Tag Archives: Bible

Seeing God in Each Other

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It is a well known fact that no one has ever seen God…or is it? Sometimes I get caught up in the whys and hows of the Bible and have always been intrigued by Genesis 1:27 about God making man in His image. 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

The Bible then goes on to describe how God is in us. The following scriptures taken from the NIV (New International Version) attest to just that:

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:12

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 1 John 4:15

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you...2 Corinthians 13:5

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? 1 Corinthians 6:19

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (Jesus) John 14:20

No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 1 John 3:9

And finally:

New Living Translation
But Jacob insisted, “No, if I have found favor with you, please accept this gift from me. And what a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God! Genesis 33:10 (Jacob speaking to his brother, Esau)

Here’s looking at you, God!

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Happy Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giving Up

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Many people, as a form of penance, either fast or give up something meaningful during the Lenten season. Others take on a new ritual such as daily prayer, devotions, Bible reading…whatever…to develop a closer relationship with God. Either way, it is a forty day exercise and can be very satisfying or disappointing; like keeping or breaking a New Year’s resolution. In any case, it is meant to be a disciplinary and meaningful experience.

So what if we were to give up…let’s say… holding grudges, withholding our love, disrespect for friends or family, or people in general, and other things that are detrimental to good relationships and good living; give up these things instead of coffee, wine, or our favorite dessert.

What if we don’t believe in Lent, have a Spiritual background, or just can’t be bothered?

Sometimes giving up something can be a very positive experience despite the above criteria. Sometimes giving up something can add a whole new meaning to life…not just at Lent but forever.

Sometimes giving up “giving up” is also something to think about. Hmmm.

 

 

That Darned Ark

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The story of the flood and Noah’s ark (Genesis 6-9) appears to be giving a lot of people a lot of trouble.

For instance, how could a loving, caring God drown the whole world except for one man, his family, and a pair of every species of animal…just enough to repopulate planet earth.

Is it purely allegorical and if so what is allegory? Here is one explanation from the internet.

Allegory Definition 

Allegory is a figure of speech in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures and events.It can be employed in prose and poetry to tell a story with a purpose of teaching an idea and a principle or explaining an idea or a principle. The objective of its use is to preach some kind of a moral lesson.

So, I kind of see it as God creating this beautiful planet filled with beautiful people and other creatures for the purpose of living in harmony and good will, and expecting them to be thankful and obedient to him in return. After all He’s the parent…we’re the kids.

Isn’t that what we expect from our children? We provide them with love, shelter, food, clothing, lessons for living life, and in return we expect co-operation, respect, obedience…not to mention a reciprocated love. Who of us hasn’t punished, or threatened to punish a wayward child for not living up to their end of the bargain? Except we don’t go as far as God is depicted to have done.

So, I’m thinking that whoever wrote that story, supposedly Moses, had a vivid imagination, a keen (if not warped) sense of justice, and pegged God as someone not to be tangled with. In other words, is the story of the flood one big empty threat…just like the dad who told his son, “Don’t touch that (whatever) or I’ll chop your hand off!” Really? Is it simply meant to make us pay attention to what is expected of us in God’s world?

The sad part about the people who let the flood story stop them from reading any further is that they missed the beautiful ending to the story…the part where God promised he would never do anything like that again and sent a beautiful rainbow as a sign of that promise. I don’t know about you, but I love seeing that rainbow in the clouds (Genesis 9:13).

So why am writing about that darned ark? It makes me sad that so many people are missing the rest of the story, God’s story, and all that it entails for our earthly sojourn, simply because they cannot let go of that segment with all it’s depicted horrors. All I can say is read on…you don’t know what you’re missing.

 

 

A Change of Mind

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Metanoia is an ancient Greek word meaning “changing one’s mind”.  It seems to me that the minds that can conceive of killing people brutally and mindlessly, need changing. Yesterday’s Bible study on the Book of Acts brought to light the story of Saul, the persecutor of Christians, who was depicted as a terrorist of the times. On his way to Damascus to round up even more Christians and throw them into jail, he was confronted by Jesus Himself, and underwent a thorough transformation. It reminded me of a poem I wrote in 2009 about that very story, and I share it with you now.

METANOIA FOR THE MODERN WORLD

On that long road to Damascus

The Lord stopped Saul in his tracks

“Why, Saul, do you persecute me?”

The voice from heaven asked.

“Who are you, Lord?”

The stricken man cried

As he rubbed his sightless eyes.

“I am Jesus whom you persecute!”

The voice from heaven replied.

For three days Saul was blinded,

He neither ate nor drank a drop

Until he was convicted

To change the way he thought.

When he saw himself as Jesus did

His eyesight was regained

And Saul the persecutor

Became known as Paul the saint.

We need that kind of metanoia

In our modern world today,

Let people think before they act

In such destructive ways.

Away with guns and knives and threats

And bombs and words of war!

Hear God’s voice from heaven say,

“These things I do abhor!”

And if we listen carefully,

If we try to be humane,

Then surely metanoia

Will touch our world again.

Our road to Damascus is just as real today

As it was in Paul’s time

May we meet Jesus on the way.

©2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflections on The Honest Serving Men

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Here are the answers I came up with after reflecting on my existence and applying Rudyard Kipling’s What, Why, When, How, Where and Who questions in September 3rd’s post, The Honest Serving Men.

Who am I?

I am a child of God. “…I have made you and I will carry you…” (Isaiah 46:4) I am also a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, friend…

Why am I here?

I am here to help with earth’s population.  “Be fruitful and multiply…” (Genesis 1:28) My contribution has been five children, fourteen grandchildren, and six (soon to be seven) great-grandchildren. I was given good seed!

What is the purpose of my life?

I am here to serve God and his people.  “And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.” (Titus 3:14)

Where is my life taking me?

Back to God. “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

When will I arrive?

When I die. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…” (Psalm 23;4)

How will I know the answers?

“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

This was a fun and enlightening exercise for me; I can always find answers in the Bible and this time was no exception.

Comments?

Words to Live By

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Words have a way of wandering around my mind and looking for a place to plant themselves. That is when I grab paper, pen, pencil or keyboard and let them have their way.

I love words. They can decorate a plain piece of paper with wisdom, advice, humor, sorrow, poetry, profanity, romance, love…and tragedy. I heard these words of advice on CBC Radio One yesterday, from a call-in listener. The topic was the Syrian refugees and the photo of the little three-year-old boy who washed up on a shore in Turkey, from a capsized boat which would hopefully lead to a new life here in Canada.

The radio host lamented the fact that we don’t always pay close attention to world events until something like the plight of this innocent child brings us to attention…that we fail to take action when and where it is needed. The caller then made this comment: “Don’t look back at what you didn’t do in the past…look forward to what you can do now.” Words. Words to think by, words to feel by, words to act by, words to live by.

Words come in many languages, are spoken by many tongues, are heard by many ears, are written by many authors, poets, laymen, and preachers.

It is also written…In the beginning was the Word…

Word for word, those are words to live by.

It’s Enough to Make Me Cry

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Why did Jesus weep? Was it because his friend Lazarus had died? I don’t think so, because Jesus knew that he was going to bring Lazarus back to life. No, I’m sure it was because Mary and Martha, their friends, and even the disciples, after everything they had seen of Jesus performing countless miracles, still did not believe in him.

Jesus had many reasons to weep throughout his short ministry, and even to this day.

He weeps when he sees one human being beheading another. He weeps when we fly airplanes into tall buildings, killing thousands of innocent people. He weeps when bullets are pumped into human bodies by their fellow man. He weeps when his name is trashed; used as a curse instead of a blessing. He weeps when he reaches out to us and we turn our backs on him, or ridicule him, or deny his very existence. He weeps when we lose patience with family and friends, and when we fail to offer kindness and understanding instead of derogatory remarks. He weeps when lives are lost to cancer, humility is lost to vanity, and his love is tossed to the winds, instead of being embraced by humanity, to whom he freely gives.

John 11:35 is the shortest verse in the Bible…just two words: Jesus wept. Two words to show the true compassion of the greatest man who ever lived.

It’s enough to make me cry.

A Spiritual Dimension

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Years ago, I wrote a poem called A New Dimension, which I will post here.

After I wrote it, I wondered what that new dimension was, never being sure of the words that came to me. In church last Sunday, spirituality was mentioned and how there are those who never accept, or experience it.

Spirituality could definitely be viewed as another dimension of our life experience, I thought, remembering my poem of 1979.

Didn’t Jesus say, “…seek and you shall find…”? (Matthew 7:7)

Here then, is:

A NEW DIMENSION

Somewhere between each rising

and setting of the sun

a new dimension opens up

to each and everyone.

It’s there for us to welcome

a new challenge, a new day

we need only make ourselves aware

in every subtle way.

We need only make our senses

come alive, alert and more

responsive to the little things

we usually ignore.

So seek that new dimension

it’s there for everyone,

somewhere between each rising

and setting of the sun.

©1979

…to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:6) KJV

So, seek that new dimension…why not?

Sunday Event

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A couple of weeks ago the idea of posting short scriptures each Sunday occurred to me. Lo and behold, one of the recent suggestions from Blogging 101 was just that idea with an added bit about why a particular verse is meaningful to me.

Here is today’s feature:

Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Psalm 22: 9,10

This is a psalm of David, and I love it because it is exactly the way I feel about God. His presence has been with me since day one which leads me to another scripture:

“…you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you…” Isaiah 46: 3,4

Another Sunday event today is a baby shower for Laura, the mother-to-be of my seventh great-grandchild.

countblessings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s In A Name?

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Trying to catch up on the first five “Blogging 101″ days, this is day two’s assignment. We are told to consider changing the title of our Blog or as WordPress puts it…”edit your title and tagline”.

Yesterday I wrote about possibly changing my title but hadn’t quite decided on a new one and would love a little input from you readers.

Insight seems to be one of my stronger personality traits. Also, I love seeking guidance in my Bible and have always believed my writing is Spirit led; maybe not all of it but certainly much of it.

Yesterday, I came across this in 2 Timothy 2:7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

Now, what drew my attention was the fact that I have been toying with THE INSIGHT PAGE as a possible title; or possibly just INSIGHTS.

I’m hoping some faithful readers will also give me some insight into this; what would make a good new name to replace My Precious Life, the Blog?