Opened...

Opened....

“unfold or be unfolded” Online dictionary...

Reading through the last chapter of Luke, one word was repeated three times, “opened” and another implied...

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

Luke 24:2,31-32,45 

The tomb was open

Eyes were opened

Scriptures were opened

Minds were opened...

Looking back through the Word, there are many times this word is used...

Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened...

Noah opened the window after 40 days...

Joseph opened the storehouses...

The rock opened and water gushed out...

Baalams eyes were opened

The donkey opened it mouth and spoke...

The wiseman opened their gifts...

The heavens opened at Jesus’ baptism...

The deaf mans ears were opened at Jesus’ touch..

The blind man’s eyes were opened at Jesus’ touch...

Prison doors were opened...

God opened the way for paul to preach and share the gospel...

And many, many, many more “openers”...

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Isaiah 35:5 

So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

Ezekiel 3:2-3

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8

I just think back and remember how many times God has opened hearts, doors of opportunity, places, ideas...in our lives...an infolding of a plan or path or words made sense...like these in Luke...this isn’t just long ago stuff...it is everyday, everywhere...anytime...in life, in His Word...He opens our eyes, minds, hearts to his call...to understand...He has given us His Spirit to lead into truth..

Just being “open” ...is a gift...thank YOU...

Pictures, pictures and more pictures....

Pictures, pictures and more pictures...

Several weeks ago, I had one of my grandsons pull off all of the bins of family picture from the garage storage shelving...19 big bins and boxes full of albums, my husband’s family, some of my grandparents, all of my parents and our family photos...he piled them right where I could get to them, bring each bin into the house...

Goal-sort down, scan some, get others ready to send away and digitize...

You know when you sort, you have three piles—trash, thrift and keep...this project included no thrift, but included some envelopes to send or share with other family members as well as trash and keep...and most of all, no regrets and second looks- first impression only...oh, and I have been so tempted to go back and redo, pull out more ....

Remember when we would exchange photos with our elementary school friends?  I had albums of those...when I was in 1-3 grades...do my kids care? Nope! Toss...I feel brutal, but empowered...

My take away from all of this, for my family, is the love I felt and received growing up in the family I did...plus the love shown to my family as they grew up...those hundreds of pictures both kept and thrown show years of growth, love, patience , teaching, friends, families, fun times and a few harder times, plenty and scarcity, sights seen, work done, marriages, new babies and much much more...they show our lives..our paths...our mistakes, deaths ...God’s provision through it all...thank YOU so much ...for it all... the tapestry of  our short lives...which are here today and gone tomorrow...Your comforting, blessing hand...You were there all the time...never leaving...guiding, teaching, enlightening, truth...

But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.

Psalm 102:12 

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; 

for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. 

The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; 

the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. 

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children — with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

Psalm 103:13-18

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12 

Psalm 10...

Psalm 10...

I have been listening to the book, “Cilka’s journey “, about a young woman who has made it out of the death camps of Germany only to be taken to the gulags of Siberian Russia in the 1940’s..it is not about one particular woman, but a composite of many into one story...the language is raw to say the least as are the events spoken of...

The picture returns to mind of both the Jerusalem and Washington, DC Holocaust memorials...one vivid display...shoes, piles of shoes...left behind by people who were murdered...gassed...starved ...beaten...sent to other places... 

When reading Psalm 10, I couldn’t but think of this book...the events in these women’s lives, must have made them question, “why?, where is help?, how long?” ...among a lot of other things...the wickedness, evilness, the baseness portrayed in the captors after existing through the same in wartime Germany toward Jews, Christians, or their sympathizers is hard for me to wrap my mind around...and yet it happened and still exists today ...

Christians are martyred worldwide...churches, synagogues destroyed...there will come a day when that won’t be the case...Thank YOU...I have to set my mind on Philippians and choose to think on God, thank HIm even when I don’t understand ...

“Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. 

He boasts about the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord. 

In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. 

His ways are always prosperous; your laws are rejected by him; he sneers at all his enemies. 

He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.” He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.” 

His mouth is full of lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue. 

He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent. His eyes watch in secret for his victims; like a lion in cover he lies in wait. He lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net. His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength. 

He says to himself, “God will never notice; he covers his face and never sees.” 

Arise,  Lord! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless. Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, “He won’t call me to account”? 

But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. 

The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. 

Break the arm of the wicked man; call the evildoer to account for his wickedness that would not otherwise be found out. 

The Lord is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror.

Psalm 10:1-18

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philippians 4:8 

In a vision...

In a vision....

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision:  “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

Acts 18:9-11

Presently, we are going through the book of Acts in church, section by section...really good again...(no matter how many times I read the Word, God has something new for me to see...love it...)

Paul has just left the synagogue, after telling them he was now going to the Gentiles instead of the Jews with the gospel...a new chapter, a new direction...moving on...

What a dramatic shift for him and I can only imagine, a hard one...he always went to the synagogue to present Jesus to his Jewish people...and now he was turning away to a new “life”, different people...

 We may have dramatic shifts in our lives, job changes, geographical changes, heart changes, health changes, family changes, belief changes...etc...the consistent is God...He is there to comfort, direct and sometimes to whisper is the night, “do not be afraid”...He alone can lead in the direction we need to go...if we listen...

He has a path for us...a plan that may be different than the one we thought or planned...but, oh so good...

There have been those “do not be afraid “ moments in my life...even the sermons at each changing point confirmed them...times I wondered, “what now?” ...I can remember the exact place and time for each...times of distress, jubilation, fear, even anger at the change...

A calming message in my heart and soul, “do not be afraid”...” this is my will for you, walk in it..” an assurance like no other...”I am with you...”

Looking back at those shifts, I am thankful...they led to many new adventures in Him, I would have missed had I refused and gone my way...

Not that any were easy...they were life changing...they were and are “expectation” releasing...thank YOU...

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

“If He calls, He will see you through it”

I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 34:4

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 

Psalm 56:3

When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Proverbs 3:24

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense ; he has become my salvation. ”

Isaiah 12:2 

“Where could I go where could I go

Seeking a refuge for my soul

Needing a friend to help me in the end

Where could I go to the Lord”

“Where could I go” J.B. Coats

Salt...

Salt...

34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?

Luke 14:34 

I was reading in Luke this am....this verse about salt popped out...

I just revamped my spices as well as my pantry...one of the things I threw out was old salt...as a single, I don’t go through much salt and I don’t use too much either...but it seems to come in larger quantities...

The salt I threw out had lost its prime and was rather bland...sooooo away it went...

Having been to the Dead Sea this spring, I know what fresh salt looks and smells like ...watching my family floating in the waters looked fun, but a little too harsh for my skin..but the air smelled of salt...plus venders had plenty to sell, packaged for travelers...it came in creams, spice combos, exfoliants, toothpaste,...you name it, they sold it...

When we resided in Nevada for so many years of our married life, we drove across salt flats many times...bleak, harsh, hot, vegetationless, dusty....the pioneers dreaded the “40 mile” desert they would encounter as they came closer and finally arriving...

So saltiness has different meaning to different people...we use it for so many things, but it also can be harsh, unforgiving...

It is a preservative, a seasoning...

God wants us to be salt...adding seasoning  to our speech, our lives, to those around us...helping to preserve life...

But not losing our flavor with age...not arid and unfriendly, harsh and tasteless...not bleak and dusty, but adding vibrancy to life...

Thank YOU...Lord, help me not to be “old salt”, but adding taste to 

Iife...grace...

Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.

Leviticus 2:13 

That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

Jeremiah 17:6 

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

Matthew 5:13 

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Colossians 4:6

Snow...

Snow....

It seems this time of year, there is a promise of snow from day to day in my area...

Others I know are laboring hard,  with not only the promise but the realty of snow measured in feet rather than skiffs of that powdery stuff...

Three  years ago, we had the “storm of the century”, with what they have called the “snow-mageden”... I have pictures on my yard and driveway where I was shoveling up, over my head to the piles of snow..just to get out of my garage or front door...it was that way for three months...taking down barns, icing up roofs and walls,  creating ice dams on homes, causing countless accidents and general misery for many...

This year, so far, it is the opposite...we need the snowpack for agricultural, water content... moisture to combat drought...life...

Is there snow in Israel?..I tended to think that there wasn’t...to much desert or low lying agricultural ground...that was my picture of the land...until I went there...there is always snow in Israel, they say..on the mountain tops...even a ski resort!...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_in_Israel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hermon_ski_resort

https://www.bibleplaces.com/jerusalemsnow/

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:7 

So, when the Word speaks of snow, the people knew what snow was...how white it was, pure white....funny how we get these images in our mind of certain things, our misconceptions of the truth....our expectations...until we learn the truth...and then sometimes it is even hard to change those ideas or pictures...

The creator of the snow likened our cleansing of sin to the pure whiteness of snow...as opposed to the darkness/dirtiness/blackness/redness of sin which can destroy our lives...thank YOU...

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

Isaiah 1:18

Rocks....

Rocks....

A song that was one of my husband’s favorites was “Rock of Ages”. Originally penned by Augustus Toplady in the 1700’s, it probably wasn’t written for geologists...

But my geological, rock-studying husband like it...and he requested it at church when he could...

I was reminded of this again when we were studying one of the names of God in Sunday school this week..

We, as a family depended upon rocks, barite, gold bearing, silver bearing, gravel...rocks were the basis for our livelihood...my husband had files and libraries about rocks, geological maps, samples by the ton of rocks, storage units full of rocks...but, even though he made his living by rocks, he put his trust in the Rock, Christ as his savior...

A picture that comes to mind, we are surrounded by rocks, our walls are made from rock, we mine to get our jewels, the glass which we look through is from rock...the roads on which we drive is made from rock, the computers which we depend upon are derived from various rocks...

God made the rock, is the Rock-our foundation, our strength, our fortress and he gives us pictures everyday of our dependence upon the Rock...thank YOU...

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

Deuteronomy 32:4 

“There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

1 Samuel 2:2 

He said: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent people you save me. “

The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior!

2 Samuel 22:2-3,47 

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 18:2

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

Isaiah 26:4 

Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, Lord , have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.

Habakkuk 1:12 

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

Matthew 7:24-25 

“Rock of Ages

Rock of ages, cleft for me

let me hide myself in thee;

let the water and the blood,

from thy wounded side which flowed,

be of sin the double cure;

save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labors of my hands

can fulfill thy law's commands;

could my zeal no respite know,

could my tears forever flow,

all for sin could not atone;

thou must save, and thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,

simply to the cross I cling;

naked, come to thee for dress;

helpless, look to thee for grace;

foul, I to the fountain fly;

wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,

when mine eyes shall close in death,

when I soar to worlds unknown,

see thee on thy judgment throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

let me hide myself in thee.”

“The Lord is my Rock, and my Fortress, and my Deliverer.” (Psalm 18:2) 

New Bible.....

New Bible...

This year my Bible reading goal is to go through the New Testament chronologically as well as include Psalms and Proverbs...but in a new Bible, the Archaeology Study Bible...

After my trip to Israel this last spring, it has been intriguing to find out more about the places and people of that area... not that I will remember a huge portion of it all...so much information...but it did make more sense...it is a real place, the people are real....no fiction...

Jesus was, is and will be real...the same yesterday, today and tomorrow...the Alpha and Omega...

It is always hard for me to change Bibles every few years...I have so many notes written in them...comfortable...maybe too comfortable...that’s why I need to change things up once in awhile ...need a challenge...not all the time, though...exercise my brain, heart to new messages from the Lord...and He certainly does that...

My questions are, “how is this pertinent to me today, what is God teaching me...how can I use this”...

While reading a lot of facts about biblical times, I don’t want to deny the heart of the Word...

He always comes through with truth, answers...thank YOU...

Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart— Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees. 

I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. 

I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 

I delight in your decrees; 

I will not neglect your word. Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

Psalm 119:2,5,12,14-16,18