Little Foxes

Song of Solomon 2:15 says,

"Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes."

A fox, in search of food, would go into the grape orchards and eat the grapes. You may think that this would spoil the crop. Maybe so, but those were the big foxes. The small or little foxes, also hungry, would come into the orchards but being small could not reach the grapes. Instead, they would chew on the base of the vines thus killing the whole vine. Instead of the farmer simply losing one crop, he would lose the whole vine.

Understand that spiritually some things we do or allow, how little or insignificant, can also be disastrous.

Interesting the meaning of disastrous: having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin.

What are your little foxes? Don't allow them to bring to ruin your walk, witness, life, etc. for Christ.

A Christian Look at Depression

Use this link if the video doesn't play.

Moses and the burning bush ...

Do you notice the burning shrubbery?

Strange question isn’t it, because thankfully for the Children of Israel, Moses did. In Exodus chapter 3, Moses was an obscure shepherd on the backside of a desert, humbled, tending a flock of sheep that didn’t even belong to him. This is a long way from being a prince of Egypt. On this day, Moses was in the everyday humdrum of his life when he saw a burning bush. Strange enough to Moses that he stopped to look at this wonder as the bush, on fire, wasn’t being burned.

I want to ask you if during your everyday schedule you notice any burning shrubbery along your path? Or does the hurried pace of today’s life have you moving so fast that you don’t notice such wonders. God was waiting (Exodus 3:4) for Moses to turn aside and take the time to see what He had to say. Do we take the time to hear God’s instructions? Do we take the time to read God’s Word daily so we too can see the wonders He has in store for us? Even the burning bush, as great as that sight was, wouldn’t change anything until Moses received the Word of God. Notice, stop, and then received God’s Word. Please don’t allow the noise in your life to keep you from receiving what God has for you.

The question isn’t, as Moses asked, “Who am I?” (Exodus 3:11) The question should be, “Who is God.” What does it matter who we are when what counts … is … who God IS. He is the I AM. “Who is God to me,” you might ask. He is who you need Him to be. Are you sick? You need the Lord our Healer. Are you in danger, have you lost your way? Then you need the Lord my Sheppard. Are you afraid of anything? Then you need the Lord is Peace. Do you have a battle to fight? Then you need the Lord is my Banner.

Why did God tell Moses, when asked, to tell them “I AM WHO I AM”? God is “the becoming one”. In other words, God becomes whatever is lacking in our time of need. The name I AM invites us to fill in the blank to meet our need. A divine name that Jesus took upon Himself often, linking Himself with the voice from the burning bush. (Read John 8:24, 28, 58; John 13:19; John 18:4-6)

Allow, ask God to be your “I AM”.

• "The Lord will provide.” Stresses God’s provision for His people (Gen. 22:14).
• "The Lord is my Banner.” Stresses that God is our rallying point and our means of victory; the one who fights for His people (Ex. 17:15).
• “The Lord is Peace.” Points to the Lord as the means of our peace and rest (Jud. 6:24).
• “The Lord of Hosts.” A military figure portraying the Lord as the commander of the armies of heaven (1 Sam. 1:3; 17:45 Isaiah 6:1-3 also Psalm 68:17; 104:4; 148:2). This declares His leadership and sovereignty over the host of heaven.
• “The Lord your Sanctifier.”Portrays the Lord as our means of sanctification or as the one who sets believers apart for His purposes (Ex. 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify [“observe as clean” “be kept or keep holy”] you.). This declares the desire of God to set His people apart for special service.
• “The Lord my Shepherd.” Portrays the Lord as the Shepherd who cares for His people as a shepherd cares for the sheep of his pasture (Ps. 23:1). This declares the guidance and provisional care of the Lord. It also declares the close relational fellowship between the Shepherd and His sheep.
• “The Lord our Righteousness.” Portrays the Lord as the means of our righteousness (Jer. 23:6). This declares that true righteousness is of the Lord.
• “The Lord is there.” This declares the presence of God, especially in regards to His relationship with His own (Ezek. 48:35).
• “The Lord our Healer” This declares that God is the Great Healer of all afflictions; both physical and spiritual.(Exodus 15:26; II Chronicles 7:14; Psalms 41:4; 147:3; Deuteronomy 32:39; Malachi 4:1,2) 

More on the names of God on ChristianAnswers.net

Pray and seek God's will, then go Vote!

Election day will soon be here and no matter what candidate you side with, the time to vote will soon be upon us. The believers at the church of Corinthians were trying to push the "line" and see how much they could get away with and still be Christian. Paul told them that even though things were lawful for people to do, all things are not expedient for the believer. In other words, the Corinthian Christians were so focused on their own rights and their own knowledge they could only ask but one question. "What is the harm to me?" They should have asked what good can this be for me. Simply because we can do something doesn't mean it's beneficial.

We need to seek the things that are helpful and things that edify. We should want to go with Jesus, not try to "get away with" as much as possible, we only serve to hinder others when we do.

A fellow blogger is offering this verse for us to cling to before November the 5th, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Cor 10:31 (KJV) He closed his post with the following:

The verse I've shared is the challenge for us all, and the blood of our soldiers and of Christ speak louder than any response or petty comment I could return to you. I would request that each of you vote, but I'd prefer to request that those of you that do BOLDLY claim to be a Christ-follower would glorify God by seeking His will during these next few days. His will will be done. That's all we can seek and He will guide us into November 5th better than our next president could ever dream of being able to.

I say, Amen!

Let's not hide the Gospel

My pastor's message, on Oct. 12th, was on 2 Corinthians 3:8 through 4:4

I couldn't help but think of people in the ministry. The message was on being veiled but allowing Christ to remove the veil. Chapter 3:17 is what caught my mind's eye. "... where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." on to verse 18, "...[we] are change into the same image [of the Lord] from glory to glory, ..."

Then starting in chapter 4, "... as we have received mercy, we faint not; [2] But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty ...". I really am thankful to meet people in this ministry who will work to the "fields white to harvest" and not hide the gospel as said in chapter 4:3 "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:" ... and that is something we can not do ... God's light must shine!

More quotes ...

From a blog talking about how often do you invite people in your community to church?

"...we are not saved to sit, we are saved to serve."

Another that someone Twittered a few days ago that I thought was good from a past President:

I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born. ~Ronald Reagan, quoted in New York Times, 22 September 1980

How Do You Cope with Politics?

A fellow blogger, blogged (broken link now) (web archive link) on a topic that I wish I did - mainly because it captures a bit of how I feel. The question of his blog was around maintaining mental stability during an election year then asked the question, "how do you cope". I wanted to post my comment on his article here. Why? well I don't hear people talking about this view point from a founding father of this Nation.

… in George Washington’s Farewell Address he warned against the party system:

Washington against the party system: Link 1 (broken now) - Link 2 (Links to full farewell address.)

It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with illfounded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passion. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

So, very simply one can look at history, the current state, and see that he was right. A bit off topic for this blog but, that is the reason I haven't nor plan on signing up to support a party.

Answering the question of How do you cope? ... I pray.

Today - learning of a loved ones Parkinson Diagnosis.

Shock, that is the only word that I can say, maybe numb. My Mom was diagnosed with Parkinson disease today. OK, the symptoms had become noticeable prior, but I was praying for something else. You know, something easy to treat. As I normally do, I jumped on the web and started to search and read. I had done this already, but grimaced and never read past the first page of sites. Today, I read further. I wanted someone to come up to me and give me the 101, the "OK, here is what you need to know" information. Wow, can some sites be emotionally deficient. I then rememberd Micheal J. Foxx and looked for his site; ah better, you feel as if you are getting current news. Then to National Parkinson Foundation's site, also a good site. I looked at their forum and started to read the open thread. I started feeling better after reading a thread called "How long have you had PD?" and seeing the larger numbers that indicated years. Then I saw a quote on someone's post, "Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into a flame by another human being. Each of us owes our deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light." -Albert Schweitzer. It is time for me to pray that I can rekindle my Mom's light.

I'm a Christian, my Mom is too, so we know what the ultimate healing is. However, the Bible says to pray that people be healed - and that is what I have prayed and will be praying.

Please pray for my Mom, Marion for healing. Pray for my Dad, Neal, too; he also is taking care of his Dad during this time. "Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults , with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor 12:10 (NASB)

Blog link Title "You Can Trust In God"

Ike Uncovers Civil War Ship - Amazing - but not true :(

This link is still interesting ... however it is not believed to be a civil war ship.

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Link to Video

Sticky Note Fun ... how funny!

Eepybird's Sticky Note Experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

Found this quote today ...

"Life isn't about surviving the storm, but learning to dance in the rain" - unknown.

Quotes about writing, editing ...

"An editor ... comes down from the mountain after the battle and shoots the wounded." -unknown

"Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamp-post how it feels about dogs." -Christopher Hampton

Link to an entry on our Family Blog

An entry on our faimly blog about me being married to a teacher >>> Link

A good song for bed time.

This song gets your two year old just about ever time ...

I now have an iPhone

well ... I did it ... I got an iPhone. Other than my iPod, it's my first Apple product that is as close to a mac as possible without really having a mac. Anyway, I resisted the urge for the first generation iPhone ... mainly because I had a smart phone already that I was happy with. It was a Nokia N62 from AT&T. Billed as a business phone it didn't have a camera and I was fine with that. The N62 was/is a really OK phone, but the down fall was that AT&T stopped supporting it and Nokia stopped releasing any updates for that phone. AT&T either took out the Wi-Fi or had it disabled. So ... along comes the 3G iPhone... GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G ... a phone that has the possibility to really be a all in one device. I guess only time will really tell. My first rant about the iPhone is ... battery. Yeah, me and everyone else on this big blue planet. Well, it really is bad. After turning all the options off ... and only using the 2G and GPS ... 8 hours and the battery was dead. That was 10 phone calls averaging only 4 min in length and using the GPS with maps 5 times (I do understand that the maps download). Oh, 6 pictures too. I think that is really low on the use of the phone. I have called Apple support and have an appointment with the Apple store soon ... I guess they will check out the battery and see if its a crap battery; I have heard of two other people who got a bum battery right out of the box. So, we will see.

A great video ... please watch

another quote ...

And yet another quote that I like ...

Save the Earth... it's the only planet with chocolate.

A good Quote ...

My new fav Quote ...

Who is more irrational? A man who believes in a God he doesn't see, or a man who's offended by a God he doesn't believe in? - Brad Stine