Have you ever conducted a study (research) on metaphors and symbolisms used in the Holy Bible that impart God’s wisdom, creation, procreation and evolution of mankind? Try it…you’ll like it! Why? Because a metaphor is basically a figure of speech that unites two unrelated thoughts together.

For example, let’s take a look at how “trees” are used to describe people’s activity:

Did you know that symbolism and metaphors are the bedrock of understanding and appreciating the Bible. Actually, you can say that such dialogue is the Language of God. The Bible verses take on a deeper meaning and an opportunity to know the mind of God better. So allow me to suggest that every now and again, you hug a tree.

  - The phrase “all the trees of the field will clap their hands” appears in the Bible in Isaiah 55:12
  - Another phrase "Let all the trees of the forest sing for joy".   Psalm 96:12

I prayerfully asked the Holy Spirit why choose trees to represent people and the answer I received was both trees and man were conceived out of the ground. (On the third day and by the seventh day God’s creative work was finished.)

After gleaning all this information, I had to laugh as I envisioned that actually mankind is closer related to trees than monkeys. Us and trees have more in common. We are both fashioned from the ground! To get a better understanding of the use of metaphors please study Judges Chapter 9 KJV. There, Jotham starts a parable which uses trees to represent the citizens of Shechem by different species of trees. You will obtain a clearer picture of the character of the players in this saga. (Move up a notch in your Bible study time.)

Your assignment is to find as many scripture references where the word ‘tree’ is used as a metaphor for people. Below is your last clue:

Mark 8:24-26 King James Version (KJV)

And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

“I sincerely pray that your biggest take-away from this blog will be that Christ Jesus’ died on a wooden cross (on a tree for a tree(s))…you and me! Get it???

Trees by Joyce Kilmer – British accent, read by Ben W Smith

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Is Covid-19 on its way back to our USA states? Some people have voiced that they think so, as well as many medical professional care-givers. So, that is why I am once again RE-BLOGGING this addition. Also, during this political season in the states, hope is once again in the atmosphere.

So, hopefully, you are claiming that you are blessed and highly favored and can be counted on as participating in spreading the Good News about our Maker and His ability to make everything all right. Needless to say, I encourage you to bend the knee and depend totally on Someone who can make everything alright.

————-TRUST IN THE LORD AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING————–

I can only imagine that during this Covid-19 life-threatening and deadly pandemic; the California wild fires causing loss of life and property; and the nations’ political unrest which is arousing citizens to feel disenfranchised, betrayed and demoralized; that these situations are empowering skeptics, god-fearing people and agnostics to call out, ‘God, where are you?’!

No doubt, in times past, God has been your anchor-father, and you communicated with him with ‘no problem’. But lately, you are experiencing a deafening sound of silence. Just when you thought you were dancing with the star-angels, you became a wallflower. (Did I forget to gargle this morning?)

Did God not say we should come as we are? Did he not invite us to enter his gates (presence) with thanksgiving and his courts with praise? (Psalms 100:5) Ask yourself…have I not demonstrated a faith that is steadfast, unmovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord? (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Did not the Lord promise that He would never leave us nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5) And did He not profess that with man, certain things were impossible, but not so with God. For all things are possible with God. (Mark 10:27)

All I can say to you morally depleted people, is welcome to the wilderness of life’s journey!

Did you not know that God often places his people smack dab in the middle of the wilderness to allow them to grow and be refreshed? That’s right! God wants us to become equipped and fortified to do his bidding here on earth. He also wants to give us experiences so that we are equipped to recognize the enemy (Satan) and to navigate his territory successfully with the aide of the Holy Spirit.

So, as you can see, getting through these dry seasons is not just a matter of waiting on God, ringing your hands and shouting out loud, but you should use this time to search the Scriptures, pray fervently, and encourage and lead others to join you in becoming a partner with God; to hold fast to his unchanging hand and to know that he is up to something good and beneficial for all of his children.

My personal testimony…

Hopefully, we will all learn how to pray with conviction, fortitude, trust and confidence that our Lord and Savior has the whole world and all of its situations in His hands. In October 2013 while on a Buckner International Mission Trip, I attempted to pay for some souvenir books I had purchased. But when I put my hand on my waist to retrieve my money belt it wasn’t there. At that moment, all my strength left my legs and I slumped to the ground. My colleagues were at a loss as to what had caused me to almost faint. As I sat there on the floor trying to compose myself, my first thoughts were that I had somehow been robbed of my money belt. But a holy reassurance came over me and I experienced reassurance that my lucre would be replaced by simply making a phone call to my son back in the United States. So I picked myself up and brushed myself off and continued on my mission assignment for the Lord.

Needless to say, when I returned to my hotel room that evening after visiting the children’s orphan homes, there on the floor and partially hidden under my bed was my fanny purse. Evidently, that morning, I did not tightly secure the fasteners on the purse to my waist. Yes, because I had turned that whole situation over to the Lord, plus I did not harbor ill feelings against the citizenry of Russia, nor did I fret over lost spending money, I experienced peace all that day and performed as a positive witness for the Lord, bringing joy, peace and hope to the little children.

Let us embrace today’s dilemmas with the same frame of mind.

Scripture Lesson: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

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Dear Followers, Friends, Visitors, Students and Lovers who regard and revere God’s Word recorded in the Holy Bible! If all of your ‘getting’ is to get an understanding, then, I have a question for you. Are you familiar with the meanings of Implicitly (spoken in a way that is not directly expressed) and explicitly (spoken in a way that is clearly expressed)?

Would you like to be enlightened on how you can experience true fulfillment as well as ingest a reasonable segment of the mysterious nuances that occupy the storyline of God’s creation and his plans for everything he created?

STOP! Take the time to read Psalms 97:1-13. Allow passages from this short Scripture penned by King David to be prayed to the Almighty and ask him to spend some time with you. Introduce yourself by telling him you have been born again and have accepted his Son, Christ Jesus as your personal Savior and invited the Holy Spirit to rest, rule and abide inside you as your Master Teacher. Enter into your quiet space. Shout to the Lord with a voice of triumph! Seriously proclaim that He is God all by Himself and thier is no other gods above Him.

The secret is that the Bible is inundated with symbolisms and metaphors which are the bedrock of understanding the Bible. There are two particular OT Bible Books that focus on human disciplines and principles to live by: Namely, the Book of Proverbs and the Book of Psalms.

The Book of Proverbs has 31 chapters so it can be read in just one month. Especially the months that have 31 days in them. So why not make a New Year’s resolution and select a month in 2025 that has 31 days and then make a vow to incorporate the Book of Proverbs as a reading assignment in that month. The Book of Psalms has 150 chapters. Use the remaining eleven months in 2025 to read Psalms.

Now, I am not going to ask you to do something that I would not do. As a member of a 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. telephone Bible Study Group from Monday through Friday, the co-ed group reads 4 different Bible chapters each morning. We are issued a printed calendar for each month with the four chapters listed on each of the days. A volunteer reads a chapter and anyone on the line can pray over a bible verse when the reader finishes. An assistant pastor is explicitly available to interpret any implicitly biblical verses that are misunderstood.

And the results will be that illumination and discernment of God’s Word will become more and more obvious. A much deeper understanding of God’s incorporation of humor will also become more and more obvious to the reader as you rely on the Divine Author, the Holy Spirit, and recognize and accept Him as the third Person of the Trinity. If you are reading the Bible from sun up to sun down, but not leaning on the Holy Spirit to interpret the message, you will be leaning on your own understanding.

And do I dare say, also look for some slang or idiom expressions, too. Although idioms are a very informal language and used between people who belong to the same social group, that definition can be yours if you engage your Bible concordance for translation of certain words. (Different foreign translations of the Bible originally used slang or idioms to translate sentences into English. (Although, the Christian Bible does not say Jesus Christ (God) ever laughed out loud.)

My prayer for you…

Dear Heavenly Father, Please help and empower Your people to walk circumspectly, not as fools but as Your wise children, redeeming the time because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15-16). Continue to unveil hidden meanings of Your words. We are no longer duty bound to walk in the ways of the world, but we have been transformed by the renewing of our minds. Please, please help us to be willing to change our thoughts, how to make them new so that we will not only be a new person but will also think in a new way. Amen and Amen!

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(*) NOTE: THIS BLOG IS A REPRINT FROM THE AUTHOR’S FILES

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” 

This week I prayed mightily for a fresh anointing from the Holy Spirit. What caused this extra indulgent in my prayer life. Well, it was because I was pre-occupied with worldly matters that the Holy Spirit had already convinced me that He would take of. I’m sure you know what I mean. It’s when you take a matter to the Lord with the intent to leave it there…but when you leave your prayer room, you discover that what has totally consumed you has hitched a ride on your back.

What did you say…’been there…done that‘…or were you more emphatic…’My bad!’

Well, as for me, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” Ps 37:25 KJV. So, I shall be obliging to God’s Word and confess to my blog readers an incident that I told only to my diary at 7:00 A.M., on October 14, 2007.

Dear Diary, my Bible fell open to Ezekiel, Chapter 14:1-23.  Israel's elders were led to seek the prophet Ezekiel and ask him to inquire of the Lord on their behalf.  But God would not hear of it. Why?  Because these elders had issues (idols) and felt inadequate to inquire of the Lord on their own.  What the elders did not know was that the prophetess among them had issues, too; although she had experienced some successes in the past while doing the work of the Lord.  In short, God said if both the elders and the prophetess do not repent and allow God to take control of every phase of their lives, He will set His face against them.  This word from the Lord to Israel was definitely for me this morning.

There are two families in my life that have come to me for help, (I identified one family as my best friends), and has over the years, referred to me as 'the prophetess'.  Both of these families are seeking financial advice from me because they have seen some financial successes in my life.  (Recently, I purchased two rental properties, furnished them and secured a three-year lease on them.)

But because there are a some short falls (idols) in my life and I imagine in the two families' lives, too, God is saying before He will allow any more successes in all of our lives, we had better get our acts together and surrender all of our 'idols' over to Him.

So now, my friends, I have confessed an old misdeed in my younger life that I mistakenly thought was pleasing to God. But, actually, the Holy Spirit told me differently…it was not pleasing to God. He and He alone is to be gloried in all that we say or do and NOT we ourselves.

"Dear Lord, thank You for caring enough for Your weak, pitiful children to send them a warning.  Now, please give us the strength to overcome."  Amen.

I closed my confession time into ‘diary’ by making a list of my habits that the Holy Spirit brought to my attention that were unpleasing to God. And over the years, the majority of them have been replaced for the better through prayer and fasting and striving for a closer walk with the Almighty. My personality has mellowed and I am continuing to learn how to let go and let God.

Donnie McClurkin – We Fall Down But We Get Up – YouTub

Global Gospel GroupYouTube · 850.8K+ views · 9 years ago

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Whom among us have ever thought that God had failed them? Perhaps these soul-searching thoughts have entered into a person’s mind because goodness and mercy has so far rarely followed them during the course of their life time. Or maybe no consideration was given to prayerfully search out a godly counselor to guide them through life’s persistent obstructions.

Well, the Holy Spirit just wants to ask you one question…”How are you today?” (Click the song title below for the answer.)
It’s me, it’s me oh Lord Standing In The Need Of Prayer 2:26 min. (Then, return to the blog for answers.)

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Sincere and inquiring minds in my sphere of discipleship ministries are very cognizant of my numerous foreign mission travels abroad. And recently, a few of them were requesting hands-on information of how I coped on some of my first assignments.

So, I decided to re-visit a few of my early diary pages and blog about the very first international mission trip I took with the company I signed up with, Buckner International. (*)

(*) NOTE: Buckner Internationalhttps://www.buckner. Buckner transforms the lives of vulnerable children, enriches the lives of senior adults, and builds strong families through Christ-centered values.

Date:  December 8, 2007

Dear Diary:

     My limo driver to take me to DFW Airport (Dallas, Tx)  was 20 minutes late.  As I sat in my garage awaiting him, I silently anticipated just how marvelous and eventful the next 8 days would be.  You see, I'm packed and ready to embark upon my first mission trip with Buckner to Lima, Peru.  But altogether there will be approximately 28 volunteers converging to DFW from 4 USA states to be joined together to fly to Lima to visit several children orphanages and to hand out Christmas gifts, new shoes, VBS materials and a few medical supplies.
     Well, I'm finally at the airport and the limo driver conveniently dropped me off directly in front of Continental Airlines.  The skycap assisted me with 3 bags and even took my passport and checked me in.  Two of my luggages were filled with Christmas gifts for the children.

EVENT #1.

     As soon as I stepped inside the airport lobby, I was stopped by airport security as I attempted to pass through security.  I could not imagine I possessed any unauthorized object which I had packed on me that would not pass inspection.  What did security find...2 bottles of Elmer's glue.  YES!  And because of Elmer, I had to get out of line, put my shoes back on and return to the ticket counter.
     I did not want to throw out the glue but my only other alternative was to recall my checked 2 bags and insert the glue in one of them. I decided to do the latter.  The wait was turning into 15 minutes and my patience was wearing thin.  Just then the Good Lord stepped in.  A young couple (Amy and Casey) toting a black duffle bag with bright green Buckner tags attached got in the check in line.  Not thinking of the consequences, I rushed up to them and inquired if they would pack my 2 bottles of glue in one of their carry-on bags.  Amy's eyes got real big and she looked at her husband and said; "Are we supposed to do that?"  Her facial expression looked like she was about to yell for security!
     Right then, it downed on me that I had mentally identified the couple as being a part of my Buckner group by their green luggage tags, but they didn't even know me because my luggage was on its way back to me.  In haste, I identified myself and explained my predicament.  We all laughed and sighed with relief and allowed the Holy Spirit to say..."catcha"!  "And I'll be with you guys on your mission trip."

Event #2.

     When I finally reached the boarding waiting lounge, the first person to introduce herself to me was a pleasant young lady named Mary.  We did not know at the time we were assigned roommates.  But our conversation mirrored each others.  How much we loved the Lord, our passion for missions, how we both found and joined Buckner International, our growing relationship with the Holy Spirit and our growing opportunities to witness, support and see the scriptures come alive before our eyes.  (And you know Who arranged this time for us to become sisters in Christ before our union as room mates.  Praise God.) 

Event #3.

     During one of our first trips to an orphanage in Lima where the majority of the children were handicapped, a small boy approached me while I sat in the open court yard.  At first he just stared at me.  Then he came closer and took his finger and ran it along my cheek twice.  'No, it does not come off,' I remember thinking.  He did it again and we just look intently at one another.  I smiled and he almost did, too.  My corn roll hair braids were also a big hit with the young girls, the staff and the instructors, as well.  How I so enjoyed and felt blessed to be instrumental in uniting God's earthly human species into a loving, caring and inquisitive family of His. 

(A free pixel image of Peruvian children being taught with braids being taught by volunteers.)

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(*) NOTE: This blog is a reprint. I first wrote and published it on January 22, 2021. I truly believe that it is applicable for such a time as this. Please, prayerfully read it and sincerely continue to pray for our nation. I have faithfully posted a weekly blog in conversation with my Savior since May 2018. (Feel free to post your comments below.)

At Your request, Lord, I come unto thee…heavy laden and burden.

The type of question asked in the title of this week’s blog was asked by Joshua in the Old Testament of the Bible:

In Joshua’s case, he realized that God was in the mix of the battle the Israelites was pursuing with a Canaanite stronghold, but he wasn’t sure whose side God was on and who he was going to allow to win the battle. In my predicament, I indeed needed to poise a more poignant question to God concerning the state of affairs our nation found itself in at the nation’s capitol (Washington, D.C.) on January 6, 2021, when it was overrun by a riotous mob of insurrectionist.

So, in a prayerful posture of humility, and with a contrite heart and meek spirit, I approached the throne of grace this week and submitted myself to the Lord’s abundant mercy and compassion. Relying on the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appealed to Him on bended knee, to converse with me. And He did.

Early one morning this week, after I had finished my daily 6:00 a.m. prayer time on the telephone with about 35 other early riser prayer partners, I felt the comfort of the Holy Spirit still lingering in my bedroom. I closed my eyes and submitted my spirit to the welcoming angelic atmosphere. Speak, my Lord, I whispered, speak.

“Neither,” I heard a still small voice say, “For I am the commander over all political parties of the Lord whether they know it or not. Don’t you know, my child, that looking at conditions and affiliations from your political perspective is not a prerequisite necessary for admission into the Kingdom. If only all political entities would submit themselves to deep soul searching and look at their own agendas and motives for carrying out their actions and couple them with examples given by my Son, Jesus Christ, they would experience far more victories, accomplishments and successes from God than from their own understanding.

“It is for this reason that I have come to tell you to rest easy and to allow your emotions to be comforted with the knowledge that God’s outreached arm has you securely embedded in his care. He wants to remind you of his undying love for you and his love for his people. Put your hope in Jesus Christ. He is your Rock of salvation. Trust Him and see what the end will be. And know with assurance, if you continue to stand strong in Him, He will make your righteousness shine like the North Star and the breaking of dawn of a new day. So rise, shine, and give God the glory.” Amen!

Scripture Lesson: “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:6-7

Click http://www.tgifmasterminds.wordpress.com every Friday for a new post from The Master’s servant manager…Me!