Tag Archives: Bible

The Golden Rule

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Thinking about the random acts of kindness that have come to my attention lately, somehow brought to mind The Golden Rule. In its simplicity this fundamental rule of living means that we don’t treat others in a way that we would not want to be treated. In other words, it is good to stop and think before we speak or act in a way that would hurt another person. Yet we don’t always do that…maybe because it is not so easy in the heat of the moment…maybe because we feel vindicated by putting someone “in their place”.

I remember being at a social function many years ago, and met a man who was constantly putting his wife down. He didn’t have a good thing to say about her; and this in front of a group of people. I couldn’t imagine what he would be like in private! He turned to me and asked, “Well, don’t you think I’m right to want to make her be a better person?” My response was simply, “Do to her as you would have her do to you…talk to her as you would have her talk to you. Would you really want to be treated as you are treating your wife?” And then I left the table before I was tempted to renege on my own advice.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:7 …do to others what you would have them do to you…and also in Luke 6:31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

This great advice would not have made it into the Bible if it was not to be life lesson.

Sometimes a random act of kindness may be to simply apply the Golden Rule.

 

 

Only One God . Period

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An overheard discussion about there being more than one God really caught my interest. How can that be? Coming from an unexpected source, the conversation threatened to collapse my whole system of belief…a belief that has been an integral part of my life since I was four years old.

Without getting into the nitty-gritty of what other religions, atheists, agnostics, or even Christians believe about God, let me just say that after pondering this weighty question, here is what I came up with.

I knew God before ever laying eyes on a Bible or becoming a Christian (which isn’t a criteria for believing in Him). How? Because when I was four years old, an elderly lady told me about him and taught me the “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer which at age seventy-eight, is still in my psyche, word for word. I was told about him and I believed.

It is generally perceived that the Ten Commandments (which I learned in high school when I was thirteen) were written by God and given to Moses to benefit the Israelites. Following is the first Commandment:

“I am the Lord your God…You shall have no other Gods before me…” (the Torah)

“There is no God except one God” (the Quran)

“I am the Lord your God…You shall have no other Gods before me…(the Bible)

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Book of Mormon)

God created all people, but there are those who choose not to acknowledge him, or to disown him altogether.

Let me put it another way. Suppose one of my children decides they don’t want me for a mother. Suppose they choose to ignore me and my rules and regulations for their lives. Suppose they choose to instead, adopt a friend’s mother or a mother-in-law to replace me. They have the free will to do that, but it does not change the fact that I am their mother. Nothing will change that.

So with God; we can ignore him, misinterpret him, disown him, put our own spin on him, but the fact remains…He is God…the One, the Only…God. Period.

For I Know the Plans I Have for You

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Have you read that verse in Jeremiah? Have you believed the promise of it? To me it is one of the most exciting verses in the Bible.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13

In my case I had called upon Him and prayed to Him before I knew anything about this verse. Although His plans were in place for me before I was born, they only became apparent to me in hindsight. But now that I know there are plans for my life it is exciting to live in the expectation of them.

It is a sure thing that my book, My Precious Life, was one of those plans. Another verse, Jeremiah 30:2 “Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you” was the message that prompted the book.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord…what a promise!

 

A Time to Embrace

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A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; (Ecclesiastes 3:5)

To me there is always a time to embrace. In my mind embracing means hugging and I LOVE hugging! The only time to refrain from embracing is when we’re busy with other things…and of course when it might be inappropriate to embrace. As usual I’m not sure what Solomon had in mind with this verse, but it keeps my brain active. Now about the stones…

How many times have we stopped to pick up a stone just to toss it into the distance…or to skip it across the water of a river, lake or ocean? And how many times have we walked along a beautiful sandy beach gathering smooth stones into a cloth sack or a basket? Some of my little great-grandchildren love to play with stones; sorting, piling, counting, or just caressing the stony smoothness.

However, the Bible can be quite allegorical and the stones may not mean stones at all.  I’ll leave that for the scholars, though, because to me stones are stones and I even have a few around my house as conversation pieces.

Tomorrow: A Time to Get and a Time to Lose

 

 

A Time for Everything

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To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to reap that which is planted. The Bible (KJV) I am taking this verse from specifies plucking up rather than reaping, but as you will see, reap more aptly suits my purposes for this post.

Birth and death are the only two certain things that every human being on the face of the earth shares. Today, though, I want to emphasize birth. There have been twenty-five births in my own personal family (excluding in-laws), since 1954 and a new birth is on the horizon. After a winter of planting, my seventh great-grandchild will be born in the season of Fall. In other words, that which was planted in January will be reaped in September.

Seasons come and go and each season has its own purpose, just as the seasons of our lives. I am happy to be in the winter of my life and still experiencing the joys of new birth.

Thank you Laura and Cam for adding a new bloom to the garden of life.

Tomorrow: A Time to Heal

The Great I AM

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Many years ago,1977 to be exact, while on vacation in Trinidad, I was introduced to a Pastor who gave me this very short but powerful prayer for use in times of need; any kind of need; spiritual, physical, emotional, to name a few.

“Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, have mercy on me.”

It is a prayer to be repeated over and over until the peace of Christ is felt in body and soul.

The prayer has been a huge blessing to me and several others over the years. Following are a few scriptures introducing “I AM”:

I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35)

I am the Light of the World (John 8:12)

I am the Door (John 10:9)

I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14)

I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)

I am the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)

I am the Vine (John 15:1,5)

I am the First and I am the Last (Isaiah 44:6)

I Am who I Am (Exodus 3:14)

I am the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 1:8)

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 21:6)

My prayer is that this prayer will be valuable to all who use the Lord’s name not in vain.

The Bible on Birth (or God’s DNA?)

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Many years ago I was asked this question: “If we are God’s children do we have his DNA?” I have grappled with the question over the years and finally found some answers in the Bible; not necessarily DNA answers but God’s participation in our birth.

No one who is born of God will continue to sin because God’s seed remains in him. 1 John 3:9

…You brought me forth from my mother’s womb. From birth I have relied on you. Psalm 71:6

…Your redeemer who formed you in the womb: Isaiah 44:24

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

…You whom I have upheld since you were conceived and have carried since your birth. Isaiah 46:3

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:16

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…Jeremiah  1:5

Did not he who made me in the womb make them? (slaves) Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? Job 31:15

Your hands shaped me and made me. Job 10:8

You gave me life and showed me kindness. Job 10:12

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1

And that concludes my search for “the Bible on birth” to date. I don’t know if I have God’s DNA but I do know that he is my Father.

The Eye of the Beholder

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When my eldest daughter was six years old she told me, “You’re pretty, Mommy.”

When her youngest daughter was two years old she told me, “You pwetty, Nana.”

And now they are both pretty women.

It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I see beauty all around me; not only in the young but in the elderly as well. And when I see it, I say it.

My daughter and granddaughter taught me that many years ago.

A teenager once reprimanded me for calling her cute. “Babies and old people are cute.” she said.

Another daughter and granddaughter now tell me I’m cute…hmmmm.

We never know when someone needs to hear that they look good, or some other uplifting words of truth.

Behold the beauty of someone today and let them know they are.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birds of Pray

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Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air…Genesis 1:28

Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom…Job 39:26

The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. Psalm 104:12

…they shall mount up with wings as eagles…Isaiah 40:31

Consider the ravens; for they neither sow nor reap…Luke 1:2

…and birds of the air have nests…Matthew 8:20

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap…Matthew 6:26

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Luke 12:6

So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. Matthew 10:31

These are but a few of many scriptures pertaining to birds. The Bible is so full of fascination for me.

Some Sound Biblical Advice

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Most people who know me know how much I love my Bible. Some even wonder why. Well, I’m here to try to answer that question.

I have found such good advice and lessons for living in the Bible that it would be difficult for me to put it aside. And here’s an example:

In the New Testament we find Paul in his second letter to Timothy giving this advice…

Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels…instead be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 2 Timothy 2:23,24

Does that not sound like a lesson in living?

Here is an acronym for the Bible…

Basic

Instructions

Before

Leaving

Earth

Makes good sense to me.