?
Written words live on. We need to write more, I think. 
To those we love. 
To those who have encouraged us.
To those, we want to encourage.

Letter writing was once a beautiful, fine art.
We paid attention to paper style, ink color, and its feel as it flowed onto the parchment, appearance, content. All these things we deemed important — once.

Why did we abandon this lovely expression of friendship and love? 

Who can you send a hand-written message of love and encouragement to today? 
Who can I? 

 

Father, today’s post on its surface is light; certainly not a heavy-lifter but it is my hope that You can use it to encourage us. To encourage us to make personal, meaningful connections with one another. To put it in writing when someone gives us a reason to smile. You, obviously, think written words are important. And speaking of Your Written Word, help us to neither add to nor subtract away from Your Holy Word but always treasure, cherish, and share Your WORD with each other. 
So I ask that each Reader who comes to this page today or for as long as this account remains that You will take a reading on their hearts, dig deep into their needs and bring them healing, relief, peace, joy, rescue, deliverance — whatever it is, Father. Thank You for loving us and always hearing us when we pray in and because of the Merits of Your Son, JESUS The CHRIST.

He Lived Where?

Mark 2 

Born in Bethlehem   
Escaped to Egypt     
Raised in Nazareth
Lived in Capernaum

From just this information, are you able to identify the person?

Mark 2:1 After a while, Yeshua returned to K’far-Nachum [Capernaum]. The word spread that he was back, 
and so many people gathered around the house that there was no longer any room, not even in front of the door. While he was preaching the message to them, 
four men came to him carrying a paralyzed man.  source

The word spread He was back.
This is important to me. 

Needy people, sick people, honest-seeking people, curious people, and Pharisee People — they all heard He was back, and immediately they came.  Ponder that for a bit, let it simmer, and taste how delicious it is. 

The GODMAN. He was (and still is) the most loved and the most hated of people of all time. 

Matthew 4:12 When Yeshua heard that Yochanan [John] had been put in prison, he returned to the Galil [Galilee];
13 but he left Natzeret [Nazareth] and came to live in K’far-Nachum [Capernaum], a lake shore town near the boundary between Z’vulun [Zabulon] and Naftali [Nephthalim]source
[added]

So The LORD had a place in Capernaum. 
We could study The GODMAN endlessly and we would never come to an end of Him.

We have the GOD-given Right to LIVE RIGHT in this WRONG world. 

Times How Much?

Genesis 7

Verse 1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation. source

So what does it take to be seen righteous before the LORD?

Of ALL the people on the earth at the time of this event, ONLY Noah and his household was seen to be righteous before The LORD. 
NO. ONE. ELSE.
Not a single other soul. 
What was life like on the planet? 
The corruption, the evilness must have been like America multiplied and intensified times; times how much??  
I don’t even know times how much! 

The Scripture says Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5 

From the fruit the media reports it seems to me there are humans living today to whom verse 5 applies. 
Let it not be any of us! 

Back to the question. 
What does it take to be seen righteous before The LORD?

Well, if we go back to Genesis 6 again we will read:  ” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LordThese are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.”  source 

What does it mean to walk with GOD
Perhaps you will agree it is to live in agreement with GOD; to say what GOD says about sin, life, and death. 

And what does GOD say about sin, life, and death? 
And how has HE spoken to us? 
HE has spoken to us by, through, and in His SON. Hebrews 1:2
Perhaps you will read all of Hebrews 1 for a fuller understanding. 

I’ve heard it preached that the People of the Old Testament looked forward to the cross of JESUS with saving faith and we of the New Testament look back to the cross of JESUS with saving faith. 

Do you get the picture? 

It’s obedience to what GOD reveals to us.
And how has He revealed Himself? Through His Son, JESUS CHRIST.

Noah did that. GOD told him to build an ark on dry land — he did it! 

Noah did what he heard GOD say even though what GOD said looked to be the most stupid thing a person could do on planet earth. 
That ‘stupid’ act of obedience preserved the earthly lives of Noah, his wife, his sons, his sons’ wives, animals, birds, cattle, and . . . . 

Would we be here if Noah had failed to obey GOD?

Obedience to GOD is the most important of all things, wouldn’t you agree? 

We will not fully know until our day of accounting just what our faithful obedience to the Father has done — but of this I am confident: IT WILL BE GOOD!
And we will be glad we obeyed! Every single time! 

A Clip this Morning

2022: The Covid Crisis, Totalitarianism, Antichrist | John MacArthur Interview Clip

See what you think of it. 

Full Interview HERE.

If we listen carefully, if we follow the Science and logic that is revealed here, we understand more fully what has been done to us since 2020. 
AND we are reminded again that GOD is faithful; that He is worthy of our trust and our obedience at all cost. 

The Last of 2021

Two Thousand Twenty-One. 
How did it go so quickly I might ask. Another might say I thought it would never be over. 

Yes, we are just hours away from the chiming in of 2022. Would you be offended if I wonder why we make such a big deal of it?
Today is December 31, 2021. 
At midnight it will be January 1, 2022. 
Is it really more than that? 

I remember the turning from December 31, 1999, to January 1, 2000 — we wondered if our banking, utilities, etc. would cease to compute and we would be in mass chaos at the stroke of midnight for the foreseeable future. 
But the dawn came, the sun soon beamed and the birds sang. 
I expect it will be just so come the morning.

Is the turning of a year any more than that – just another day? 
Is it really more than that? 
If we make it so — it is. 

If we embrace the New Day of the New Year as a New Beginning, renewal is more than possible, it’s likely.
I am reminded of Scripture. That
all things are possible with GOD; that His mercies are new every morning. That applies to in the morning for all who awaken to the morning’s light. 
We get to choose GOD or not. 

Let us choose wisely.
The unfolding of our year, our families and our emotional well-being in large portion depends on our choices. 

I borrowed this picture from a Friend’s Facebook Page and offer it here with minor edits.
It’s not profound but I liked the play-on-of-words as we
take off into this new year. 🙂