Sunday Psalms

Posted on by

 

Hear my prayer, Righteous God, and have mercy on me.

There are so many who want to turn away, who love lies and worship what the world has to offer.

LORD, You have set me apart for Yourself.  I know You hear when I call out.

In your prayers search your inner self and be still.

Trust God!

Shine Your light on us!

When others are finding joy in shopping sprees and worldly gain give me joy.

As the day ends let me sleep in the safety of You.

 

This is Psalm 4 in my own words.  Psalm 1, 2, and 3 are also finished.  Check them out by clicking on the number.

Blessings to you and Yours!

Marie

Brick Builders Illustrated Bible For Children – Review

Posted on by

I have just spent a delightful two hours reading through God’s story.  As the Word always has and always will, this version of the Bible speaks the simple, yet profound, truth in the language of children.

Storytelling is the favored method of Bible writers to point the way to the truth, particularly in the New Testament in the many parables used by Jesus.  In this collection of Old and New Testament stories, by Emily Dammer, the same thing is accomplished in the language of children.

I’m sure young children will love this ‘Bible’.  The illustrations, by Antony Evans, use brick-like figures to illustrate each story.  Each page colorful and eye-catching.

The building blocks at the end of each chapter give life applications in children’s language.  For instance, in the story of Moses God keeps His promises and He will keep you safe are the takeaways.

All in all, I enjoyed reading Brick Builders and can imagine parents and children reading the stories to one another over and over.

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

Volcanic Momentum – Book Review

Posted on by

How are you spending your time?  Do you have a plan, a goal? Where is your focus?  What is most important to you?  Can you honestly say you are totally aware of the moments you have on this earth?

Volcanic Momentum answers these questions, and more, with valuable words of wisdom from author Jordan Ring.  I found this book to be one of the most usable and sometimes profound books I have read this year.  I’m going to order it in paperback just so I can have this valuable resource at my fingertips.  I know I’ll be reading it again and yes, maybe again.

One of the things I do each year is to select One Word to focus on.  I was delighted to find that recommendation straight away.  One word, one focus, one idea, one goal…  If we don’t know what we’re looking for (i.e., our focus), we have little chance of growth and change.

Being a person who loves lists and being aware of where I am in whatever process I’m involved in, I was delighted with the ones that are in this book.  Some are prompts to get the thought process moving, others are questions to put concepts and goals into focus.   (However, this is not a book of lists.)

Being still, sitting quietly, getting away, whatever you call it is necessary to the creative process.  Our busy world will rush in and take over if we’re not careful.  Sometimes we waste time by being so busy we’ve lost our direction in life.  Finding, actually making, time to know and plan out our direction is hugely important to success and well-being.

One of the most important sections in this book is about being mentored.  Mr. Ring suggests that we meet every week with a mentor.  Interestingly, he makes the point that a mentor doesn’t have to be a live person.  It can be in the pages of a book (Daily Bible reading is mentoring from God.), videos on YouTue or CDs of a favorite speaker, TED talks…  Anything or anyone that encourages you is necessary to your personal growth and needs to be deliberately pursued.

As I commented before, this book is worth the time to read more than once and use as a continuing resource.  Well done, Jordan!

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

 

 

 

Spiritual Gifts – Book Review

Posted on by

SPIRITUAL GIFTS, WHAT THEY ARE & WHY THEY MATTER

This book was not at all what I expected.  That is not a bad thing because it caused me to think about a concept that is outside my box.  However, I must say, right up front,  this book is not for everyone.  By that I mean if you don’t already have a strong grasp of the Word, and believe it to be totally inerrant, this book is not for you.

Thomas R. Schreiner, the author of Spiritual Gifts, makes a strong case for nuanced (gradual) cessationism (ceasing or stopping) of said gifts.  What does that mean?  He makes the case that there are some gifts that are no longer necessary to the church and therefore, are no longer given to the members.

Prophecy, speaking in tongues, healing, and miracles are those Mr. Schreiner proposes have passed away.  He believes prophecy was needed and necessary while the apostles were alive because the prophets were the foundation of the church.  The words they spoke were directly from God. There are no prophets today because Word has been given and all that’s left is the interpretation of it which is the job of those gifted with preaching/teaching.

He makes a very strong case that speaking in tongues, as practiced by those who believe that various and spontaneous utterances constitute this gift, is not what was meant by the Word and is no longer a gift that is needed by the Church.   He determines that this gift was actually the supernaturally given ability to speak in the languages of those who would be listening.  With the ability to instantly translate any language using cell phones and the internet I would suggest that he’s right on target.

As for miracles and healing, he suggests that people no longer perform in this capacity.  Through prayer and confidence in God’s ability to do all, they are accomplished.

In my opinion, these are the types of discussions that Paul warns us against in Titus 3:9.  No matter where you stand on this issue let me say with total confidence that God is who He says He is and God can do what He says He can do.

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from B & H Publishing Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Ark and the Arc

Posted on by

The Jesse Tree – The Ark and the Arc

Time has passed since Adam and Eve.  The earth was becoming populated as God had commanded but, it was a violent, perverted place.  God was not happy at all with what He was seeing.  He had to do something about it.

He called on Noah, the only righteous person He could find.  God told him to build an ark.  Noah has no idea what an ark is but, he’s willing to do what is asked because he trusts God totally.  So, he builds the ark and puts a set of each kind of animal in it as well as his wife (Zipporah), children, and their wives.

And it rains and rains and rains some more.  The entire earth is covered with water.  All the valleys are full.  All the mountains are submerged.  40 days and nights.  No one but Noah, his family, and the animals are left alive.

Then God begins the process of drying it all out.  When everything is ready Noah opens the doors and they walk upon the earth again.  It’s a new earth.  It has new grass, new trees, new everything, including, a special promise with something never seen before.

A rainbow.  A red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet arch in the sky.  Did you know it’s not an arch but a full circle?  All we can see is part of it.  It is not only a physical reminder of God’s promise never to destroy the earth by water again, but it also represents the total perfection of God, His love, and eternity.  It is never ending!

Genesis 6:5-22

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

The Jesse Tree is all about knowing the people God put in place to point to the birth of the one who would save us all.

The Jesse Tree    Day 1    The Creation

The Jesse Tree     Day 2    Sin Enters