PRAYING FOR CELEBRITIES

PRAYING FOR CELEBRITIES

On FB there was a photo of Lady Gaga and Beyonce. For me, the picture showed not their possessed self, but I saw young girls, lost, not even that pretty, and I felt pity for the girls I saw. God showed me that at some time in their past, they felt unworthy of love. Yes, they had some singing talent, but they weren't happy on the inside. This inner turmoil is what the Lord was showing me, and they might even tell you that, if you got to know them personally. But Satan offered them something so different - fame where they would be loved by many! They accepted the demons that would make them famous celebrities. Beyonce has made it public that when she gets up to perform, a different personality takes over. She calls her Sasha.

I never gave celebrities much attention, but with this photo, God woke me up to start praying for a few of them.

There are some good Christians in Hollywood, and Jesus told us we could pray for laborers to be able to reach the people we can’t get to ourselves. “Then saith he unto his disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest’” ( Matt. 9:37-38).

I’m praying for laborers to be able to get to the hearts of these girls.

Jesus is the answer to rescuing all of us, including crazy celebrities. This week the Lord directed me to read Luke 4:18-19 in answer to what to think about certain celebrities. Jesus tells us:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

The above scripture comes from Isaiah 61:1-2: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God.”

Certainly, our God will take vengeance on the demons that have taken control of these celebrities. Jesus came to set people free from these demons. There are many ways He can do that. Praying for Jesus’ laborers to find a way into these celebrities’ lives and hearts is what I am inspired to do, but the Lord may show you something else.

No one is exempt from the touch of the Lord when we pray.

Love, Carolyn

"DO YOU FEEL ME?"

 

“DO YOU FEEL ME?”

Peanut and I laid out on the grass to get some fresh air and sunshine. A couple of hours later, my back felt itchy, so I put my arm inside my shirt and scratched where it itched. But it was still itchy afterward, and I couldn’t figure it out, that is, until I went to bed! I took my T-shirt off and saw that there were all kinds of foxtail stickers in my shirt! No wonder I was itchy! It was from the outside of me, not the inside.

Many times, Jane and I take a ride down the Strip here in Las Vegas to check out the atmosphere. And many times, we don’t even have to go there, because we can feel it right in our living room. We can tell when people are really having a great time, and on the other hand, we can feel when the people are depressed. I’m sure you have felt this in your own cities, towns, and villages.  You can be perfectly happy, and then you go out, and all of a sudden you feel something come over you, and you know it’s not from within you, but it’s a feeling coming from without. We feel it sometimes on a Sunday afternoon when it’s football season. We can sense the tension in the air, the people losing money on bets, the women angry because their men are out at the casinos, that kind of thing—the atmosphere in the air.

There’s a slang phrase: “Do you feel me?” Well, yes we do, and more than you think! In the Bible, we find out why this is so.

Because we are human, we are connected to all humans. We can feel the atmosphere created by the people around us, and even far away from us, if we think about it.

But this is what God says specifically about Christians:

“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Rom. 12:5).

In our physical bodies, if we are hurting in one part of our body, our whole body, mind, and emotions can be affected by it. It’s the same way in the body of Christ.

And in First Corinthians 12, God has Paul put it like this:

“God hath tempered the body together… that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

“And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (1 Cor. 12:24-27).

Okay, so it’s good to know that we’re going to feel things from the bigger body of Christ, but is there anything we can do about when we get the bad vibes, when we feel itchy like I did, and we don’t know the source?

The answer is yes. There is a reason we feel certain ways when we do. God is trying to tell us something. These days when I get a bad feeling or something just doesn’t feel quite right, I ask myself right away, “Is it something with me?” If I can’t find anything that makes sense with what’s going on with me, then I go straight to God. Most of the time I’ll get a quick, specific answer, but if not, I can always pray, “God take this atmosphere away. It has nothing to do with me. Show me what to pray for, and what to do, if specifics are needed.” And every time, He does.

It’s a fact: We’re all going to be affected by events that are outside of us. Everything we feel isn’t going to be about us. It’s not. We can learn to recognize what’s us and what’s not us. For instance, we wouldn’t necessarily need to take an anti-depression pill for the oppression we’re feeling from others. Right antidote for the right problem.

We feel the foxtails that itch us, but sometimes we just need to take the T-shirt off and wash it. We have Holy Spirit in us so we can empathize with what others are feeling, and we can do something about it in prayer, and many times God inspires us with wholesome good-sense actions to take as well.

Learning to discern the origin of our itches is an important key to living from a standpoint of accuracy and wisdom.

Love, Carolyn

GRILL THE BILLS

GRILL THE BILLS

I went to put away my tax papers for this year and I discovered I still had tax papers from over seven years ago, so it was time to “grill the bills.” I tore up water bills, bank account papers, and other stuff, and lit it all on fire. All those things are in the past, just like a lot of my old ways of thinking and living are also in the past. As I grow closer to the Lord, old ways disintegrate and wash away. On FB many people are putting up photos of when they graduated from high school, and so many of my FB friends look so cute, and lovely, and innocent. Wow, was I the only one who was so despondent and depressed at that age? Kind of looks like I was. When my niece and I were going through some old photos a month ago, I made her throw my graduation picture in the trash because it was so awful! (It’s on Fb somewhere, but yikes!)

Anyway, the only good thing about that picture, is that it’s not me now! Thank God!

Lately I’ve become more aware of how different I am now, than I used to be. It’s really exciting to feel like I’m not struggling to change, but I just am changed.

When I put my old papers in the grill and set them on fire, they burned down to ash. But to make sure they wouldn’t flare up again, I got the hose out and flooded them with water till they were totally mush. That goes right along with being washed clean by God, like it says in First Corinthians 6:11: “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

Second Corinthians 5:17 tells us: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

For a long time, I couldn’t tell you how many things had changed in me. I thought I was pretty much the same as I’d always been. I was wrong. Now, in looking back, I do see the changes. I see what has been grilled, burned, and washed away. And now that I can see it, I’m pretty excited to make a list of what changes really have taken place. A life transformed – great stuff (not because of me, but because of Him!).

Love, Carolyn

WE THE PEOPLE

 

 

WE THE PEOPLE

Joshua led the Israelites in the ways of our God. They lived in the good land that God promised. Yes, they had to fight the enemy at times; they had to go and help others fight off enemies as well, and there were always adversities. But when they were attentive to the laws of Moses, things were generally good. They had written standards to adhere to concerning cleanliness, foods, animal care, sex, and everything that pertained to living well. But it all changed when Joshua died.

The book of Judges is all about the generations after Joshua. God’s people were like sheep, with very few rams among them. They were easily swayed by the practices of the cultures around them, even though God told them to “make no league with the inhabitants of this land” (Judges 2:2). God didn’t drive out the other cultures, but He did tell His people not to take up their practices.

Ever since the beginning of human civilization, people have been given the challenge of following the ways of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the midst of living with people who follow other gods. It’s the same today. Many Christians probably don’t even know the records of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Well, the Israelites knew the history, but they let those stories go into the proverbial sea of forgetfulness, and the lessons learned from these patriarchs of Judaism and Christianity died a thousand deaths.

In Joshua 2:3, God says to the people: “Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.” The people knew God was right, and they repented. “They lifted up their voice, and wept. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel. And Joshua, the servant of the Lord, died being a hundred and ten years old” (” (Judges 2:4,7-8).

But the people didn’t make the ways of God personal, because as soon as Joshua’s generation died away, “there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.  And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth” (Judges 2:10b-13).

Then, instead of being in a good place with those gods which were not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the people were used and abused to the point they could hardly take it. “Now the Israelites were miserable” (Contemporary Eng. Version), “and they could no longer resist their enemies” (Holman Bible) (Judges 2:14).

This second chapter of Judges is charged with the slacking of the people, and the rescuing hand of God.

Verse 16 tells us: “ Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.” Verse 18: “And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.”

But what do you think the people did when the judge died? “ And it came to pass, when the judge was

dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way” (v.19).

“And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, ‘Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: that through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not’” (vv. 20-22).

“Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily” (v.23). And God goes on to list those nations He did not drive out.

In chapter 3, we see that God delivers the people through a very clever man named Ehud. And then, by chapter 4, “the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud was dead” (v.1).

This pattern goes on and on throughout the book of Judges, and it’s fascinating to read, but there’s a point to my bringing it up now, and why the Lord put it on my heart to share today.

What this section of scripture tells me is that God’s people are way too malleable—up, down, up, down, up, down. The Israelites then, and we the people now, seem to be more willing to follow a person, than to follow the ways of God. They would get a godly leader and follow him or her, then adhere to the ideology of an evil leader just as fervently. This is not good. Why did God have Moses write down the ways to live? In Old Testament times, it was called the Law of Moses, but it was actually the law of God.

Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses and then gave some new ways to live as well. I know I harp on this a lot, but I believe it is what our God is wanting us to see and do: Read the Bible; get to know the Old Testament stories; get to know Jesus’ life through reading the Gospels, and see how the New Testament believers followed Jesus’ teachings or failed.

We are being tested today, much like the Israelites were tested in the times after Joshua died. It’s up to us, the people, to make the Bible personal and real in our lives. We will always have good leaders and bad ones. God in His mercy and love for all humanity, left haters and pagans in the vicinity of God lovers. Who, but God, knows when or whether a hater may become a lover? But it is up to each Jewish or Christian person to know the standard our God set forth.

The only way to judge a man or a woman or an ideology is to know the standard by which a person or a thing rightfully can be judged, and that is the Word of God, the standard of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Who are they? Find out, and find out what and who they stand for.  

Love, Carolyn

BEAUTY AND WONDER

  

  

 

  

BEAUTY AND WONDER

God created the earth and all the wonderful plant and animal life that exists here. Though we are in the middle of a quarantine, we can still see the constant God factor. God’s goodness doesn’t change; we just have to want to see it. Matthew 5:45 tells us: “He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” And Romans 2:4 tells us: “The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” Not one sparrow falls without God noticing, so believe me, He is noticing us right now. Here are just a few pictures I took today. God’s filled the world with beauty and wonder, and I’m so glad He’s given me some in my own backyard.

Love, Carolyn

EASTER SUNDAY - IT IS WRITTEN

EASTER SUNDAY – IT IS WRITTEN

With the coronavirus quarantines, I realized that in most places, bookstores are closed. I thought, “If the stores are closed, how would people buy a Bible?” My next question was, “What if the internet were shut down? People who don’t have a physical Bible, who read the Bible online, or read Bible articles like mine, wouldn’t have access either!” In grade school, I read Fahrenheit 451. It’s about a future American society where books are outlawed, and "firemen" burn any that are found. The novel is actually based on a real historical event. In the 1930s, the Nazis burned books in Germany and Austria.

For most people, books aren’t nearly as vital to life as computers are, and I’m thinking that right now, we can use that to our advantage. As soon as the stores open back up, or if you know of one that’s open now and it sells Bibles, go out and get yourself a Bible right away. If all digital devices were taken offline, at least you would have access to the written Word of God. It’s important.  

Jesus used the written word—it was the final and only blow that got the devil off him when he was tempted in the wilderness. Jesus knew how important the written word is, so we need to know it too.

The devil “saith unto him [Jesus], ‘All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.’ Then saith Jesus unto him, ‘Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.’ Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him” (Matt 4:9-11).

This one incident shows us how powerful the written Word of God is. The devil must bow to what God says. That’s a given!

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I’ll go to read some of the Bible, and I feel like I’m bound up, I can’t even open it up; I feel too tired, or I think it will be boring, or I think I won’t really get anything out of it. (I’m just being transparent.) I know it has to be a devil spirit blocking me, but sometimes I don’t feel strong enough to fight it. But now that I’ve admitted it, and confessed it to you, I know exactly what to do. Now I will totally recognize it as a demon, and I will rebuke it and make myself read something just to make the demon go away – I win!!

So on this Easter Sunday, here are some great scriptures I read today:

“I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron” (Isaiah 45:2).

“I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, . . . And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you:
and my people shall never be ashamed” (Joel 2:25-26).

“I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Is. 43:19b).

“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:5)

“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise” (Jer. 17:14).

 “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

“Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked” (Ps. 91:1-8).

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

“But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses” (1 Tim. 6:6-12).

Don’t get tricked from reading the Bible like I was. Let’s read God’s Word more now than ever.

Love, Carolyn

GOD AND THE PASSWORD

GOD AND THE PASSWORD

Because of the coronavirus, the company I work for had to downsize, and I got laid off yesterday. I wasn’t happy about it, but what could I do? Actually, my biggest worry was filing for unemployment. I started to worry that I hadn’t kept the paperwork from 2016 when I filed the last time, so I wouldn’t know the details I needed to have to file again. When I started the process, I was okay until I got to the password.

I didn’t have a clue of what I’d used before. Then clear as a bell, the Lord gave me an old password, I typed it in, and it was the right one. From that point on, I only had to call my friend DeNece one time for some help, and I was done in less than 30 minutes.

What I thought was going to be a grueling project, turned out to be so easy. God knew I was worried, and yet He loves me so much that He just popped the password into my mind. Then He made sure nothing got in the way of DeNece answering my phone call, and with that, I flew through the rest.

I’ve learned that I can trust the Lord in my work and my finances. Yes, I still worry a little sometimes, but ultimately, I know God is for me and not against me, and He always comes through.

I didn’t always trust Him. But I had to want to trust Him, and I believe He honored my heart above my actions (which weren’t always so great). I had to grow into trusting the Lord. I faltered and fell prey to the doubts the devil was always willing to throw at my mind. But I never gave up wanting to trust God, like the Bible says we should want to do.

I’m much older now, and I’ve learned to rely on the Lord Jesus because He’s proven Himself to me over and over. This incident of Him just popping down my old password, saved me so much time and undue stress today! I’m so thankful the Lord is interested in the small things that relieve us in potentially hard circumstances.  

Here’s a great passage of wisdom from God on this subject of trust:  

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:6-8).

We won’t be devoured if we will learn to trust the Lord. And if you’re still in a place where you maybe aren’t so sure about trusting Him, don’t worry. If you just say that you want to trust Him, He will respond.

Love, Carolyn

PALM SUNDAY

PALM SUNDAY

Jesus went to Jerusalem several times to celebrate the feasts, but his final entry into Jerusalem had a special meaning. He was solemnly entering as a humble King of peace. Traditionally, entering the city on a donkey symbolizes arrival in peace, rather than as a war-waging king arriving on a horse. I found an article on the history and Biblical background to the event we call Palm Sunday, and I think you’ll enjoy it. I hope you’ll take the time to look up the additional scriptures that help give us a more extensive understanding of what Palm Sunday is all about. Read the record in the gospels for yourself this week and see what the Lord himself wants to teach you.

Excerpts from “The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem" by Wayne Jackson (ChristianCourier.com)

“The significance of the event is underscored by the fact that the circumstance is recorded in all four Gospel accounts. For brevity’s sake, we will produce only Matthew’s record.

“And when they drew near to Jerusalem, and came unto Bethphage, to the mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying unto them, ‘Go into the village that is just ahead of you, and straightway you shall find a donkey tied, and a colt with her: untie them, and bring them to me. And if any one says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them; and immediately he will send them.’

“Now this is to happen that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, Meek, and riding upon a donkey, And upon a colt, the foal of a donkey.’

“And the disciples went, and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey, and the colt, and put on them their garments; and he sat thereon. And most of the crowd spread their garments in the road; and others cut branches from the trees, and spread them in the road.

“And the crowds that went before him, and that followed, cried out, saying, ‘Hosanna [save now!] to the son of David: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.’ And when he was come into Jerusalem, the entire city was stirred, saying, ‘Who is this?’ And the crowds said, ‘This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee’” (Mt. 21:1-11).

The setting of this episode takes place on the Sunday, just prior to the crucifixion later that week, as the Lord and his disciples made their way toward Jerusalem. This day is commonly called “Palm Sunday,” the appellation being taken from the events that occurred subsequently on this notable occasion.

As they approached a village called Bethphage (“house of figs” — specific site unidentified) on the western slope of Olivet, Jesus dispatched two (un-named) disciples into the community to obtain a donkey for use in the remainder of his journey into the sacred city.

Evidence of the Supernatural

Christ informed the disciples that as they entered the village they would find a female donkey secured by a “tie.” With her would be a colt, also hitched. The disciples were to “unloose” and bring back both animals. They would be questioned by the animals’ owners (plural — Lk. 19:33) as to what they were doing. Their response was to be, “The Lord has need of them.” Immediately permission would be granted.

This was not a pre-arranged agreement; rather, it provides a dramatic example of the Lord’s exercise of supernatural knowledge whenever the circumstances demanded such (Luke 19:32). It is worthy of note as well that the owners of these donkeys were obviously disciples of the Master, as indicated by their unhesitating response to the designation “Lord.”

When the Savior’s men returned, donkeys in tow, the two animals were adorned with the outer garments of the disciples, reflecting perhaps the fact that they did not know which of the two beasts of burden he would choose. Jesus selected the colt, upon whose back no man had ever sat (Mk. 11:2; Lk. 19:30). It is not without significance that the young animal made no resistance (divine sovereignty over the animal kingdom — Num. 22:28; 2 Kgs. 2:24, etc.).

The Adoring Crowds

As the Savior rode down the road toward the capital city, two throngs of people converged upon him – a massive crowd coming out of the city; another group following him (Mt. 21:9; Mk. 11:9). These were mostly disciples who had been awed by the effect of the Lord’s miracles – especially the recent resurrection of Lazarus (Lk. 19:37; Jn. 12:17).

Some “paved” the road with their garments; others with layers of leaves, at least some of which were from palm trees (Jn. 12:13), hence the expression “Palm Sunday.” Spreading garments before a dignitary was a symbol of submission (see 2 Kgs. 9:13).

Palm branches were employed also as token of victory. Some Jewish coins from the first century had palm leaf engravings with the accompanying inscription, “the redemption of Zion.” Note the “palm” symbolism that is portrayed in the book of Revelation (7:9). The Jewish disciples doubtless were expressing the hope that Jesus would be the one to lead them to victory over their oppressor (Rome).

Prophecy

Both Matthew and John contend that this incident was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The former cites Zechariah 9:9 specifically; the latter alludes to it more generally.

The prophet Zechariah was among the 50,000 or so Jews who returned in the first wave of Hebrews released from Babylonian captivity in 536 B.C. He wrote about five centuries before the birth of Jesus (520 B.C. – Zech. 1:1). The prophet’s main emphasis was to rekindle spiritual fervor in Israel’s hearts after they had fallen into a state of listlessness. Chapters 9-14 are heavily Messianic in argument. The prophecy under consideration reads as follows:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your king coming unto you; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, even upon a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech. 9:9).”

Zechariah spoke the exact thing that would happen on Palm Sunday, over 500 years before it happened!!!

Oh Lord, please don’t let it be that long for us to wait! Please make our waiting be on the short end, like you said in 2 Peter 3:8 :“Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Please make our waiting be on the short end of time. I don’t know if we can stand a long waiting! God willing!

In spite of how long we may have to wait, let’s make our mission this week to be like that of Zechariah: “To rekindle spiritual fervor in our hearts” lest we too fall into a state of listlessness. We, as believers in Christ Jesus and in the majesty of our God, are powerful on the earth to effect change. We pray with compassion and love, what Jesus told us to pray. With fervent anticipation and without a doubt, we expect God’s ready answer: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). We love Him and we trust Him.

Love, Carolyn

AMAZING CREATIONS

  

AMAZING CREATIONS

In the mornings I love to sit in my chair by the window and observe the birds and flowers, and just contemplate. To think that God created every type of living creature so long ago. The habits of the mocking birds are so different from the hummingbirds or the grackles. They all came from the very first creation of their kind. And yes, the chicken did come before the egg. God created the first man, Adam, from the earth, and Eve from Adam. Then every person ever to exist came from the union of those two.

The makeup of a human being is so complex, intricate, detailed and still not totally understood. In Psalm 139: 14 David says: “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works.”

Then he goes on to say in verse 15-16a: “My body was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance.” I believe this is talking not only about being in the womb, but also that when God created man from the lowest parts of the earth, He already knew that each of us was going to be born and He loved us already.

As important as we are, we are only one of God’s many amazing creations. We can never fully comprehend His magnificent creative genius. Scientists and nature lovers alike are continuing to learn more and more about the brilliant conceptions of our creative, imaginative, spectacular loving God. And all of His creations teach us something about Him and about life in general.

David goes on to say in verse 17: “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.”

What is innate in the behavior of a hummingbird? A sparrow? A red sage or a delicate pansy? Spending early morning looking out my window or in the afternoon, sitting on my patio bench, my only computer or television is nature. I am having the wonderful opportunity to observe, enjoy, and contemplate some of these other marvelous imaginations of our God’s creation.

Love, Carolyn