Category: Spiritual Reflections

When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Matthew 11:2, 3

John shows his humanity when he sends his friends to Jesus to ask Him if he is truly the one. Even though John baptized Jesus and had knowledge of what Jesus had done, He still needed assurance that Jesus was THE one, the ONE and ONLY Messiah.

Jesus sent John’s friends back to him saying ““Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”

Actions – Jesus’ own actions are what He points to.

So often I find myself in similar predicaments. Is THIS what you want me to do or is there something else? I walk around wondering if I’m in the right place at the right time or if I should be some place else.

And Jesus, as He so often does, says to me as He said to John “Look around you and what do you see?” I get affirmed of my place in life by reading the Bible, prayer, friends, and the church community.

The affirmation from above can only be found if I am searching and listening for it in the right places. Then, and only then, can I know that indeed, I am at the right place at the right time.

In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:6

Lately I’ve been running into articles on Noah and the ark.

The first one is in Kentucky. The Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority has granted more than $40 million in tax incentives for a planned $172 million Bible-based theme park which has a full-size replica of Noah’s ark with live animals. To read that article, click here.

The second article is about a man who is in construction and has built an ark in the Netherlands (for the second time)- approximately similar size as the dimensions of the original Bible ark.

There have been many articles written about Noah’s ark with many speculators on where the ark is currently located with some stating it’s been found in Turkey.

Some people say that those who believe in God need to have physical evidence in order for their faith to be affirmed. But, if their faith is not affirmed without the ark then their faith is not really faith.

This reminds me of the story of Thomas in the book of John in the Bible. All of the disciples had seen Jesus after the resurrection except for Thomas. It was he who stated “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

Thomas is called a man who had little faith. Thomas eventually sees Jesus, puts his fingers/hand in Jesus’ hand and side and then believes. But Jesus says:

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

This week I read this Scripture:

“I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”  Isaiah 61:10

It made me think of my wedding day.

I took the day off from work to go with my husband to the justice of the peace in our local town. I can’t remember if I took a vacation day or if I just called in sick. (Some would say that getting married makes you sick in the head …)

I have always been a simple person. I wore a green dress and no jewels with the exception of the gold wedding band that my husband and I exchanged. No family or friends gathered around us to witness the event. Just me and my husband. That’s really all that’s needed.

I think of the weddings that occur these days where people spends thousands of dollars on gowns, brides maid dresses, flowers, food, music, photos, etc. And a lot of those weddings end up in divorce.

I delight greatly in my Lord … God has often called us His bride as He lavishes His love upon us day after day. Sometimes, like in all marriages, we miss the moments of kindness, of gentleness, of honesty. And just like in our marriages we always have to be cognizant of what is happening so in our marriage to God.

My soul rejoices in my God …

What a pattern God gives us in our relationship with Him — doing the same in our relationship to our spouses.

Do I rejoice when my husband walks through the door? Do I delight greatly when I see him? Do I feel peace and security when I’m in his presence?

He has clothed me with garments of salvation …

Indeed – in the arms of love both husband and God have clothed me.

I was listening to a sermon on Jonah – the man who is known for being “eaten” by a big fish. I wonder what it would be like to have known him. Here’s a guy who was asked by God to go to a city named Nineveh and let them know that they were wicked and that they needed to change their ways. Not a very friendly message to deliver.

I squirm sometimes when I hear of friends/relatives who do things wrong and I’m told “someone needs to talk to them.” Normally that means me and it isn’t God whose telling me to do the talking.

Jonah initially decided not to listen to God and went the opposite direction. It was a tall order that God was requesting. I mean, if God told me to go to St Paul or Minneapolis and let the city know that they were wicked I’d want to “reason” with God. ”

• Uh, are you sure you want me to do it?
• What about the preacher of that church over there?
• I really think it will be a waste of time God.
• I don’t think they would listen to me – I’m just a woman.
• Don’t you want someone prettier?
• Don’t you want someone smarter?

We’re not told that Jonah tried to “reason” with God – only that he “ran away from God.” Well, I guess if that works …

But Jonah was not gone for long. He was given an assignment and even if he felt unqualified to do it, God asked him to do it.

God even gave Jonah a second chance to witness for Him. On the ship that Jonah got on (to get far far away from God and His assignment), a big storm came up which Jonah slept through until woken up by the other sailors. It’s interesting that the story tells us that the other sailors asked Jonah “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

But Jonah missed his chance again. Ahh well, Jonah is thrown into the sea, the storm calms down and he gets swallowed by a big fish.

Lots of time to think in the belly of a big fish. Sometimes God has to use extraordinary measures to get us to pay attention. Is reliance on God really so hard that we have to run away from Him?

I feel for Jonah. I’ve run from God too. Feelings of inadequacy in what He wants me to do or not do make me cringe. He may see the potential in me but if I don’t see it I question His leading. And then I’m afraid – afraid that I’ll mess up – afraid of embarrassing myself.

The wrong words or expressions — if only God could just give me the manual and robotically make me do what He wants done. I’ve often asked that of Him but He has said no every single time.

It takes awhile for me to remember how special He thinks I am — how special He thinks we all are.

Jonah — I’m so glad He got his act together in time to do what God asked.

As a child, I can remember being asked to close my eyes and jump into the arms of someone. It was scary at first. But then I learned to trust them and every time I jumped I would giggle.

So – I’ll jump and giggle knowing that God will always catch me.

To read the whole story, click here.

On occasion, I receive spam in my Blog comments. You can usually tell what is spam as the comments that are associated with them don’t make any sense.

In one of my previous blogs on Natural Remedies, I received a comment that said “A Storm in a Teacup.” Hmmm … it wasn’t relevant to what I said so I dismissed it as spam.

However, the thought intrigued me. A storm in a teacup. Sometimes that’s what life feels like. We go round and round circling and really not getting anywhere. Friends get sick and die, people lose their jobs, alcohol or drugs destroy relationships — round and round, every human on this earth is impacted for good or for bad.

The world can seem hopeless sometimes but I have to keep my eyes looking up.

A friend of mine recently passed away. She was very dear to me and befriended my family many years ago. In talking with her husband this week who is distraught and grieving deeply, he told me “she’s buried in a $200 pink nightie that our daughter gave her for Christmas one year along with a matching robe.”

She always looked good in pink.

To lighten the moment, I said to him “well then, at the 2nd coming we’ll have to look for pink in the clouds so we can spot her.” We both laughed.

I’m glad I have the hope of the 2nd coming. Teacup storms don’t bother me as much.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thessalonians 4:17

With all the moving from Seattle to Woodbury to Lake Elmo, it’s been a little hectic.

“What about God?” someone asked. Well, He moved with me. I can’t remember a time in my life where I have not felt His presence. There were a few times in my life where He didn’t answer my questions (so I thought) as quickly a I wanted Him to or in the way I thought He should.

And when I complained, He just shrugged it off. It’s a special relationship — one comes to realize that sometimes silence is an answer so we have to move on in life.

The “pray without ceasing” as found in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 has been one of the “things” I cling to. Always thinking and talking — God.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.” Genesis 37:3

What father does not want to bestow love on his children?  Jacob though went a little overboard showing more devotion to one of his children at the expense of the others. So, there was a lot of jealousy going on in this family.

And Joseph had dreams that he shared with his family. Dreams that showed his family bowing down to him which made his brothers more angry.

Yet Jacob made a special coat for Joseph. And Joseph wore it proudly.

One day, Joseph went to check on his brothers in the field wearing his beautiful coat of many colors that his father had given to him. As his brothers saw him coming, the jealousy they had for their brother (and perhaps their father’s devotion) drove them to sell Joseph to a group of travelers.

And they stripped Joseph of his robe, doused it in blood, took it back to their father and said “Is this the coat you gave to your son?” It sounds surreal. How could any child could go to their parent and knowingly make them believe that one of their children has been killed?

Not only that — Jacob went into mourning and his children could not console him.  Did they really think they’d be able to?

Some of the most goriest stories I’ve read have been found in the Bible. I ask myself — why? And the answer is simple.  Perhaps too simple.

For me, it’s all about being human. We all go through basic emotions. Fear, sorrow, anger, disgust, joy, etc. No one was born a robot. All of these emotions are stirred up inside of us by something or someone. And we all have different reactions.

I’m not saying that I would sell or kill my sister if my mother decided to give her a beautiful scarf and gave me nothing.

Dynamics in families are so unique.

But one little misstep, one cherished thought kept and repeated over and over in one’s head can lead to a lot of horrible things.

I’m thankful we don’t have a Bible full of stories of people who are only good because that would not be reality. I’m thankful that the stories show some extremes in bad behavior.

And that, in spite of all this, God is able to love us. All we have to do is return that love to Him.

Oh – the rest of the story … Joseph’s family did have to bow down to him just like his dreams predicted due to a famine in the land and the position that he eventually held. To read the rest of the story, click here and read Chapters 39-46

Thank God for some good endings!

I’ve always liked to go places where I can look up at the sky at night and see many stars – hundreds of stars.  It just gives me a sense of peace and awe at what the Father has created.

I ran across this video that gave me a sense of that peace.  Hope you enjoy it.

The Mountain