And *they think we’re crazy!

Taking a short break from my creation study…Digging deeply into the world of science meted out some pretty interesting/ bazaar findings…Here’s the dirt I’ve recently dug up…I’m probably late to the party on all of this info…so please forgive me if what I am sharing here today is old news to all of you folks out there.
The following is an excerpt from a Computer World UK article….

By the year 2020, you won’t need a keyboard and mouse to control your computer, say Intel researchers. Instead, users will open documents and surf the web using nothing more than their brain waves.
Scientists at Intel’s research lab in Pittsburgh are working to find ways to read and harness human brain waves so they can be used to operate computers, television sets and cell phones. The brain waves would be harnessed with Intel-developed sensors implanted in people’s brains.
The scientists say the plan is not a scene from a sci-fi movie, Big Brother won’t be planting chips in your brain against your will. Researchers expect that consumers will want the freedom they will gain by using the implant.

If you didn't already know about all of this...Maybe it's time you did.
Please read Revelation chapter 13
and then
Please take the time to read this extensive article from Time magazine:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2048299-1,00.html
*The they I am referring to in the title of this post is the scientific community (in general). And of course, ‘we’ means those of us who are awaiting the rapture of Christ…and who are believers…AKA Christians and ‘Creationists’ as we are laughingly called by those who oppose God.
Please don’t get me wrong…I am not saying that their science is “crazy" in terms of credibility, or that this is all a ridiculous notion…To the contrary, I believe this is not only possible, but it fits into our Christian theology…And being an un-Godly pursuit, it will and can only end in God’s Judgment upon us (mankind)…perhaps before the science gets as far as they are planning for it to go though.
Though the ‘Time’ article is a couple years old, this stuff is still being funded by a young Russian billionaire scientist who is quoted as saying their intent is to create a new human species in which the human brain or consciousness will be downloaded into a virtual body achieving immortality.

Dmitry Itskov, seen here with the Dalai Lama, is inviting Forbes billionaires to invest in his "Avatar" project. Photo: 2045.com
See article on Dmitry Itskov  in Forbes Magazine Here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/katiedrummond/2012/07/19/dmitry-itskov-avatar/
And here in a recent MSN News article:http://news.msn.com/science-technology/could-humans-some-day-become-immortal
Time to get our eyes off  of our cell phones my friends…and LOOK UP!
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
REVELATION CHAPTER 13

Upon the completeion of this post, it occured to me that my next and final installment of the Creation Story featuring the Tree Of Life fits right into this post...as you hopefully shall see.
Isn't it neat how God takes us on these little side trips into places we would not venture on our own sometimes, in order to bring us into a fuller understanding of his Word and how it all fits together?

Breath of life…flesh and bones

We had a very nice weekend. On Friday we walked around our county fair. We visited the barns where the draft horses are kept, this is the last year for them at the fair and that saddens me, for I will miss looking into those big soulful eyes and finding a certain peacefulness there when we visit them each year, it is our favorite part of the fair.
We met a sweet Belgium mare named ‘Lady’. Like so many others, her owner needs to sell her because it is just too expensive to feed her with the shortage of hay both this year and last. Though Lady is well cared for and healthy.
Owning a horse is becoming quite the luxury where we live now. The news has been full of reports of horses left to starve. We sat down in the barn and talked with a friend who had rescued one such horse that had been rehabilitated because it had been left to starve. She told us an interesting story about finding a large snake in her barnyard recently…a ‘Puff Adder’.
Later that evening at home, we talked about the news reporting that wolves are increasing their presence in our area. Although farmers have always had the right to defend their livestock against predators, there are now very expensive hunting licenses available for wealthy ‘sportsmen’ to kill the wolves so they can take home a trophy…what other purpose would they have to kill a wolf? I do not believe this is good stewardship.
The next day while I picked some fresh blackberries and raspberries from our yard for homemade waffles…I thought about Eden. And as I picked yet another thorn from my hand, my mind began to drift back to the previous day’s conversation about the snake…and then I was startled when I heard movement near my foot, but, thank the Lord it was only a toad!
Once my nerves settled, my mind began to make comparisons of this current Earth and the Eden that God had made for us, his image bearers…And I imagined what it would be like to be back in Eden.
No thorns on the berry bushes, no biting mosquitos, no disease, and no killing. I imagined having many animal friends like that beautiful Belgium mare, and she would have plenty to eat, so would everyone in Eden; and I know it must have been possible for Adam and Eve to converse with the animals..otherwise, Eve’s response to the serpent striking up a conversation in the garden one day might have gone quite differently had she been startled by his words!…Yes, there is much to ponder when you daydream of Eden…And as I took a deep breath and held it for a moment I closed my eyes and imagined the breath of life that God breathed into the first man…and I thought about the ‘light that lighteth every man that comes into the world.’
And I realized that we each carry a part of our Creator within us, our breath is still His, our light (life energy) is still from Jesus…and we are destined for greater than Eden…Now it is time to jump ahead in this study of our Creator…It is not about this earth that we live in, for it is corrupted by sin, it’s dying, and destined to be no more…It is not our home.

BREATH OF LIFE…
This study is about our Creator and us…So come with me as we step (In the Spirit) upon a fresh new land where there are now stars in the heavens. The Seas are now kept within borders of dry land. There is day and night with  a sun and moon glowing brighter than you have ever seen before…. The smell of the soil is very pungent and the air is pure, it’s temperature just right, There’s lush vegetation everywhere, and everything is watered by a fine warm mist while the animals are walking and flying or swimming all around us…No fear!… and God is talking to His Son and He is saying:
1:26 Then God said,
“Let us make  humankind  in our image, after our likeness,  so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”
1:27 God created humankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them,
male and female he created them.
1:28 God blessed  them and said  to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.”  1:29 Then God said, “I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 1:30 And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every green plant for food.” It was so.
For more scientific information about the air we breathe, I highly recommend this very easy to read study: http://www.chemistryland.com/CHM107/AirWeBreathe/Comp/AirComposition.html

 2:4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth  when they were created – when the Lord God made the earth and heavens.

2:5 Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 2:6 Springs  would well up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. 2:7 The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground  and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,  and the man became a living being.

BONE OF MY BONE; FLESH OF MY FLESH... 




2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.”  2:19 The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 2:20 So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Adam no companion who corresponded to him was found.
2:21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep,  he took part of the man’s side  and closed up the place with flesh.  2:22 Then the Lord God made  a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 2:23 Then the man said,
“This one at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called  ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of  man.”

We all know what comes next: the man and woman are decieved by the devil and disobey their Creator...This is the beginning of the end for us.

I'll be jumping ahead in the story again.

The next installment will feature the 'Tree of Life'

KNOWING OUR CREATOR

The physical world we live in is governed by specific "laws of nature" that are
understood from experimentation and observation. Those laws and principles were
established by the Lord God Himself, and He said they were very good (Gen 1:31).
Understanding how these laws govern the order and workings of the physical
universe is the pursuit of good science.
Readers should keep firmly in mind, however, that the Lord God, who established
the observed physical laws of nature, is not Himself in subjection to those
laws. The Bible is replete with instances where the Lord God has supernaturally
intervened against the laws of physics and nature…
Source: © 1997 - 2013 Christian Geology Ministry




IN THE BEGINNING...Prologue

 WATER:
* is vital for all known forms of life on Earth…Jesus said that He will give us "Living Water" that we should no more thirst. And God says that He is the "Fountain of Living Waters".  (John 4:10 & Jer. 17:13)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth….(Gen.1:1)

THE STATE OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH…

And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face (surface) of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.(Gen.1:2)

WATER…God used water to begin the process of creating our world…it was already here (Originated by God sometime beforehand.) Therefore, we should assume that water is a very important element to our Creator...and for us.

* Water is vital for all known forms of life On Earth.

The human body starts out with a composition of 77% water and steadily falls off by year one to around 66% until adult age male about 60% female 55% (more body fat = less water)
(Even our bones contain water)
There went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. (Gen.2:6)
*Note…There was enough water contained within the earth to sustain a viable ecosystem until the time of Noah and the flood. (over 1500 years later) *For the time frame, study the generations from Adam-Noah.
For yet seven days, I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. (Gen.7:4)



LIGHT: (Part One)

DAY 1:
And God said *“Let there be light”: and there was light.
Genesis 1:1-3
*Note This passage is not referring to solar or lunar ‘light’ since the sun and moon are not yet created.
(From the gospel of John)…
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him….
In Him was the life; and the life was the LIGHT of men…And that light shone in darkness; and the darkness could not overtake it….9] That was the true Light, (capitalized) which lighteth every man that cometh into the world…( gives life to)
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. (John 1:1-5 & 9-10)
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and TRUTH. (John 1:14)
I am the way the truth and the life, no man may come to the Father except by me…(John 14:6)

Thus far we have established that God called forth light to bring life upon the formless, empty waters  in order to start the process of preparing our world to sustain life.
When I think of this I see it as if God stepped into his lab and switched the light on in order to begin a new project. But it goes much deeper than that, as we shall see in Part two (Coming soon).

For more scientific information about water continue reading here:

Something out of nothing?

The History of Creation

Warning: Got my geek on…so this is quite lengthy today!

This essay is in response to the newest scientific discovery revealed yesterday concerning the origin of the Universe….Let’s start with the TRUTH from the Word of God first…

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
⁶ Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” ⁷ Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. ⁸ And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
⁹ Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:1-10

 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Hebrews 11:3

Mathew Henry's commentary on Hebrews 11:3

We have here one of the first acts and articles of faith, which has a great influence on all the rest, and which is common to all believers in every age and part of the world, namely, the creation of the worlds by the word of God, not out of pre-existent matter, but out of nothing, Heb. 11:3. The grace of faith has a retrospect as well as prospect; it looks not only forward to the end of the world, but back to the beginning of the world. By faith we understand much more of the formation of the world than ever could be understood by the naked eye of natural reason. Faith is not a force upon the understanding, but a friend and a help to it. Now what does faith give us to understand concerning the worlds, that is, the upper, middle, and lower regions of the universe? 1. That these worlds were not eternal, nor did they produce themselves, but they were made by another. 2. That the maker of the worlds is god; he is the maker of all things; and whoever is so must be God. 3. That he made the world with great exactness; it was a framed work, in every thing duly adapted and disposed to answer its end, and to express the perfections of the Creator. 4. That God made the world by his word, that is, by his essential wisdom and eternal Son, and by his active will, saying, Let it be done, and it was done, Ps. 33:9. 5. That the world was thus framed out of nothing, out of no pre-existent matter, contrary to the received maxim, that “out of nothing nothing can be made,” which, though true of created power, can have no place with God, who can call things that are not as if they were, and command them into being. These things we understand by faith. The Bible gives us the truest and most exact account of the origin of all things, and we are to believe it, and not to wrest or run down the scripture-account of the creation, because it does not suit with some fantastic hypotheses of our own, which has been in some learned but conceited men the first remarkable step towards infidelity, and has led them into many more.

Science… (from Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge")
There is considerable speculation as to why the observable universe is apparently composed almost entirely of ordinary matter, as opposed to a more symmetric combination of matter and antimatter. This asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible universe is one of the greatest unsolved problems in physics.^[2] The process by which this asymmetry between particles and antiparticles developed is called baryogenesis.

Sir Isaac Newton…
~Atheism is so senseless & odious to mankind that it never had many professors…. These & such like considerations always have & ever will prevail with man kind to believe that there is a being who made all things & has all things in his power & who is therefore to be feared.~ Sir Isaac Newton~ (excerpt from undated manuscript)

*More ‘Newton’ quotes…

• It is the perfection of God's works that they are all done with the greatest simplicity. He is the God of order and not of confusion. And therefore as they would understand the frame of the world must endeavor to reduce their knowledge to all possible simplicity, so must it be in seeking to understand these visions.

• Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.

 
• God created everything by number, weight and measure.

      

Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton

 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge.
1 Timothy 6:20

Inside of the Super-Kamiokande Detector, receiving end of the T2K experiment in Japan. Physicists with T2K announced that they had caught neutrinos switching flavors, a finding that could help them pin down why the universe is made of matter. (T2K Experiment (http://t2k-experiment.org) / July 23, 2013)

Using an underground neutrino detector in Japan, physicists may have found the key to answering a fundamental question: Why does our universe, as we know it, exist at all?
Scientists have caught tiny, ghostlike particles called neutrinos in the act of turning from one type into another...

Hey....

This happens to my blog posts too, LOL!

 using the Tokai-to-Kamioka experiment. The ground-breaking findings may help physicists understand a strange asymmetry in the early cosmos that allowed matter to beat out antimatter shortly after the big bang
The T2K experiment, which shoots high-energy pulses of particles from an accelerator on Japan's east coast to a detector roughly 185 miles away on the west coast, reported at the European Physical Society meeting in Stockholm that it had caught neutrinos changing from one flavor to another mid-flight.
This shape-shifting ability is a weird quirk of neutrinos. There are three flavors, or types — electron neutrino, muon neutrino and tau neutrino — and somehow, they seem to switch from one flavor to another, even flipping their masses. Imagine if your ice cream spontaneously changed flavors, or added an extra scoop.
"So you have vanilla ice cream, you throw it into space — some time later, it turns into chocolate ice cream, or strawberry ice cream," Jung said. "This is a very, very weird phenomenon."
Source:http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-neutrino-oscillation-matter-antimatter-universe-symmetry-20130723,0,353393.story

I can almost hear God’s response to all of this….

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
⁵ Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
⁶ On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
⁷ when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
⁸ “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
⁹ when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
¹⁰ and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
¹¹ and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
¹² “Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
¹³ that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
¹⁴ It is changed like clay under the seal,
and its features stand out like a garment.
¹⁵ From the wicked their light is withheld,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
¹⁶ “Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
¹⁷ Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
¹⁸ Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.
Job 38:4-30

And last but not least, a scripture that I find myself (and others) quoting quite often lately…

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:20


God's mercy surely does endureth forever...
Aren't you grateful that He is so patient with us?
We might wonder just how far He will allow mankind to go in its attempts to explain the unexplainable and unattainable knowledge of  the Creator of all things.

~Blessings & Love~

Trail Blogging!

*Just click on images to enlarge them

The trailhead

Beautiful meadow with soft grasses

Bud waiting for me

Blueberries everywhere!

Yummy!

Raspberries too!

Back on the trail

Bud finds some Birdsfoot Trefoil

Milkweed blooms

A delicate pink bloom along the road home

More pictures of the meadow

It was a great hike, but it was nice coming home to the air conditioning. Why is it that my neighbors always wanna stop me to chat when I am walking home from a hike...all sweaty and tired? Bud doesn't seem to mind though...He is much more sociable when he is all worn out, LOL!

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:26

~Blessings & Love~ Never Forsaken

Ad-venture…

Recently the Lord blessed us with this Chevy Venture van.  I have a vehicle to use while Jeff works. He’s been saying I need to get out on my own more, and that I should take Buddy for a ride to get him used to the van.
So, today after I picked up some prescriptions I decided to take Bud for a little ride down some back roads and maybe take a few photos along the way like my blog friend Dee does.
Here is the beginning of our little adventure in the venture van:

A nice spot to take a picture…So I rolled down my window…

…And…

…So did Buddy!!!
I kept trying to roll the passenger window up, and he kept stepping on the button and rolling it back down, and then he tried to jump out the window…but I grabbed him (all 100 lbs. of him) by the tail!!!
Then I had to drive 5 miles /hr. all the way back home, because the bumpy dirt road was making him really anxious, and he kept trying to get into my lap, causing me to pull over six or seven times along the way (every time we hit a bump that made a sound under the floorboards of the van).
I considered parking the van and walking him the rest of the way home (the stretch of road we were on is where we used to hike, but had to stop because of poaching)…and wouldn’t you know it, they were back there shooting again…the shots were making him even more anxious, so I had to keep moving while holding him back away from me…as he really wanted to get into my lap!

Buddy running for the door…Thank the Lord we are back home!

He still seems shaken…We have been home for nearly an hour now, and I am still shaking too…We make quite a pair, the two of us.
For a little background story:
Buddy was in a bad car accident as a puppy, and has been afraid of car rides ever since (3yrs).  Since last summer Jeff and I have been taking him for rides trying to get him used to it…so far he has been doing pretty good, but this was the first time I took him by myself. Clearly it is too soon for that.



He is still in bed, the place he goes when he gets upset or nervous…He might as well stay there until the Fourth of July celebrations throughout the weekend are over with then.

Around the yard today…

The cherries will be abundant this year…Thanks to  the pruning done last year. They are usually too tart for us to enjoy, but the birds like them a lot. Cherries need a lot of sun in order to become sweet. We do not have a lot of sunshine in our yard,
 but we do have a lot of Son-light in our home...
 That’s why we are so sweet

Can you see him?

This little frog has been hanging out at our bedroom window for a couple days now. He is keeping the bugs away from the flowers and singing me to sleep every night…I do not like (most) bugs, so he is very welcome to stay as long as he likes!
Speaking of bugs, we saw the first lightning bugs out flying around in the yard last night. We didn’t see many June bugs this year, and now June is over already!
Wow, where did the time go?

From my Home to your heart…
~Blessings & Love~

Mourning the Irises

God Will Turn Mourning Into Gladness And Sorrow
Into Joy.  Jeremiah 31:13

 

I have been watching as the bright and fragrant blooms of the Irises and the Lily of the Valley have dried and disappeared from my garden, and I am sad. Oh, I know there are still the flowers that I have planted that will last all season long, the roses are growing thicker every year, and the Rose of Sharon has yet to unfold her pink blossoms, but I am mourning the Irises...I always do.

 

 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. Isaiah 40:8

 

 

 ~Blessings & Love~

Meeting Louis

Jeff and I stopped at a yard sale in an upscale neighborhood after my mammogram Friday where I met a nice lady who introduced me to Louis for the first time.
The picture of the bag is not the same exact one at the yard sale…the picture was from a blog I just happened to land on while blog surfing the next day…but it is the same type of bag. (when stuff like that happens I just know it is God’s way of helping me to know when to do a blog post ;)
I was wondering out loud if it would hold a large laptop. The lady told me she was not sure…then Jeff said it would hold his. I asked him if he would use it or would he feel it looked too girly?
The lady interjected that he would really look stylish with it, to which I replied “maybe in a metro kinda way”.
I didn’t see a tag on it so I asked and she said “seventy five”.
I said, “well for 75 cents I can find some use for it.” I’m sure the lady had to restrain herself from laughing out loud when she corrected me that it was dollars and not cents that she had meant when she said seventy five!
She further justified the price by saying that it was a $ 300 Louis Vuitton!
I guess I’m just a back woods hick, because although the name rang a bell, I just didn’t get it…In my humble opinion carrying a bag that expensive around just says “steal me…and whatever is inside!” No thank you, I will continue to carry my laptop in a canvas tote wrapped in a quilted pillow sham…even though it seemed to embarrass my daughter a little when I took it out at the hotel room…but I like it, LOL!..It’s more me, I guess.

What’s in a name?

Philippians 2:9 says,
“Wherefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and in things in the earth, and things under the earth;
And every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
So, I guess the bag is more valuable than any old ordinary bag because of the name…and likewise, we are more valuable than we used to be…because of the name that we now bear!
Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are his. And, Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2 Tim.2:19)

My name is Lisa, I am a Christian and I just turned 48 years old yesterday….But…
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows saving he that receives it.(Rev.2:17)
…I will find out what my true name is someday…And though my earthly body is 48 years old right now…My eternal body, which will be changed, will be ageless. And all because I met Jesus…and compared to Him…Louis is just an old empty bag after all!

How about you? Are you filled with the spirit of the Living God because you have accepted His son Jesus? Or are you still an empty vessel trying to fill your life up with worthless things that have no eternal value at all? There is a stone with your true name written on it waiting for you; aren’t you curious what it says?…Don’t you want to receive a new ageless body, and ask your Creator all those questions that nobody else has an answer for someday?
Confess your sins and God will forgive you, and you will recieve the gift of eternal life when you call upon the name of JESUS!
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 1:12

 

A panda named Boo!

Meet Boo...

This cute little guy has only been with me for a few weeks now. You cannot help but feel good whenever you look into those eyes.
I love Pandas...all bears, really. When I seen him at the store I just had to have him.

Today I awoke with a desire to do more for the Lord, I wanted to talk with him more, to feel his presence even closer...I wanted to feel that Jesus is my home, my life like never before! It wasn't long before He told me what I was to do, and I thought of many excuses not to obey Him.
I even carried on a conversation that went sorta like this:

Me: But I will make them feel even worse, or uncomfortable Lord. I might cry or say something really stupid!

God: Use my words.

Me: Ok, I know what to do, I will find that nice card that I bought so long ago but never gave to anyone yet...It had something about learning to lean on Jesus written on it!

So I searched and I searched and after all these years, the card was nowhere to be found.

Me: I can't do this Lord. I need to clean my room because I should not lose things so easily when I need them!

God: Go ahead...I'll wait.

So I cleaned, and I searched through everything, and then I cleaned some more.

Me: If I don't do this will you still love me? I know I will still be saved. Right?

God: Of course I will. But do you still love me?...Is salvation all you want from me?

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Me: I feel so sick Lord. My hands are shaking and I feel like there is ice crawling up my spine. I can't go there...What if I throw up?

God: They will understand. They are much sicker....and you need to tell them!

God: Take Boo.

Me: Take Boo? Maybe this will be Ok...Ok Lord, Here we go.

God: I will be with you too.

So I put the panda in one pocket and tissues in the other and went where the Lord told me to go...I said the words the Lord told me to say...And yes, I cried. We both did. And Boo made someone smile....But Jesus gave them hope when they heard that He loved them..

...and I did not throw up.

So if God can use a panda named Boo, you know that He can use you too!

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
1 Peter 1:22-23

Lessons about money

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For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.   1 Timothy6:10
 
It's been a long week.
  
It's been an interesting week.
  
I was able to witness many different things about people this week; specifically, in relationship to money.
  
There are those who work hard and have just enough, and when faced with the prospect of having more of the things that money can buy, are tempted, and may feel less content, at least for a time.

There are those who work even harder to have more, or because they have more obligations, more bills to pay, they may feel there will never be enough.
   
There are those, who may question God's Word when they read:  "My children will never beg bread"...when it appears that some Christians have had to do just that despite working very hard for their money.
...and when they finally get money that, as anyone would agree, they are entitled to have...they thank God for it, knowing that through perseverance their prayers were answered.

And there are those who are in such desperate need of money that they will lie and cheat in order to get it.
And, according to an older Christian gentleman, there are those who despite knowing the Lord, when they are successful at earning money, money takes the place of God in their life.
  
And then there are those, who when finding a small sum of money on the street, react in one of two ways... They search the container that holds the money for identification in order to return it, or they say:"Finders keepers!" and intend to keep it regardless of whether or not it may be the last few dollars belonging to another...Someone who worked hard for it.
 
Throughout the week I have learned a few things about people, and about myself especially...I learned that I am not immune to the effect that money can have on us...even though we are Christians.
As a couple, we do not have much money, though we have enough. I am content with what we have, and sometimes I even think  that we could live more comfortably with even less things....But, I think we were tested this week...Even though I personally passed some of the tests, I am not at peace with myself because I failed at others...God is not keeping score the same way we do! One win does not cancel out one loss....He expects us to always use the same standard set by Him according to His Holy Word in EVERYTHING we do, taking EVERY thought captive, and being ready ALWAYS to give an account as good stewards...Or as the bible says...walking as children of light...living according to the Spirit of God, and not according to the flesh.
So, although I do not love money, or the things that it can buy...I must say, I hate the way it makes some people behave sometimes...even good people, even Christian people...(Not all good people are Christians, and not all Christian people are always good either! Remember what Jesus taught us: There is none good...no, not one)!
...And I hate the way it [$] makes me feel sometimes too.
But...We are no longer slaves to our sinful nature. We no longer have to walk after the ways of the flesh...No, we are covered (cloaked) with Christ's righteousness...and we are indwelled with the Holy Spirit...So that we are never without an answer about what we ought to always do...Unless we ALLOW the flesh to take control. And making the excuse that ... "After all, I am just human." does not fly, my friend...not if you are a Christian...because, if you are a Christian...you are way more than "just human"!
Your sinful nature was washed clean...No, it was not removed...it is still there doing battle with the Holy spirit inside of you every single day...But, you are given the choice each and every day whether you will listen to, and follow after it...or if you will listen to and follow after the Holy Spirit of God, who will teach and guide you to act and react contrary to what the flesh wants you to do.
Why else do you think the Word of God teaches us to "Renew our minds daily"?

So, I am am really feeling content with all that the Lord has blessed us with, and after learning what I have about myself recently, I can sincerely pray:
...Remove from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?'
Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. Psalm 30:8-9 And I might also add:
… Please help me Lord, to walk the walk, and not just talk the talk...Help me to become the kind of Christian that my blog friends think I am...or even better:...the kind of Christian that YOU want me to be! ~In Jesus, Amen~

We did have a nice time… Good family time spent with our daughter and her friends in Indiana, as well as some time with our youngest and her husband here at home yesterday.
All in all, it is good to be back home. I did have one pretty major panic attack though. It was in a bookstore…turned out, it was a pagan bookstore. It felt as though a wall came up around me preventing me from going further inside,  My husband asked me “Do you need to leave?”… to which I answered “we need to get the he_ _ out of here!” I grabbed our daughter and I nearly ran into a man in a wheelchair on the sidewalk outside of the store. I joked with him about nearly running him over…but I was in full panic mode by that time…sick out there on the busy city street of Lafayette.
That will teach me to wander blindly into an open doorway again; but I was awed by the power of God to build up a hedge of protection around us…Yes, that last sentence carries a lot of spiritual weight doesn’t it?
Many people may not know that I am a mild agoraphobic. You might say that I am a ‘functional’ agoraphobic who likes to hike in nature once in awhile, but for the most part, I am only comfortable enclosed within the walls of my home environment…I have always been this way…this is who I am, and I am OK with it, but not everyone may be comfortable with it, after all, it is kinda weird. But it is alright to be kinda weird, as long as you are doing whatever God is calling you to do, with whatever you have been given, wherever you may be… and you have peace in your heart.
So, when I returned home, I was exhausted and vowed that I would not leave my house for several days…except the next day we had to do the shopping and run an errand with our daughter and SIL…We even ended up at the mall… NOT my favorite place! Well, I got home and said out loud to the Lord: “Lord, I just don’t function very well out there in the world do I?!”
And, then I was reminded that I have a calling, a mission field, if you will…and my unique circumstances make it perfect for me to fulfill God’s call in my life…and when I need to get back out there in the big old world, God will equip me to do just that, wherever and whenever it may be…But for right now, today…I am happy, happy, happy to be writing at my little desk in my little bedroom…words that can travel across the continents of this big old world!

From my computer to yours, & from my heart’s home to yours:

~God bless you~

& remember, we are…

~NEVER FORSAKEN~