Have you ever stopped to realize that when mankind becomes aware or conscious of something or someone having beauty, it is usually based only on a physical attraction or the functionality of the object. Not so with God. The Holy Scriptures revel that God determines a person’s beauty by their character traits and personality: In other words; the good, the bad and the ugly.
Notwithstanding, the more a person is basing their observations on WWJD (what would Jesus do), the more ‘beauty‘ shines thru to God and to the world. Because the attributes of God(*) are what makes God beautiful! Therefore, the more we know about our own personalities and character, the better decisions and choices we will make as we fine tune our actions to reflect God’s Son as His ambassadors.
There is actually a Bible verse that talks about the beauty of the Lord. It is found in Isaiah 33:17 and it says: “Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar.
For your information, the “king” is God. He resides in His “beauty”, aka His attributes. That land that stretches afar is Heaven. And I, yours truly, the author of this blog, am a witness that every time I sit down at my computer to write my WordPress Friday blog, the “beauty” of the Lord comes miraculously through my humble home and allows His Holy Spirit to bless me with His “beauty”. I pray a simple prayer and ask Him for His guidance and what is my subject matter for this week’s blog.
This week the Holy Spirit responded by reminding me of a small hand made bean bag that hangs on a door knob in my home with the inscription, “Let the Beauty of the Lord be upon us.” And sure enough, my fingers began to type the blog that is before you.
I have learned to rethink what I previously imaged about what things are beautiful and what things are lovely. I began to realize that my thoughts were tainted and most of what I thought denoted beauty was borne out of ‘lust’ of the eyes and not out of visions of WWJD. I whispered a quick atoning prayer and asked God to order my steps, renew my mind and truly cause me to walk closer and to think more like Him.
God’s thoughts on beauty are all about Him and His beautiful attributes and should NOT be about me.
Scripture Lesson: “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; bring an offering, and come before him; worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness.” 1 Chronicles 16:29
(*) Note: Attributes of God: His love, holiness power, eternal, infinite, unchangeable being, full of goodness and truth…just to Name a few.
I’ve had it! Enough IS enough!! Stop the world…I want to get off!!! Have you, too, been there and done that????? Well, when that happens…I’ve found that having a little talk with Jesus makes everything alright. (Just click the song title below and afterwards return to this blog.):
Following is a prayer of consecration for an ordination service, to be audibly recited over newly inductive members to church organizations, for example; Deacon and Deaconess Boards, Lay Leaders, International missionaries, etc., and all other newly appointed or elected similar board members of the church.
Dear Heavenly Father: Blessed be the most Holy and Everlasting God of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The One Who has called us by His tender mercies out of darkness into the marvelous light and into His saving grace, we corporately offer praises unto Thee by declaring:
(Congregation Response:) Blessed be the Name of the Lord and Blessed be the Rock of our Salvation.
(Leader continues reading:) Humbly, we present these newly inaugural brothers and sisters into Your service as Living Stones and Ambassadors to become witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Therefore, we beseech Thee to empower them with the Holy Spirit.
(Congregation Response:) Blessed be the Name of the Lord and Blessed be the Rock of our Salvation.
(Leader continues reading:) These are they, my Lord, who have graciously and joyfully accepted the calling into the Divine arena of servanthood. We now present these Seeds to be planted in Your Rock Garden. Seeds that through Your nurturing, will become petrified and will take on the characteristics of The Rock. For we know and now all of them know that You are truly the Rock of Ages Who has called us all to be living stones along this pilgrim’s journey called life.
So here we stand before You, Heavenly Father, confessing our sins and declaring our faith in Your promises of life eternal, which has already been bought with a price…having been Redeemed by the precious Blood of Jesus Christ. For we thank You for Jesus. We praise You for Jesus. We exalt You for Jesus. For by studying His life and believing in His works, as it is written in the Book, we know there is a God.
(Congregation Response:) Blessed be the Name of the Lord and Blessed be the Rock of our Salvation.
(Leader continues reading:) We don’t pretend to understand how everything was accomplished in the beginning, but all we do know is that once we were Born Again we began to see things more clearly; we commenced walking on paths charted by You; and we started talking more positively and demonstrating more love towards one another.
But most importantly, Dear Jesus, we have started to recognize Your voice; Your will and Your ways. We have come to realize that Your blessings are not just for ourselves alone, but for all Your people.
So, now Lord, in presenting these brothers and sisters to You in this ceremony today, we pledge to them and to You that this congregation will stand at their sides as they submit whole heartily to Your will and to Your way. That we as a Body will do all that we can to assist them as they gird up their loins and their minds to do battle in this sinful world.
That we will pray their strength in You as they strive to overcome all fleshly desires that would hinder their service for Thee. That we will consciously remind them that their DNA has changed. They are no longer made of corruptible seed but incorruptible seed. And each day they should be looking more and more like the Precious Cornerstone.
And now Lord, as we greet one another in love and with a Holy kiss and with the right hand of fellowship, we close this prayer in the matchless Name of Christ Jesus. Amen and Amen!
(Congregation Response:) Blessed be the Name of the Lord and Blessed be the Rock of our Salvation.
“Thank You for allowing us to have this conversation with You today!”
REBLOGGED…A REQUEST FROM MY FOLLOWERS AND ‘LIKE’ READERS!
Miraculously all abnormalities had disappeared. What welcomed news the doctors had presented my mother, Dorothy, on that cold winter’s day in 1945. No, it was not the first time she had heard this news. For past occasions were too numerous to count when she and her prayer band of girl friends had gone down on their knees to ask the Lord to spare her second child, nicknamed Snooky, from a serious illness. Me!
Yes, you guessed it. This is another blog on how God miraculously healed me when I was a child and his grace and mercy was retold to me later in life by my praying and devoted mother. During my 70+ years of life, I can truthfully say that God has always pitied my family and answered the prayers of my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
I believe I initially inherited my weak genes from my paternal Grandmother Novella. She too, was a sickly child at birth. Often, when I was a teenager, she would sit me down to retell her own stories of how the Good Lord had healed her of a debilitating sickness.
I will forever remember the story she told me in the summer of 1955. That year I was an inquisitive sixteen-year-old woman-child. My mind told me to do the unthinkable; question grandmother about her physical appearance. So, somehow I mustered up enough courage to ask, “Grandmother, why do you have one big leg and one little leg?”
Now you’ve done it, Snooky! You’ve struck a nerve!
Granny and I had just started to prepare dinner in the kitchen when surprisingly, grandmother took two giant steps towards me, threshed out her broad right hand and caught me under my left armpit. Sternly, she marched me pass the cooking stove and into the parlor. My feet were hardly touching the ground. There she plopped me down on the ruby-red settee and proceeded to wipe her hands on her floral apron.
As she stared at me with probing eyes, I noticed they were beginning to fill with tears. Trembling, I sat stiffly on the edge of the sofa seat with my head humbly bowed, knowing that no one came into grandmother’s precious parlor uninvited. Oh, how I wished I could have retracted my imposing question, which seemed to conjure up such vivid and emotional images for grandmother.
Grandmother had composed herself and she was more relaxed.
As grandmother paced back and forth, biding her time, ringing her hands, composing her thoughts she abruptly turned towards me with this admonishment: “So you want to know why I have ‘one big leg and one little leg,’ do you?” Well, young lady, you just sit right there and listen. But by now, her tone of voice was cracking and much softer and somehow filled with more empathy.
My body began to relax. I could tell by grandmother’s monologue that in spite of everything else, I was in for a real treat. She was about to tell me one of her childhood secrets; things she had not even shared with her own seven kids; and I would be the first among her twenty-three grandchildren who would be privileged to know. Grandmother Novella began her tale like this:
Spoken in Grandmother’s broken dialect.
My muther who was your great grandmuther, whom everybody called Big Momma Laura, had a difficult pregnancy when she carried me. Furthermore, she experienced complications at my birth because when born, my right leg was drawn back and locked at my buttocks. The mid wife could not get it to come down, so she left it ‘lone. At the age of five I learned to use crutches. Until then, I crawled everywhere I went.
Since I could not run and play like the rest of the choorun’ broke Big Momma Laura’s heart. So one day, out of desperation, Big Momma summoned all the neighborhood church sistahs to our house for a special prayer meetin’. Someone suggested they take me out back behind the house. There they placed me underneath a number two wash tub. The church sistahs circled the tub and began to sing and chant their praises to the Lord. They feverishly cried out to God for about thirty minutes. Now all the while, I was curled up under the tub. I remember experiencing a heat build-up under there.
Finally, the chanting stopped and someone lifted the tub. To my surprise, I saw uninvited peoples from the neighborhood lurking behind trees and bushes. Also their curious chooruns were laughing and taunting us. We all just ignored them.
Big Momma helped me to stand on my one good leg. Another lady took hold of my bent up leg and attempted to lower it to the ground. My leg joints cracked and popped, but finally that ole stubborn leg came down. Someone slipped my crutches under my arms and I began to hobble around the backyard while using both feet.
All of the church folks broke out shouting and dancing. The younger women lifted their long skirts ever-so-lightly, moving their feet to a syncopated rhythm of hand clapping which was provided by the older women.
The choorun’ danced in circles around us in groups of threes and fours imitating the vocal praises of their peers. I threw my head back and witnessed the clouds playing tag with one another. My ears recorded the whistling of the trees and the chirping of the birds. The entire backyard burst into an atmosphere of holy ecstasy.
At the conclusion of Grandmother Novella’s story she was on her knees beside me at the edge of the settee. We were both crying. But I remember grandmother laughing between her tears as she said; “Even though I grew up with one big leg and one little leg, I still managed to get the most handsome boy in the neighborhood to marry me.”
A great awaking: Knowing God as a healer for myself!
I will never forget that day when grandmother shared that miraculous healing story with me because it literally changed my life. You will recall in the beginning of this story, I said I was a sickly child. Well, one of my adolescence illnesses was I suffered with severe migraine headaches. One evening, about three weeks after my experience with granny, I was at my own house in bed with a bad migraine. As I lay there my thoughts were on her story. I had never in my life dared to converse with God for anything as special as did my Great Grandmother Laura. My mundane prayer life consisted of rapidly reciting the Lord’s Prayer at bedtime. But that night, I carefully slipped out of bed and onto my knees. I closed my eyes, folded my hands and began to pray…to earnestly pray.
Just when I began to retell granny’s story to the Lord with the intent to ask Him to heal me like He had blessed her Somebody turned on my bedroom light. Or so I thought! My eyes were still closed, but I could see a bright glow all around me. I stopped praying and remained very still. Somebody was definitely in my room and approaching me. The sensation felt like a warm beam moving closer and closer. Soon that ‘Somebody‘ passed over me and went out the door.
In amazement, I buried my face in my hands and wept uncontrollably. Soon I realized I was drenched in perspiration from my head to my toes. I stood up to examine myself and discovered that my head was no longer hurting. I shook my upper body violently from side to side. My migraine was gone! Jesus had healed me just like He did Grandmother Novella! And the best part was I had not even finished praying my prayer to Him. Hallelujah!!!
Oh, how I longed for a repeated jubilant performance of what took place over three generations ago. How my daddy’s mother, Grandmother Novella, Great Grandmother Laura and their friends had celebrated God’s goodness and mercy. How I ached to praise God in that frantic holy frenzy, representing a fourth generation of praise.
An example of praising God with uplifted hands.
Very seldom do Christians think about clicking their heels, twirling in circles or running in place when they praise the Lord. Yet, the Bible records numerous occasions where people as well as inanimate objects even worshipped Him. Trees clapped their hands; mountains skipped; hearts trembled; the Sons of God shouted; Enoch walked; the earth quaked; David sang and Mary Magdalene kissed Him. All of these recorded actions contributed joyful noises unto the Lord who heals you.
So why shouldn’t I? All I knew to do to demonstrate my joy was to search the biblical scriptures in a feeble effort to find just the right words to commune with Him. That night I rested in the audible reading of Psalms 66. Miraculously all abnormalities had disappeared. I vowed that night to forever continue to have Conversations With God Using Scripture.
Scripture Lesson:“Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing of his glorious name! Tell the world how wonderful he is. How awe-inspiring are your deeds, O God! How great your power! No wonder your enemies surrender! All the earth shall worship you and sing of your glories. Come see the glorious things God has done. What marvelous miracles happen to his people!” Psalm 66 1:1-5 Living Bible
Just months before that powerful world-wide pandemic that the medical community labeled Covid-19 hit our shores, I received a wonderful women’s prayer journal from my church’s Women’s Ministry Group. It was chucked full of colorful pages where a person could write prayerful notes related to different subjects according to their needs, a to-do list, a reminder corner, an intercessor list, a thank you reminder, etc., etc., etc.
I found this little book entitled, The Prayer Map For Women, extremely useful in helping me to organize my blog posts I submit to WordPress each Friday. Therefore, I am recommending it to all those persons who inquire of me as to how I consistently crank out blog after blog each week for the past six years hopefully for your enjoyment. (To date, that fete adds up to approximately 328 blog posts.)
But who’s counting?…Folks!…I love bloggingabout my time with the Lord!
So, let’s get crankin’ on this week’s blog!
While on a cruise vacation, I saw the Face of God!
Oh, how beautiful! Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how inspiring! Oh, how humbling! Oh, how excellent is His Name! Words could not express all the emotions and awe-struck thrills I felt last week as our cruise ship transcended the waters and shores of British Columbia, Skagway, Glacier Bay, and Juneau. That was about the extent of the Alaskan Southeast inside passage our cruise ship was scheduled to disembark.
And, no, before you ask, that figure shown in the blue-colored iceberg photo above is not me nor is it anyone else traveling on our cruise ship. The photo is taken from a free pexels image website on Google because I wanted you to see the blue haze that permeates throughout the icy glaciers. And this is where my prayerful conversation with the Holy Spirit begins. For truly, I saw the Face of God!!!
My conversation with God using scripturebeganthe moment I saw God’s face in the icebergs! “Why did You design the icebergs blue like the color of the sky?That was my firstimposition!
What you see when observing an iceberg is not what you get in reality! That was the first bit of information I received from the Holy Spirit, on this Friday, a week after I returned home from my vacation.
The Holy Spirit nudged me and suggested that I imagine myself sitting in a lounge chair outside at the pool. In my hand is a glass of water with ice cubes in it. Where are the ice cubes, my child? the Spirit asked. Floating on top of the glass of water was my reply. Well spoken. And that’s because the ‘seawater’ that the ice cubes are floating in is more dense (thicker) than the ice cubes, was the Spirit’s reply. In addition, the ice cubes are reflecting the ski and pool’s (sea’s) hues (colors).
(The Holy Spirit continued to point me to do research on more information about icebergs.)
What most people do not know, my beloved, is that viewers only see about 10% of an iceberg and that 90% of it is concealed underneath sea level and the entire structure is slowly floating along with its massive girth extending miles out into the sea and under water. So don’t be angry that the cruise ship’s captain did not sail closer to the iceberg. (It’s not written that the earth people experience another Titanic mishap in your lifetime.)
In conclusion:
Oh, how blessed I was when with all my getting…I got an understanding about one of God’s many wonders of our world. Yes, at first, I was slightly disappointed when I learned that this cruise voyage did not take us to more ports of call and we did not see a lot of icebergs, but, all in all, it was a very beautiful cruise and I met and travelled with some wonderful ship mates, and a very competant cruise company. I also ventured out on a 2-hour train ride that took us high up steep mountains and rugged trails that appeared impossible to transcend (not with standing laying the railroad track). I can only imagine what the original early settlers and indigenous people went through to survive.
My prayer For You…
Dear Heavenly Father: Thank you so very, very much for allowing me and so many of your children to cruise North to Alaska to witness your awesome landscape of exuberance filled with energy, excitement, and cheerfulness. My heart was made to fill glad and my expectations and element of surprises surpassed my wildest dreams. My prayer is that many, many more of your children will venture out into the wild blue yonder and experience your splendor in unfamiliar and or mysterious places. Thus causing them to reverence You to the utmost. We all must learn to seek and depend on God. I ask all of these blessings in the Precious Name of Your Son, Christ Jesus. Amen and Amen!
Scripture Lesson: “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15
Did you know that as long as you maintain a sincere relationship and stay connected with Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will equip you with life skills that will help you fulfill the greatest successes in your life.
Trust me! I speak from experience! And I invite you to eavesdrop on a recent conversation I had with the Master. Although I am a seasoned-born again Christian (and have been for several decades), I sometimes become agitated, discombobulated, and short tempered with friends, relatives, strangers, and even myself. These recurring attitudes sickens me and is not pleasing to my Lord and Savior.
During a recent prayer time, the Holy Spirit gently interceded and instructed me to search my data base of teaching materials that I had delivered to audiences over the years. He also said for me to be encouraged and to remember the words of James 1:2 where there I was reminded to consider my dilemma an opportunity awaiting great joy. And if I would do this, my ‘seemingly’ life troubles…basically, my communication skills, would eventually produce in me character qualities that are essential in staying the course and finishing well.
Take a look, at what catalogued material I found in my files that brought me great joy:
SUBJECT: “GREATEST VALUES IN LIFE”
THE GREATEST HANDICAP…………………FEAR
THE BEST DAY…………………………………..TODAY
HARDEST THING TO DO…………………….TO BEGIN
EASIEST THING TO DO……………………….FINDING FAULT
MOST USELESS ASSET……………………….PRIDE
MOST USEFUL ASSET…………………………HUMILITY
THE GREATEST MISTAKE…………………….GIVING UP
THE GREATEST STUMBLING BLOCK…….EGOTISM
THE GREATEST COMFORT…………………..WORK WELL DONE
MOST DISAGREEABLE PERSON…………. THE COMPLAINER
WORST BANKRUPTCY…………………………LOSS OF ENTHUSIASM
GREATEST NEED………………………………….COMMON SENSE
MEANEST FEELING…………..REGRET AT ANOTHER’S SUCCESS
BEST GIFT…………………………………………….FORGIVENESS
THE HARDEST AND MOST PAINFUL TO ACCEPT……DEFEAT
THE GREATEST MOMENT………………………DEATH
THE GREATEST KNOWLEDGE…………………GOD
THE GREATEST THING…………………………..LOVE
My prayer is…
Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive me for sometimes wondering if Your Word is still relevant in today’s world. I know fully well that Your Word remains steadfast eternally in the heavens and that I may not change nor substitute anything in it. Guard my tongue, Holy Spirit, in the precious Name of Jesus Christ. Amen
Scripture Lesson: “The testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:3–4).
And again I say…OOPs! For this week’s blog title, I have used an antithesis form of speech. Why? Because I thought the title above would infuse the curiosity of my readers more than the title: “God Uses Opposites To Express Himself On How To Obtain Righteousness”.
Now I ask you…did it work? Are you still with me? Have I piqued your interest enough for you to read this blog all the way through?
Well, if nothing else, you’ve learned the definition of a new word…Antithesis! That word refers to the juxtaposition (two things with contracting views) of opposing or contrasting ideas. And we all know that the Bible is full of opposites expressed not only by God in the creation story in Genesis, but also by Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, and many other New Testament writers.
Below I have listed a few examples found in Genesis Chapter One that depict an antithesis form of speech or writing:
Light and darkness
Day and night
Earth and Sky
Morning and evening
Land and sea
Sun and Moon
Male and female
Now let’s apply scripture to the proverb that God disposes but man proposes.
“Many are the plans in a human heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21
“To human beings belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.” Proverbs 16:1
“The Lord works out everything to its proper end—even the wicked for a day of disaster.” Proverbs 16:4
“In their hearts human beings plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” Proverbs 16:9
If you wanted to compose a sentence to share that will better explain the antitheses, you could say that even when man gives his very best to a project, in the end, it is up to fate whether man’s efforts will work out or not. Thus, Man proposes, but God disposes (brings things to fruition or extinction).
So do not be discouraged when you read opposites in the bible. Rather, get wisdom and in all thy getting, get an understanding about God’s word. Study to show yourself approved and allow the Holy Spirit to show you how to rightly divide the word of truth.
The moral of the story:
Recently, I was invited to teach on several scriptures from the Book of Hebrews. The assignment called for me to first read a short story found in Our Daily Bread magazine and use it as the basis for my scripture teaching. Because the magazine story did not fully blend in with the overall theme of Hebrews, I had to pray hard for the Holy Spirit to help me connect the dots. This is the message the Holy Spirit communed with me: Do not reduce holy mysteries to slogans and catchy stories, my sister. In trying to be relevant, you are only being cute and in violation or misuse of what is regarded as sacred. Having a knack for generating ‘amens’ from your audience won’t get you anywhere with the Master. In fact, you will reap what you sow. You can imagine, I stuck with the overall theme of Hebrews…the Old Covenant vs the New Covenant. I was careful not to propose anything in my teaching that the Lord would dispose.
My prayer for you:
Dear Heavenly Father, we give You all the glory, honor, and praise for loving us so much that You sent down the Holy Spirit to teach and instruct us in the way of righteousness. For you used juxtaposition terminology to instruct us in how to recognize what is life-generating and what leads to death-infused conduct. Basically, we must embrace faith, exhibit love and practice endurance as we live out our lives and administer hope to our fellowman. It is our prayer that You will continue to shower us with Your wisdom so that we might become more like You. We ask that all of these various teaching methods be a blessing to others…in the mighty Name of Jesus we ask it all. Amen.
Scripture Lesson:“Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.” Proverbs 21:21
Explanation of our daily bread fruit basket of love is supplied through God’s Holy Word!
Surprise! Surprise! I bet you did not know that a perfect definition for the nine succulent Fruit of the Spirit Bible verses outlined in Galatians 5:22-23a could be found in Acts 4:32a thru 4:35b and one verse in John 15:16. Yes, God hid them through the ingenuity, cleverness and trappings of Saint Paul’s writings.
Every now and again, the Holy Spirit challenges me to a ‘quickie’ pop quiz. Sometimes I receive a high mark, other times I head for the wood shed. But this time I believe I did pretty good. Let’s see how well you do…
Patience
Acts 4:32a All the believers were one in heart and mind.
Restraint exercised over one’s own impulses, emotions or desires. Self-control.
Love
Acts 4:32b No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
Unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another.
Peace
Acts 4:33a With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions.
Kindness
Forbearance
Acts 4:33b And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all…
Acts 4:34a …that there were no needy persons among them.
The quality or state of being kind; affection.
The refraining from the enforcement of something as a debt, right or obligation that is due.
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Acts 4:34b For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales…
Acts 4:35a …and put it at the apostles’ feet,
Faithful implies unswerving adherence to a person or thing or to the oath or promise by which a tie was contracted.
The quality or state of being gentle; honorable; mildness of manner; or disposition.
Joy
Acts 4:35b …and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
Delight; the expression or exhibition of such emotion.
Goodness
John 15:16 “…but I chose you…so that you might go and bear (good) fruit–fruit that will last…”
The quality or state of being good. (Only GOD is Good. He alone enables us to bear fruit, not we ourselves.)
Even though there are nine descriptive words for the Character of the Holy Spirit, there is no “s” at the end of fruit! Why? Well, here is what the Holy Spirit conversed with me. “Since I am the Third Person of the Trinity…and God is the First and Christ Jesus is the Second, nevertheless, We are only ONE SPIRITUAL FRUITY ANOMALY! Grammatically, there is no need for an “s”. And more importantly, against such things there is no law.
My Solemn Prayer…
Dear Lord Jesus, I sincerely pray that You will order my steps and make me prepared to let go of my inflexibility and become one with the rest of my church community. Do me, Lord, just as You and the Father and the Holy Spirit are One. In the Precious Name of Jesus, Amen.
Scripture Lesson:“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)
As you can see by the title of my blog post, I have confessed to the world that my God and I often have in depth conversations that are embellished by The Holy Spirit. This cherished relationship has gone on for decades…and I have loved and sought after it every awaking moment. The Guiding Light of His Presence has never failed me yet.
So, for this week’s blog, I decided to let my readers in on a very deep conversation I was blessed to engage in with the Holy Spirit around 5:00 a.m. on Thursday morning back on December 2, 2004. I was around 65 years old at the time and serving as a Deaconess and a member of the Board of Christian Education at a Baptist Church I belonged to at that time. Since my encounters with the Lord were coming so frequently, I always kept a pen and a pad of paper at my bedside along with my Bible.
Please allow me to share with you my entry into the ethereal…
I found myself in an extremely delicate and light and weightless place that seemed too perfect for this world.
Around 5:00 a.m. on Thursday morning, December 2, 2004, I was gently awakened, and for a moment, I just laid there. My mind began to recall the stirring testimonies of the night before at our Wednesday night prayer meeting. Passages from Ezekiel and Jeremiah were read during the closing and I began to reflect on them as I lay awake.
Out of no where I 'felt' a voice say, "My child, you have to become your title...Board of Christian Education." At first, I was confused and had no idea why my mind spoke to me in that fashion. Suddenly, my subconscious was at work and reminded me that ever since the last Board of Christian Education meeting in November, I had been asking the Lord to speak to me concerning the question put to the members by the president. For the next fifteen days I had received nothing! Then, finally, on that distilled morning (and in God's time), He decided to answer.
"Is that You, My Lord?" I said with excitement. At that time, I immediately grabbed my Bible and turned to the book of Ezekiel. As I re-read Chapter 2, the Lord spoke again...
"Ezekiel's life was a living parable or object lesson for the people. And, Daughter of Education, I see you as I see Ezekiel. A representative of Who is to come. For I call Ezekiel, Ben Adam, which is when translated, Son of Man.
"Now, Daughter of Education, get up, wake up, get a pen and write. I am sending you to the children of your church, a rebellious congregation, who has rebelled against Me. They and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this day."
So when I heard Him, I grabbed pen and a piece of paper and I began to write. But then I said, "Oh, Lord, how have we rebelled against you?" I did not hear or 'feel' anybody speak, but my spirit nudged me and caused me to have a fixation on the expression, 'eat the word!'
Then God said, "The Word I have for the Board of Christian Education is one of encouragement. Persons on the Board are to see themselves as a Jeremiah and as an Ezekiel. Both of these men's messages to My people were proclamations. Their preaching was laced with future event happenings. Both of these men's messages were warnings to the people, telling them to get ready for things to come.
"So, when their prophecies did not happen in the time frame that suited the people, they began to shut their ears and mock Ezekiel and Jeremiah and call them a bunch of names and hoped they would stumble in everything they did.
"Because My appointed and ordained priests were also human, their feelings were hurt and their personage was wounded. Instead of getting angry at the people, they got angry with Me. Jeremiah said, 'I will not make mention of HIM!' Board of Christian Education, BEWARE!!!
"Listen My Child, you are to become Ben Christian Education. For like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, your words will be a stumbling block and a proverb to My people. The captors are coming and My people will be swallowed up, but My Word will ring true."
And so ended my conversation with God using Scripture. And I was returned to the solitude of my bedroom. But as I look over my life, I have been in a lot of situations where my prayerful remarks on biblical subjects have been a stumbling block for my comrades. However, sometimes the Holy Spirit has allowed me to witness that God was glorified in their lives. Yes, my feelings were often hurt, but I reminded myself of the precious words of John the Baptist…He must increase, I must decrease.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for hearing the prayers of the righteous and bringing comfort and relief where needed. We also thank you for the promise that You are a refuge and a shelter for us; a help in times of trouble. Please make it possible for us to be calm in the midst of trouble and to acknowledge that You are God and God alone. Amen.
Scripture Lesson:“Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the the heart of the sea. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Psalm 46:2, 11
As you know, your assignment for Part 2 of this week’s blog was to find at least 30 Bible Book Titles hidden within the text content of God’s Word Is Truth – Part 1!
Well…did you find them all? If so…give yourself an “A” grade. If you also counted “Ruth” in the street sign; “Truth or Consequences” as number 31…then, give yourself an “A+”!
If your score was below 25…then, shame on you!
All in all, though, I hope you had fun.
Please let me hear form you by sending me a comment.
The answers (Bible Book titles) are highlighted below.
Therefore, since I am on a self-imposed sabbatical, I am challenging you guys to educate yourselves for the next two weeks by reading the following blog post and finding 30 titles of books of the Bible hidden in the following paragraphs. Give yourself an A+ if you can find all 30 of them. Resume taking your memory enhancing vitamin pills if you miss more than 3. Start now.
This is a mos t re mark able puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket, on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolu lu, ke eping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much; he passed it on to some friends. One friend from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john -boat. Another friend studied it while playing his ban jo. El aine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it, she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column.
Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, that s he brews a cup of tea to help her nerv es. Ther e will be some names that are really easy to spot. That's a f act. S ome people, however, will soon find themselves in a jam, es pecially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. T ruth fully, f rom ans wers we get, we are forced to admi t it us ually takes a minister or a scholar to see some of the m at the w orst. Research has shown that something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in these paragraphs. During a recent fundraising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemon ade booth set a new sales record.
The local paper, The Chronicle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had ever seen. As Daniel Huma na hum bly puts it, "The books are all right here in plain view hidden from sight." T hose a ble to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. Also, keep in mind, that punctuation and spaces in the middle may not be nor mal. A chi pper attitude will help you to com pete r eally well against those who claim to know the answers. Remember, there is no need for a mad exodus; there really are 30 books of the Bible lur king s omewhere in these paragraphs waiting to be found. The End!
You have one week to resolve this Bible Quiz by finding 30 Names of Bible Books hidden therein. May the Heavenly Forces be with all of you.
Therefore, since I am on a self-imposed sabbatical, I am challenging you guys to educate yourselves for the next two weeks by reading the following blog post and finding 30 titles of books of the Bible hidden in the following paragraphs. Give yourself an A+ if you can find all 30 of them. Resume taking your memory enhancing vitamin pills if you miss more than 3. Start now.
This is a most remarkable puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket, on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much; he passed it on to some friends. One friend from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john-boat. Another friend studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it, she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column.
Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, that she brews a cup of tea to help her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot. That's a fact. Some people, however, will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or a scholar to see some of them at the worst. Research has shown that something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in these paragraphs. During a recent fundraising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth set a new sales record.
The local paper, The Chronicle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had ever seen. As Daniel Humana humbly puts it, "The books are all right here in plain view hidden from sight." Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. Also, keep in mind, that punctuation and spaces in the middle may not be normal. A chipper attitude will help you to compete really well against those who claim to know the answers. Remember, there is no need for a mad exodus; there really are 30 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in these paragraphs waiting to be found. The End!
You have one week to resolve this Bible Quiz by finding 30 Names of Bible Books hidden therein. May the Heavenly Forces be with all of you.
Conversations With God Using Scripture 