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Showing posts from February, 2021

Be Careful

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 Read the Bible Through Aside from, "I love you," the most frequent thing my Mother has said to me, even in my adult life is, "Be careful!"  She told me this as a child when I was riding my bicycle, as a teen when I  was going out with my friends.  Even now. she will tell me this if I am going on a vacation, business trip,  going to exercise, if I am driving in the rain or going grocery shopping after dark.  "Be careful," is spoken even if I am driving the 5 minutes from my house to hers.   As I read in Deuteronomy, the word 'careful' is used over and over as Moses is speaking to the people of Israel who now  stand on the cusp of  entering the land of promise.   " Be careful to do as the Lord has commanded for you" Deut 5:32 " Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today" Deut 8:1 " Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commands, ordinances and statues that I am giving you

Stuck In The Same Place Too Long

 Reading the Bible Through As I mentioned  in my previous blog post, the book of Deuteronomy opens with a new generation standing at the edge of the promised land.  They have wandered in the desert for 40 years and the Israelites who left Egypt have died out and the new generation is ready to take possession of the land of promise. Moses is speaking to the children of Israel and in this passage providing a historical recap to this new generation. In reading the first few chapters of this book it becomes clear that God was concerned with His people's  progress.  The Lord had given them  the land of promise, but the Israelites kept getting stuck in one place and He had to move them forward.  In  Deut 1:6   He told them they had stayed at Mt. Sinai long enough and it was time to move out.  In  Deut 1:46  we see they had to stay in Kadesh as long as they did because of their rebellion.  Now we see the Lord again telling them it is time to move on. "You've been traveling around

"You have stayed at this mountain long enough"

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Reading the Bible 2021 This year I am reading the Bible through with my church and in doing so am realizing that there are passages that I had forgotten or  which I have gained fresh insight.  I want to share some of these here on my blog in the hopes of pointing others to Christ and encouraging fellow believers in their spiritual journey. R " The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb:  You have stayed at this mountain long enough.  Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites and their neighbors in the Arabah, the hill country, the Judean foothills, the Negev and the  sea cost-to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates River.  See I have set the land before you.  Enter and take possession of the land the Lord swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their future descendants."          Deut 1:6-8 The book of Deuteronomy opens with a new generation standing at the edge of the promised land.  They have

What's Your Center?

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One of my favorite candies as a child was a Tootsie Roll Pop. The suckers had a hard outer portion and then a soft tootsie roll center.    In the commercial it was always asked, "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?"  There was noting quite like getting almost to the center and them biting into what was left of the hard portion to get to the soft tootsie roll. The center is what sets this sucker apart from others.  What was the center made all the difference and our center makes all the difference too.  Let me explain.  Recently while reading from the book of Numbers I noticed something in Chapter 2 that I have been thinking about since and wanted to share it here.  Earlier God has given Moses the pattern of the tabernacle and it has been constructed.  In Exodus 25:8 we are told that the tabernacle represented the presence of God among the people of Israel.   In Numbers 2 the Lord has told Moses the location each tribe should camp.  Normally

A Lesson in Self Righteousness

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                                                I posted this back in 2011 but with our recent snowfall I thought I would re-post it today.  As I jumped out of bed early Christmas morning and looked out my window I thought my eyes were deceiving me.  Never in my lifetime can I remember a white Christmas.  Well that is exactly how God had chosen to delight us!! Excited, I gathered my coat and gloves to take out our Westie, Chloe.  Reaching down to hook the leash on her collar I thought how beautiful and white her coat looked.  As the door opened Chloe was out in a flash walking somewhat uncertain in the fresh snow.                                                          After looking around and taking in the beautiful white blanket that covered the yard, house and trees, my gaze went back toward Chloe.  I almost gasped.  Next to the beautiful white snow, Chloe, instead of looking marvelously white as I had thought, appeared dirty and stained. In that moment it was as if the God

Be Careful Where You Pitch Your Tent

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After considerable research my friend has decided that we need to go glamping out west.   Now you may be confused as I was initially in exactly what this is.  Glamping is actually a combination of the words "glamorous" and "camping" and describes a style of camping with amenities and in some cases resort-style services.  Now camping has never really interested me since I would not describe myself as the "outdoorsy" type. Perhaps if I tried it I would like it but there has always been something about the thought of not having access to indoor plumbing, my hair dryer, flat iron or curling iron that is a bit unsettling to me!  Setting that tent up also seems daunting-I've seen TV shows of how that turns out, not to mention you have to be particular about where you pitch your tent.  It is recommended that you maintain a sufficient distance from other campers so as to not annoy or be annoyed by them.  You want to pitch it on soft flat ground for the best sl

Dealing with Disappointment

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Flipping through my planner I noticed over and over the words, "CANCELLED."  Since March of 2020 there have been alot of things that have been cancelled-public events, school sessions, commencement exercises, vacations,  church services and other meetings and people have expressed their disappointment.  For some the loss of jobs, financial impact, fear and uncertainty of what the future holds has led to the feeling of disappointment for so many.    What actually is disappointment?  Webster's dictionary defines disappointment as feeling sad, unhappy or displeased because something was not as good as expected or because something you hoped for or expected did not happen. Simply put... Disappointment is when our current reality does not meet our expectations. We expected something to be one way but that is not our present reality.  You expected to experience your senior year of high school or walk during your college commencement, but the recent quarantine preve