The Names of God
I have the wonderful privilege of teaching our women’s Bible Study at church and stepping into this holiday season (and our building expansion is in full swing) we are doing Bible study HERE (in cyberland) for the next few weeks. It is good God stuff, and excellent for all. We are looking at the Names of God.
The very 1st appearance of God’s name “In the beginning God...” (Gen. 1:1) in the Hebrew is ‘Elohim’ (El-o-HEEM). It contains the idea of God’s creative power, His authority, and sovereignty. It is used well over 2,500 times from Genesis to Malachi, occurring 32 times in the first chapter alone. Elohim is the plural form of ‘El’ which means mighty or strong. Being in the plural form, Elohim is always used as a singular designation for God and does not imply polytheism, (worship of many gods, as was the custom of surrounding nations). God was very direct when telling Moses to tell the Israelites, “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God [Elohim], the LORD is one.” (Deut. 6:4) Remember at creation, day 6 – “God [Elohim] said, “Let US make man in OUR image…” (1:26, emphasis mine). Elohim reveals the triune nature of God, the ‘ontological equality’ (throw those words out at Thanksgiving dinner) of the Trinity. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit – all are equal in value but different in function. The Father planned redemption, Jesus accomplished it and Holy Spirit applies it. We actually see all three of the Trinity at the same time in the baptism of Jesus found in Matthew 3:13-17.
King David writes, “Create in me a clean heart, O God [Elohim] and renew a right spirit
within me.” (Psalm 51:10) David understands this ‘create.’ He knows that what he wants in his heart can ONLY be placed there by his God. Create, ‘bara’ is the Hebrew verb used exclusively of God. Sovereignty bringing into existence what wasn’t and now is – creating out of nothing. ‘Bara’ does not work like that of a recipe, taking ingredients and placing them together to form something, like that of a cake. It is new materials, new results. David knew he didn’t have within himself what it took to have a clean, a pure heart. May we too cry out “CREATE! O God!” Bring stuff into our heart, good God stuff, YOUR stuff, give us qualities exclusively of YOU! Elohim, our creative and sovereign God.
Going forward we will look at the names of God, noting that these different names highlight the many amazing aspects of His character.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
Flexible, Trusting and Obeying
Recently at Bible Study, as the gals were coming in, I handed them each a colored card with a number on it. The only instruction given was “find the number that corresponds and that will be your seat for tonight.” Feeling like a Flight Attendant, I did so with a smile, yet refrained from the urge to nod and quote the “B-bye, B-bye”. There were a few not so excited being told where to sit, – BUT they were in church and I saw some ‘attitude checks’ going on (kinda fun to watch). Yes, I was stretching them beyond their comfort zone. As I opened, I assured them, “You are OKAY! …Really!” We, women, are creatures of routine and sitting where it isn’t familiar, not next to your very best friend or a family member is only a small, SMALL taste of what the Jewish Christians were experiencing in the book of Hebrews.
The cards I handed them did not ‘match’ the color of the cards on the tables, I watched as a couple gals went looking for the ‘color’ rather than the ‘number’ on the card. I knew a few 
would and wanted them slightly confused, I used this as an example that the Jewish Christians had to figure out a few things on their own, they had to step into the new and find God truly was there. Things were different (I moved some furniture around) they, along with the early Jewish Christians had to trust that this ‘NEW’ was a good thing.
We have been looking at the Pastor of Hebrews teaching that regardless of tradition, and regardless of what your lifestyle represented; Jesus is much more excellent. His covenant and promises – BETTER. He as High Priest and His blood sacrifice – greater and more perfect and once and for all! Can I get a hardy “Go God!” THIS ran the Jewish Pastor’s fingernails across the Torah blackboard; it hit a nerve, contrary to all they had been taught. Yes, different. They (and our women) were learning God points but doesn’t always give us ALLLLL the details, sometimes we have to improvise, be flexible and just trust and obey.
Perhaps God is calling us to something new, a lil unfamiliar and unknown, if it is of God, it is good. May we declare like King David in response to God’s amazing protective and promising character, “O Sovereign LORD, You are God! Your words are trustworthy, and You have promised these good things to Your servant.” (2 Samuel 7:28 NIV)
Flexible, trusting and obeying.
P.S. You never know what you may encounter at Bible Study. Next week, the Book of Revelation — totally kidding! (I so love my assignment!)
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
Persuaded
I believe when Paul says, “I am persuaded…” in Romans 8:38, he wasn’t speaking from his well-educated theological understanding, he spoke from deep-down-personal-gut assurance. Persuaded, we see this also in the life of David. Remember in 1 Samuel 24 when David and his men were hiding in a cave when in walks Saul (um…to relieve himself). David was encouraged by his men to take the opportunity and kill Saul and he’d finally be king. However, David didn’t. He did cut off a corner of Saul’s robe, but even in doing this David was troubled in heart. When Saul was leaving the area, David went out and called to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him. David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground…” (v8) In that moment David’s heart was ‘persuaded’ (conviction is not only pointing at the wrong but also points to the RIGHT) his heart was won over by the amazing certainty of God. He didn’t HAVE to kill Saul. Who was he to push his hand, to attempt to push God’s. God’s purposed plan. Persuaded. His-timing-is-perfect!
THIS is what Paul is saying, he like David is won over by the amazing certainty of God, that “Neither death nor life, angels or demons, present or future or any powers high or low, indeed nothing in all creation can or will be able to separate us from God’s love – His willful – active good on our behalf whether we deserve it or desire it! (Romans 8:38-39, paraphrased) Persuaded. God-loves-us!
James and Jude, two brothers of Jesus, John gives the account of the brothers trying to push Jesus out there for popularity sake and a personal jab of sorts, “You can’t become famous if You hide like this! If You can do such wonderful things, show Yourself to the world!” (7:4 NLT) In the same pen stroke, “For even His brothers didn’t believe in Him.” Yet, years later, both brothers open their letters with “a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…” What was it that took them from unbelief to full surrender to Who Jesus is? Persuaded. He-is-Lord!
Peter, don’t you love it that God didn’t withhold the rambunctious side of His servants. The guy was here – there – and saying just about anything at any given time. One day after fishing all night Jesus says, “…go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish…” Now nearly noon, Peter is skeptical, however, he replies, “But if You say so, I will…” He did and the 
catch was tremendous. (Read his story in Luke 5) Trusting Jesus with the lifestyle of obedience. Persuaded. “I-will!”
I am challenged by this, what areas of my life is there hesitancy, where do I stop short in my confidence in God. I ask of you the reader the same of myself: What WILL it take for us to be persuaded, being won over by the amazing certainty of God? Knowing with a deep-down-personal-gut assurance that His timing is perfect, He loves us, He is Lord and live the “I will” lifestyle of obedience. Whatever expectations we might have, whatever prerequisites we may have mentally listed, let’s lay’m down, giving full surrender to Who Jesus is.
Persuaded.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
Slowing Down
Recently I had the opportunity to teach a discipleship class on Bible translations and offer a brief overview of how to study the bible. I wanted to come out of the gate with a listed fist full of the most excellent and current resources Amazon can provide! But instead, I opened with “S-L-O-W DOWN!” We are a ‘grab & go’ society! We fly into circumstances and jet out just as fast; we do the same with our devotions and study time. We seem more concerned with that glorious moment of ‘Check’ in our daily reading box that we miss understanding what we’ve read. We close the Book, put our half-drunk now cold coffee on the counter and head out into our day. If we think of it – there is a quick over the shoulder glance with a rushed “Thanks Lord…”
Slow down. The Bible is a Spiritual book, not to be all-mystic and such, but it is, spiritual. Paul says it is “God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…”’ (2 Timothy 3:16) Folks, it’s our manual. As the Pastor of Hebrews declares it is “living and active… it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) Why rush the divine process.
Slow down, pray before you even open The Book, and invite the Author to walk you through it. Pray while you’re reading, “Show me Lord, speak, teach, grace my heart to hear and heed…” In doing so, we not only read the Word, but we allow the Word to read us! God designed His holy writ to be interactive. As we close that wonderful Book, pray… ask Holy Spirit to take the words you just read and speak them to you throughout the day.
Slowing down.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
My Response
I was recently reading an article on our secret mindset of God. You know, those things we wouldn’t dare share or even write in code in our journal. I was taken back to a mindset, back to years ago. Confession is good, I pray this encourages someone.
I lived in the shadows of disappointed for about 5 years, 5-solid-anguishing-years. Survival was my number one goal, and to be very frank, getting through the day without eye contact was hefted to the top of my priority list. I was in full-time ministry, loved God, served my church and sat on the other side of Starbucks tables sincerely encouraging other women in their God journey. But then life rolled in, thick dark discouraging, disappointing clouds filling each corner of my horizon. In my steps to salvage my marriage, a marriage that was never happy, I stood in front of 40+ women and after 5 years of teaching, I told them I was stepping down. Within the year, the marriage failed, and soon my ex-husband was remarried. I was now working full-time outside the home in a job I HATED, just to pay the bills and take care of my two sons, who at the time were 9 & 15.
I clung to the one-liners, “Draw near to Him so He can draw near to you …Press in to worship and He’ll meet you there … God won’t give you more than you can handle.” All true, but at the time I didn’t see them flooding my reality. I found that following stepping down from ministry, that women treated me differently, they distanced themselves, there were no invites for coffee, lunch or even chat time on the phone. I felt alone. It was painful. One gal had the arrogant nerve to come up to me in church (Yes, I was still attending church, HOPING it was my lifeline) she stepped forward, with an accusing tone, and no love of God in her, 
and proceeded to tell me she could not figure out how “I” could let all this happen, she thought I was a ‘woman of God…’ etc… (tears) … etc. Although she didn’t know my home life or the history of my story, her voice rattled around in my head and heart, those words slid down and found their place among my own self-tagging of ‘worthless’. We know that the enemy of our soul will use any and all circumstances to break us and I … I was allowing it. I was broken. In that dark time, in my pain and confusion, I put my calling, my Bible, and any relationship I thought I had left with God aside, not disowning, just – aside. And with slumped shoulders and down casted eyes, I made incredibly STUPID mistakes.
But! I LOVE the ‘But…’ of God, someone told me in that dark season, that yes, I was broken, but was I broken over what breaks God’s heart? I was beyond broken over the unmet expectations that lay scattered all over the floor. I was torn in two with what happened to my family. I was shredded with the accusing and hurtful words of others. Although all valid, it wasn’t until I realized I needed to be broken over my ‘response’. Life is tough, life is hard, I just assumed because I was God’s, I was His, that what Paul wrote, stood as a monument I bowed to, ‘that ALLLLLL would work out for good’. MY definition of good! The restoration process didn’t start until I genuinely (keyword – genuinely) understood God’s love. ‘I’ was defining God’s love by how ‘I’ thought HE should act, to me and for me.
Now nearly 10 years later… I am no longer falling for or allowing the enemy’s breaking tactics, he attempted to destroy me and destroy what I was going to speak into others for God’s glory. God loves me! He loved me then, He loves me now. I am a daughter of the Most-High God, I walk in my calling and my Bible is right here and read – devoured daily! My head is up, my eyes are clear and looking – I am seriously accountable to 5 Godly women. I repented for my response to ‘life’ – how I assumed I should get special treatment, that somehow I was exempt from the ick, the pain, and disappointments. That my response took me in a tailspin of despair 
and yes, sin. I hurt God with my response. I put it all out there on God’s table, honestly and transparently. One by one, us together, me and the God that loves me, we took things off the table and He put them away, far away. God’s grace-filled filing system, ‘away, far away.’ God restored me (not ME doing it) He re-created me. (See David’s honest words in Psalm 51) I am married to an amazing Godly man, now have a granddaughter, and I’m teaching again, teaching with passion, teaching from the platform that GOD LOVES ME! And when those ugly accusations of worthless begin to resurface, I think of the woman at Jesus’ feet, (and have this posted on my bookshelf), when others began to spout off, Jesus tells them, “I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much.” (Luke 7:47) And we all know we can only love, ‘because He loved us first!’ (1 John 4:19)
Disappointment and even bitterness can hold us captive, a captivity that will lead us in the wrong direction. The only way out is our God! It took me years to realize I needed to put it out there, honestly – genuinely and without attempting to help God with a detailed outlined expectation, like we (especially women) obsessively enjoy. I surrendered, to His love, to His grace. As a friend recently shared “God didn’t cause it, but He will use it!” I can honestly say, God is using it ALL – I am a better version of the God in me because of it! God’s working out is not how we would do it, He does it RIGHT! (Please lean in ) “And it is good!“
How is your secret mindset of God?
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
Music is an amazing tool God uses: This was my progressive worship journey… when I could not raise my head, when my hands too heavy (Keep singing folks! Keep singing)
When in the midst of God restoring my heart: I sang this over & over
Now, now… as I stand in front of others teaching them about our God: “Sing with me How great is our God…”
Prior Moments
Yesterday at church during worship, there was a pause, pause of silence in-between songs. I LOVED it! It wasn’t long, only about 8 seconds, it was extremely noticeable, for it was a holy pause of reverence. The silent pause set the tone for the rest of worship. How often do we pause? We are a run-full-force-forward society that taking pause seems awkward. As I sit to review my teaching notes for an upcoming session of Inductive Bible Study in our discipleship class, I pause. A preparative pause. I take my cue from Ezra. WHO?
Ezra was a scribe and a direct descendant of Aaron of the Old Testament; he was full of passion and zeal for God and God’s word. He along with Nehemiah was instrumental in creating an environment for revival among the Israelites and rebuilding the Temple. One verse that jumps out defines the sincere outcome, “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.” (7:10 NKJV, emphasis mine) Ezra prepared his heart. Prepared his heart to seek, to do, and to teach. In 
the Hebrew, the imagery is not just merely putting God’s word in front of him, Ezra put himself in front of the Word. Yes, there is a difference.
We need to purposely take pause, creating ‘prior moments’ and position our heart, mind, and understanding. How often do we grab a mug of coffee, slide into our comfortable chair and open the Bible and begin reading? What might be the outcome if we were to pause before opening the Book? Before reaching for our pencil and journal? A quick 8-second pause of reverence might make noticeable difference, setting the tone for what came next. Revival and rebuilding! Perhaps a sincere prayer of “Father show me, teach me, speak to me.”
May we like Ezra purpose with prior moments and prepare our heart.
* We can read Ezra’s story in the short book with his name and the sequel, Nehemiah.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
Expectation!
There is a story of a farmer that had an icehouse, during the winter he and his workers would cut ice blocks from the nearby pond, and then place them on a bed of sawdust in the icehouse, and cover the ice blocks with more sawdust. At one point, the farmer noticed he lost his beloved pocket watch in all his work. He and his workers went in frantically raking through the sawdust to find the watch, but to no avail, it wasn’t found. The farmer’s son, about age 10, heard of the situation and at noontime, while the workers were on break, he slipped into the icehouse, and after a lil time, he came out with the watch in hand, giving it to his father. The farmer was so excited; he asked, “HOW did you found it!” The boy answered, “I laid down in the sawdust, laying there quietly, I just listened.”
What a beautiful example of purposeful positioning with EXPECTATION! King David penned, “In the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation.” (Psalm 5:3b) David didn’t sit there filling the conversation, he leaned in – leaned forward in eagerness, expecting God’s response! He knew if he were quiet enough, he would hear Him. How often do we too go in looking for God, noisily, raking around, turning things over? Perhaps if we were quiet, so very quiet and still, we’d hear Him.
Laying in the sawdust, leaning in – leaning forward in eagerness.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
Sticky Note From God
“Backup.” For the past week or two every time I opened my laptop I would see the now bent and ruffled orange sticky note that simply read, “Backup.” I put it there to remind me. Each time I sat down to study or read emails or peruse through Facebook, that sticky note was glanced at, unheeded and then quickly forgotten. Although I had set the reminder there for me to take action, it soon became familiar. So familiar that I really didn’t give it much notice anymore.
As I took the sticky note off yesterday (AFTER I finally backed up the computer) I felt 
Holy Spirit nudge me that at times I treat others the same, (OUCH!) and Him as well (DOUBLE, “Ouch!”) We do that, don’t we? We take less notice or tend to overlook what is right in front of us because it’s something we always see. Oh, we take for granted the familiar! Paul writes to the folks in Galatia, “Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone…” (Galatians 6:10 NLT) How can we do good when we don’t see them – we are looking over their heads at something or someone else? (Well, we shot that opportunity right out of the sky).
May we SEE and heed the sticky notes of God, right in front of us. Our family, friends, and the pile of stuff we are tripping over.
Right in front of us.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
A Day I Can Forgo
It’s here, THAT season, it’s already in stores. Halloween. Stores have freshly stocked shelves with 30% off ticketed items by the rows. Tons of stuff! Okay, I am not fully certain of the weighted measurements, but there’s lots of ‘blackness.’ Black cats, witch hats, spiders, eerie tombstones and yes, the ever dreaded skulls. I LOVE the fall, it is my favorite season, the colors are so rich, I decorate seasonally my home with the warm orange, burgundy and brown tones, (my mantle pictured above) but Halloween does not roll this gals socks.
I am often asked why I have chosen not to celebrate Halloween, why I don’t find it ‘all in fun.’ What is fun about it – the basic theme is of fear, death, and witchcraft, um… no, not for me. Before I get all kinds of comments, emails, texts, and smoke signals, please let me explain, why (for me) I chose not to. My family used to do the Halloween thing when I was little, sure I wore the thin fabric climb in costumes with the sweaty plastic masks. But, after I came to understand and was adopted as a daughter of the Most High God, learning of His Majesty and His glorious light, I do not participate in the day of darkness. Yes, you would say darkness and light struggle 365 days a year, why be bothered by one day, one-singled-out-day. A day I can forgo.
For the life of me, I cannot understand WHY someone would voluntarily, even cheerfully submit themselves to haunted houses and ghost hunts. All in fun? No, not for this gal. I have seen and experienced too much from the dark side to play with it like a child’s toy or pretend in dress up. While the ‘all in fun’ is masked with candy, parties, costumes, and laughter, in the background when no one seems to notice, there are cultic activities taking place. The number of self-identified witches in the U.S. is doubling every 2 years, those deeply into the occult take this holiday very seriously and yes, the dark forces they are dealing with are very real! (* See the history of Halloween below)
Paul wrote, “Hate evil and cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9) Is it God-honoring if we are clinging to good, while we cheerfully allow evil to run rampant around our feet? That running around could soon become a snare. Sadly, there are many who ‘all in fun’ participate in seemingly innocent activities, when ‘our great enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.’ (1 Peter 5:8) We need to remember darkness ALWAYS has an agenda! Always. It will come again and again for any crack, any opportunity to subtly peek in with the ugly and demonic. If not addressed, it will crawl in, slither about quietly. If we think it will stand up in the middle of the room and wave “Here I am!” then we are only fooling ourselves.
According to Wiccans, Halloween is the time when the veil between the living and the dead is considered to be the thinnest, they celebrate and take advantage of such status. And by the way, (standing a lil taller on my soapbox) there is no such thing as a ‘Good Witch’ regardless of how Hallmark wants to title it. Adding one more (not in detail) note. For satanists, Halloween is one of the most important celebrations of the year, it is documented in their ‘book’ that after one’s own birthday and another icky day, Halloween is most important. I chose not to give detail on this subject, satan (lil ‘s’) is not worthy of my time or to have his name capitalized or in print.
Gently climbing down off my soapbox (as not to hurt myself) and dragging it back to the corner. You are loved.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
*History of Halloween: “Halloween’s customs are thought to have been influenced and dated back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities, this done in attempts to appease them. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes.” [History.com] In addition, other articles speak of folklore that costumes were worn so as to disguise the living, so the dead returning could not identify them. Also, the bonfires were built with the intent to keep the souls of the dead from falling to earth.
The Pause of YOU!
This morning, on my drive to take my son to work, while his ‘67 Mustang looks GREAT, nicely parked waiting for a new engine, he is successfully deposited and I sit quietly on my way back home. There is no music, no radio, and no deep-toned voice reading to me the book of Hebrews. While the car was quiet, I too sensed a ‘quieting’ coming over me. As the quiet caught my attention, I began to thank the Lord – I KNEW it was Him. To be very frank, my mind is usually firing in multiple directions. (SQUIRREL!) But not today. Quiet. There was Presence. There was peace. It is amazing how God knows what and when we need to experience Him – His acceptance, comforting, renewing, and refreshing. This verse came to mind:
“The LORD your God is with you,
He is mighty to save;
He will take great delight in you;
He will quiet you with His love;
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
– Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV, emphasis mine)
To put this verse in context, in Zephaniah’s day, the Lord had brought judgment for the sins of the people, He speaks of lifting His hand on those who come humbly and trust in the name of the Lord, now He is rejoicing and He is restoring. He is now comforting, renewing, and refreshing. You can almost hear the tender whisper: “He will quiet you with His love.” How many of us can use some renewing – some quieting? Perhaps we need to stop trying to fill the quiet, turn the noise off. Perhaps the quiet is our God trying to get our attention. His Presence, His peace. Do whatever it takes to not miss it, miss Him.
Thank you, Lord, for the pause of YOU! For being a ‘with you’ God, and because You love us, You quiet us.
Happy Friday.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
Desert Declaring
Desert, the short definition is ‘a barren region of landscape.’ How is our landscape, metaphorically and spiritually speaking? Are we parched, drying up and quite weary from trekking through the rugged terrain? Recently on one of my many rabbit trails, I was taken to Luke chapter 4. Here Jesus is lead by the Spirit out into the desert place. The desert place. He encounters the devil, where he tempts the Divine with some pretty cool stuff (not that they were his to give mind you) Jesus’ response, ‘It is written…” In these 3 responses, Jesus reaches back and quotes Moses from Deuteronomy, (6:13,16 & 8:3). “Man does not live on bread alone… worship the Lord your God and serve Him only … do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Here’s the cool part, this whole ‘God talks – man receives’ – where did it happen as Moses speaks? In the desert place.
Seeing a pattern? Oh, we don’t have to go out running towards the dryest region we can find to hear God, and be strong, but there is a significant desert purpose! The desert offers a lack of distractions. (Use it!) It offers true, genuine desperate need for survival. (Long for it. Long for HIM!) That desert is designed. (Accept it!) It is instruction time, just before time. Remember Moses and the Israelites, Deuteronomy was just before; Moses last words just before he dies and just before Joshua takes them into the Promised Land. Instruction time – just before. (Listen for it!)
Be encouraged folks, there IS a purpose, listen for the words of instruction like Moses, and declare the word like Jesus.
The desert place.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
WAIT! Don’t Jump Ship Yet!
Waiting. Isn’t it HOARDS of fun? Yes, that is a rhetorical – sarcastic question. Nothing floats my boat, rolls my socks, more than … waiting. I am kidding, of course, whether it be in a checkout stand, gas line, or in a season of life, I am not a good wait-er.
Recently studying in Genesis, (LOVE that book, I always seem to be in Genesis) I was again reminded of just how ‘human’ the characters are. Noah. Quickly setting the scene: God is grieved over mans ‘ickiness‘. He’s starting over. He instructs Noah to build the first Titanic; however, this one IS unsinkable. Noah obeys beyond the critical looks, and behind his back snickers. He builds the ark and gathers the animals. Loading up, God shuts the door and it begins to rain.
Forty days it rains. (Genesis 8) FINALLY, the rain stops. Noah sends out the raven, then the dove, they both return because there is no place to land yet. Verse 10 “He WAITED seven more days …” (emphasis mine) Noah waited. In the Hebrew, this waiting is a painful waiting, as to wring the hands, not a mere sitting on a crate playing cards passing the time. It refers to either pain in the physical sense or in the emotional. Noah and his family in the ark, God preserves them, now he (they) … wait. Perhaps Noah’s thought bend towards, had God forgotten him? Will he forever spend the rest of his life in a stinky ship full of animals? “How many rounds of ‘Row row row your boat’ do they HAVE to sing, those silly sons!” I must mention, Mrs. Noah, what a trooper, not one mention of complaining – in contrast to the dusty folks in the wilderness. Think about it, she’s on a voyage of no destination, no itinerary, with no time of arrival determined, with plenty of animals and animal stuff. No complaints.
BUT, the story, the waiting does NOT stop there. Noah sent out the dove AGAIN, that evening the dove returned with an olive branch, “Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but THIS TIME it did not return to him.” (8:11-12)
Noah waited and waited some more. We read that and think … ‘the guy is getting good at 
waiting.’ YET, his waiting has changed, the narrative uses a completely different word for wait. First he ‘hil’ (Hebrew) ‘painful waiting’, now after the olive branch, he sends the dove out with hope, ‘yahal’ (Hebrew) a confident expectation in his wait. His pain has turned to hope. The results of his hope … “but this time it did not return to him,” knowing the dove had landed happily in an olive tree somewhere. I LOVE the ‘this time’ of waiting, the ‘this time’ of God.
Hope – it will carry us a long way, as long as it doesn’t carry us in the wrong direction. “Hope is NOT a pacifying wish of the imagination which drowns out troubles….” * Folks, whether we are in a season of painfully waiting, or our waiting is full of hope, don’t jump ship yet! Keep sending those doves, perhaps God is in the ‘more.’ Take heart, God is just preparing us a dry place, His timing … perfect. Look for those olive branches, they will be there. Our ‘this time’ … is coming!
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.” –Hebrews 10:24)
* Quote from the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (LOVE those geeky books!)
Don’t Back Down
Jesus, the disciples, and the crowd were leaving Jericho. A blind beggar named Bart (Bartimaeus) was sitting beside the road. When he heard that Jesus was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Dude Be quiet!” The people yelled at him. But this only got him more excited, he shouted even louder, “SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!” When Jesus heard him, He stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “What do you want Me to do for you?” Jesus asked. The blind man said, “I want to see!” (Mark 10:46-51)
I love the quotes of Jesus, this is one of my favorite. Blind Bart, works his way to Jesus, VERY apparent he lacks the ability to see, Jesus being God … KNEW! Yet, Jesus asked, “What do you want Me to do for you?” When the people tried to hush Bart, would he quiet himself? NO, he was desperate! Bart initiated the ‘ask’, would he follow through? How 
often do we ask, yet not follow through for a boatload of reasons? Are we desperate enough? Jesus wants us to come to the place that we tell Him. Notice too, that when Jesus asked, Bart’s response was NOT full of excuses or explanation, “Well, when I was 10, I was in a scuffle with my brother, I fell, my head injury resulted in my blindness, actually I am sure my brother pushed me. We haven’t spoken since. I have sought help from the doctors for years, but to no avail, it did not help. I am still blind, so here I sit every day waiting…”
He simply stated, “I want to see!”
May we too, in Jesus’ presence, not shy away, don’t back down, stay desperate, get straight to the point and ask of Him.
What happen to Bart? Jesus healed him.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
How We Impact Others!
Recently my friend Deanna and I were visiting a classmate from our growing up years. We toured the blueberry fields with fascination as Beth points out the different varieties. Rows, and rows of lush green and blue. Soon, we drive up to the farmhouse, when out steps Beth’s mom, Esther. Full of a hospitable smile, she waves us into the house.
Once in, as introductions were made, and our conversation comfortable, I asked Esther what church she attended in the small farming community I grew up in. “The church across from the Grade School.” Her response brought back memories I hadn’t thought about in years. Memories of being handed a small red book, and reading the cover ‘New Testament’ and knowing nothing of God, or the Bible, I honestly thought the ‘New’ meant it has just come out and that ‘I’ was privileged to even have a copy. I went on to tell her, that when I was little, we used to have ladies walk over from that church and get a small group of us and walk us back to the church and teach us about Jesus. Her next words have 
forever changed my life – “THAT was me!”
At that moment, my eyes welled up; I walked across the room, enfolded her in a warm hug and told her “Thank you!” She asked me, “Do you love Jesus?” With heartfelt enthusiasm “Oh yes!” I replied. Beth proceeded to tell her, “Mom, DeDe is an ordained minister now.” I shared that it wasn’t until about eight years later, when I was 16, that I was again shared the gospel and gave my heart to Jesus, I went on to Bible college and now after years of study, a Bible teacher. Esther was so thrilled; she could not wait to share this at ‘testimony night’ at church. I would have loved to have been in the grandstands with the angels when Esther rose to tell her story!
Esther sharing flannel graph stories about Jesus to a group of school kids seems so trivial, but OH NO it isn’t! She planted a seed that laid there until years later when Brenda, another woman of God sat me down and shared the gospel in terms a teenager could understand. That action and those words caused the Esther seed to come alive! The Holy Spirit watered it, it sprouted and gave new born-again birth to a confused and hurting 16-year-old. God is AMAZING!
Never EVER doubt how we impact others! Regardless! Regardless of how small and trivial it may appear. Solomon wrote: “Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person.” (Proverbs 3:27 MSG) Paul says, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4) Thank you, Esther, for being obedient and being God’s hands and looking to the interest of those lil kids, THIS now grown gal is head over heels in love with Jesus and teaches HIM to others. I am so thankful God orchestrated Esther and I meeting after 45+ years, our faith is encouraged, our faith is grown! Be someones Esther!
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
Note: I looked up what the colored coded lil Gideon Bibles mean: Red, in-school distribution. Green, for college/university. Orange, street evangelism. White, medical use. Dark blue, any other language other than English. (Thank you Gideon’s!) I am still in awe that I am privileged to own, and now teach the Bible!
Sin Not, Our VERY Best!
I have been studying Romans, verse by verse following Paul’s thread of thought. I studied it in college, but that was a boatload (two trains, and a couple of semis) years ago. I’ve revisited circumcision, atonement, and salvation, and now, now the ‘s’ word … yup … sin. I have learned much more than I ever wanted, I’ve been forced to stop writing, and push away from the table having to bow my head multiple times. (This is not a complete thesis on the subject, just what I am learning).
Sin is biblically known as to fail or miss the mark. The mark is the target God set out there for us, to not only aim for – but HIT. Sin is a verb, an archer’s term, let me paint a picture: The archer takes a stance, the bowstring is drawn, and then released, the arrow flies and misses the target, the arrow has failed to fulfill the goal, due to the contemplated aim of the archer. The archer has sinned. Here’s a good example, in the book of Judges (chapter 20) it talks about a group of left-handed warriors who could sling a rock so accurately, they could not ‘miss’ (they didn’t ‘khata’ / sin) their aim was right-on, their slinging was ‘sinless.’ How is our aim?
We want to make sure we know what we are aiming for, WHAT is the targeted goal of our thoughts, behavior, and choices. We look to Jesus, the ‘sinless’ One, Who did not fail to love and love completely. In His response when asked what the greatest commandment is, His answer (in short) “To love God and love others.” (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28:31) When we sin, we fail to love as commanded; our mindset works out in our actions in disobedience, we either hurt God, ourselves or hurt others, (usually all at the same time). We miss the target, love. If we are loving God with ALL our heart, ALL our soul, and ALL our mind… and loving our neighbor as our self, well our target is hit. BUT, when we don’t and we miss, (and we will) John gives us the solution, “If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn. 1:9) Confessing is coming back into alignment with what GOD says! How’s our re-aligning?
Funny thing is, it does not stop there, in the original language, sin is the act of doing wrong(missing the goal) yes, but it is literally also ‘not the best‘ (OUCH!) The goal of the enemy of our soul is to kill, steal and destroy, he does so by getting us distracted, deviating from the truth, get our eyes OFF the target, not doing and being our best. How many of us, if we were REALLY honest would be bold enough to say we are lazy, (my hand goes up!) we don’t always give it our best, we are undisciplined and often times just do a haphazard fling of our bow, not truly taking it serious enough, when our response is wrapped in lame-slang, “My bad!” James understood this: “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (4:17) He is describing what is 
theologically known as ‘sins of omission.’ It is not only what people do that matters; the good that they fail to do (due to the contemplated aim of the archer) is equally important to God. *
Here is an amazing example of how I feel Paul is strongly exhorting us all to do and be the VERY BEST. He KNEW, he knew because Jesus told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9) Yes, it is hard work, yes it is painful, yes, we do so by faith, and YES, it helps to have someone crawling alongside us! I love how the mocking crowd changed their tune as they see the determination, can you imagine how the world would view us (and our God) if we responded in life like THIS! Watch … watch until the very end “Alright, who’s next?” May this clip and the words of Jesus ring true as we are taking proper aim and ‘giving it our very BEST!’ God gave His very best, why don’t we.
Paul, the coach… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sUKoKQlEC4 (Click on link)
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
*Sins of omission defined in ESV Study Bible notes, commentary on James 4:17. Please also note, this author chooses to not capitalize the name satan, he is not worthy of proper grammatical rules. Movie clip above is from ‘Facing the Giants’.
Prayer
This morning I was reminded of a time when prayer became more real and on a relational level for others. A few years ago, while driving to work early at O dark hundred in the morning, I became aware of something, “Where’s Linda?” Linda is a gal I would see riding her bike every morning, she was but a speck of light at first with a headlamp on her forehead and flashing backlight. I had never met Linda, I just gave her that name.
For a couple of months, this Linda and I passed each other every workday. I had begun to pray for her. She not knowing, but it doesn’t matter, our paths intersected for a reason. So I’d pray. I prayed for her safety on the road, for any unknown needs, that while she rides “YOU, God are speaking to her.” One particular morning, I didn’t see her. For never meeting this gal, my heart sank. However, about a ½ mile up the road, there she was. I again began our morning routine, unknown to her!
Prayer, an amazing thing. Some make it more complex than it is, more lengthy than needed and by golly more King James than understood. Paul shared multiple times about our CALL to pray for one another. He bluntly states, “Brethren, pray for us.” (1 Thessalonians 5:25) Again, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2) James shares, in a more intimate 
environment, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16 emphasis mine) Astonishingly, this was said of Job in the Old Testament, “After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:10)
Prayer, simply coming to our God, and talking to Him. I would venture to say, most of our prayers may be “O God, help!” and that’s okay, “In Jesus name!” Whether it be a quick bow of the head for a loved one, on our knees on behalf of the nation, face down in a battle for deliverance or heartfelt while driving by a stranger, let us converse. I would add, conversing is two-sided, remember to take pause to allow God to respond … and listen.
Prayer.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
It Has Purpose!
As I sat on the edge of a prickly field in Pendleton, Oregon visiting family, I am again, in awe of God! In my morning devotions, I was directed to Luke 15, specifically verses 11-32, the parable of The Prodigal Son. I have read this numerous times, heard it preached and teached, (ok, it is really ‘taught’ – but it rhymes) it is packed FULL of wonderful principles. We can look at it through the eyes of the wayward son, through the frustrated older brother and the father, oh the father! Today I see it through new eyes, a fresh perspective; this is what Holy Spirit showed me, this is what I am learning. (Stay with me this is good)
The parable begins with “Jesus continues…” What was He continuing? Looking at the prior verses, there are two parables above, First: ‘The Lost Sheep’ Jesus ends the mini story with “there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.” (v7) Then, the second Parable of the Lost Coin, He too ends with “there is rejoicing … over one sinner who repents.” (v10) Jesus is teaching on repentance. Even then, I go back further, the first verse of the chapter; it says, (Looking for where they were, who was there) “Tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Him.’ But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (NIV, emphasis mine, can you hear the ‘hissing’ in their muttering!) The principal pulled forward: Do WE position ourselves to listen or so distracted with criticism, perhaps MISS what Jesus is saying. (Ouch!)
The Parable of the Prodigal Son: In brief rundown: A father has two sons; the younger decides to leave, demanding he gets his inheritance NOW! It is given, he takes off and treks far away completely wasting all his money on wild living. When his pockets are empty, a famine hits, he’s hungry – he finds work at a farm, his boss puts him to work feeding the pigs, he sees what he is tossing to the pigs, being so hungry, even THAT looks good! The story comes to a pivotal point when “He finally comes to his senses…” (v17, complete sermon in those few words) He says to himself, ‘even at home, dads hired servants get better than this, I will go home to dad and tell him; “Father, I have sinned against heaven and you, I am not worthy to be called your son, please take me on as one of your hired servants.” Here’s the key verse (to me) Verse 20, “So he returned home to his father.” As he nears home, the father sees him, so excited the father takes off running, meets him, embraces and kisses him. The son begins his speech. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son …” Not getting to finish, his dad turns and calls to the servants “Get the robe, the ring, sandals, and kill the calf we’ve been fattening up – let’s celebrate! My son who was lost is found!” (The story goes on; the older brother notices the celebration, he begins throwing a smaller ‘pity’ party version – the dad comes out and tells him to get over it, all I have is yours already!)
I want to reach down and unpack a few things: I noticed as Jesus told this story, there is no reference to the father speaking any words to the younger son; we only hear a one-sided conversation. When the son returns and gives his dad his speech, the father does NOT reply to the son but calls to his servants. The father gives no verbal response – but only ACTION. His 
dad’s forgiveness is action-filled, he gives him a ring, robe, sandals and a BBQ. (The significance of each for another time).
I also noticed, the son refers to his dad’s servants, and his dad calls to his servants. Each time they both use different words. The son (see verses 17, 19) uses (in the Greek) ‘misthios’ meaning ‘wage earner.’ The father (v22) uses ‘doulos’ – meaning, ‘one whose will is consumed with the will of another.’ The son was going back ‘for the paycheck’ – NOT to be taken over by his fathers’ will. Let that sink in. HOWEVER, (pause) I am fully convinced, that as the son saw his father’s response, no words, just action – regardless of how empty his stomach was, everything changed! Actions speak LOUD! Action can detour any conversation, there were no ‘follow up’ words, ‘BUT DAD…’
I see also that good intentions only profit – IF we act on them, while the son was still in the pig pen, ‘he said’ – he not only ‘said’ but also he got up and went TO his father. He could have continued in the pen and rambled on and on and on, the neighbors could hear him lamenting over at their place! But he truly repented – repentance is not just turning away FROM, but in the same movement – it is turning TO! It has purpose! Repentance took him away from his icky pig pen, and home TO his father. His dad couldn’t do anything about his son’s situation until he came home. (Read THAT again) Yes, Jesus is teaching about repentance.* (See defined below)
The prodigal son, YES, he messed up, but took notice of his situation, was humbled, responsible and sought resolution, (RIGHT AWAY, ‘when he came to his senses’ – there was no delaying, sat on it – wrote ‘Dear Abby’ – consulted his friends) – he put action to his personal repentance. This father put his forgiveness into action as well. What about us, are there circumstances that have us in the pig pen, whether small or fills the back 40. Do we need to quit just talking about it, but get up and DO! A purposed turning from and turning to (God). Or perhaps, we need to offer forgiveness to another, oh we may not need to throw a robe over their shoulders and put sandals on their feet, but we may need to back up our forgiveness with action. Point to ponder – remember, the father gave his son his portion of the inheritance, but upon returning, the father had MORE to give, – our God has and IS more! And sometimes, God allows us to go the full run of our sin, to truly appreciate the MORE of HIM when we come home!
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
*Repentance means a change of place, or condition, to exercise the mind, to relent, a true change of heart toward God. The OPPOSITE of repentance: To continue. [The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the New Testament] Those who, conscious of their sins, are intent on obtaining God’s pardon. [Thayers Greek-English Lexicon] To change one’s purpose [ Vine’s Expository Dictionary of the New Testament] Perceiving one’s prior opinion, feelings, or purpose was wrong, taking on the sense ‘to regret’ – in so doing, a change is made. [Theological Dictionary of the New Testament] Interesting side note: ‘Prodigal’ in the Greek means: Extravagantly wasteful because of “loose living.” [ Strong’s Greek Dictionary of the New Testament]
Pictured above, the sunny skies over Pendleton.
HE IS HOLY!
God has been challenging me with my worship of Him. When gathered with others, I tend to just get in line, and follow the flow. I stand, sit, and bow my head. I join in the choruses, clap to the beat, and smile at my neighbor. I offer a hardy ‘Amen’ when finished and we take our seats. I love my church family! Isn’t it interesting though it seems of recent years, we sing mostly about ‘our’ journey, we hear it on the radio and bust it out at church. Songs filled with I -me – we – us. We sing of all the great things He has done for us (which He HAS) we sing of the deliverance He brings us (which He DOES) we sing about how we are made new, loved and free, (which we ARE) these are good, these are right – but what about just worshipping Him for WHO-He -is. He is Holy, Holy, Holy! I am learning it is not just, ‘what’ He is – it is WHO He is! Worship is not about us! Where is the reverence, the holy hush, the drop to your knees in awe? (Frankly, I know if I did drop to my knees, I’d get stuck and couldn’t get back up, but I’d enjoy the view, looking up, seeing …HIM!)
God said to Moses, “Do not come any closer, take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5) Reverence. Holy reverence. Do we come to God with such respect, admiration that we take pause, (remove something) or do we come rushing in out of breath excited to join the party, that in doing so, we fail to see HIM! (OUCH, as I pull down my balloon!)
We are told numerous times in the Word to seek His FACE, never are we told to seek His ‘hand.’
We are like a child running up to daddy, forgetting to acknowledge daddy is home, forgetting his presence, and only wanting to know what He has for us, “Do you have a gift for me? Surely you do! What’s behind your back?” We are excited about the gift, rather than acknowledging the Giver! How about we slow it down, – like the psalmists make us take notice with ‘Selah.’ May we take pause.
Yes, Lord, Your love finds me, Your mercy follows me, Your grace covers me, I am SO thankful! But what if, what if I were to stop and turn and just WORSHIP You! Hands raised, not raised to be picked up (tomorrow) but today I raise my hands just acknowledging YOU are worthy! You are King! You are Holy! You are GOD!
NOW, as I hop in my car, turn on the radio, I can bebop to the beat, sing along about the love of God, “Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine, I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away…” (By the way, I love this song, but God’s love is not ‘reckless’ – He is not reckless – He is deliberate, He is relentless, He is consistent).
Renewing my sense of reverence and awe. Taking pause, catching my breath, bowing low and honoring Him! “Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His footstool; He is holy.” – Psalm 99:5
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
Look Again
While hanging my husband’s dress slacks for work the other day, I had the pants upside down by the hem in my hands. I was lining them up to hang properly when I heard (that inner whispered voice) “Look again.” Quickly dismissing it, I placed the hanger on the bar in the closet, then “Look again.” So I did. Although what seemed to be balanced in my hands, further down, the slacks were all catawampus. The sure-fire way to hang them for ‘wrinkle-free results’ was not going to happen. How often do we jet through life with the same mindset, “That’s good enough” dismissing any warnings, then, later on, we find out we were not properly prepared, and a few wrinkles show up?
Multiple times in the Word we are exhorted to listen for God’s instruction, not only listen but DO what He says, “So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not 
turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you.” (Deut. 5:32-33a) “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” (Isaiah 48:17) King David writes, “You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah” (Psalm 32:7) As he pauses, (‘Selah’) The Lord responds, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” (Next verse, v8) Do we take pause?
Jesus said: “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26) Holy Spirit will teach us, just like He did the disciples, He speaks, guides and instructs. Are we listening?
Oswald Chambers wrote: “Whenever there is doubt, stop at once. Never try to reason it out, saying, “I wonder why I shouldn’t do this?” God instructs us in what we choose; that is, He actually guides our common sense.” I might add, “If we let Him.” How many of us in hindsight – recognize THAT was God! Wouldn’t it be great to see Him …before. He is wise, He is practical (and wrinkle-free).
I was recently asked, “Is everything a devotion to you?” I hope so. I want my walk with Jesus to be so intimate that everything speaks of Him. May I echo the words of the Psalmist: “I will come and proclaim Your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD; I will proclaim Your righteousness, Yours alone. Since my youth, O God, You have taught me, and to this day I declare Your marvelous deeds.” – Psalm 71:16-17
Looking again.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
Looking further: 1 John 2:27; Jeremiah 33:2-3; Isaiah 30:21; Isaiah 54:13; John 6:45; 1 Thess. 4:9; Psalm 86:11, Psalm 119.
The Merciful Patience of God
I have been studying Romans, it can be a tough doctrinal book, lots of talk of righteousness, judgment, propitiation, spiritual sonship, and throw in the paycheck for sin, well, let’s flip over to Psalms and read of green pastures and quiet waters. (Selah)
But I have to say, reading Romans 2:4 caused me to take pause. “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that His kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” (NLT)
God is patient. There are two major words used in the NT for patience, first hupomone (Greek) – bearing up under, motivated by hope, it is being patient in circumstances and with things. (See Hebrews 12:1) But Paul is emphasizing the other – makrothymia, a most beautiful word, used only 14x in the NT. One is in Galatians 5:22 among the God qualities listed as one of the Fruit of the Spirit. It is most often translated as longsuffering, it is relational, patience with people (sometimes the long and the suffering trip over each other when dealing with others) and yet it is motivated by mercy. What a picture it paints, ‘longsuffering’ – meaning self-restraint before proceeding to action. Mercy. The quality of a person who is able to avenge himself yet refrains from doing so. Mercy!
It is evident in mankind’s cycle that we misunderstand God’s judgment, with the seeming lack of it – thinking we will ‘get ours’ in the end. However, we fail to see and or acknowledge God’s patience! His patience does not overlook. His patience offers opportunity. As mentioned 
above, patience is before – I believe this is what Paul is talking about: “It simply sees further than man. It has the end in view. It has true insight which knows best.”*
Man misuses God’s patience. Many seem to operate under an invisible banner of GRACE – thinking, God has, is and will extend His grace, with the attitude “After all, I’m a Christian, I have God’s favor!” Oh you do and He will, but carrying that mindset to everything, including our repeated disobedience, as if a warm blanket to cover and excuse our behavior, the behavior we KNOW is not God-honoring. If we were to really take a hard look at it, we treat God as our ‘clean-up boy.’ (Spiritual clean-up on aisle 3). Folks we become grace-abusers. I have been there, done THAT! I ended up face down in the muck and mire. (I’ll take that ‘Selah’ now!) God gave me what I didn’t deserve, (grace) held back what I do (mercy). God’s holy coordination in action!
God is wonderfully kind, tolerant and patient with us! May we NOT take it for granted, abuse it or misuse it! His merciful and gracious qualities are intended to turn us!
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.”– Hebrews 10:24)
*Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience (hupomone) the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1 (KJV)
Deception
We often hear, read and make our own conclusion that Eve was deceived. By the serpent. Even Paul declares such to young Timothy “And it was not Adam who was deceived by satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result.” (1 Timothy 2:14 NLT) However, today when we think, deceived we think of blatant ‘get in your face’ and tell you outright lies in order to get you to think or do differently. Yet this is not what I see in the Genesis story – although often we were taught this in flannelgraph story time. The teacher places the serpent right up to Eve’s ear while making hissing sounds, as the melodrama of lies unfolds. Lies.
First, Eve wasn’t even there when God gave Adam the rules of the Garden, Genesis 2: God put the man in the Garden, and told he was to work it and take care of it (tend it) and then told, you are free to eat from any tree in the Garden – EXCEPT- the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil, you shall NOT eat.
THEN (v18) God formed Eve.
Jumping to chapter 3 – the crafty serpent asked Eve “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Not necessarily deceptive, asking a question. Her response: “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.’” (bold emphasis mine) Hm… there were ‘2’ trees specifically mentioned in the middle of the Garden (see 2:9) and God never said Adam could not touch it! He HAD to touch it to tend to it, maintain it, as was his job. Did Adam give these instructions to Eve? “Ok, here’s the deal, see those two trees over there – over there in the middle – we are NOT to eat from those (let’s keep this simple) and don’t even TOUCH them!” Obedience, having a clear understanding of the instructions and abiding accordingly. Did Eve have clear instructions, or was her response to the serpent her interpretation of God’s word? (Not an excuse, just observation)
The narrative continues … the serpents reply to Eve, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good & evil.” (3:5) then, “When the woman saw that the fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye…” She ate. She shared. Interesting, Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food & pleasing to the eye – just as it was designed! See 2:9 “the trees were pleasing to the eye and good for food” – There is a principle for us: We too [humanity] see things ‘good and pleasing’ even by God’s design – BUT… God-may-say-“NO!” Also, when Eve reached out and touched the fruit, did she take pause? Was there a ‘Hm… I touched and didn’t die.” Thus rationalizing, nothing happened (yet) causing her to go forward since there wasn’t instant consequences. There is always a progression.
We see at the end of chapter 3, as God prepares to send Adam and Eve out of the garden, “and God said, ‘the man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil..’” (v22) Is this what the serpent said? Yes. Did he lie? No.
So all this to say, (looking at what Paul wrote to Timothy) – deceived – means Eve was 
‘beguiled’ – to seduce by use of misleading methods. What was the serpents method? He asked Eve a question, causing her to rethink what she was told and to doubt God’s word, “Did God say?” Deceived as in ‘get in your face and blatantly lie? No – he got her to doubt God.
We need to KNOW the misleading methods of the stealer, killer, and destroyer! (Probably not good grammar) Deception may not be a blatant lie presented to us, but a subtle question causing to rethink and doubt. If we rethink, in our human mind, creatively rationalizing (let’s be honest) without correct reference to God’s word (and heed) – we WILL get it wrong every time. Folks, if we have a question, let’s go to the source, God Himself in His word!
Peter tells us to ‘be watchful, sober-minded.’ Paul also, ‘be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.’ In doing so we ‘put on’ God’s stuff so we can stand (not hide in the shadows) but STAND against the schemes of the devil, in order that satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. (1 Peter 5:8, Ephesians 6:10-11, 2 Corinthians 2:11) Go God!
May we not assume we are ‘deception-free’ because we are too sharp to not spot a lie, but get us rationalizing, doubting?
Oh yeah!
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” –Hebrews 10:24)
* Some point out the narrative (Genesis 2:17; 3:4) stresses ‘surely die’ (die, die – in the Hebrew, ‘mooth – mooth’) that it can convey: 1) Spiritual death and 2) Physical death. Perhaps, it could mean both here. Since God said ‘when you eat of it, you will surely die.’ God knew Adam would eat the forbidden fruit. Sadly, Adam didn’t pick up on the ‘when’ and was not on his guard. (Lesson to us, how often we read ‘when’ in God’s warnings). Generally, in Hebrew literary style as a whole, repetitive words are for emphasis. In today’s culture, we capitalize, highlight, underline or print in BOLD to make a point, the ancients repeated the word. “I love, love chocolate!” (well, maybe not THAT)
But we cannot stop here, God in His most gracious love, sent man and woman out of the Garden because of His mercy. “He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever.” (3:22b) FOREVER in that broken, fallen relationship, dead in spirit, “So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden.” The rest of God’s story? It’s alright, I have a plan, a plan to restore. Jesus.
Note: I choose to not capitalize serpent or satan, or devil, he (lil ‘h’) is not worthy of the grammatical rule of a proper noun.
Keepers of the Light
Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.” (Jesus, Luke 11:35-36 NLT)
Wow. I have been studying, thinking and praying through these verses, and again, “WOW – I’m undone. ” This is what I felt God was showing me. When we are FILLED with the light of Christ, it will affect our whole being – we are wholly bright (holy bright). In Jesus’ prior words, He speaks about hiding the light under something – the light being hidden. Within the context (connecting His words to the rest of the story) He speaks (in short) about folks needing to know He is greater than Jonah the messenger (and the message) He is greater than the wisdom of Solomon. (vss. 29-32) His light is GREAT and is divinely placed in public view, now we too are to keep it (Him & His message) in public view. He is Light. (John 8:12) We are keepers of the Light.
When I think of darkness, my mind automatically goes to the creepy things that go ‘BUMP’ in the night, or the evil that runs rampant in our world, and the demonic slithering around a corner. All are true (sadly), yet the word Jesus uses paints a slightly different picture in this context. Darkness, (‘skotos’) is based around the thought of ‘shadiness’ – a covering so impeding, a faint image is only seen, it is obscure, lacking detail – just an outline. Now put that in context to Jesus’ words: Application: You think you got it right? Is my behavior read in such
a way that HIS image is not clearly seen? Do people see a good BRIGHT picture of Jesus in me? Do my choices shade the message of the gospel, obscuring it, fogging it up for others? Do I allow my dark corners to bleed into the light, making my shine not so bright? (OUCH!)
In Jesus’ warning, ‘make sure’ (other translations; ‘see to it, take heed, watch out’) in the Greek it is a ‘present imperative’ – meaning, it is ONGOING – a constant watching! Folks, we need to keep alert! Also, “Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness.” ‘You’ is singular, Jesus may have been talking to a crowd, but He was speaking to the individual!
May we be aware that the standard that we are presenting is not of our own making, Solomon wrote: “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” (HA! Sorry, that’s GOOD – Proverbs 26:12) May we strive to continually take inventory of our mindset, belief system and judgments that fuel our behavior. May we shine – JESUS shine in and through us, not we shine so brightly He is missing, just like city lights keep us from seeing the stars. We don’t get to decide where the light should go, or who deserves it. We let the light shine, and the Light and Love of God take it from there. (Go Holy Spirit!)
Remember when Jesus prayed for the blind man (Mark 8) He first spits in the guy’s eyes, (yup, really!) then asked if he could see anything, the blind man responded: “I see, but not very clearly, people look like trees walking around.” Jesus again placed His hands on the man, and then the man could see clearly. Jesus wants a clear picture!
“No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.” (v.33)
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
A Quiet Place of a Mother’s Heart
There is a cute story of a young mom putting her soon to be five-year-old son to bed. As she tucks him in, she comments this is his last day to be four. All year he had been cheerfully showing folks four fingers on each hand. She asked if he understood, he enthusiastically replied, “YES! Tomorrow I’ll be a handful!” Yes, yes indeed, a handful.
Motherhood.
Our hearts have ached – agonized – celebrated and PRAYED. There are hours of holding and scolding, cleaning and crying. Yet at the end of the day, as our head lies on the pillow, our heart swells with LOVE.
Mary too knew of this, following the ever so zealous shepherd’s visit, “Mary treasured up all 
these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) Our children by no means compare to the Savior of the world, and by golly, they may never even reach the waiting list among the names of the Saints, but we moms like Mary, treasure and ponder our children. Mary is a great example, her right upfront response to motherhood, “I am the Lord’s servant.” (Luke 1:38) Her choices allowed her (yes, painful at times) to see God’s entire plan play out. May I too choose so wisely!
Motherhood.
The quiet place of a mother’s heart, treasuring and pondering.
Happy Mother’s Day
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
Power
Power. I have heard and read multiple times that our current English word ‘dynamite’ comes from the biblical word translated as power. Often times for convenience sake, the teacher makes that statement and in the same breath, jogs off to another point, leaving the listener to paint their own mental pictures. Pictures of high explosive scenes with Arnold Schwarzenegger running and yelling ‘Get down!” as the building behind him blows up. Sadly we take that scene and apply it to the saving power of Christ.
Yes, etymology-wise, (historical meaning of a word) this is where we get dynamite (from the Greek word ‘dynamis’) BUT the ‘power’ as translated into English and how we associate it, is not quite the same. Dynamite, in the description; is explosive, destructive in nature, having a starting point and goes forth shattering violently and bursting apart.
This is not our biblical dynamis. Yes, power, but ‘achieving power.’ Achieving power paints 
the picture, not of destruction as to blow apart, but the gathering of the qualities of God coming into one place, known as the manifestation of God. In the context of Paul using it in Romans 1:16 “For it is the power of God to salvation…” It (the gospel) is the appeased manifestation of God working on behalf of the believer with the sole purpose, making things right – extending HIS righteousness! THAT is not explosive, destructive, shattering or bursting. That is God in action! The gospel is Jesus coming in the form of man; living, dying, resurrecting, being the payment for a debt owed, freeing the believer – enabling them to be in right standing before a holy God. BOOM! (Just kidding)
It is unfortunate that we associate all this good God stuff with modern dynamite. Because God’s power is so-much-more! Dynamis is constructive, the power that creates with just a divine word. Within the manifestation of God, He puts life where death was, strength over weakness and light where there was darkness. An example is in Mark 5:30, the story of the woman with the bleeding issue, she reached out and touched Jesus’ robe. “And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power (dynamis) had gone out of Him…” His power did not cause the women to explode, but be healed, the power that makes life.
Peter learned of this, he writes: “By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence.” (2 Peter 1:3) And Paul says, “God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power (dynamis) that worketh in us.’ (Ephesians 3:20, emphasis mine) The same power that creates, heals, and restores life… is in us, is in YOU!
The next time we see power in the scriptures, may the picture in our mind not be of a stick of dynamite, but of all the good God stuff divinely commissioned on behalf of the believer. Go God!
Power.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love & good deeds.” – Hebrews 10:24)
Interesting Side Note: I appreciate something my pastor friend told me, she said, “The force of the dynamite is out of proportion to the size of the stick.” There is a lot packed in that small bundle. With that being said: Dynamite was invented by Swedish engineer and inventor Alfred Nobel in the 1860’s. Initially working alongside his father and brother, after multiple attempts, he invented a way to safely detonate highly volatile ingredients, only after his brother and others were killed. He mixed the two ingredients (nitroglycerine and kieselguhr) turning the liquid nitroglycerine into a paste that he then molded into rods and cylinders. He called his new invention along with his patented detonator cap, dynamite, after the Greek word dynamis, or power. Upon his death in 1896, Noble devoted his wealth to be given “annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” Prizes are given in 6 categories: (Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Peace, Economics, and Literature) Thus we know it as The Nobel Prize. Although Alfred Nobel never gave a public explanation for why he decided to create the awards, many have speculated that it emerged from his remorse over inventing a slew of agents used to such lethal effect in the wars and various national aggressions of his age. [Excerpt from the Article: The Story Behind Alfred Nobles Spirit of Discovery’ – by Dr. Howard Markel / PBS.org] A destructive element called dynamite. Hm…
Inspired Fountain 