Category Archives: Christian Living

Christian Living, For Fun, Guests

From the Deck

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Good Wednesday morning! 

I am shocked and thrilled. I am writing to you from the deck. Can you believe the temps in Lower Alabama are cooperating on July 2? However, the sun is peeking steadily through the backyard trees … I know my time is short. 

I came out in the quiet of the morning to sit with ABBA and my study book from Leah Adams, HeBrews A Better Blend. HeBrews-Cover1-796x1024May I tell you I am thrilled with this study. So far since starting yesterday I have completed days 1, 2 and 3. It is a just right study for Summer. It’s insightful, spirit-provoking but in a gentle way; and not overwhelming for our Summer schedules. I hope you will seriously consider getting a copy, brew yourself a cup of your favorite, while you let Him serve you a slice of sweetness for your soul through the pen of His willing servant.  By the way, Leah has tucked a favorite recipe of hers into each week’s study. This week is Cream Cheese Pound Cake. I have not baked it yet but the Draftsman (my beloved JT) says, ‘YES do that!’

Just for fun a phrase for us to ponder: The same breeze that refreshes me, turns the page I’m reading before I am ready.

What’s that say?

Love and blessings, my Friends

Hebrews 2:1 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

2 Therefore, we must pay much more careful heed to the things we have heard, so that we will not drift away.
via Hebrews 2:1 KJV;CJB – Therefore we ought to give the more – Bible Gateway.

Day 183 of 2014, a day to give Thanks.

Kathie

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Christian Living

Any Thoughts?

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The shortest verse in the Bible. We all know it, right? 

John 11:35
Jesus wept.
via John 11:34-36 KJV;CJB – And said, Where have ye laid him? They – Bible Gateway.

A favorite of young folks for a fast memorization check off. Just two words. Two words packed with more information that we have yet to fathom. 

JESUS. GOD of the Universe cried! And not just a sniffle. Not just a tear or two trickling down His holy face. How do we know that? Read verse 36.

36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
via John 11:34-36 KJV;CJB – And said, Where have ye laid him? They – Bible Gateway.

First let us recall the setting was a graveyard. Lazarus had been dead four days and the lamenting had not let up. Jesus had come to raise Lazarus from the dead; although, no one suspected that.

And there before the sepulcher JESUS WEPT. Why? Why do any of us cry? We are MOVED with emotion. So was JESUS. Imagine that! GOD moved with emotion. And some think if He even has any emotion it is mostly anger, just waiting for us to mess up so He can zap us – forget tears of compassion, right? 

Wrong!

So did He cry because Lazarus was dead? Honestly, I doubt it. He was about to raise him from the dead. Could He have felt sorry for Lazarus, as He was bringing him back from Paradise to this sin cursed planet? Perhaps but I’m not etching that in stone either.

Was He empathizing with the grief of the Sisters? Yes, I am certain He was but I’m still not convinced that was the primary reason for the weeping. Weeping so strong and visible that the townsfolk said, 

Behold how he loved him!

You do know we have some professional mourners on the scene, right? And they say of JESUS Behold how he loved him! I think it is safe to say our JESUS was sobbing! But why? What would bring JESUS to such a display of raw emotions? 

I think His prayer gives us an answer. 

42 . . . but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
via John 11 KJV;CJB – Now a certain man was sick, named – Bible Gateway.

The unbelief of the people. Yes, Lazarus was physically dead but the people standing around Him, physically breathing, were dead-er than Lazarus because they were spiritually dead and unwillingly to allow HIM to give them LIFE. I think He still weeps over folks bound tighter in their unbelief than Lazarus in his grave-clothes. 

Know this: JESUS not only loved people enough to weep for them; He loved people enough to go to hell for them. Who else loves you that much? And when we refuse Him, He grieves; He weeps. 

And now I am wondering if we who have believed Him for salvation but continue to wallow in spiritual immaturity cause Him to weep today? 

Any thoughts?

Day 175 of 2014, a day to give Thanks.

Kathie

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Christian Living, The Proverbs, Uncommonly Used Words

Simple

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Who that has children would not want them to be happy children? 

Define happy. Okay.

3. Being especially well-adapted; felicitous: via happy – definition of happy by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia..

And I really like that word Felicitous.

1. Admirably suited; apt 2. Exhibiting an agreeably appropriate manner or style 3. Marked by happiness or good fortune  via felicitous – definition of felicitous by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia..

Who would not want offspring like that?! 

But how? How would we manage that? See verse 7. 

7 The righteous live a life of integrity; happy are their children after them.

First being a JESUS believer – having received the gift of YESHUA’s righteousness in exchange for our sins and thereafter live a life of integrity. That’s it! That’s all there is to it?

Yep. I think so. So why do we not have more happy children?  

It’s simple.

Simple does not mean easy! 

Oh to embrace the simple, hard work of living with integrity! 

Wish I had started this hard work earlier! How about you?  BUT the good news is as long as we are breathing, it’s not too late to begin!!! :)

Felicitous Friday to you my Friends!!

Day 171 of 2014, a day to give Thanks.

Kathie

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Proverbs 20 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

1 Wine is a mocker, strong liquor a rowdy; anyone led astray by it is unwise.
2 The dread of a king is like when a lion roars; he who makes him angry commits a life-threatening sin.
3 Avoiding quarrels brings a person honor; for any fool can explode in anger.
4 A lazy person won’t plow in winter; so at harvest-time, when he looks, there is nothing.
5 The heart’s real intentions are like deep water; but a person with discernment draws them out.
6 Most people announce that they show kindness, but who can find someone faithful [enough to do it]?
7 The righteous live a life of integrity; happy are their children after them.
8 The king seated on his judgment throne can winnow out all evil with his glance.
9 Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am cleansed from my sin”?
10 False weights and false measures — Adonai detests them both.
11 The character of even a child is known by how he acts, by whether his deeds are pure and right.
12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye — Adonai made them both.
13 If you love sleep, you will become poor; keep your eyes open, and you’ll have plenty of food.
14 “Really bad stuff!” says the buyer [to the seller]; then he goes off and brags [about his bargain].
15 A person may have gold and a wealth of pearls, but lips informed by knowledge are a precious jewel.
16 Seize his clothes, because he guaranteed a stranger’s loan;  take them as security for that unknown woman.
17 Food obtained by fraud may taste good, but later the mouth is full of gravel.
18 After consultation, plans succeed; so take wise advice when waging war.
19 A gossip goes around revealing secrets, so don’t get involved with a talkative person.
20 Whoever curses his father or mother — his lamp will go out in total darkness.
21 Possessions acquired quickly at first will not be blessed in the end.
22 Don’t say, “I’ll pay back evil for evil”; wait for Adonai to save you.
23 Adonai detests a double standard in weights, and false scales are not good.
24 A man’s steps are ordered by Adonai, so how can a person understand his own ways?
25 It is a snare to dedicate a gift to God rashly and reflect on the vows only afterwards.
26 A wise king winnows the wicked [from the righteous] and threshes them under the cartwheel.
27 The human spirit is a lamp of Adonai; it searches one’s inmost being.
28 Grace and truth preserve a king; with grace he upholds his throne.
29 The pride of the young is their strength; the dignity of the old is gray hair.
30 Blows that wound purge away evil, yes, beatings [cleanse] one’s inmost being.
via Proverbs 20 KJV;CJB – Wine is a mocker, strong drink is – Bible Gateway.
Christian Living, World Evangelism places

It’s Thursday!

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Okay. It’s Friday but it was Thursday when I started writing this.

Hmmm.  Not really a word but a sound – it’s the sound I just made.

Today is Thursday. 

Thursday for a time was World Evangelism Day for me. It was the day once a month a Place was chosen, I would research the place learning what I could on-line and then for a month on Thursdays I would pray for the people of that place. 

Today is Thursday.

And today I checked Blog Stats and in the Stats was a name. A name of a Place. Cameroon, Africa. A far away place from Lower Alabama but of interest to me and of all days – today. Thursday. 

Cameroon

Estimated population of Cameroon is over 22 million. See HERE.

This LINK provides much information about Cameroon.
Here’s an excerpt: Food in Daily Life. The sharing of cooked food is one of the major ways to cement social relationships and express the high value placed on human company. Sharing food and drink demonstrates hospitality and trust. Social support networks among kin and friends, particularly between country folk and their urban relatives, are held together symbolically with gifts of cooked and uncooked food. Read more: http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Cameroon.html#ixzz34TgxGexT

Cameroonians have a variety of religious beliefs, and many individuals combine beliefs and practices of world religions with those of their own culture groups. Approximately 53 percent of the population are members of Christian denominations, about 25 percent practice mainly “traditional” religions, and approximately 22 percent are Muslim. Most Christians live in the southern areas, and most Muslims in the north. Christian missions constituted an informal second layer of colonialism. Read more: http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Cameroon.html#ixzz34UD2mRgl

 So what do I pray? I’m not sure … yet. But pray I must. :)  Join me if you like. 

Day 164 of 2014, a day to give Thanks.  Kathie 

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